I've been trying to perfect the Green Smoothie. One thing I'm doing now is using a 6-cup container (see picture), rather than the 8-cup container that came with my Vita-Mix. I just use the 6-cup container like a big glass. It works Great. I'm also adding a little more water in the mix to make it more 'drinkable'. Victoria Boutenko recommends 2 cups of water in her book, but that's a little too liquid for me.
Any of your suggestions will be welcomed.....WY
P.S. The whole idea of Green Smoothies is to take in more nutrients while cleansing the body through the Colon, with fiber. My old thinking was to cleanse with Juices, but that doesn't use the colon, but rather the Skin and other organs.

My perfect green smoothies contain frozen bananas that have been ripened to perfection. When they look spotted enough I freeze them in a large freezer bag. My ripe frozen bananas keep my smoothies naturally thick and naturally sweet. I usually freeze about 20 at a time. I use about 2-1/2 bananas, cup of berries, cup of peaches, 1-1/2 cups of water, and whatever greens I have on hand. This usually yields 4 glasses of smoothies.

WY -
I am very interested to hear about your experience with green smoothies, given the experience you have with juicing. That will be a nice comparison.

--lovebird

roxeli Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My perfect green smoothies contain frozen bananas
> that have been ripened to perfection. When they
> look spotted enough I freeze them in a large
> freezer bag. My ripe frozen bananas keep my
> smoothies naturally thick and naturally sweet. I
> usually freeze about 20 at a time. I use about
> 2-1/2 bananas, cup of berries, cup of peaches,
> 1-1/2 cups of water, and whatever greens I have on
> hand. This usually yields 4 glasses of smoothies.

Yes, I bet that's good. I'm trying to increase the Green in Green Smoothies. My favorite smoothie includes Mixed Greens, Carrots, Celery, Tomatoes, and Water. It's not sweet, but has a 'wholesome' taste......WY

lovebird Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> WY -
> I am very interested to hear about your experience
> with green smoothies, given the experience you
> have with juicing. That will be a nice
> comparison.

I'm moving towards having Wheatgrass Juice and Carrot Juice twice a day, with a 32-ounce Green Smoothie in the middle. Victoria Boutenko, in her book, says that Chimpanzees never eat after 6 pm. That's something else I'm trying. Wheatgrass growing has gotten to be too much work for me, so I'll be trying the Frozen Wheatgrass Juice from
[www.dynamicgreens.com]
for a while......WY

Wheatgrass Yogi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
I'm trying to increase the Green in Green Smoothies.

I'm still doing 60/40 of fruit and greens but I'd like to get the courage to try the savory green smoothies with a higher percentage of greens.

Victoria Boutenko, in her book "Green For Life," says that as you increase your greens your body will crave even more greens. I'm waiting for this to happen before I experiment.

I tried adding flax seeds to my smoothies but they mostly stayed whole. I thought my Vita-Mix would ground them down but it didn't happen. Maybe I should try grinding the flax seeds first? I'm still not Vita-Mix proficient. LOL



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2007 06:20PM by roxeli.

I recently tried wheatgrass, celery and parsley prepared in a k-tec and was surprised at the flavor the blend produced. Not strong, not bland but just right.

Wishing you vibrant health

Pistachio Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I recently tried wheatgrass, celery and parsley
> prepared in a k-tec

Derek, at Dynamic Greens, informs me that Wheatgrass Fibers are undigestible.
[www.dynamicgreens.com]
Derek also told me, through emails, that they strain their Juice before it is frozen. I had asked him specifically about that.......WY

roxeli Wrote:
>
> I tried adding flax seeds to my smoothies but they
> mostly stayed whole. I thought my Vita-Mix would
> ground them down but it didn't happen. Maybe I
> should try grinding the flax seeds first? I'm
> still not Vita-Mix proficient. LOL

range">Grinding them first would be a 'pain', but doable. I have a Vita-Prep 3 by Vita-Mix. You have the 5000, right? I'm going to try Flax Seeds in my Smoothies this weekend to add more Fiber and also to see if my 3 HP Blender will break them up. I've got to go out-of-town for the FS. I couldn't find them locally when I looked today......WY

Wheatgrass Yogi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Derek, at Dynamic Greens, informs me that
> Wheatgrass Fibers are undigestible.
> [www.dynamicgreens.com]
> Derek also told me, through emails, that they
> strain their Juice before it is frozen. I had
> asked him specifically about that.......WY


I do strain it after blending. I find that there is much less residue than than when I blend and strain other combinations.

Wishing you vibrant health

Hi Wheatgrass Yogi!

You're both a legend and inspiration to this newbie around these parts. Thanks so much for all your posts & responses to date. I'm tickled that I get to contribute here.

First off, took delivery of wheatgrass this past week from Dynamic Greens. Very nice family operated company. I'm having two of the frozen squares every morning when I wakeup. Not sure where you live, but make certain that you're around for the next day UPS delivery. They use fresh ice instead of dry ice to keep their wheatgrass frozen. Mine was starting to thaw out just a bit, even as nicely packaged as it came.

On to green smoothies! My first was a Victoria recipe of parsley and pears and I must say I personally didn't care for the taste. Think I may have used too much parsley. Since then I've made green smoothies with baby spinach, celery, romaine lettuce, and kale. Kale is without a doubt my favorite new vegetable. Speaking of which, does anyone know if I can blend the entire leaf of kale with the fibrous stem and all? I'd hate to be throwing away good food!

All in all I try and place some nice green vegetable in with my smoothies each time. My fruit is normally the dominant ingredient and I hardly taste the veggies at all.

Best of luck to all,

David

diamond dave Wrote:
>
> First off, took delivery of wheatgrass this past
> week from Dynamic Greens. Very nice family
> operated company. I'm having two of the frozen
> squares every morning when I wakeup. Not sure
> where you live, but make certain that you're
> around for the next day UPS delivery. They use
> fresh ice instead of dry ice to keep their
> wheatgrass frozen. Mine was starting to thaw out
> just a bit, even as nicely packaged as it came. Thanks, I was wondering how they packaged it. I was hoping for Dry Ice. I'm ordering my first unit (120 ounces) this Tuesday and will be home (here in Florida) Wednesday when it comes. I plan to have the frozen squares in my morning Carrot Juice.
>
> On to green smoothies! My first was a Victoria
> recipe of parsley and pears and I must say I
> personally didn't care for the taste. Think I may
> have used too much parsley. Since then I've made
> green smoothies with baby spinach, celery, romaine
> lettuce, and kale. Kale is without a doubt my
> favorite new vegetable. Speaking of which, does
> anyone know if I can blend the entire leaf of kale
> with the fibrous stem and all? I'd hate to be
> throwing away good food! I think you're on the right track by using more Greens than Fruit in your Green Smoothies. Victoria's recipes have too much Fruit, in my opinion. Blending the whole leaf of Kale is fine, plus, it's one of the most nutritious Greens.
I bought some Flax Seeds today to try in my GS tonight.....WY

roxeli Wrote:
> I tried adding flax seeds to my smoothies but they
> mostly stayed whole. I thought my Vita-Mix would
> ground them down but it didn't happen. Maybe I
> should try grinding the flax seeds first? There's no need to grind them first. I bought a pound of Flax Seeds yesterday and had 2 Tbsp. of them in my Green Smoothie last night. There was no indication of them after I had finished the blending. Here's what I did that you might try.....After all the ingredients have been loosely blended (with some large chunks), run your variable dial through all the numbers to 10. Then flip the High-Speed override switch....blend everything at that highest speed for 15 seconds. Then turn everything off and enjoy your Smoothie......WY

Wheatgrass Yogi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> roxeli Wrote:
> > I tried adding flax seeds to my smoothies but
> they
> > mostly stayed whole. I thought my Vita-Mix
> would
> > ground them down but it didn't happen. Maybe I
> > should try grinding the flax seeds first?
> There's no need to grind them first. I bought a
> pound of Flax Seeds yesterday and had 2 Tbsp. of
> them in my Green Smoothie last night. There was no
> indication of them after I had finished the
> blending. Here's what I did that you might
> try.....After all the ingredients have been
> loosely blended (with some large chunks), run your
> variable dial through all the numbers to 10. Then
> flip the High-Speed override switch....blend
> everything at that highest speed for 15 seconds.
> Then turn everything off and enjoy your
> Smoothie......WY

Thanks. I'll try that today. I figured I was doing something wrong because even the blackberry seeds were still whole. LOL

Btw, I have an old Vita-Mix 3600 that I bought used. I love it because it has the stainless steel pitcher.

roxeli Wrote:
> I have an old Vita-Mix 3600 that I bought
> used. I love it because it has the stainless
> steel pitcher. That sure is an old blender you have there Roxeli. I hope it has enough power to thoroughly blend your Green Smoothies......WY

David - I have been drinking green smoothies for just a few weeks now. At first I did not put in the thick stems of kale, or collards. Now I do and you'd never know it. So I say add them in!

I tried pear with greens for the first time today. It was very good! (I also added some frozen peaches since it is something I am familiar with.)

diamond dave Wrote:
>
> First off, took delivery of wheatgrass this past
> week from Dynamic Greens. Very nice family
> operated company. I'm having two of the frozen
> squares every morning when I wakeup. Not sure
> where you live, but make certain that you're
> around for the next day UPS delivery. They use
> fresh ice instead of dry ice to keep their
> wheatgrass frozen. Mine was starting to thaw out
> just a bit, even as nicely packaged as it came.
Diamond Dave.....If you're still following this Forum, I'd like an update on the Frozen Wheatgrass Juice you bought at Dynamic Greens. If you think it's worth it, I'm going to order 120 ounces. $199 is a lot of money for Green Juice, but I thought I'd try it. It sure would save me a lot of work and trouble growing my own.....Wheatgrass Yogi

Hi Henry,

How fortuitous as I tried to PM you this morning over this very topic but the message wouldn't send as you apparently have too many missives in your PM box!

I was going to ask _you_ what you thought of the frozen wheatgrass. I'm new to this lifestyle of eating raw and don't know how to assess their efficacy. I tried a shot of wheatgrass a few weeks back at a local Jamba Juice and it definitely did give me a little boost of something. I then saw your contribution to a Just Wheatgrass post on this forum which is where I first saw the link to Dynamic Greens. Doing the math (I'm a finance/accounting guy by trade) the 1 ounce shot at Jamba Juice was just shy of $2.00. The same 1 oz. shot from Dynamic Greens comes out to $1.66 and of course gets less expensive when you purchase the higher bulk shipments they offer. This also does not factor in the rising price of gas, depreciation and wear & tear on my vehicle, my time, etc.... Believe the best overall value is with the Dynamic Green product plus I like the way it's naturally grown.

Since I understand wheatgrass is best ingested on an empty stomach, when I rise at 5am each day I stumble to the kitchen and prepare two frozen cubes in room temperature water just as the DG website recommends. Perhaps it's the early hour but I don't seem to get the same energized feeling as I did with that one Jamba Juice shot. The very helpful lady that took my order at DG says the odd feeling came from the introduction of mold from the Jamba Juice grass! Definitely _not_ something I want to put in my body.

Overall I can't say if I feel better ingesting my two cubes a day of wheatgrass. Perhaps I need to add another cube, I'm not sure. Thankfully I'm not battling cancer or any other terrible disease. I do know that downing my wheatgrass _has_ to be better than my old habits of coffee, soda, or the new evil - Monster energy drink (none of which I drink anymore).

If you've taken delivery of the Dynamic Greens product I'd like to know your thoughts. Believe you have far more experience with wheatgrass than I do. I'm certain everyone on this forum would enjoy your assessment as well.

Feel free to PM if you'd like. From there I'd be happy to give you my email address.

Take care,

David



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2007 09:06PM by diamond dave.

diamond dave Wrote:

> I was going to ask _you_ what you thought of the
> frozen wheatgrass. I froze some of my own wheatgrass (about 10 ounces), just to see what it tastes like. I am going to run a comparison when I order from Dynamic Greens next week.
>Believe the best overall value
> is with the Dynamic Green product plus I like the
> way it's naturally grown. Yes, I like that too. They grow their Wheatgrass in the soil for months, whereas I can only grow mine for a few days.
> Since I understand wheatgrass is best ingested on
> an empty stomach, when I rise at 5am each day I
> stumble to the kitchen and prepare two frozen
> cubes in room temperature water just as the DG
> website recommends. Now I take my Wheatgrass Juice in the morning before Carrot Juice. I'll be taking the frozen with the Carrot Juice. That combo just seems to work best, for me.
>Perhaps it's the early hour
> but I don't seem to get the same energized feeling
> as I did with that one Jamba Juice shot. Just one time wouldn't be a fair comparison. I may even start back growing my own Wheatgrass, while using the frozen from Dynamic Greens, just to compare my Fresh with their Frozen.
>The very helpful lady that took my order at DG says the odd
> feeling came from the introduction of mold from
> the Jamba Juice grass! Definitely _not_ something
> I want to put in my body. There's no way she could know that. And again, just one time doesn't count.
> Overall I can't say if I feel better ingesting my
> two cubes a day of wheatgrass. Perhaps I need to
> add another cube, I'm not sure. I'll probably take 3 ounces (6 cubes) every morning.
> If you've taken delivery of the Dynamic Greens
> product I'd like to know your thoughts. I'll let you know, and anyone else who might be interested, next week when I try it. I'll start a separate Thread, since this is a bit off-topic here at Green Smoothies........Wheatgrass Yogi

frozen wheat grass juice. How very convenient. If I knew about that I would have told my dad about that. He still doesnt have his juicer he ordered. That company sure takes their time. I am still in the stone age with my manule juicer lol. I want to know how your frozen juice compairs also, wheatgrass yogi. I also don't know how that woman would possible know that jamba juice wheat grass is moldy. I do know that jamba juice grows their grass with hydroponics. One thing I have noticed though is even though some people sell the grass they really dont know that much about how it really is for the body. They just sell it not use it for themselves.
I will be waiting for more info on the frozen grass juice

pampam Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> frozen wheat grass juice. How very convenient. Yes, it will save a lot of work, time, and trouble. I am going to miss using my own juicer. I won't miss dealing with heavy bags of Potting Mix.
> If I knew about that I would have told my dad about that. He still doesnt have his juicer he ordered. That company sure takes their time. If you ordered from Sundance Industries, they 'make' each juicer when the order comes in. There is a Backlog of orders sometimes, and it takes a while. I don't think they keep anything 'in stock'. I've dealt with them numerous times over the phone over the years. Their juicers have been virtually unchanged for the last 45 years. One improvement I'd like to see is Stainless Steel construction rather than Tin.
> I am still in the stone age with my manual juicer. lol. I used a manual Back-to-Basics, Stainless Steel model, for years before I 'graduated' to electric. It was my favorite juicer but got to be too much work for anything over an ounce or two.
> I want to know how your frozen juice compairs also, wheatgrass yogi. I will be waiting for more info on the frozen grass juice I'll keep you posted.......WY

I am about halfway through reading "Green for Life" and had it not been for this site probably would never have given it a thought to read.

I just made my first green smoothie. I have to thank ya'll for the inspiration to try this. I cannot believe how darn good this is. I used spinach, kale (the purple looking kind), banana, pear plus some water.

I don't have a high power blender so I used my food processor. A blender would probably be a little easier to work with but my FP did fine. I have been reading the posts on different blenders - Waring vs Vitamix - for whenever I have the funds to get a good one.

In the mean time thank you for your inspiration and advice.

Patty

sewraw Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am about halfway through reading "Green for
> Life" and had it not been for this site probably
> would never have given it a thought to read. It's a good book, but you'll have to modify her ideas about Green Smoothies to suit your own. For example, I used to include Fruit in my smoothies, but now, except for Tomatoes, I don't.
>
> I just made my first green smoothie. I have to
> thank ya'll for the inspiration to try this. I
> cannot believe how darn good this is. I used
> spinach, kale (the purple looking kind), banana,
> pear plus some water. Yes, Kale is the best, and I believe there are 3, maybe 4, varieties. I don't use Spinach, but probably should.
>
> I don't have a high power blender so I used my
> food processor. A blender would probably be a
> little easier to work with but my FP did fine. I
> have been reading the posts on different blenders
> - Waring vs Vitamix - for whenever I have the
> funds to get a good one. You're going to have to get a high-speed blender if you want to make Green Smoothies the right way, which is completely Liquefied. I'm adding a picture of my Vita-Prep 3, but I'm not 'pushing' it. The Waring and Blentec make powerful blenders too.......WY

Hi.

I own a Vita-Prep3 and I like the idea of using a smaller container (better size for 1 person -IMO), I have the tendency to add a little bit from everything, and I end up with 2 qt. of mixture - too much for one meal. I only like to consume immediately what I blend. Larger container leads to refrigeration and to a fast degradation of taste and quality of whatever was blended.

Personal, I do not have a "favorite" smoothie, I eat everything tastes good or not - I am rigid in "rotating"/alternating the ingredients , but I really like the taste of the baby Lima beans blended with 1 or perhaps 1/2 garlic clove - I only could find the frozen bags w. Lima beans, never fresh ;-( Before to become 100% raw, in the very first steps of my transition I added one more healthy ingredient to this smoothie - but I cannot mention what into this forum.

There is only one thing I have to complain about my blender: the blade's steel does not hold edge - it gets dull pretty fast and needs to be resharpened in order to obtain a real smooth product.

Pls. excuse my English - foreigner.

=============================================================
Medicine, Food Industry and Commerce are businesses.
Is their goal to make/keep me healthy or to make more profit?
=============================================================

Here it is! The most perfect smoothie I've made so far. Damn near orgasmic, it was that good. Better than sex!!! (or maybe I'm just bored with my husband) LOL Seriously though, try this one. It's incredibly simple but good.

3 ripe bananas
3 oranges
1 cup raspberries
baby spinach

(You do not need to add water when you use oranges.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/2007 08:47AM by roxeli.

ErikSkulasonUSA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi.
>
> I own a Vita-Prep3 and I like the idea of using a
> smaller container (better size for 1 person -IMO),
> I have the tendency to add a little bit from
> everything, and I end up with 2 qt. of mixture -
> too much for one meal. I have the same problem. Using the smaller container helps to keep me under control. I saw some Organic Beet Root yesterday that I'd like to try, but that means I'll have to cut back on some of the other ingredients I'm now using.
> I only like to consume
> immediately what I blend. Larger container leads
> to refrigeration and to a fast degradation of
> taste and quality of whatever was blended. I use a 48 ounce container and that seems 'just right'. I believe Vita-Mix now offers a 32-ounce container (a bit too small in my opinion), having discontinued their smaller Stainless Steel container and also their 48-ounce plastic container that I'm now using.
> Personal, I do not have a "favorite" smoothie, I
> eat everything tastes good or not - I am rigid in
> "rotating"/alternating the ingredients. I tend to have the same Green Smoothie over and over again. I'm considering adding a little Clay to my smoothies to increase the cleansing action in the Colon. Ever try it? I was thinking today about the Green Smoothie being compared to a Glacier, cleaning everything in its Path.
> There is only one thing I have to complain about
> my blender: the blade's steel does not hold edge -
> it gets dull pretty fast and needs to be
> resharpened in order to obtain a real smooth
> product. That's interesting. I just checked my blades and they are dull, even though my smoothies seem to be turning out okay. How do you sharpen your blades? I have a Diamond Whetstone that I'm going to try......WY

roxeli Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here it is! The most perfect smoothie I've made
> so far. I bet it's Sweet. How much Spinach do you use? Damn near orgasmic, it was that good. Funny you should mention that. I find my Green Smoothies affect me the same way. They make me want to Shout.
> Better than sex!!! Now that's a bit of a Stretch. (or maybe I'm just bored with
> my husband) LOL I'm not going to touch that one. Seriously though, try this one.
> It's incredibly simple but good. Thanks for the recipe,Roxeli. Maybe some others will give us their Favorite Recipe. After all, this Thread is "Perfecting the Green Smoothie".....WY
>
> 3 ripe bananas
> 3 oranges
> 1 cup raspberries
> baby spinach
>
> (You do not need to add water when you use
> oranges.)

ErikSkulasonUSA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> There is only one thing I have to complain about
> my blender: the blade's steel does not hold edge -
> it gets dull pretty fast and needs to be
> resharpened in order to obtain a real smooth
> product. After taking the Blades out of the container of my VP-3 this morning, and looking closely, I'm not sure the blades need to be sharpened. They have a uniform 'dullness', which tells me they weren't real sharp to begin with. Have you sharpened your blades before? Maybe someone with a Waring or Total Blender or Blendtec could tell us if their blades are sharp?......WY

Wheatgrass Yogi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ErikSkulasonUSA Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> [...]
> I believe Vita-Mix now offers a 32-ounce container

32 fl oz will be perfect for me - especially for my last tendency of "mono blending" or blending 1 kind at the time. Probably I will not eat for the entire day the same fruit or vegetable, but I want to enjoy the specific taste of each vegetable.
[...]
> I'm considering adding a little Clay to my
> smoothies to increase the cleansing action in the
> Colon. Ever try it? I was thinking today about the
> Green Smoothie being compared to a Glacier,
> cleaning everything in its Path.

Maybe. Moving glaciers it makes me think to their erosive action.
Never tried Clay, maybe I will try one day.

> There is only one thing I have to complain
> about
> > my blender: the blade's steel does not hold edge
> -
> > it gets dull pretty fast and needs to be
> > resharpened in order to obtain a real smooth
> > product. That's interesting. I just checked my
> blades and they are dull, even though my smoothies
> seem to be turning out okay.

It all depends about what you blend, how and the temperature of products (the things you bring out from freezer).

> How do you sharpen
> your blades? I have a Diamond Whetstone that I'm
> going to try......WY

I removed the blades and I just sharpened manually couple of times, but I was disappointed about the quality of the balade's steel.
The steel is elastic, but will never hold edge, is sooo soft, will never stay sharp. I was thinking to ask the manufacturer if they can provide me with a better blade - I would prefer a thicker one and a high carbon steel (the so called D1 kind - this will stay sharp but will be corroded easier and is not so elastic. Lots of theories (and compromises) about steel quality - not only about nutrition ;-(.

I would also prefer a glass container instead of plastic or metal. Glass does not react (much) with our foods. Some blenders have a glass container.

Pls. excuse my English - foreigner.

=============================================================
Medicine, Food Industry and Commerce are businesses.
Is their goal to make/keep me healthy or to make more profit?
=============================================================

I yard sale a lot and came across a oster blender that has two speed settings. It seems to have some power I also found a different blade for my blender that has a sharp edge to it. I still have not tried a green smoothey yet I tried one time and put some dulse in it and I didnt like the tast of dulse I think that would be an aquired taste. I guess I will have to just dive in and give it a try. one of these days I will get a vita mix blender. I am still useing a champion juicer and a simple blender.