by Frederic Patenaude
There are several benefits to eating
blended raw foods (smoothies, raw soups,
etc.), beyond their convenience. In
this article, I will provide you with
some essential information about blended
foods. I will give you some of the best
pieces of advice I have found over the
years, my “golden rules”
of blending. Here we go...
1- Thou Shall Make Blended Raw Foods
on a Regular Basis.
Blending is a great way to consume fruits
and vegetables, for several reasons:
a- It’s convenient. We
can make a big smoothie in a flash when
we don’t have time to prepare
a dish or sit down and chew a bunch
of apples. Smoothies make great, ready-to-eat
meals that can be consumed immediately
or brought along to work, to outdoor
activities, etc.
b- It’s healthy. Blending
raw fruits and vegetables breaks them
down into particles that are easy to
assimilate by the body. This is especially
important, considering the fact that
many of us do not chew well enough and/or
have compromised digestion.
c- It’s tasty. Raw soups,
smoothies, etc., are super tasty —
everybody loves them. You’ll have
no trouble converting your family or
kids to become fruits and vegetables
lovers with blended raw foods.
d- It’s great for children.
Blended raw fruits and vegetables are
the ideal “baby foods” and
can be added to a child’s diet
from an early age.
2- Thou Shall Use a Vitamix.
What is a Vita-Mix?
a- A $400 blender.
b- The most essential kitchen tool you’ll
ever use.
c- The best blender on the planet.
d- All of the above.
Answer: d, all of the above!
Ok, first of all let me say that I do
not work for the company Vitamix nor
do I make a profit by recommending their
product. I’m just a happy user.
I once used a traditional blender, and
then got a Vita-Mix, and never looked
back. It’s the best investment
I ever made for any kitchen tool!
Ask any Vita-Mix owner and they’ll
tell you how awesome the machine is.
They will also probably tell you that
they use it almost everyday. I do.
It’s simply the best to make smoothies
in a flash, in a large quantity, make
dressings, raw soups, etc.
With a regular blender you can’t
achieve the same texture with the same
ease as you will with the Vita-Mix.
So for all of those who wonder, “What
the best blender to use?”, you’ve
got your answer. Although there are
other high-quality blenders, I’ve
never tried one that matches the Vita-Mix,
a machine that’s been around for
decades.
If you don’t have a Vita-mix,
you can continue using your regular
blender, but definitely put that in
your “wish list.”
3- Thou Shall Throw Away the Recipe
Book That Comes With the Vita-mix in
the Trashcan.
When you buy a Vita-mix you get a little
booklet of recipes and instructions
on how to use the machine. Although
the Vita-Mix company has great marketing
and a great product, I don’t really
know who they hired to come up with
those recipes. It’s the worst
combination of completely vile mixtures
of food you can imagine.
When you buy a vita-mix, used or new,
just throw away the recipe book that
comes with it. Burn it, recycle it,
do anything you want with it but do
not use it!
Instead, learn the proper recipes, which
are no-brainers by the way. I’ve
included all the most essential raw
soup and smoothie recipes in my new
book, “Instant
Raw Sensations.”
4- Thou Shall Not Try to Make Ann Wigmore’s
Recipes.
I don’t have anything against
Ann Wigmore. She certainly contributed
a lot to the health movement. She also
wrote a lot about the benefits of blended
foods, and wrote a book called “The
Blending Book.” That book contains
great ideas and information, but the
recipes aren’t very appealing.
They’ll likely turn off most people
who are interested in raw foods!
So if you ever thought that “raw
soups” weren’t your thing
after you tried some of Ann Wigmore’s
recipes, don’t desperate! You
can come up with much better ideas with
only a few “good” examples
to follow.
5- Thou Shall Blend as Briefly as
Possible.
When we blend foods, oxygen mixes with
the food particles. This process creates
oxidation big time, meaning that each
particle of food becomes exposed to
oxygen, which contributes to destroying
the nutritional value.
The key to benefiting from blended foods
while keeping oxidation to a minimum
is to blend for as little as necessary.
Learn to use your Vita-Mix or blender,
so that you do not need to blend for
a long period of time.
A good way to do this is to use the
Vita-Mix 10-speed feature. Start at
the lowest speed (this doesn’t
create much oxidation), and as you progressively
add in the ingredients, increase the
speed. Then blend at high speed for
a few seconds only, and bring the speed
back down before turning the power off.
6- Thou Shall Clean Thy Vita-mix
Immediately After Using It.
The Vita-mix, or the blender, is easy
to clean. Here’s how to do it.
Immediately after using it, pour out
your concoction, and then fill half
of the blender with water and a little
dish soap. Then blend this at high speed
for about 15-20 seconds. Rinse once
or twice and bingo, your container is
completely clean and ready to use!
Problems arise when we wait to clean
it. Then all of the stuff dries out
an becomes hard to clean. Then we complain,
“This is too much trouble.”
The key is to clean the blender immediately
after using it. Not 5 minutes later.
Immediately. I guarantee that you’ll
save a lot of time and trouble this
way.
7- Thou Shall Try as Many Combinations
as possible, but Thou Shall Not Try
to Make a Tomato-Mango Smoothie.
It’s important to become creative
with blending. Try as many combinations
as possible. Try as many fruits as possible.
The possibilities are endless. I discovered
so many good combos just by asking,
“I wonder how this and that taste
together in a smoothie?” I encourage
you to do the same.
Do not think you need to open up a recipe
book each time you want to make a smoothie
or raw soup!
However, I must advise against the tomato-mango
smoothie. I tried it once, and it is
not a winner! (But who knows, you might
like it...)
8- Thou Shall Avoid Using Frozen
Fruits Too Often.
Most smoothie recipes I have seen in
books include ice or frozen fruit. The
reason is that it saves money to the
restaurant preparing them, but also
because people enjoy having cold drinks.
The problem with frozen foods, such
as frozen bananas, berries, etc., is
that they are very cold. Eating cold
foods is the equivalent of putting an
ice pack in your stomach. Digestion
is slow, and indigestion follows.
If you want a cool drink, blend with
cold water, instead of using ice. Occasionally,
you may want to throw in a couple frozen
bananas in your smoothies, but take
your time eating it and don’t
swallow it cold at once.
9- Thou Shall Take Your Time to Enjoy
Thy Blended Drink.
Blended foods are easy to eat, but they
are also very concentrated. They are
fast to prepare, and can also be fast
to consume! The problem is that consuming
blended foods too fast doesn’t
give your body the time to digest and
assimilate them properly. You need to
consider your blended foods “food”,
not “drinks.” Take your
time to enjoy them and your body will
thank you for it.
10- Thou Shall Get a Copy of My Book
“Instant Raw Sensations”
Ok, here’s my little inside plug:
since there was no good raw blending
book, I had to write my own. At first,
I wrote a booklet called “Raw
Soups, Salads & Smoothies,”
which is now available on my website
when you order “The
Raw Secrets.”
My latest and most useful collection
of easy blended food recipes, as well
as other raw recipes, is my book “Instant
Raw Sensations.” It contains an
entire chapter filled with smoothie
recipes, another one with green smoothies,
as well as recipes for raw soups and
dressings. If you haven’t gotten
your copy yet (it just started shipping
this week), go to:
http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/instantraw.html
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