Robyn's Blog

So lots of you have been getting your group buy items. It’s fun and the almonds JUST came out of the trees–you’ve probably never had them so fresh in your life!

The one problem we’ve had this year is that almonds came out of the trees later than expected due to weather (Butte Padres, the variety we got, are harvested later than most). So the shellers are backed up and we send a truck every time we can get 10,000 lbs. But we are shipping later than I would like. So we’ve gotten all the orders through Oct. 15 out and are working on Oct. 16-20 this week.

Thank you for your patience! Keep in mind that we’re not a store–we’re facilitating a group buy. So this isn’t Amazon. We collect orders for two weeks, order in quantity from the various suppliers, and then when it arrives we ship it. It’s going well except for ALMONDS being the bottleneck!

I had a dinner party last week. In addition to my boyfriend’s three sisters, his ex-wife, and her sisters and mother (yes, you read that correctly–and said BF was NOT in attendance) . . . a guest star was GSG reader Desiree Hancock.

She is this gorgeous young mom who is a WIZARD in the kitchen and she has been working furiously to test the recipes for our joint production,

HEALTHY HOLIDAY RECIPES FOR RAVE REVIEWS

It was a surprise for Craig that she made several versions of vegan, whole-grain, naturally sweetened carrot-cake cupcakes, his favorite thing ever. And then he wasn’t there. :( So he tried the cupcakes four days later. And he wrote me something like this:

“OMG!! If it doesn’t work out with you and me, please tell Desiree I want to marry her!!”

That was his reaction to the STALE cupcakes! Holy cow they were SO DANG GOOD! (Sorry, Craig, she’s married.)

Anyway, I’m so excited about the recipe collection to help you offer your family fantastic-tasting “traditional” favorites that you don’t have to feel guilty about! Virtually all the ingredients are vegan and gluten free, and you’ll have lots of raw ingredients too.

I’m excited! Don’t run to the GSG store yet, though, because we won’t have it all perfect and pretty until Weds. This is our first-ever recipe collection with PHOTOS. On Weds., I’ll post a sample recipe and photo–hope you’re as excited as I am to have you try Desiree’s magic!

Each cube is a teaspoonful of sugar. (I wish the raw fruits and vegetables didn’t show sugar cubes, because the sugars in them are not refined and therefore so much better.)

Well UPS just dropped off 100#’s of almonds at my front door. Guess I need to get busy dividing and delivering to the folks who went in with me on this group buy. Then I get to fill my freezer with the remaining 60# we are keeping for ourselves. :)

I don’t know about you-all, but I have a lot of sick people in my life right now. A couple of my tennis-club girlfriends are having serious issues affecting their ability to play–these being women in their 30′s and 40′s–like ovarian cancer and blurry vision suspected to be a brain tumor. Another of my good friends had brain surgery a few weeks ago for an aneurysm, and was told that her veins look 70 years old. I could go on, but suffice it to say that I seem to be surrounded by folks getting cancer, thyroid problems, gout, and many other issues.

This weighs heavily on me. In my community, people know each other well because most (far more than 75%) belong to the same church, so either we go to church together, or we know the few who don’t. My church, world-wide, has a well-run system to make sure that no one is without a regular visitor to check up on them and help meet their needs. There are welfare systems in place for those who hit hard times, and if you are ill, WATCH OUT–the women’s organization will be all over you with loads of casseroles, treats, and all manner of food items!

I watched my girlfriend who has a 16-inch scar on her head (and her really long, curly hair gone now but growing in beautifully already). She and her husband are very well known in the community. He is a rather famous local recording artist, and she is one of the kindest, service-oriented people I know.

So people wanted to help. Every time I’m at their house since her recovery I see things that I know she does not want to eat. LOTS of homemade “stardard American diet.” She loves plant food, would be vegetarian except for (1) her love of occasional shrimp, and (2) the fact that her husband likes his meat and she likes to oblige.

In this community, you can find yourself wondering what you could do to help–with so many others lovin’ this family up. (I’m on a list to babysit their youngest child, but they never take me up on it . . .)

Well, my way to help when someone has surgery, or is bedridden, is GREEN SMOOTHIES. It’s unique and it’s appreciated more than another plate of “goodies.” However much they want–a pint a day, or a quart. Sometimes the spouse wants some, too. I’ve had a wonderful experience with helping people in this way. Even if they aren’t interested in nutrition, they seem to always appreciate the smoothies and always want to give me feedback about how much better they feel, drinking them. Sometimes they keep the habit up, themselves, after they recover.

I also get the sense that of all the food that pours into my girlfriend’s house (the one with the aneurysm), they appreciate and anticipate green smoothies more. Very frankly, the last thing people need when they are SICK is more of the food that helped get them that way. You’re never more motivated to make lifestyle changes than when you’re ill.

This isn’t to criticize the way so many show love with food, because the givers’ hearts are in the right place. Once I read a rant by an extremely overweight person about how she wished people would not give her chocolate and other junk food for various occasions requiring gifts. She called it “abuse.” Is it abuse to give an obese person a box of chocolates?

I’ll leave that question hanging out there. Fact is, all I want to say is that if you make green smoothies every day for yourself, you already understand something most people don’t. You’ve learned the “highest and best use” of your kitchen time. When your life allows it, double that and take some to someone else you know would benefit. (If you’re shy, ask them first. Or just take them a pint. Explain why you think it might benefit them.)

It’s a gift of your time and energy (and it isn’t free, of course). But as people are wringing their hands right now about flu and H1N1, you can do something during the winter and holidays to HELP instead of hurt their health. It’s pretty easy and people are SO grateful.

I’d love to hear your story about taking GS to folks who are suffering with health problems to give others ideas and motivation. Or maybe you’re a recipient of that service?

My dear friend Laura converted to GS a couple years ago and has taken them to a woman who is wheelchair bound and blind from a degenerative disease. Her ability to swallow is severely impaired. She is such a blessing to her friend. How about you?

You’ve heard of the “dirty dozen,” the fruits and vegetables that test highest for pesticide sprays. Top of the list is PEACHES. My suggestion? Plant a peach tree! I have three. Here are the others in the top 12 to buy organic or grow yourself, wherever possible:

Peaches
Apples
Bell Peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Kale
Lettuce
Grapes
Carrots
Pears

Spinach has moved down on the list, out of the top 12, which is nice. Sometimes I get taken to task by those who buy ONLY organic produce for not being a purist on that topic.

Here’s what I have to say about that: if you can afford to buy all organic, that’s EXCELLENT, go for it! But I am above all trying to bridge the gap here for the majority in the middle, who have to balance health concerns with budget restraints. I always say, remember (a) that animal protein and processed food have higher pesticide concentrations than conventional produce, and (b) almost all the studies documenting the powerful effects of fruits/vegs in our diet were done using CONVENTIONAL produce. Therefore (c) don’t avoid eating produce (and eat something else) because you are afraid it may not be organic, but (d) wash your conventional produce well using a good fruit/veg wash.

Here’s the bottom 12 of the produce ranked by the Environmental Working Group examining 87,000 studies by the FDA and USDA between 2000 and 2007. These would be produce I would feel more comfortable about buying conventional and washing well:

Broccoli
Watermelon
Papaya
Eggplant
Cabbage
Kiwi
Sweet peas (frozen)
Asparagus
Mango
Pineapple
Corn (frozen)
Avocado
Onions

Interestingly, tomatoes didn’t make my “Safe Dozen” list, but if I’d made a “Safe 13,” it would be on the list.

May I make another summertime suggestion: when you cut up your melons, rinse the flesh before cutting it up, because the knife slices through the pesticide-coated rind, and those chemicals end up on your fruit.

Here’s GSG reader Mary Kathryn’s cute daughter Chloe, with her green smoothie mustache. Chloe is small for her age, but MK feels much better knowing she’s getting greens every day. MK’s sister made a GS for Chloe when she was a year old, and she fell in love. Nine months later she still loves them even with a high greens:fruit ratio!  Chloe’s 4- and 5-year old siblings will drink GS, too, but Chloe is the biggest fan in the family.

Locals, if you’re near Lindon / North Orem, there are boxes of free apples in the “Share the Bounty” hut near my house: just south of Center St. on 400 E. (just on the Orem side). They’re not pretty (so they’re probably unsprayed) so the owner clearly could not sell these apples, but they taste good. I’m washing a sinkful right now to quarter, put in baggies, and use in GS through the winter. My freezers are crammed with baggies of garden greens, peaches, apples and pears!

My GS today was persimmons (from Costco), fresh ginger, lemon peel, and cinnamon (with bananas and berries, plus spinach, and garden kale/collards/chard still managing to survive the frost), really really yummy. My kids just got home from school and are commenting that they love it.

Costco today: stocked up on whole-wheat spaghetti and Rice Dream. Those “multi-grain” crackers they’re sampling are junk: the first ingredient is white flour, and there’s refined oil too. “Feel good” food, not truly nutritious.

I read in today’s paper that they’re finding that women who took two types of antibiotics, sulfa drugs (Thiosulfil Forte and Bactrim) and urinary germicides (Furadantin and Macrobid) during pregnancy have higher rates of birth defects. This is the first major research on antibiotic use and pregnancy–even though docs have been prescribing antibiotics to pregnant women at will for decades.

Craig was diagnosed with strep this morning. I had strep many times as a child and ALWAYS my mom put me on an antibiotic, and I’d just get it again. My immune system was decimated until I addressed it with nutrition starting in my late 20′s.

The last time I had strep was 15 years ago, and I was pregnant with my second child. I refused to take the antibiotic. Instead I took goldenseal, an herb that kills viruses and bacteria without harming the healthy bacteria in the gut (like antibiotics do) that you need in your fight against the constant onslaught of contact with bad bacteria. I got well quickly and never got strep again, nor any other bacterial infection.

Anyway, I am getting Vitamin D3 for Craig and his kids when he finishes the round of antibiotics he decided to take. I will make him some kefir too. (He not only got sick after the flu vaccine, his son got pneumonia, and now he had this coughing thing immediately followed by strep. He’s been sick 3x in the few weeks since getting that shot.)

It takes about 30 days of exposure to good probiotics to replenish the healthy flora in your body after antibiotic use. You can take probiotics, or eat kefir/yogurt (not the kind with sugar added, please), or both.

Hi everyone, I’m getting ready to launch not only my affiliate program, but also the EXPANDED, shipping 12 Steps to Whole Foods program (printed manual and recipes, dvd’s, cd’s, journal, all add’l recipe collections on cd, AND The Green Smoothies Diet book).

If you’re a 12 Stepper and you’re willing to write me a detailed testimonial about your experience with it, please send it to Jenni/Jackie at support123@greensmoothiegirl.com (or –shameless plug — write it here as a comment to this blog). What did you learn? Do you like the recipes? Do you tell others about it? How does it compare to other information in the nutrition space?

In exchange, please choose any information product on the site as a thank you–just tell Jenni/Jackie what you want!

(If you HAVE all the information products on the site, I have a holiday recipe collection coming out in TWO WEEKS, woohoo. Hang tight for that, if it’s what you want, and write us then to ask for it.) (Since you already got 12 Steps some time ago, you could get the prettier-indexed-very well edited version as your choice, too.)

By the way, 12 Steps to Whole Foods went up in price $10 recently (it also, however, is fully indexed and beautifully formatted with a handful more photos). As we have much more cost in it, the price will be going up again soon. So if you can live with the digital version, get it now if you’ve been meaning to and don’t want to find out later the price went up again.

That said, if you want to wait, we’ll soon have a manual-only physical course–in addition to the whole kit-and-caboodle (DVDs/CDs etc.).

I don’t mean to brag (and it’s desigers/editors who get credit anyway), but 12 Steps is so pretty now I can’t even stand it.

Check out this story from USA Today, below. Go ahead and gloat that if your child is drinking even a pint of green smoothie daily even with NO other fruit and vegetable intake, he is ahead of at least 90.5 percent of American teenagers.

(My guess is that you’re outpacing more like 99% of teens, since kids were self-reporting in this study and counting things like pasteurized fruit juice, which don’t rate next to a raw apple and stalk of celery.) YOUR child is getting nutritional standouts like kale, spinach, and collards in her 7.5 servings in a pint of GS. That’s instead of lightweight French fries, ketchup, and iceberg lettuce that “count” in these studies.

Way to go, GSG parents. Thank you for changing the way America’s children eat. You’re a force for good. You’re up against a LOT of opposition, I know! (Read the comments on this blog over the past two years, for people’s horror stories of how tough it can be to do the right thing when family, friends, and the culture oppose you. Be strong.)

My children’s other parent doesn’t approve of my practice of letting the kids trick or treat and then paying them $20 to dump all the candy. He believes an open-cupboard policy with lots of candy and junk food is part of a happy childhood, and that it’s all good as long as you serve a salad at dinner with your meat-and-potatoes main dish. (Refer to my recent “Oprah” blog entry about how we believe at a very fundamental/emotional level that the way we were raised is the RIGHT way.)

By the way, my kids do have a choice. They always make sure they KNOW they have a choice, but in the end they have always chosen the cash, without exception! Why? Because they know the candy makes them sick and isn’t worth close to $20! (They know this because I explain it every year and remind them what $20 buys.) And I do let them have a couple things before dumping it.

Not only do you parents rock out loud for doing the GS thing, but I know that many of you are doing more than just green smoothies. I’m on record many times saying that the USRDA recommendation of 5 servings of fruits and vegs is woefully inadequate. Setting the bar that low leaves far too much room for eating antibiotic-injected, sickly animal carcasses, processed flour and sugar, and other inferior “food.” The USRDA reqs are the nutritional equivalent of “dumbing down” our education. We should be getting 20+ servings. Those serving sizes are so small—I routinely get 20-27 servings of fruits/vegs daily.

Here’s the link to the story, and the full text below it, in case your link doesn’t work:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-09-29-fruits-veggies-high-school-kids_N.htm?csp=24&RM_Exclude=Juno

Only 14% of adults eat the recommended number of servings of fruit and vegetables a day, says a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About 33% of adults meet the recommendation of two or more servings of fruits a day; 27% eat the recommended three or more servings of vegetables.

Washington, D.C., leads the nation in eating fruits and vegetables: 20.1% of adults report they meet both daily recommendations. Mississippi sits at the bottom with 8.8%.

Three of the top states are in New England, and three of the bottom states are in the Southeast. The disparity could be a result of the lack of farmers markets in the Southeast and policies that promote healthful foods in schools and communities, says Heidi Blanck, senior scientist for the CDC.

High school students fare worse than adults: 9.5% report they eat two or more fruits and three or more vegetables a day. About the same number of students (32%) as adults say they meet the fruit recommendation, but only 13% say they eat at least three servings of vegetables a day.

The Healthy People 2010 objective from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services aims to have 75% of the U.S. population meeting the daily fruit recommendations and 50% meeting the daily vegetable recommendations.

“At the current rate, the goal won’t be met,” Blanck says.

To raise the percentage of people meeting the goals, the CDC suggests grocery stores increase their stock of “high-quality” fruits and vegetables and encourages states to form food policy councils that evaluate the access to fresh produce.

It also suggests schools provide more fruits and vegetables in cafeterias and vending machines.

If you know my writing, you know I’m always encouraging my readers to share with others what they’re learning that has changed their lives.

One of my most common conversations with whole-foods enthusiasts and 12 Steps to Whole Foods converts is around this issue.  Here’s an email I got:

“Dear GreenSmoothieGirl, I am excited about eating right and enjoying the changes I’m making, but my husband is sabotaging my efforts and doesn’t think eating white flour, sugar, meat, and Diet Coke is really gonna hurt anybody as long as we mix in a salad now and then.”

You aren’t alone.  I have constant email and personal conversations with people about this. Wives, if it makes you feel any better, solving this problem is easier for you than it is for a husband who wants to eat right but whose wife does the cooking.

I used to be a marriage and family therapist.  You know how in marriage a disagreement often isn’t really about what it seems on the surface to be about? It’s natural for any spouse to be resistant to major change. We humans like habit and predictability and safety. Imagine if your spouse came home and said, “Honey, I know I just finished an engineering degree that you worked hard to pay for, but I’ve decided I want to be an artist instead: I’m quite certain that will make me happy.” You might resist, yes?

Your loved one is worried you’re going to become someone else.  That is, not who he has always known, but someone extreme and scary. You’re not, of course.  You’re just progressing toward becoming your best self.

Food issues are BIG issues. They are as emotional and deeply held, often, as religion and politics. Have some compassion for your resistant family member and realize that announcing, “We are now a vegetarian family: I’m quite certain this will make us all healthy” or something like that might be too much, too fast.

For more information to help you convert a loved one, click here:

http://www.greensmoothiegirl.com/blog/2008/05/02/the-nutritionally-recalcitrant-spouse-part-two-of-four/

To Your Health,

–Robyn

GreenSmoothieGirl.com

p.s.  If you have a Total Blender, you can make things that aren’t just nutritious, but YUMMY, too, and that could be the most important investment you make in converting your family to come along with you in your journey to being thin, healthy, and gorgeous.