I wanted to provide you with some resources to help you on your journey to healthful living. If you live in an area with limited organic selection, you can order your groceries online!
Organic fruits and veggies from Village Grown Organic
http://www.villagegrownorganic.com/
Order organic meats online. They'll arrive frozen, delivered to your home.
http://www.organicprairie.com/
If you're looking for the perfect blender, I highly endorse the Blendtec!
www.blendtec.com and www.willitblend.com
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Saturday, May 5, 2012
My blender... the largest investment we've made in healthful living.
First of all, I just want to point out that since I have consistently maintained an anti-inflammatory diet (by consuming smoothies everyday - see previous entry), I no longer have breakouts on my skin, and I no longer have eczema (off that prescription entirely). If you suffer from allergies, acne, asthma, arthritis, frequent illness, headaches... or pretty much any other ailment, I stronly urge you to research chronic inflammation, and start consuming foods that fight it. I explain all of this more thoroughly in my previous blog entry.
Consuming raw fruits and veggies in a smoothie everyday is a big part of my family's diet. In the last few weeks I have had several calls, texts, and emails asking me about my blender, how much it costs, where you can get one. I will admit, it was pricey. That's because it's a commercial grade piece of machinery. But, we don't have cable, high speed internet, we share 1 car, we rarely eat out, and we live on a really minimalist budget. I cut Josh and William's hair myself, and Josh literally brings his own sandwhich to work for lunch everyday. This blender was our one "indulgence" because we've decided to take this healthy living stuff seriously. Part of this lifestyle means consuming as much raw fruits and veggies as possible.
Vitamix or Blendtec?
The blender I own is called the Blendtec. Lots of you have been asking me if I have a Vitamix. The two are eachother's greatest competition, and they are the top 2 most powerful blenders on the market today. They are both great blenders with great reviews. However, Blendtec is a bit more powerful. Vitamix has 1380 watts, and Blendtec has 1560 watts. The other appeal Blendtec had over the Vitamix to me is the fact that it is short enough to fit on top of my counter, without being too tall to fit under the cabinet. I appreciate the one touch pre-programmed buttons, rather than the manual switches on the Vitamix. In the end, I went with the Blendtec because you get a little more power for about the same price.
We'd been through 3 Walmart blenders since we got married. None of them could so much as chop ice, and they burnt out if we tried. Then I saw a live demo for the Blendtec. It's the same blender used in Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Panera, and Chilli's. In general, you have to purchase Blendtecs online. I was amazed by how it pulverized the pit of an avacado, which has a higher density than wood. If you visit willitblend.com, you will be amazed at what this thing can do.
We chewed it over for quite a while, did the research, and then finally decided wewanted needed this thing. We made even more cuts in our budget and vowed not to eat out for a month.
I've had my blender for almost 2 years now, and I still love it as much as day 1. I can throw an entire kiwi in there, fuzzy peel and all, and it comes out a smooth liquid with no "debris". My body gets the benefit of all the fiber without feeling like I'm drinking someone's beard. I also take our food waste we accumulate everyday, and turn it into compost for my garden. Banana peels, coffee grounds, egg shells, old lettuce, etc - I throw it in the blender and it obliterates it all.
I never buy powdered sugar. I put a cup of regular granulated sugar in there, push the pulse button, and vua-la, powdered sugar. Ice? Child's play. Seriously, put ice in there, it turns to snow without the blender so much as batting an eyelash.
Ok, so what are some alternatives if a Blendtec just isn't in the cards for you right now?
If you're able to buy a Blendtec, I think it's going to best the last blender you'll ever have to buy. But if the price tag isn't doable, there's some alternatives. If you can swing $100-$200, I've heard good things about the Ninja. While it's not commercial grade, if you don't think you'll be blending a hammer anytime soon, I think it will do the job. Also, smaller machines like the magic bullet are well-loved, although your drinks might not be as smooth. Whatever blender you purchase, just make sure the container is BPA-free.
If you're on the fence about incorporating green smoothies into your diet, I encourage you to watch "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" on Netflix! However, I wouldn't opt for a juicer like the guy in the movie. Juicers leave out all the "ruffage" (fiber), and that is an extremely important part of your diet!
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
Cynthia
Consuming raw fruits and veggies in a smoothie everyday is a big part of my family's diet. In the last few weeks I have had several calls, texts, and emails asking me about my blender, how much it costs, where you can get one. I will admit, it was pricey. That's because it's a commercial grade piece of machinery. But, we don't have cable, high speed internet, we share 1 car, we rarely eat out, and we live on a really minimalist budget. I cut Josh and William's hair myself, and Josh literally brings his own sandwhich to work for lunch everyday. This blender was our one "indulgence" because we've decided to take this healthy living stuff seriously. Part of this lifestyle means consuming as much raw fruits and veggies as possible.
Vitamix or Blendtec?
The blender I own is called the Blendtec. Lots of you have been asking me if I have a Vitamix. The two are eachother's greatest competition, and they are the top 2 most powerful blenders on the market today. They are both great blenders with great reviews. However, Blendtec is a bit more powerful. Vitamix has 1380 watts, and Blendtec has 1560 watts. The other appeal Blendtec had over the Vitamix to me is the fact that it is short enough to fit on top of my counter, without being too tall to fit under the cabinet. I appreciate the one touch pre-programmed buttons, rather than the manual switches on the Vitamix. In the end, I went with the Blendtec because you get a little more power for about the same price.
We'd been through 3 Walmart blenders since we got married. None of them could so much as chop ice, and they burnt out if we tried. Then I saw a live demo for the Blendtec. It's the same blender used in Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Panera, and Chilli's. In general, you have to purchase Blendtecs online. I was amazed by how it pulverized the pit of an avacado, which has a higher density than wood. If you visit willitblend.com, you will be amazed at what this thing can do.
We chewed it over for quite a while, did the research, and then finally decided we
I've had my blender for almost 2 years now, and I still love it as much as day 1. I can throw an entire kiwi in there, fuzzy peel and all, and it comes out a smooth liquid with no "debris". My body gets the benefit of all the fiber without feeling like I'm drinking someone's beard. I also take our food waste we accumulate everyday, and turn it into compost for my garden. Banana peels, coffee grounds, egg shells, old lettuce, etc - I throw it in the blender and it obliterates it all.
I never buy powdered sugar. I put a cup of regular granulated sugar in there, push the pulse button, and vua-la, powdered sugar. Ice? Child's play. Seriously, put ice in there, it turns to snow without the blender so much as batting an eyelash.
Ok, so what are some alternatives if a Blendtec just isn't in the cards for you right now?
If you're able to buy a Blendtec, I think it's going to best the last blender you'll ever have to buy. But if the price tag isn't doable, there's some alternatives. If you can swing $100-$200, I've heard good things about the Ninja. While it's not commercial grade, if you don't think you'll be blending a hammer anytime soon, I think it will do the job. Also, smaller machines like the magic bullet are well-loved, although your drinks might not be as smooth. Whatever blender you purchase, just make sure the container is BPA-free.
If you're on the fence about incorporating green smoothies into your diet, I encourage you to watch "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" on Netflix! However, I wouldn't opt for a juicer like the guy in the movie. Juicers leave out all the "ruffage" (fiber), and that is an extremely important part of your diet!
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
Cynthia
Inflammation tied to almost every ailment - punch it in the face with green smoothies!
I've been so excited seeing just how many of my peers
have decided to adopt a truly healthy lifestyle when it comes to eating. I think
it's a movement that picking up momentum, in our home and many others.
The issue we ran into when we moved here to Florida is the lack of healthy food choices. Organic is a foreign term here, so we've started a non-hybrid garden with seeds from rareseeds.com. However, our yard isn't large enough to accommodate an entire produce section, so I was still on the prowl for a place that offered the healthy food we've been looking for. Last weekend, I finally found a small natural foods store about 45 minutes away. I LOADED up my cart with Kale, Cilantro, Kiwi, Bananas, Carrots, and Apples. When I got home with my loot, I started washing and prepping everything. I have a silicone muffin "pan" that isn't great for baking, but it's great for freezing. I whipped out my blender (which is a crazy, awesome blender), and starting making purees of the fruits and veggies. I froze individual "pucks" of each ingredient, then sorted everything into individual smoothie bags. It's so easy to just grab a bag every afternoon and throw it into my blender with a little organic fruit juice.
Here's pictures of my purees. I used my silicone muffin bakeware, as well as ice cube trays.
Not pictured is my papaya puree and cantaloupe puree - including the seeds!! The seeds in most fruits are incredibly good for you, but most household blenders can't break them up. There is as much protein ounce for ounce in cantaloupe seeds as there is in chicken! Crazy, right? Perhaps I'll post another blog with details about my blender soon. But I'm getting off topic!
In addition to the fruit/veggie purees, I add a couple tablespoons of whole flax seed, and I always add a tablespoon of turmeric powder and a teaspoon of ginger powder. They are very strong anti-inflammatories. I IMPLORE you to research the affects of inflammation on your body - it is linked to almost EVERY ailment, from allergies, migraines, arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, even cancer! Every food we put in our mouth either causes inflammation, or fights against it. Sugar, for instance, causes inflammation. Whereas Kale is an anti-inflammatory. Perhaps the best resource I can give you is this website: http://nutritiondata.self.com/
You can input any ingredient into the search and it will not only bring up the nutritional content for that item, but will give that food item an inflammation score, and a "completeness score". The completeness score is very important, and it has helped me determine the optimal ingredients to put in my smoothie. The highest scoring food I have found so far is cilantro. Scoring 93 points (on a scale of 1-100), it contains almost every key nutrient the body needs. Kale is a close second at 85 points. Whereas sugar has a completeness score of zero. Basically, If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life and that one thing had to meet all your nutritional needs, you would look to the completeness score of a food to find out what would best sustain you. This is why cilantro weasels its way into every dish I make!
As far as inflammation goes, everything we're putting in our bodies is either scoring negatively or positively on the anti-inflammation scale. At the end of the day, shoot for a positive score of at least 50. Meaning, if you're going to have a 16 oz. Coke, your inflammation tally comes to about -48. So to bring your score to a positive 50, add a teaspoon of ginger powder to your hot tea, which has an anti-inflammation score of 482!! I'm telling ya... incorporating ginger and/or turmeric powder (turmeric being even more powerful) will do WONDERS for your body!
In closing, here is my complete recipe for my green smoothie! You can also see how it ranks nutritionally! http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/recipe/2220556/2
PS, if you create a login on this nutrition website, you can create recipes and then get a tally for the nutritional contents of your creations! Find out how complete that dinner casserole is so you can fill in the nutritional "gaps" with complimentary sides for your family!
The issue we ran into when we moved here to Florida is the lack of healthy food choices. Organic is a foreign term here, so we've started a non-hybrid garden with seeds from rareseeds.com. However, our yard isn't large enough to accommodate an entire produce section, so I was still on the prowl for a place that offered the healthy food we've been looking for. Last weekend, I finally found a small natural foods store about 45 minutes away. I LOADED up my cart with Kale, Cilantro, Kiwi, Bananas, Carrots, and Apples. When I got home with my loot, I started washing and prepping everything. I have a silicone muffin "pan" that isn't great for baking, but it's great for freezing. I whipped out my blender (which is a crazy, awesome blender), and starting making purees of the fruits and veggies. I froze individual "pucks" of each ingredient, then sorted everything into individual smoothie bags. It's so easy to just grab a bag every afternoon and throw it into my blender with a little organic fruit juice.
Here's pictures of my purees. I used my silicone muffin bakeware, as well as ice cube trays.
Not pictured is my papaya puree and cantaloupe puree - including the seeds!! The seeds in most fruits are incredibly good for you, but most household blenders can't break them up. There is as much protein ounce for ounce in cantaloupe seeds as there is in chicken! Crazy, right? Perhaps I'll post another blog with details about my blender soon. But I'm getting off topic!
In addition to the fruit/veggie purees, I add a couple tablespoons of whole flax seed, and I always add a tablespoon of turmeric powder and a teaspoon of ginger powder. They are very strong anti-inflammatories. I IMPLORE you to research the affects of inflammation on your body - it is linked to almost EVERY ailment, from allergies, migraines, arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, even cancer! Every food we put in our mouth either causes inflammation, or fights against it. Sugar, for instance, causes inflammation. Whereas Kale is an anti-inflammatory. Perhaps the best resource I can give you is this website: http://nutritiondata.self.com/
You can input any ingredient into the search and it will not only bring up the nutritional content for that item, but will give that food item an inflammation score, and a "completeness score". The completeness score is very important, and it has helped me determine the optimal ingredients to put in my smoothie. The highest scoring food I have found so far is cilantro. Scoring 93 points (on a scale of 1-100), it contains almost every key nutrient the body needs. Kale is a close second at 85 points. Whereas sugar has a completeness score of zero. Basically, If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life and that one thing had to meet all your nutritional needs, you would look to the completeness score of a food to find out what would best sustain you. This is why cilantro weasels its way into every dish I make!
As far as inflammation goes, everything we're putting in our bodies is either scoring negatively or positively on the anti-inflammation scale. At the end of the day, shoot for a positive score of at least 50. Meaning, if you're going to have a 16 oz. Coke, your inflammation tally comes to about -48. So to bring your score to a positive 50, add a teaspoon of ginger powder to your hot tea, which has an anti-inflammation score of 482!! I'm telling ya... incorporating ginger and/or turmeric powder (turmeric being even more powerful) will do WONDERS for your body!
In closing, here is my complete recipe for my green smoothie! You can also see how it ranks nutritionally! http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/recipe/2220556/2
PS, if you create a login on this nutrition website, you can create recipes and then get a tally for the nutritional contents of your creations! Find out how complete that dinner casserole is so you can fill in the nutritional "gaps" with complimentary sides for your family!
Blog intro
I've been blogging about almost everything, from spirituality, to DIY projects, to healthy eating. I've decided to create this blog and devote it soley to healthful living, so that I can expand upon the knowledge I acquire through this journey my family is taking, and share it with anyone who cares to listen!
I'll start by saying that I completed my certification for nutritional and wellness counseling through the American Fitness Professionals Association a few months ago. So I do have some book smarts on the subject matter... but I would mostly say that just being a mom is the driving force behind my pursuit of making healthy choices. Every day I am constantly looking for more information to help my family live a happier, healthier life through the additions and removals of certain foods. I feel like God has given us this amazing creation, and if we would stop looking to food processing plants to put out lunchables for our kids and frozen dinners for us... we would see an incredible transformation in our overall health and our resistance to diseases.
I'm so encouraged by the amount of my peers who are making these changes with me. I hope any information you gather, you will share with me as well!
This particular entry was intended to be an intro. My next entry will simply be a copy and paste of my anti-inflammatory smoothie blog, just so I can keep up with the theme. I'll be posting an entry on my blender soon as well since I've received a few texts and emails asking about it.
Thanks friends!
Cynthia
I'll start by saying that I completed my certification for nutritional and wellness counseling through the American Fitness Professionals Association a few months ago. So I do have some book smarts on the subject matter... but I would mostly say that just being a mom is the driving force behind my pursuit of making healthy choices. Every day I am constantly looking for more information to help my family live a happier, healthier life through the additions and removals of certain foods. I feel like God has given us this amazing creation, and if we would stop looking to food processing plants to put out lunchables for our kids and frozen dinners for us... we would see an incredible transformation in our overall health and our resistance to diseases.
I'm so encouraged by the amount of my peers who are making these changes with me. I hope any information you gather, you will share with me as well!
This particular entry was intended to be an intro. My next entry will simply be a copy and paste of my anti-inflammatory smoothie blog, just so I can keep up with the theme. I'll be posting an entry on my blender soon as well since I've received a few texts and emails asking about it.
Thanks friends!
Cynthia
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