Robyn's Blog

Q: Dear GreenSmoothieGirl:  Can I get “The Green Smoothies Diet” as an e-book?

A: Yes, you can.  You can purchase the book in PDF format here.

–Jenni (GSG admin)

My assistant Jenni has compiled the questions coming in after my email PRE-announcing the raw almond buy.  Here are my answers:

When can I order?

We won’t have almonds coming out of the trees until Oct. 15, and we’ll send out an email letting you begin placing orders Sept. 15.  This year I will give you longer to order (2 months) because I know lots of you want to organize a co-op.

How do I order?

I will have it completely automated on the site (like last year, if you were involved in the group buy then).  You’ll place your online order and mail a check for yourself and anyone else in your order.  I don’t know if I’ll take credit cards (the site didn’t even have that capability last year)–probably will do so with an added fee as we are keeping costs extremely low for you ($3/lb.).

How and when are they shipped?

They will begin shipping about Oct. 15.  Some will go UPS, and larger orders (600 lbs. and above, usually) will go by truck.  If you have a large order, if you’re a health food store or have access to a business, the truck delivery is so much easier for us if we can have it delivered to a business.

Do we prepay or pay on delivery?

Prepay.

Can I purchase if I live in Australia or Canada?

No, sorry.  We did have a couple groups order from Canada last year only because they received their shipment across the U.S. border.

Can they be shipped to any state?

Yes.

How much is shipping?

Only $0.25/lb. if your group order is 1,100 lbs. or more.  $0.50/lb. if you order 600-1,000 lbs.  $0.75/lb. if you order 100-500 lbs.

How are they shipped?

UPS (smaller orders) or truck (bigger orders).  You can order only in 100 lb. increments, so it works well (if that’s too much for you) if you round up some friends to split an order.  100 lbs. is about 9 or 10 one-gallon Ziploc freezer bags, full.

Can I tell people that these almonds are NOT pasteurized legally?

Correct!

Is there a minimum purchase requirement?

Pretty sure it will be 100 lbs.

How well do these almonds keep?  Do they turn rancid quickly?

They’ll be stale and possibly turning slightly rancid, stored at room temperature, in about 18-24 months.  Refrigerate them and they’ll last a few years.  Freeze them and they store indefinitely.

What is the best way to store the almonds and how long do they keep?

The above answer covers that.

How can I find someone in my area to buy with? Or how do I plug into an existing co-op?

Ask around, people you know who are into health, people at the health food store.  Post on craigslist.  Respond to this blog entry telling people in your area to hook up with you.  Post your email like this: “jamiek at gmail dot com so your email address isn’t mined by others I cannot control.”

What do I do if I don’t want to organize a co-op but want to order almonds?

You’re welcome to just order 100 lbs. for just yourself.  Most people do.

Where do the almonds come from?

California.

Are the almonds organic?

Not certified. The rancher has not used spray in 15 years of owning the ranch, however. And tree nuts, after being shelled, are not a food I feel we have to be too worried about the “organic” certification.  Organic almonds are generally found for about $8/lb.!

What is your (Robyn) annual almond consumption?

About 100 lbs. for my family of 5.

Won’t the almonds be irradiated during the shipping process?

NO.

Since Calif. law requires pasteurization of almonds, does that mean there is a lot of bacteria on the nuts?  Are they safe for young children and older people or people who have chronic illnesses?

Billions of bacterial cells are on everything. Plant and animal foods always have bacteria. We should not fear it if we have strong immune systems and drink lots of water and eat mostly raw, alkaline, plant food. Animal protein is MUCH higher in bacteria (raw or cooked). I am unaware of any problem with almonds for anyone. Remember, until Sept. 2007, almonds were routinely sold raw.

I am interested in making almond milk.

That’s a GREAT way to use raw, soaked (live) almonds.  4 parts water, 1 part almonds, blended until very smooth in the blender, strained if you want, a bit of vanilla if you want.

What if I live in Springville (Utah Wasatch Front)?

Locals will get a separate email from me offering a separate LOCALS ONLY buy, pickup when notified by email, with NO SHIPPING COST.

I am kind of interested in knowing if any of the people that frequent this site are in my area. It would be nice to meet someone local to see about doing things jointly with… such as an almond purchase. Is anyone intersted in listing name, city/state and maybe email for orders not local to Utah. I really want some almonds but have not found anyone interested in sharing an order as my friends all think my eating habits are nuts.

By the way, I found and made a flourless brownie recipe yesterday and it was very good. Even my husband, who can eat regular brownies said they were as good as any he has had.  It is as follows….

Flourless Brownies

Makes 16

No one will ever guess that black beans are the secret ingredient in this recipe!

Ingredients

1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added black beans, drained and rinsed (I cook and use my own as I always have some on hand)

3 large eggs ( I used egg substitute)

1/3 cup melted butter, more for the baking dish ( I used raw coconut oil)

1/4 cup raw cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cane sugar ( I use raw cane sugar)

1/2 cup gluten-free semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Oil an 8-inch baking pan. Place the black beans, eggs, melted butter/oil, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla, and sugar in the

bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth. Remove the blade and stir in the chocolate chips and

walnuts. Transfer mixture to the prepared pan. Bake the brownies for 30 to 35 minutes, or until just set in the center.

Cool before cutting into squares.

Nutrition

Per serving (1 brownie/about 2oz/60g-wt.): 160 calories (80 from fat), 9g total fat, 4g saturated fat, 50mg

cholesterol, 35mg sodium, 17g total carbohydrate (2g dietary fiber, 12g sugar), 4g protein

Tags:

Wheat Free, Low Sodium, Vegetarian, Gluten Free

Bon Apetit!

I get it that alkaline water is the best, but the price tag of the Life Ionizer is out of my comfort zone.  What’s the next best thing?  What are the alternatives, if we can’t afford an ionizer?  Thanks.

While Robyn had reported, and I whole heartedly agree, that San Antonio, TX is one of the worst places in the country to eat out healthy… I have found a new place in Houston, and a few other places in the country, that might peak your interests. It is called PIZZA FUSION. All organic, vegan, gluten free and lactose free pizza, wrap, salad and sandwich creations of all kinds. As a celiac vegan I am totally impressed and thought some of these health minded people from this site might be interested. They are only in a few areas but if more were to open it would be a very good thing! We only have a limited number of these type of places around town even as HUGE as Houston is. Maybe if those of you who live in the upper NW area could find someone to open a franchise it would do well in your area. I hope someone else lives near one of them!

Bon Apetit

The new pic of you is really nice.  So is the  new look of the website.

I purchased the salad cookbook over the weekend and tried the first recipe for lunch today – Tomato, Avocado, Almond salad.  It was soooooooo good!  I almost ate the entire thing by myself.  Could you tell me how many servings that salad is meant to be?

Thanks again!

Bekki

Hi,

I am new to the site and new to green smoothies and of course have one big question. So here it is:

I have been doing green smoothies for 2 weeks but I am sure if I am using the right combination of ingredients :

3.5 onces of spinach or/and kale

2 handfuls of almonds or walnuts

2 tbsp of flax seed ground or coconut oil

2 cups of water or fresh coconut water

2 scoops for whey protein or yogurt

2 scoops of acai powder

2 cup of berries or other fruit like mango or papaya, etc

1 banana

The blender jar will be full when I am done and I drink half of it for breakfast and give my mom the other half for breakfast too.

Is it to heavy for breakfast?

Please let me know your thoughts.

Thank you

Here are some photos of more gorgeous, healthy kids drinking better nutrition than 99% of kids in America get.  Greens have the most bioavailable calcium you can get—far better than cow milk (contrary to popular belief), unless you’re a baby cow, of course.

This is what their mother says:

Dear GreenSmoothieGirl,

Thought you would enjoy these pictures of my green smoothie kids.  Madison is 9 yrs old and Heath is 7.  We’ve been doing green smoothies for about a year and a half and everyone loves them.  I’ve taught the kids that strong muscles and bones come from the vitamins and minerals in fresh fruits & veggies, especially leafy greens.  They like to show me how much their muscles have grown after drinking a smoothie :).

In April this year, Madi fell off her bike and broke both bones in her left wrist.  I made sure she got her smoothies every day along with lots of salads with supper to make sure she got the proper nutrition so her bones could heal well.  Her final doctor appointment was six weeks after the cast came off and they did an x-ray to see how the bones had healed.  When I first saw the x-ray, I was astounded!  I wondered if they had x-rayed the right child!  I had seen the x-rays they took when the bones were broken and the difference between the first ones and the last ones were like night and day.  Sure, the broken bones healed, but the doctor told us that extra bone had actually grown around the fractures.  He said if she fell again in the same way that they wouldn’t break like that again.

Thanks, Robyn, for sharing your knowledge.  It truly is priceless!  And, as my kids would say, “Green Smoothies Rock!”

Jenny in Nebraska

Which brands do you folks use??

I’m a little concerned about spraying “chemicals” on my food during the cleaning process……

Thanks!