I have often said that if there were a pill I could take to get all my nutritional needs met without actually having to eat, I totally would.  It’s not that I don’t enjoy good food, it’s just that I find the whole constant process of shopping for (or otherwise procuring), preparing, eating, and cleaning up after food to be tedious.

I also have a habit of getting so caught up in my writing that I forget to eat.  When I break out of my writing haze, I’m so hungry I could eat my arm.  And since we don’t make a habit of keeping a lot of prepackaged food around, I end up stuffing my face with weird foods instead of taking the time to make an actual meal.  Half a can of olives, an amount of pickles that puts me over my recommended salt intake for the next decade, hunks of cheese – these things in moderation aren’t bad, but they don’t add up to a balanced meal or snack.

I’m not dieting, and I’m not kidding myself into thinking that meal replacement shakes are the healthiest way to go all the time, but having a quick meal solution on hand, keeps me from eating weird stuff, and is a nice, calorie-controlled option.

Problem?  Many meal replacement shakes are full of High Fructose Corn Syrup as well as many other icky ingredients.

But I’ve found two options that are pretty darn good.

1. Shaklee Cinch Shakes – Shaklee sent me some of these shakes to try out, and they’re good.  My husband also enjoyed the bars, but since some of them have wheat ingredients, I didn’t give them a try.  The Cafe Latte flavor is my favorite.  I don’t have celiacs disease (just a wheat intollerance), so if you do, you’ll want to double check the ingredients to be safe (the package doesn’t say it’s specifically gluten-free).  When you have dietary constraints, traveling can be hard.  I took these along with me the last few times I had to take a trip, and mixed them with rice milk or even water, and it saved me several times when there was nothing on the menu I could eat.

2. Kashi GoLean Vanilla Shakes – This shake is really good, and very filling, and can be found at many grocery stores.  I make it in a manual shaker, and it can be a little lumpy.  I bet it would be fantastic made in a blender with a few ice cubes or frozen strawberries thrown in, but to me, that feels too much like making a meal, and if I’m reaching for a shake, I am being fully accepting of my laziness.

Both shakes contain soy.  I know many people are concerned about consuming too much soy.  I am too.  This is why I don’t drink these shakes every day.  Everything in moderation.  I’m not a doctor or a research scientist, so I urge you to do your own research and make your own choices.  It’s a personal decision, but for me, I’m okay with having a shake once or twice a week.  It beats eating half a jar of pickles.