Robyn's Blog

Y’all know I am madly in love with the BlendTec Total Blender.  (So much so that I, for now anyway, give 12 Steps to Whole Foods away when you get one through the link on this site.)  It’s not just an appliance, not just a blender . . . it’s really my best friend.  Okay, I’m getting carried away, but I do spend more time with my Total Blender than I do my best friends, I think.

Today I was helping in the 3rd grade for Rome Day, gorgeous sunny day in Utah after a crazy-snowy month.  Another volunteer mom came up and said she reads my site/blog and had questions about buying a Total Blender.  She said, “I’ve just been waiting to buy it because I’m afraid I won’t use it.”

My friend Cheryl said this same thing to me a year or two ago before taking the plunge.  I lent her my backup machine to try it out.  But this is what I told her.  It’s not going to jump off the counter and conk you on the head till you use it.  It won’t make a peep.  You have to actually put stuff in it every day and push the buttons to start the blade turning.

That said, I think that when you buy something that hurts a little (requires a financial sacrifice), maybe you even had to save for a while and cut expenses in another area, you make a commitment.  You have a higher probability of succeeding.  Incidentally, that’s how Jenny Craig and other diet centers make their money–the fact that once you plunk down a chunk of change, you are more likely to follow through with the commitment to lose weight. 

I hope your turbo blender isn’t just SITTING ON THE COUNTER.  Tell me . . . IS IT?!?!

Those of you using it DAILY, what-all do you do with it?

After a year of thinking and searching deeply about going vegetarian, I took the leap in September of ’08. What made the transition easy was the discovery of the green smoothie! I first heard of them on Robyn’s informative website, greensmoothiegirl.com. I was intrigued and investigated the origins of green smoothies and started to find whole blogging communities who were drinking these liquid vegetable treats. I viewed many of the YouTube videos Robyn had posted and saw how simple it was to get my veggies the green smoothie way. I started right away, using my simple kitchen blender. My 11 y.o. son and my husband were curious and started drinking them with me almost immediately. We LOVE them!

The chronic eczema around edges of my scalp are clearing up (some are completely gone!), ridges in my fingernails are flattening out and nails have become hard, chronic tiredness has been replaced with vibrant energy, mild arthritic symptoms in fingers vanished, hypothyroid symptoms growing less (although I’m on a low dose of Armour and have been for years, I still experience many of the hypothyroid symptoms – but they are really improving!), insomnia seems to be vanquished, I’ve lost 9 lbs so far, and I don’t know if this could be related but I no longer sunburn!

But what is truly amazing is that I’m growing in streaks of brown hair where it was solid silver before–fabulous!

We are experiencing great health benefits from these marvelous drinks and I think we may be addicted to the vibrancy and high energy kick we get from them. I’ll be getting results from a blood test next week and I can’t wait to see the numbers! I’ve turned several friends and family members into green smoothie drinkers and am actually pursuing a radio show where I will be able to discuss and share my progress with others. Thank you Robyn for GreenSmoothieGirl blogs! Your generosity in sharing your info with the world has inspired so many to move towards health!

–Cher

I love them, I love green smoothies anyway, and I love your recipes the best. It is so good to have mainly greens and a few fruits instead of the other way around as I was previously doing. I love them and my kids do also. They crave them as I do.

–Anon.

So you’ve been reading about chia seed.  (I know this because I get lots of questions about it.)  Yep, I’m talking about the little things that grow the chia pet, now getting lots of attention as a power food.  And it is.  A highly expensive one (I bought a pound of it recently for about $18).

Chia seed has 7 times as much iron as spinach.  At 18%, it has more protein than beef, and its amino acids comprise a complete protein.  It slows conversion of sugars in the bloodstream, so it’s great to eat with a high-sugar meal.  (I mean like potatoes or fruit–hopefully y’all have abandoned or are at least minimizing refined sugars.)

Its mucilaginous properties mean it absorbs toxins, and it’s fantastic for weight loss.  I don’t like to eat after dinner, so if my dinner was light and I get really hungry later, what I do is eat a large spoonful of chia seed and chase it with a big glass of water.  It absorbs 10 times its own weight in fluids, so it fills you up when you are hungry with hardly any calories.

It tastes mild–tastes like nothing, really.  You can sprinkle it in cereal, or put it in a smoothie–but it will dramatically thicken your smoothie.  For that matter, it’s a great thickener!  Put 1 tsp. chia seed in 3 Tbsp. water, and you’ve got yourself an egg replacement.

It’s packed with those rare Omega fatty acids that your body cannot manufacture and must receive from foods–in perfect proportions.  And it stores for a very long time!

I highly recommend it.  I’ll find a way eventually to get it for cheaper in a local group buy (maybe national–we’ll see!).  I wish it were less expensive.

Now flax seed is still quite inexpensive at less than $1/lb.  You can watch my YouTube video making flax crackers if you want to hear more about its virtues, or read Ch. 4 of 12 Steps to Whole Foods. (All my demos are on GreenSmoothieGirl.com under the Videos tab now–and I have lots of new ones coming.)

Just want to share a thought from GSG reader Rochelle T., who happens to also be my cousin, whom I set up with her husband 19 years ago!  (I have 65 first cousins, 49 of them Romneys, but she’s the one I’ve been closest to my whole life–now she has 5 children.)  She was trying to figure a way to get flaxseed in her diet every day.  She just eats a spoonful of ground flax seed every morning, chasing it with water.  She says it’s nutty and pleasant tasting and it’s a great habit she’s gotten into.  Great idea.  Keep in mind that grinding flax seed (unnecessary with chia) makes its nutritional properties much more available.  Just don’t grind it far in advance, as it goes rancid quickly.

Hope this is helpful!

Here you go, if you’d like to sign up in the first 2,500 before they close preregistration.  And let your friends know who shop at health food stores or are undertaking the GreenSmoothieGirl.com program:

http://www.budurl.com/gpdb

For those of you who missed the teleseminar on Green Polka Dot Box’s launch, here’s the audio file now on GreenSmoothieGirl.com!

GPDB is an online wholesale buying club for natural and organic products.  That’s free home delivery (for orders over $150, and $8.99 for orders less than that) and pricing 10% to 50% less than in the health food store, for things you’re currently buying at Whole Foods or other health food stores.

This is a big opportunity and the founder is cutting off preregistration at 2,500 before the launch June 1, so I hope you get involved like I did.  You lose nothing by registering because you’ll be sent notification before the launch to activate your membership–no cost to you until then.  And the membership fee is similar to Costco’s–your savings (and rewards program for referring others, if you choose to do so) will more than pay for itself. 

Here’s the seminar link:

http://greensmoothiegirl.com/downloadgpdb.html

Good Day Robyn~ I am wondering where/how to order the 1/2 gallon of colloidal silver mentioned on your site under “food storage”.

Also, my friend showed me your site nearly a week ago, and we are both “doing it”. Her husband has joined her in going green, and she is a big support to me. I believe she and I have decided to go raw (attempt 80%) previous to coming across your site, and you have surely helped us in this endeavour. Much appreciated.

I am trying to work with my children on this, as I battle my husband:) (at least he is consuming more free-range meat).. I’m finding that I need to beat him to the kitchen, and make the meal tasty.. trial and error.. and he typically “goes for it”.

Anyhow, I look forward to posting in the future about how my children (3 girls, 11,8,6 and 1 boy, 3) do in our journey to optimal health. Thanks for the help, support, encouragement and education.

GreenSmoothieGirl.com reader Tonya C. donated a recipe for yummy “chips” (I call them “crisps” because they’re really light and airy) made in the dehydrator. I have significantly altered the recipe. Brewer’s Yeast is a good way for vegans to obtain Vitamin B12.

Cheesy Kale/Collard Crisps

1/3 cup cashews, soaked 1-2 hours (optionally)

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

3 Tbsp. water

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp. Original Himalayan Crystal Salt

¼ cup nutritional (or Brewer’s) yeast

2 green onions (including the green part)

½ tsp. chili powder

1/4 tsp. cayenne

1/4 tsp. turmeric

1 clove garlic

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients well in Total Blender. Press one side of 20-30 small kale or collard leaves (stems removed) in mixture and dry them for 4-6 hours in Excalibur dehydrator (until crispy).

Here’s a hilarious video of Tonya’s adorable 2-year old Emily making and eating the chips that her family calls “Emily’s Cheetohs.” They were disappearing during the night because Emily would wake up and wander into the kitchen to eat them:

http://raw100.ning.com/video/video/show?id=2170300%3AVideo%3A228864&xgs=1

Enjoy!

p.s. If you’ve been wanting an Excalibur dehydrator, here’s a link to another blog entry with another cracker recipe I really like, and a link to get a dehydrator:

http:///www.greensmoothiegirl.com/blog/?p=369

I am back from my spring break vacation and I have to say . . . drum roll please . . . people from this state PLEASE DO NOT HATE ME . . . that in the 16 countries and half-dozen U.S. cities I have visited in the past year, I have officially found . . .

the worst-nutrition, hardest-to-eat-right place on at least several continents, and it is . . .

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS.

My goodness, I need a detox.  And I skipped a couple meals and tried REALLY HARD to find good salads, at least.  And took along my Greens to Go to add to water bottles (at Costco, really expensive, unfortunately, but great for travel).

Part of the problem is that my friend, Shari, whom I travel with, was told by her family not to come home unless she went to this place, Rudy’s, and ate there.  (Shari and I are food opposites, as her dad was raised by a butcher, where my mom was raised by produce dealers–in Texas, actually.)  I wasn’t going to get her disowned, of course–it’s just food, after all.  You know, when in Rome . . .

Rudy’s is a BBQ joint–in a convenience store, no lie, serving each person’s food in a Pepsi crate with a piece of paper thrown in to line it, and BBQ’d meat sold by weight and a famous creamed corn.  You feel kinda like a pig eating from a trough.  It was half an hour from San Antonio.  Not my kinda place, let’s just say–I got the coleslaw, and that’s officially the only thing close to green served there besides pickles.  I sneaked a peek at the BBQ sauce ingredients, and at least I didn’t see MSG on it, at least, though it might be hiding in some other ingredients.  There’s a memorial plaque on the wall to Doc, the founder of the joint.  I forgot to ask how the poor man died, but I have an educated guess.

So wow.  Texans being the proud folks they are (all my kids got t-shirts saying “Don’t Mess With Texas” and various chest-pounding machismo), you don’t exactly go around saying words like “vegetarian” or “plant-based diet” out loud.

I’d say Texas is the virtual opposite of California’s earth-crunchiness.  But oh my goodness, the bighearted people there.  Shari didn’t know how we’d get to Rudy’s, since all the car rentals were out of cars because of Fiesta going on.  (And don’t forget she’d get disowned if she didn’t get us to Rudy’s, so she was feeling motivated and resourceful.)

So she looked up Mormon bishops in the phone book, called one to see if he knew a single mom who wanted to drive us out there and we’d buy her dinner and pay for gas.  And get this, instead of tossing us to some single person, he AND his wife came to get us, GAVE US THEIR SON’S CAR for three days, welcomed us into their home to hang out (twice) and map out our sightseeing and give us snacks, then drove us to the airport at the end of it all and said if we come again to stay with them.  I’ll never forget that.  (I love being Mormon even more that usual at times like these–this is not my first experience being rescued by a Mormon bishop.  And Southern Mormons, well, that’s a double whammy of hospitality.  Thanks, Lee and Leisa.)

More Green Smoothie testimonials from my research:

My husband and I have been enjoying green smoothies 6-7 times a week for the past 9 months. We are hooked! In fact, we went on vacation for a week and missed our BlendTec blender and green smoothie so much, we could hardly wait to get back home to start again. My husband was diagnosed with bladder cancer three years ago, and the doctor consistently was removing new tumor sites every three months.

Once we found the Green Smoothie Girl.com site, got our blender, and started making the smoothies, he has consistently been clear of any new tumors. His latest colonoscopy this year was also clear, he has more energy, and feels healthy and strong. We will not go without our healthy green start each day! We can’t thank you enough!

–Nancy K.

I have hyperthyroid (Graves Disease) and have been on Propyl-Thyracil (PTU) for the past 15 years. During this time, doctors and specialists have urged me to go on radioactive iodine, and some of them have even ridiculed me for wanting to consider alternative methods.

I knew instinctively that an answer lay for me in something else besides pills. But I was told that they knew of nothing else and that the iodine treatment was pretty standard. (Well, not for me, thank you very much!) I have searched and searched for years. I even went off PTU for three months thinking that I could use positive thinking and visualization to heal myself…but to no avail.

So when I came across green smoothies in about June 2008, I knew that it was more like a liquid salad, full of nutrition and basic goodness. So together with beginning a high raw foodstyle, I was able to decrease my PTU intake every 3 months since then, when having an appointment with my endocrinologist to check out blood work. I had been on three PTUs per day.

So after the first three months, I decreased it to two, thinking that there would be some changes to my blood work results. Since there was none, again after three months, I decreased it to one PTU per day. Again no changes in T4, Free T3, and sTSH results. My last appointment with the endocrinologist was in January 2009. Again no changes.

She was delighted and suggested that I come off PTU completely. I almost fell off my chair that a doctor would suggest no pills. Of my own choice, and with her approval, I asked if I should consider half a PTU per day until my next appointment. She agreed. To date, I feel fine with no increased palpitation and an abundance of energy. Thank you so much green smoothies, and most of all, thank you to Robyn for her relentless pursuit of research.

–Hal Walter (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)

More Green Smoothie testimonials from my research:
Green smoothies are easy and quick to do and keep me full and alert way past lunch time. This past growing season I had access to lots and lots of lettuce. I would use between 2 and 3 cups in my smoothie along with other greens, but long after the other greens were gone there was still plenty of leaf lettuce in many colors and kinds. All of my greens came from my local farmers’ market.

–Anon

I wish my mother had fed me green smoothies from birth. If she had I would not have had all this pain and suffering I have been through. I understand nowadays that my body was only crying out for help from me. I only wish all people I know–soon–will come to understand this. Good health to all– THANKS!!

–Anon

I have enjoyed physical changes in my body. I have enjoyed some weight loss, great digestion, and increased desire to reduce cooked and processed foods. I have talked to others about using the green smoothies as a means to improve their overall health.

–C. Brown

I feel that prayer led me to your Web site, and looking at the other testimonials, this seems to be a common theme! What a blessing to have such information at my fingertips! I felt good about the smoothies, and they made obvious sense to me, so I decided to make them. Imagine my surprise, therefore, when suddenly all of my pregnancy-fat from the last two kids melted away (I haven’t worn this size jeans in 3 years) and I found myself struggling to get enough calories to nurse!

My husband has noticed a definite improvement in my attitude after I started a colon cleanse (smoothies clean out your liver, and everything needed somewhere to go) and so now, he wants to do one, too! My 2 1/2 year-old likes smoothies just fine (‘moothie!) and that’s even with chard!

–Steffanie D.

I started drinking green smoothies almost three years ago and lost over 30 pounds, regained my health, and felt 10 years younger. My children never need visits to the doctor unless they have been injured. The evidence is so obvious that I cannot ever cease this miracle drink.

–Julie Greenman