What I mean is that I am not a raw fooder. I hope that is okay (to post on here). I want to increase the % of raw foods I eat every day and figure that this is a good place to get inspired I have a bunch of raw foods books from the Boutenkos, David Wolfe, Gabriel Cousens, etc.

I could either get a Vitamix or a Greenstar (or Champion to save moola). Here's the deal: I am most interested now in changing to a lifestyle free of refined sugars, flours, going gluten-free most of the time (although I can tolerate gluten, I may be sensitive to it and want to see how I feel), and eating more nutrient-dense foods. I had a Le Equip juicer a while back and it really bugged me to see so much fiber getting wasted. It took so much produce to generate 8 oz. of juice that I felt it wasn't a good method. And yet...I have also heard that the Vitamix will never get carrots, etc. into a state of total liquification. I don't know how yummy a fiberlicious smoothie would taste.

Does anyone use a Vitamix to make green smoothies or other smoothies with whole produce? Does it get all fiberous or does it seem pretty much like regular juice? Which machine should I get???? Thanks in advance!

Vitamix is the best tool for improving your health. Smoothies are delicious! They're nothing like juice. There are many who use carrots in it, but carrots really aren't necessary altogether if you don't like them in your smoothie. You can make juice in it if you get a strainer bag, so then you have the option of both. Also remember all the other wonderful things you can make such as soups, puddings, sauces, dips, dressings, ice cream, etc.

I like juice too and ideally both is good, but smoothies and a Vitamix is my preferred choice.

Simple Raw Recipes & Health Tips

Buying an expensive blender like the Vitamix is a big decision. If you have a blender already, I would recommend making smoothies with that for a while. You can see how much you get into them, and see where you might want extra power to make them smoother or faster. It's easier to see why you might spend the big bucks, when you've spent enough time with a regular blender for comparison.

If you're making smoothies with a lower power blender it's especially important to feed your ingredients in slowly, starting with your liquid base (water, juice, coconut water), moving on to fruits, and adding greens at the end.

How much liquid you want to use is a matter of taste - it will effect the thickness of your smoothie, and extra liquid will also reduce the strain on the blender.

The Vitamix, or other high-power blender will be able to handle more solid ingredients, you can feed it the ingredients more quickly, and need much less liquid. It can also get whatever you're blending significantly smoother than a regular blender could. All the good points of the high-speed blender are in comparison to normal blenders it's really hard to make a good case for buying or not buying one unless you've tried to make smoothies in a normal blender.

P.S. If you really want something with the texture of juice, you won't get that from the Vitamix. In that case, I would recommend a juicer. I use both, but the blender is great for hurried morning breakfast. Making juice takes me significantly longer, and there are more parts to clean up, so it is generally not a project I'll get into before work.

My equipment:
blender: Waring Xtreme
juicer: Omega 8006



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/21/2009 02:50PM by frances.

The Vita-Mix can make a fairly homogenous mixture from greens and fruit, depending on for how long one blends the items, but the result isn't as liquidy as juice from a juicer. If you're blending stuff with a lot of pectin or insoluble fiber in it, it can be downright sludgy. I compensate for that by adding more water, or filtering out part of the fiber before drinking. I find my Vita-Mix indispensable to raw foodism.

Sold! LOL- you used the magic word 'indispensable' and I was just looking for an excuse to buy the Vitamix.

Question: (if you don't mind me peppering you with them) What do you use for filtering the fiber? Cheesecloth? Nut mylk bags? Inquiring minds want to knw!

banana who,

I just use a medium fine mesh sieve. Works like a charm becuase you can stop filtering whenever you wish, and it cleans out with a swipe of the dish sponge and a sweep of the faucet spray nozzle.

I have said this before and feel that I have to say it again. I use my vitamix every single day of the week, often two or three times a day. I make green smoothies (right now it is orange, pineapple, spinach) every morning, DELICIOUS! I make applesauce about three times a week in the vitamix, using apples, strawberries and blueberries, far better than cooked and when I am craving something quick, I like to blend up several types of fruit and greens and take it with me. The vitamix is by far the best investment that I have ever made and I will never, ever be without it.

Deb

Hi Deb!

Are you totally raw or just consume lots of raw stuff? The applesauce sounds good! I was wondering about making things like squash soup, too. I am not raw like most of you probably are, but I want to get more and more in that place. I was trying to justify the expense. My mother asked me what I wanted for my birthday/Christmas (my b-day was last week) and I said a Vitamix. She didn't know what one was and didn't send me enough $$$$$, LOL! So I realized that I would have to wait until next month. I did get a food processor and yet I was wondering how many tasks I can actually do with it. Does the Vitamix grind nuts and other hard things? I always read raw recipes and they mention using a seed grinder and so I get confused sometimes!

I am about 75% raw. Dinner is tough for me right now cuz I have two other people in the house that haven't quite committed as I have. I have a goal of 100% raw by next summer. I am not sure whether the vitamix works for soup cuz I am not a big soup fan, I try to keep my diet simple, drinking alot of smoothies.

I bought the vitamix with both the wet and dry containers. The dry container can grind nuts and flax seed. I even bought wheat berries and ground it into flour in the dry container. I then used it to make bread for the rest of the family.

I do not have a seed grinder, I always use the vitamix. I was fortunate enough to have a lucrative first and only time at a casino and bought all the things that I need to have a raw kitchen with my winnings. I use my food processor less than the vitamix, but I do still use it alot. I can't imagine not having a vitamix, and as a matter of fact, I will be taking my vitamix to relatives on Christmas to make smoothies, I just can't live without them. Hope this helps you make your decision and I hope you get your vitamix soon. You will love it!

Deb

I bought a VitaPrep 3 for Christmas. I just love it. It is amazing. I take bananas, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries. I add water and agave to it. Within 20 seconds I have a smoothie. Rinse the container out.

Deb-

Thanks a lot! I was wondering about the dry container because on the Web site it says it's for grinding grains, which I had no plans of doing, but I do want to grind nuts and seeds. I would like to make my own tahini. I find that the store-bought varieties tend to be quite bitter and perhaps that is due to oxidation of the fat. I would also like to make almond butter and cashew butter! I bought a food processor but I don't think it's powerful enough to make these things...

I live outside Chicago and we get pretty cold winters and so I don't know if I would ever want to be 100% raw, due to the craving for heated items at this time of the year. I have been naturally easing away from heavy foods, which is good. Even whole-grain breads, which I love, seem to be a bit much. But I am going to listen to my body when making these changes and try not to push it. I am glad that this site exists to inspire me!

Deb-

I am curious why Vitamix has dry and wet containers...Couldn't you just rinse out one after making a smoothie and then grind nuts or something? I assume that it comes with different blades...

Yes, the blades are different patterns and sizes, I guess you could use one container for both, but I got it for free, so I ordered it. You can use the dry container for making nut butter, often tho, I use my food processor to make almond butter while making smoothies at the same time, just for the sake of time. It just depends on what I am doing for that raw meal. Like I said, I had the fortune of getting to invest in these items cuz of beginners luck at a casino and decided that I wanted to invest my winnings in raw food appliances. I guess in hindsight, I really didn't need the dry container, but it didn't cost anything extra, so I ordered it. Only you can decide how much you can afford to invest in your health, but I know that I will always use my vitamix at least once a day for breakfast smoothies, so I will never be without it.

It cracks me up when I go to the grocery and I see these people with packaged this and that in their carts, (chips, cookies, packaged dinners) and they claim that they can't afford to pay $2.99 or 3.49 for a pineapple or invest more money in organic fruits because they are so expensive. I feel so much better since I eliminated junk and chemicals from my diet and although I am not yet 100% raw, (I agree it is so difficult in the winter) I know that I will get there someday.

Good luck in your decision, I hope I helped.

Deb

"Yes, the blades are different patterns and sizes, I guess you could use one container for both, but I got it for free, so I ordered it."

1goneraw,

It's so nice to finally have a first hand account from someone who owns both the wet and dry containers. Looking at pictures of blade assemblies on the web they look like identical blades for wet or dry but now we know they are different. Thanks!

So far I think everyone has just gotten the wet blade and found it does all tasks well enough so they don't see any reason to get the dry blade unless they feel they need more than one container going at once like for complex recipes, a larger household or for a professional chef.

I'm hoping to find something at a yard sale or thrift shop.

Deb-

Sorry to keep peppering you with questions, but I am curious what kind of food processor you own. I just bought a Hamilton Beach one from WalMart that was only $35. It came with a reversible disc for shredding/chopping on one side and slicing on the other. It also had an S blade for mixing (I haven't used that one so I am just guessing). I was unaware that I could even grind nut butters with it, but maybe you have a more powerful processor than I...

My food processor is a pretty nice one my mother bought me. It's more likely to produce nut meal than nut butter. I use that feature to make pie crusts. I crush the nuts (usually almonds) into meal, then add fresh or soaked dates and process until I have a heavy dough, which I press into my pie plate. Easy-peasy. I'd be impressed if there's a food processor that will make spreadable butter, but I'd be disappointed to loose the behavior I'm getting now.

Hi Banana who,

It's ok, I don't mind the questions, after all, that is what we are here for right?
I have a Cuisinart, I think that it is an 11 cup, but it is powerful and quick. Depending on how long I process it, depends on how creamy it is. My husband likes it kind of chunky, so it doesn't take long to make it.

As a matter of fact, we had that for breakfast on sprouted bread with a pineapple, strawberry, spinach smoothie this morning.

I love to have this breakfast cuz it is so quick, simple and delicious. A far cry from the breakfasts that we used to eat before raw!

Hope this helps and if you have any other questions, I would be glad to help.

Deb

I'd say that the Vitamix is one of the best kitchen tools money can buy, and is especially necessary in a raw kitchen. We know that we need to get more fresh fruits and vegetables. The Vitamix makes this so easy. You just rinse if after every smoothie, raw veggie blended soup, or juice and it is ready for the next concoction.

I've been a raw food chef for a few years now and I really held off on getting a Vitamix. Now I'm in love with it. I'm actually saving money because the healthy raw food I make is so delicious and much less expensive than what I could get at the delicious raw food restaurants in my neighborhood (I live near Santa Monica so I have Planet Raw and Euphoria Loves Rawvolution - yum!).

I recently became an affiliate for Vitamix, so feel free to use my affiliate code 06-004793 to get free shipping on your Vitamix. It will really inspire you to stay healthy! (Or click the link below)
[secure.vitamix.com]

Best of luck on your journey! Perfection is moment by moment!
~Cat Erickson
www.worldredress.com

Cat: Thanks for the info...It's on my wishlist; I just ordered the Omega juicer because I want the option of celery juice and not a celery shake (yeah, I know about the nut mylk bags and all but I just imagined doing it with beets and dyeing my hands when I squeezed the bags...uh, no thanks!). So it's gonna be here; I am doing The Secret and manifesting it, LOL.

An inexpensive and good alternative to a Vita Mix is: [www.qvc.com]

I have one and like it a lot.. read the QVC reviews. Big difference in price but it works very well.

this thread was very helpful i just a bought a je95xl juicer but i'm afraid of faulty burnouts, i was not aware that the vitamix is essential to a raw foods kitchen, so i'm glad i read this thread, i'm not really sure about almond butters and all that, however i really wanna juice and make smoothies i dont eat dairy so im not sure when you guys mention ice creams and shakes but please lemme know what else is essential for me a beginner who doesnt consume dairy what i need for leafy greens and fruits

blender? food processor? juicer? combination of the three?

thanks in advance

ultimately all three have a unique and vital role in the raw food kitchen. I'd buy the blender and juicer first. because if you buy a good blender, you can use it for many food proccessing jobs as well. just is a bit harder.
when we speak of "shakes" and "ice cream", we are speaking, generally, of totally vegan plant based things. usually one uses nuts or seeds to create creamy substances. so for these things, and all things raw practically, you will need a vita mix, blendtec, waring etc high powered blender.
food processor and juicer you can get at target, or whatev, but the blender should be real deal!

The Raw Lion 440 pounds to 225 pounds!