Green Smoothie Guidelines for Optimal Health Benefits by Victoria Boutenko

Victoria Boutenko contributed this article on Green Smoothie Guidelines for Optimal Health Benefits as an additional support for participants of The International Green Smoothie Day Live program.

- by Victoria Boutenko www.rawfamily.com

“Why do I ask for directions? Because I hate wasting time.”

-Harrison Ford

Ever since the invention of the green smoothie, I have been drinking them daily  myself and sharing them with others. I love green smoothies so much, I am committed to drinking green smoothies to the last day of my life. Everyone in my family fell in love with them and many of our friends did too.

Wherever I go, I gather new information from green smoothie fans worldwide. Through everyday blending, research, experience, and letters from our readers, we have created the best recipes and came up with the basic principles of green smoothie making and consuming.

To help people receive the most benefits from drinking green smoothies and to avoid some typical mistakes, I have created the following guidelines:

• Prepare your green smoothie first thing in the morning in the amount that you usually consume in one day, one or two quarts (liters). Pour enough smoothie in a glass for your morning enjoyment and keep the rest in a refrigerator or another cold place.

• Sip your green smoothie slowly, mixing it with saliva. Sometimes I put my smoothie in a coffee mug with a lid and carry it with me to the car or to my office. That way I minimize a chance of spilling it and keep it private without distracting others.

• Don’t add anything to your smoothie except greens, fruit and water. I don’t recommend adding nuts, seeds, oils, supplements or other ingredients to your green smoothie. Most of these items slow down the assimilation of green smoothies in your digestive tract and may cause irritation and gas. Even though I provide recipes with more than basic ingredients in my books I encourage you to stick to the basic green smoothie recipe (fruit and greens) in your daily routine.

• Drink your smoothie by itself, and not as a part of a meal. Don’t consume anything, even as little as a cracker or candy with it. You may eat anything you want approximately 40 minutes before or 40 minutes after you finished your smoothie. Your goal is to get the most nutritional benefit out of your green smoothie.

• Do not add starchy vegetables such as carrots, beets, broccoli stems, zucchini, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, egg plant, pumpkin, squash, okra, peas, corn, green beans, and others to your green smoothies. Starchy vegetables combine poorly with fruit and may produce what my children call “gas 4 less.”

• Don’t add too many ingredients into one smoothie, such as nine different fruits and a dozen different greens. Try to keep most of your recipes simple to maximize nutritional benefits and to keep it easy on your digestive system.

• Learn to prepare a really delicious green smoothie so that you are always looking forward to the next one. If your drink is not tasty, you will eventually discontinue consuming it. Keep your taste buds happy.

• Always rotate the green leaves that you add to your smoothies. Almost all greens in the world contain minute amounts of alkaloids. Tiny quantities of alkaloids cannot hurt you, and even strengthen the immune system. However, if you keep consuming kale, or spinach, or any other single green for many weeks without rotation, eventually the same type of alkaloids can accumulate in your body and cause unwanted symptoms of poisoning. You may read more of the significance of rotation of greens in the next chapter of this book. Please note that you don’t have to rotate the fruit in your green smoothies. Most commonly used fruit have very little or none of the alkaloids and cannot cause the same toxic reactions as greens. At the same time, rotating fruits will enhance the variety of flavor and nutrition in your smoothies.

• Choose organic produce whenever possible. The absence of pesticides and other toxic chemicals is only one of many benefits of organic food. The most important reason to consume organic food is the superior nutritional of organic fruits and vegetables in comparison to conventionally grown produce.  We have been discussing earlier, how deficient most people are. The best way to nourish your body is to consume organic produce and whenever possible, locally grown. I consider it very important to get the fruit that was allowed to ripen on the vine because it is the best for nourishment. Tree-ripened fruit is several times more nutritious  and when  consumed shortly after picking retains significantly more nutrients.

By Victoria Boutenko, Copyright ©2009
www.rawfamily.com

Making Green Smoothies with Kids!

“Join the Dream”, said the Queen of Green!

Contributed by Karen Schachter

Today is two days after we made the video and guess what my “picky” eater gobbled up for breakfast today? A GREEN smoothie! He boldly announced that it included parsley, and devoured it! He may even tell his friends at Science Camp today – they’re off to a “NASA” field trip – what could be better for an aspiring astronaut than a green smoothie???!! (Remember Tang? When we were kids? Tang is SO passé – GREEN is IN!!)

Meet the Queen’s New “Smooth-ie Operator”

Making a green smoothie when you don’t know which end of your blender is up is enough to make anyone anxious, but making your first ever green smoothie for the “Green Smoothie Queen” herself is downright intimidating. Since today is International Green Smoothie Day, which also happens to coincide with the Queen Mother’s birthday, I figured I’d swallow my pride and wash it down with whatever comes of my green liquid experiment.

While the Queen was on the phone with her mom, I slipped into my home office to watch the step-by-step video instructions of her 9-year-old daughter on how to make a green smoothie. I then discreetly peeled my juicy, fruity ingredients and piled them into the ol’ Osterizer:

Mr. Right’s Green Smoothie for a Queen

• 1 sweet mango
• 1 organic banana
• 1 tender peach
• 1 not-so-ripe fig
• a spoonful of wild blueberries from Lac St-Jean
• half a cup of water and
• a sprinkling of President’s Choice pomegranate fruit juice.

I waited until the smoothie sovereign left the room to blend. Much to my surprise, a beautiful reddish smoothie appeared. Once I was confident enough that the mixture had reached the desired smoothiness, I filled the blender to the rim with Swiss chard (harvested from our community garden last night) and pressed “Blend” again. My smoothie didn’t take on the greenish hue I was expecting, so I filled the blender with chard again and again, until it produced the green I was looking for. I poured the smoothie into wine glasses for the occasion and proudly presented my sweetness with my very first green smoothie.

She was charmed by the gesture and, like me, rather enjoyed the brew. Now that the proverbial ice has been broken, I’ll be perfecting my recipe in hopes of eventually one-upping her Highness of health. Until then, I encourage anyone who’s ever wanted to conquer the unknown, but never dared try for fear of failure, to whip out the ol’ blender and press “liquefy”!

Long live the Queen! And many happy returns to International Green Smoothie Day!

“Mr. Right”

7 Steps to Save Money When You’re Starting Out on Raw Food

by Joyce Wiatrowski of www.foodiefumblings.com

Why should vibrant health, abundant energy and permanent weight loss belong only to those who can afford fancy equipment and expensive supplements or superfoods? Health is available to anyone with a willingness and determination to take responsibility for herself.   And it can be done on a limited budget.

For many people, embarking on a raw food, vegan lifestyle can be an intimidating proposition. Not only are we attempting to re-program our way of thinking about food and nutrition, we’re challenging ingrained habits, and breaking cycles of perceived pleasure that have developed over many years of eating cooked foods laden with sugar, salt and fat. Then we top all that off with changing the way we shop for food. It’s no wonder many experience a lot of frustration starting out. Lack of knowledge, lack of experience, and quite often, lack of funds can ultimately destroy our best intentions.

Have a Plan
Start increasing the amount of fresh food you buy with the same food budget you’ve been using.  Switching to a live foods diet should be a gradual transition. It’s easier on the body and the budget and offers a better shot at success. If you are eliminating meat and dairy from your diet, and that is the best first step toward a healthier lifestyle, allocate the money you would have spent on animal products for fresh, organic fruit and vegetables.
Check your local supermarket weekly sales flyers for produce specials.  Seek out produce markets in your area and certainly check out farmers markets within driving distance.

Make a List
Having the right foods on hand at mealtime and snack time keeps us on track. Invest a little time in making a list based on how you plan to eat.  Green smoothies in the morning?  Salad or raw veggies and dips for lunch? Another smoothie for dinner or some lightly steamed cruciferous veggies?  Be sure you have enough greens and fruit to cover meals and snacks for 3 to 4 days at a time.

Shop Wisely
Make an effort to add one or two new organic choices along with plenty of commercially grown fruit and vegetables each time you shop. Include plenty of dark, leafy greens.  Watch the grocery store ads for produce specials.  This week, at my local grocery chain, organic, vine-ripened tomatoes were $1.99/lb. The commercially grown ones were $2.49/lb. Organic was the better buy.  Shop late in the day at the farmers markets, often locally grown items will be reduced rather than having to truck them back home.  Most local farmers are generous with their count, too, come closing time.

While fresh is best, frozen is next best.  Take advantage of summer specials on berries and melons.  Cut up cantaloupe and honeydew melons, line cake pans or a baking sheet with waxed paper and freeze the pieces individually, when frozen store them in freezer bags for later use.  Wash and hull berries, freeze individually then store in bags.  Squeeze limes and lemons and freeze in ice cube trays. Then transfer to freezer bags. One cube is approximately one tablespoon.  These are great to have on hand to add to salad dressings or when making pâtés, dips and flax crackers.

Do a Little Research
Make your transition an adventure. Don’t worry needlessly about organic vs. non-organic.  Buy organic, when you can.  Get a list of the ‘dirty dozen’ (most pesticide) and choose organic when purchasing those items.  But commercially grown produce beats processed food any day.  The amount of pesticides you may ingest won’t be anything new to your digestive system. If you’ve been eating processed foods, fast foods and packaged convenience foods, your organs have been dealing with fungicides, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, synthetic chemicals, diesel fumes, mold, mildew, fruit flies, larvae, rat droppings and who knows what else.  Our kidneys, liver, digestive system and other organs are proficient at moving it out or storing it up.  Start including more fruit and veggies at every meal and replace at least one meal a day with a big green smoothie.  That’s a recipe that fits anyone’s budget.

Get Your Blender Whirling
Don’t worry about fancy equipment.  The best blender is the one in the cupboard that you aren’t using.  Get it out, set it up on the counter and join the Green Smoothie Challenge.   That’s the best first step anyone can take regardless of economic situation.  If you have a super duper workhorse of a blender, then shame on you if you aren’t putting it to work everyday.

Simplify Superfoods
Don’t fret about not being able to include all the superfoods we hear about.   “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” isn’t some old wives tale!  Buy a bag of organic apples, eat one every day, it’s a great super food. And by the way, apples and pears make a great fruit base for green smoothies without adding too much sugar.

Live Life Fully
Why should vibrant health, energy and permanent weight loss, the benefits derived from adopting a live foods lifestyle, be only for the affluent?   My brimming bags of dark leafy greens cost a fraction of the grocery bills I watch being rung up ahead of me in the check out line.  Best of all, I’ve no need to shop at the pharmacy.  I’ve taken to heart Hippocrates’ admonition:  “Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.”   Green Smoothie, anyone?

Joyce Wiatroski, retired, pursues a vegan lifestyle on a limited budget and blogs regularly about live food meals.

Victoria Boutenko for International Green Smoothie Day!

I am more than pleased to announce the fact that Victoria Boutenko will be joining us tomorrow morning for an exclusive (don’t you love that word!) teleseminar interview in honor of International Green Smoothie Day!

It’s coming up tomorrow and friends, family and frisky health-seekers around the world will be raising their glasses in celebration of the great, green health elixir: GREEN SMOOTHIES!

You’re more than welcome to raise a green glass with us and tune in for tomorrow’s teleseminar with Victoria. You can access the call information here! You’ll see when you get to the teleseminar page, there’s a place where you can leave comments, questions, etc. We’d love it if you put in your great, green greetings–tell us where you’re from and what your favorite green smoothie ingredients are.

I’ll do my best to include pictures, feedback and success stories as they happen throughout the next few days!

I’m playing some groovy tunes in the background and getting excited

Victoria Boutenko For International Green Smoothie Day

I am more than pleased to announce the fact that Victoria Boutenko will be joining us tomorrow morning for an exclusive (don’t you love that word!) teleseminar interview in honor of International Green Smoothie Day!

It’s coming up tomorrow and friends, family and frisky health-seekers around the world will be raising their glasses in celebration of the great, green health elixir: GREEN SMOOTHIES!

You’re more than welcome to raise a green glass with us and tune in for tomorrow’s teleseminar with Victoria. You can access the call information here! You’ll see when you get to the teleseminar page, there’s a place where you can leave comments, questions, etc. We’d love it if you put in your great, green greetings–tell us where you’re from and what your favorite green smoothie ingredients are.

I’ll do my best to include pictures, feedback and success stories as they happen throughout the next few days!

I’m playing some groovy tunes in the background and getting excited!

The Best Foods for Healthy Skin!

A balanced diet is essential for healthy, vibrant skin. The good news is that the foods that happen to be good for your skin are also good for your overall health.

When you here the word “antioxidant” what comes to mind? Antioxidants are substances that may protect cells from the damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals. Free radical damage can lead to chronic disease. Antioxidants interact with and stabilize free radicals and may prevent some of the damage free radicals might otherwise cause. Examples of antioxidants include beta-carotene, lycopene, vitamins C, E, and A, and other substances.

Because there are many different types of antioxidants that can protect your tissues from different types of damage, it is best to eat a wide range of antioxidant-rich foods. How much you benefit from the antioxidants found in the foods you eat depends on how well you breakdown and absorb these foods. One of the best ways of making sure that you are getting plenty of antioxidants in your diet is to strive to eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Antioxidants are plentiful in plant foods, particularly those that have bright colours. I’ve included leafy greens in this list because they  provide a variety of phytonutrients including beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin, which protect our cells from damage.

The following is a list of antioxidant-rich foods:

• Leafy green vegetables (kale, collards, spinach, dandelion, swiss chard, romaine)

• Small red beans

• Wild blueberries

• Red kidney beans, dried

• Pinto beans

• Blueberries, cultivated

• Cranberries

• Artichoke hearts, cooked

• Blackberries

• Dried prunes

• Raspberries

• Strawberries

• Red delicious apple

• Granny Smith apple

• Pecans

• Sweet cherries

• Black plum

• Russet potato, cooked

• Black beans

• Plum

• Gala apple

There are many foods that if eaten regularly as part of an overall well-balanced diet will benefit the skin. However, some foods are better than others and eating these foods that I’ve listed will provide your skin with the extra nutrients required to boost your skin’s health and give you that great complexion you’ve always wanted.

This article was contribute by our in-house esthetician, Tracy Neely. You can learn more about her and her services at www.nourishandflourish.com.

I’ve Been Osterized!

In preparation for International Green Smoothie Day, I’ve been upping my green smoothie quotient.

This morning was a test.

I’ve always told people that you don’t need a fancy, shmancy blender to do the Green Smoothie Challenge. I’ve always told people that they can just use a cheap $10 Osterizer from a garage sale to do the trick.

But as long as I’ve been a raw foodist, I’ve always had a fancy, shmancy blender. So what did I know? Until, this morning!

I had spotted his Osterizer some time ago and decided that it would be perfect for trying out some kitchen experiments for raw foodists on a budget!

Well stocked with Swiss chard from our little garden plot, and oodles of fresh fruit, this morning I decided it was time to pull out the OSTERIZER!

I loaded it up with:

• 2 fresh bananas
• 2 frozen bananas
• 2 peaches
• 1/2 cup of Mr. Right’s Tropicana juice.

If you’re hard core, just add water. I was trying to impress the Prince of Prosciutto, so I sweetened it up with some of his favorite juice!

Then I got this whizzing, whirring, stirring and blending in the old Osterizer until there was a creamy smooth consistency happening. (Honestly, at this point I was already very impressed with the smooth texture.) I was expecting the peel of the peach to be a bit chuncky, but it was smoooth as smoothie gets.

That’s when I started adding the Swiss chard.

I don’t usually add the spine of the leaves. I suppose I added about 5 or 6 big leaves before I called it quits.

I was SHOCKED, AMAZED, IMPRESSED and sooooooo SURPISED that the cheap little Osterizer had pulled off a green smoothie of magnificent smoothness.

Could she have pulverized parsley with the same finesse? I’m not sure.

Could she have done it to grape skins, or think, curly kale? Hard to say.

But this morning’s ingredients were no competition to the persistent little blades of this blender beauty.

I still loooove my Blendtec. I don’t think this little Osterizer could ever pump out almond milk or other concoctions that I’ve come to love with my fancy, shmancy blender. But the proof is definitely in the green pudding this morning:

When you’re starting out on green smoothies

and managing a budget, you definitely,

definitely do NOT need to spend

a fortune on a blender!

P.S.

Aside from the 10 reasons I’ve written before about why I prefer Blendtec, and aside from the fact that Blendtec wins the banana ice cream making competition HANDS DOWN, E V E R Y TIME over other blenders that might attempt to compete against it, the BIGGEST reason I am fiercely loyal to Blendtec is because they have no quarrel with the fact that we tell people they do NOT need to buy a fancy, shmancy blender to make green smoothies.

When International Green Smoothie Day launched last year, we were actually approached by another company who offered to sponsor us. We politely declined when we were told that their sponsorship was conditional upon us removing all traces of garage sale/hardware store blenders from our site and instead telling people that they must buy their fancy, shmancy blender to make green smoothies.

Pshaw!

Money should NOT get in the way of your health!

Here’s a BIG Green Smoothie toast to Blendtec,  and to Osterizer-uses everywhere and here’s to making due with what you’ve got when you’ve got it!

Because grass roots grow, Baby, and you’ve gotta start somewhere.

Now, I’m off this soap box and outta here to take on the day!

Charmed by chard,

Green Smoothie Queen

I’ve Been Osterized! Getting a Cheap Blender to Work Miracles

In honor of our upcoming International Green Smoothie Day, this is another friendly hijacking courtesy of the ever-youthful, ever-green, Green Smoothie Queen:

In preparation for International Green Smoothie Day, I’ve been upping my green smoothie quotient.

This morning was a test.

I’ve always told people that you don’t need a fancy, shmancy blender to do the Green Smoothie Challenge. I’ve always told people that they can just use a cheap $10 Osterizer from a garage sale to do the trick.

But as long as I’ve been a raw foodist, I’ve always had a fancy, shmancy blender. So what did I know? Until, this morning!

I had spotted his Osterizer some time ago and decided that it would be perfect for trying out some kitchen experiments for raw foodists on a budget!

Well stocked with Swiss chard from our little garden plot, and oodles of fresh fruit, this morning I decided it was time to pull out the OSTERIZER!

I loaded it up with:

• 2 fresh bananas
• 2 frozen bananas
• 2 peaches
• 1/2 cup of Mr. Right’s Tropicana juice.

If you’re hard core, just add water. I was trying to impress the Prince of Prosciutto, so I sweetened it up with some of his favorite juice!

Then I got this whizzing, whirring, stirring and blending in the old Osterizer until there was a creamy smooth consistency happening. (Honestly, at this point I was already very impressed with the smooth texture.) I was expecting the peel of the peach to be a bit chuncky, but it was smoooth as smoothie gets.

That’s when I started adding the Swiss chard.

I don’t usually add the spine of the leaves. I suppose I added about 5 or 6 big leaves before I called it quits.

I was SHOCKED, AMAZED, IMPRESSED and sooooooo SURPISED that the cheap little Osterizer had pulled off a green smoothie of magnificent smoothness.

Could she have pulverized parsley with the same finesse? I’m not sure.

Could she have done it to grape skins, or think, curly kale? Hard to say.

But this morning’s ingredients were no competition to the persistent little blades of this blending beauty.

I still loooove my Blendtec. I don’t think this little Osterizer could ever pump out almond milk or other concoctions that I’ve come to love with my fancy, shmancy blender. But the proof is definitely in the green pudding this morning:

When you’re starting out on green smoothies

and managing a budget, you definitely,

definitely do NOT need to spend

a fortune on a blender!

P.S.

Aside from the 10 reasons I’ve written before about why I prefer Blendtec, and aside from the fact that Blendtec wins the banana ice cream making competition HANDS DOWN, E V E R Y TIME over other blenders that might attempt to compete against it, the BIGGEST reason I am fiercely loyal to Blendtec is because they have no quarrel with the fact that we tell people they do NOT need to buy a fancy, shmancy blender to make green smoothies.

When International Green Smoothie Day launched last year, we were actually approached by another company who offered to sponsor us. We politely declined when we were told that their sponsorship was conditional upon us removing all traces of garage sale/hardware store blenders from our site and instead telling people that they must buy their fancy, shmancy blender to make green smoothies.

Pshaw!

Money should NOT get in the way of your health!

Here’s a BIG Green Smoothie toast to Blendtec,  and to Osterizer-uses everywhere and here’s to making due with what you’ve got when you’ve got it!

Because grass roots grow, Baby, and you’ve gotta start somewhere.

Now, I’m off this soap box and outta here to take on the day!

Charmed by chard,

Green Smoothie Queen

International Green Smoothie Day is Coming!

Okay, Divas! Prepare yourself for the greatest green extravaganza we’ve ever given. For the next week your friendly neighborhood Diva blog is going to be hijacked by the Green Smoothie Queen who is the smoooooth operator of some exciting plans for our upcoming International Green Smoothie Day on August 15th.

YOU can get onboard and join the celebrations and help make this an AMAZING event! Here’s the blog entry “The Queen” posted on The Green Smoothie Blog! We’ll be keeping you posted here, so stay tuned for some chard and parsley-inspired adventures!

Oooooh sweet, Swiss chard! I can’t believe our International Green Smoothie Day will be kicking off in just a few days! For those of you who haven’t yet registered, it’s not too late to jump on board for this adventure! You can sign up at our Green Smoothie Queen site.

When you check out that page, you’ll notice a whole lot of logo lovin’ going on. That’s because we’ve had scads of enthusiastic contributors joining in to help us with this event. Many of you are likely wondering:

How Can I Win That Spanky New Blendtec Blender??

Well, my little lambs quarter lover, I’ll tell you all about it.

You see, the tradition with our Green Smoothie celebrations is that we give away a Blendtec Blendter (sometimes two) to the person who makes the biggest impact on their social community. This program is all about making health and vitality accessible to EVERYONE! It’s about sharing wisdom, not profits. It’s about health, not Hallmark!

We’ve very lucky to be sponsored by Blendtec and Excalibur and we want to make sure that the winners of these prizes feel honored to be given these gifts! That’s why we invite participants of our Green Smoothie Challenge to host a Green Smoothie Party of some kind. The last time we did this event for St. Patrick’s Day, our winner was from Mexico, and she shared Green Smoothies with her entire school of elementary-aged children! You can check out the pictures and the submissions of our other winners here! We requested the most creative Green Smoothie photo, and the classiest Green Smoothie photo, too! We had all kinds of things and it was REALLY exciting to see everyone’s contributions. Our winner recorded a fantastic video and it was really an exciting thing to see.

Last year’s International Green Smoothie Day winner invited as many friends as she could over to her house. Cats and dogs included, the numbers were high enough that she won the grand prize! Another winner brought little handouts to work and shared green smoothies with her co-workers!

We’re not asking for the impossible, we just want to see some initiative and inspiration! Show us that you’re out there making a difference and we’ll acknowledge you for your efforts with accolades and express packages in the mail!

We have TWO grand prizes to give away this year. The Blendtec blender AND a 9-tray Excalibur dehydrator! There are LOADS of other treats, goodies, DVDs, books, ebooks, coaching and all kinds of surprises contributed by friends and associates, and those will be chosen by a draw. All participants of the program will be entered in the draw, but those who contribute to the Powder Room forum, those who send in recipes, videos, etc. will get their name thrown into the hat a few more times.

Contribution counts. What are YOU doing to get involved, inspired and sharing the good news with your community?

That’s what Green Smoothie Day all about!

If you’ve not yet read our announcement page, it’s worth checking out. Not just because it does a rather fine job of summing up my view on life as a raw foodist, but because it explains the purpose behind this event!

My garden is billowing with Swiss chard, fresh parsley and all the ingredients I need to make the best green smoothies ever!Prepare yourselves for the adventure! Stock up and get your blenders ready and revved for action! Saturday we kick off our International Green Smoothie Day Celebrations and want YOU on board making it all happen with us!

Okay, Sparkle Puff, my to do list is calling, but I’m excited to have kick started this Green Smoothie extravaganza and look forward to hearing from you! Just so you know, all Green Smoothie Day contest entries need to be submitted in the Powder Room this year! If you have any questions about how to get started and join in the fun, then contact me at:

thequeen at greensmoothiequeen dot com

Love and lambs quarters,

GSQ

*smooch*