My mom called me one day last year and exclaimed, “Iron Man drank a green smoothie in the movie!” “Are you serious?” I said. When I finally watched the movie on DVD, there was Robert Downey Jr. as uber-genius Tony Stark drinking a green smoothie as he feverishly perfected the design for his Iron Man costume. I thought, “Wow, green smoothies are going mainstream. That is too cool.”The popularity of green smoothies can be credited to one woman: Victoria Boutenko.
She, her husband, and two of their children all became raw vegans in 1994 because of their serious health challenges. Since then, Boutenko has chronicled her family’s experiences, and helped millions of people (I’m one of them) in the process in books like Raw Family: A True Story of Awakening, Raw Family Signature Dishes, 12 Steps to Raw Foods, and Green for Life.
Anyone who is suffering medically, from anything, should read Raw Family. It is a powerful testament to a mother’s love and determination to heal her family. (www.rawfamily.com)
Green Smoothie Revolution is a follow-up to Green for Life, a serious scholarly effort heavy on research and science, short on recipes. Anyone skeptical about green smoothie benefits should read that one first.
In fifty-six pages of Part One of Green Smoothie Revolution, Boutenko takes the reader by the hand. Boutenko brings the ample research she is known for. She pulls in a chemist and a chemical engineer in the Smoothie vs. Juicing chapter, but keeps the tone conversational. You may not think that reading about how humans and chimps share 99.4% of the same genes is exciting, but it is! Boutenko has unlocked the missing component in human nutrition, and figured out a way to make greens, edible weeds, herbs, and sprouts palatable.
Her passion for healing is clear. In the chapter, Greens, the Key Ingredient in Human Nutrition, she writes: “Today, as we continue to increase the amount of processed foods in our diets, the level of public health is falling so quickly we can observe the dramatic plunge even in the course of one generation.” Boutenko compares the health of her generation of middle schoolers (she’s 54 now) and the health of middle school-age children now. The comparison was stark. It made me think about my own children, their peers, and their health. And there is a chapter dedicated to smoothies for children. (Make them a little sweeter!) Children get 23 recipes just for them!
In Part Two, the reader gets 200 recipes, cultivated from green smoothie drinkers around the world. I just wanted to dive in. So I did! I made Favorite Green Smoothie and Red Smoothie right away. And I’m drinking an apple, kale, lemon smoothie right now. How’s that for enthusiasm for this book?There’s Smoothies for Beginners (for the new palate); Supergreen Smoothies (lots of wild edibles); Green Smoothies for Adventurous Souls (exotic, luscious smoothies); Savory Green Smoothies and Soups; Green Puddings, and Green Smoothies for Children, Pets, and Body Care.
In the Appendix, the amazing weight loss story of Clent Manich is documented by Clent and his doctor, Miven Donato, PT, DC. Clent came to Dr. Donato weighing 391 pounds, suffering from Type -2 diabetes, lower back pain, and sciatica. Clent is honest about his weight loss stops and starts. His transformation truly began when he added green smoothies and cut out animal products. You can’t help but be inspired by Clent Manich's testimony.
Victoria is worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize. Her solution to great health is a simple one. With all the back-and-forth about Health Care Reform, all you need is a blender, greens, fruits, and water. Blend them up to create your own Health Care Reform. Go buy your copy of Green Smoothie Revolution TODAY.
10+ out of 10 Mocha Angels.
GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!
One lucky person wins a copy of Green Smoothie Revolution!!
- Leave a comment at the end of this post. Answer the question: “What is your favorite smoothie?”
- Post your comment by 11:59pm EST, Monday, November 23, 2009.
- I will pick the winner at random. The winner will receive an email from me on Tuesday, November 24, 2009. I will announce the winner on The Raw Mocha Angel blog on that same day.
- Good luck!
Love,
Althea
39 comments:
hmmmm...favorite smoothie? how to pick just one?!?!? today, my favorite smoothie is banana, strawberry, kiwi and tons of spinach. tomorrow it could very well be something else! :)
Mine is peaches and strawberries. With some water and with alot of raw hony sooooo good.
My favorite smoothie right now is almond milk with banana, pineapple, spinach, and lately, pea shoots. The book sounds great!
favorite smoothie is probably banana/blueberry/parsley/spinach
All of those sound good. I think smoothies often taste better when someone else makes them. Mine will have to be banana, cucumber, chard & peaches. Something like that. Depends what's in the kitchen...
I've been wanting to read that book!
One of my favorite smoothies is cherries, banana, kale, hempseeds, cacao powder, vanilla.
I love banannas, strawberry and spinach.
Hi Althea,
Currently, my favorite green smoothie is: any leafy green (collard/kale/spinach), blue berries, hemp seed, flax seed (gound), banana, and apple with some liquid of your choice to even it out. MMM MMM GOOD. Delish!
My favorite is raw almond milk, spinach, bananas, raw carob powder, coconut oil, and dates. It is so good!
my favourite smoothie/s would be:
thompson grapes + guava + arugula + banana
&/or
red grapes + frozen strawberries + a dash of balsamic vinegar + mint + kale
but it could be something new tomorrow!
My favorite smoothie comes from Boutenko's Green for Life: apples, spinach, water and half lime with peel. Tastes like a yummy apple limeade!!
My favorite smoothie is just the one with the romaine lettuce and watermelon
My favorite smoothie is Kale and Mango. Another is whatever green i have on hand, cucumbers, celery, lemon and ginger. yummm
My favorite smoothie is kale & tomato with some celery!
I enjoy a good smoothie with spinach, bananas and hemp seed. Super delicious.
I'm with Candace. My fav is watermelon and romaine.
spinach/watercress/avocado/spiralina :) can't go wrong, thanks for the tgreat post.
Oh man. Smoothies. I've gone really creative with them in the past few months, adding random ingredients and spices. But none can compare to my very first green smoothie. It was one of the first things I made when I was getting into raw foods. Using the blender was difficult at first so making the smoothie was a bit of a hassle. The ingredients, however, were surprisingly simple: a single banana and a handful of spinach. The taste of my efforts was heaven. So sweet and smooth! I hope I never forget it.
Because I am a diabetic and transitioning to a raw diet my favorite greem smoothie is:
1 handful of romaine
2 handful of spinish
2 tomato
1 large cucumber
1 small carrot
2 celery stalk
40z of water
1 pinch of salt
Blend all and drink. It tast just like a V8!
I usually make and drink this smoothie after walking two miles in the morning and 100 sec on the rebounder. I learned this tatic from Arnold in Penn who said:
"You must earn your breakfast. and the only way you can do this is moving. So move"
Simple is better. Two Fuji apples, a head of romaine and a little water. Very simple, quick and taste great.
All of these smoothies sound great, can't wait to try some of them. One of my favorites is kale, lemon, cucumber, celery, hemp protein and cumin. I also like spinach, banana, apple, date and water, really fresh.
My all time favorite green smoothie is kale, raspberries and pineapple. It's divine. Steph.
my favorite smoothie is carrot tops with blackberries, bananas, apples and carrot juice as the liquid. The juice really helps bridge the taste of the tops and the fruit.
my favourite smoothie contains greens, banana, orange juice, zest and juice of lemon, pineapple...very refreshing.
anything with raspberries is nice, too
my favorite is spinach with apple and grapes!! ~yum yum!!
My favorite is apple carrot beet
My all-time favorite is 3 young coconuts (water & meat) with a TON of spinich, & that's it...or maybe a banana, too! YUM! Now I'm craving one!!!
My absolute favorite is peach, mango & spinach... fabulous combo!!
Shrek Smoothie-named by my youngest daughter
kale (lots)
the juice of 1/2 lemon, 1/2 lime, and juice of 2 tangerines
1 frozen banana
1 cup pineapple
1 cup papaya
5 ice cubes
1 cup cold water
Blend well-serves 1 ogre and 1 donkey
Favorite smoothie would be Spinach, banana, grapes,coconut oil or flax oil, wheatgerm, blended in raw apple juice.
MY favorite smoothie would have to be
Banana
Strawberry
Spinach
Peach and/or Mango
I mix several bananas, dates, couple of apples (or an apple and a pear) and handful of greens with some water. Some times I add some green algae or smoothie powder.
Inspired by your site I just put together a winner I loved:
1 fuji apple--less seeds
1 large (double) kiwi and skin
1 meyer lemon less outer yellow part
1 frozen banana
1 fresh banana
1 medjool date
8-10 medium leaves of rainbow chard
2 cups ice water
3 ice cubes
My favorite is Kale, banana, hemp seed, pineapple and pea greens.
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