We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for an update on the results of our Green Smoothie Challenge Contest Winners.
If you weren’t around at St. Patrick’s Day, we put together a lucky version of the Green Smoothie Challenge by offering a 7-day version instead of just 3. We had quite a few people from around the world joining us for that adventure, and in the spirit of the luck of the Irish, we gave away some prizes to contest winners.
Before I give up the names of the people who are the BIG winners for our Green Smoothie Contest, I just wanted to remind you of the prizes at stake:
Successful Green Smoothie Participant Awards
Anyone who sent in their story, testimonial or letter just saying how it went will be given our latest raw food menu planner for an entire month. It is loaded with green goodness! If you wrote to us, but didn’t receive your menu, there’s a chance you slipped through the cracks. Either way, just send another message to:
thequeen@greensmoothiequeen.com
Qualifications: You must be a registered participant of our Green Smoothie Challenge and have sent in a letter to us letting us know how it went for you!
Top Powder Room Posters (2 Winners) Prize Value $30
Those of you who are out there contributing the most, sharing your stories, encouraging others and playing along in The Powder Room (our cozy community forum) will be awarded a special Gift from us.
And the lucky winners are:
All prize winners in this category will be awarded $75 that they can put towards the purchase of any Raw Diva, Raw Mom or Green Smoothie products or services. The only request is that shipping charges must still be paid by you, my dear, if you choose something that requires shipping. When you see the program you want, just get in touch with us and let us know. We’ll sign you up with smiles and bells and whistles.
Most Elegant Green Smoothie Presentation Award (1) Value $75
We asked you to put something together with class and sophistication. We were really delighted with the submissions, and this glowing, gorgeous picture was submitted by the charming Vanetta Stephens herself.
Here’s what she had to say about her photo submission:
(This photo is a replica of what I saw in my mind as I was driving to the grocery store):
Since I started drinking green smoothies as part of my healthy lifestyle, I have maintained my weight so I can fit into the “black dress” that is the backdrop for the other items in the photo. Because I feel so great, and am able to think more clearly and have more stamina and endurance, I am enabled to pursue my dreams. I do play the flute, which I dearly love. I always desired to play the piccolo. Now, I have purchased this instrument and am enjoying the inspiration, health and vitality which contributes to my being able to practice for as much time as I choose. I am not only dreaming more, but eagerly pursuing them so they become reality for me. I am no longer afraid to try new things.
The green smoothie is my Green Colada recipe.
Soooo, congratulations, Vanetta, and thank you soooo much for taking the time to make this special. It’s GORGEOUS and I was so impressed with the “glow”. It truly is elegant and where did you get those shoes, Girlfriend?? 
Looove the sparkle factor in this picture.
Most Creative Green Smoothie Presentation Award (1 winner) Value $75
I said, “We’ve seen all kinds of displays of green love! Whatever you do, make it creative and we’ll be fairly easily impressed.” Well, when Sandy DeSmedt sent us in the picture you see below, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. I love the creativit and playfulness in this one:
Most Prolific Green Smoothie Recipe Producer (1 winner) Value $75
This is the person who sends us the most new green smoothie recipes! We had a tie between Echo in the Powder Room, and Alejandro, but Alejandro qualified for another prize and we’ll tell you about that in a moment. So Echo, you are the winner for the most number of Green Smoothie recipes submitted!! Congratulations.
While I would love to give amazing prizes to everyone, if I did that, there would be no incentive to make the effort and get creative about these contests.
Remember, the next time we do another contest like this will be International Green Smoothie Day on August the 15th, 2009.
We’ll have a LOT of sponsors and prizes for this event and we do encourage you to get involved early. Last year was our first annual celebration, and this year will be another roaring success! TOTALLY excited about that happening this summer.
Moving on, then…
Green Smoothie Mustache Awards (2 winners)
To be announced very soon!
Hang in there!
Green Smoothie Video Awards (1) Prize Value $100
Amanda Taylor appears to be the Green Smoothie Video winner, with Mika Botkin a close second! Gwynnel in the Powder Room also submitted a green smoothie video. Thank you sooo much, Ladies for your contributions!! So, Amanda, we’re awarding you a $100 gift certificate to our programs ;-), Gwynnel, you’ll get a runner up prize of $50 and Mika… well, Mika gets to inheret the throne one day, so we’ll give her a big kiss on the cheek.
The Ripple-Maker Award And The Big Red Blendtec Looooove Machine!
We asked you to host an event that would make a difference in your community. We asked that there be an educational component, and that you have people trying Green Smoothies. And we wanted this blender to go to the person who made the biggest ripple, or impact on her community.
First of all, I hate this part and I love it all at the same time. I wish, wish, wish that I could get sponsored for 100 blenders and send them all out with love to everyone who needs them. First of all, I’d like you to read this letter. C’mon, seriously. Make the time. It’s worth it:
Hi Tera! I just wanted to tell you a little bit of what has been going on since I started the green smoothie challenge.
It started great because it`s been a year on almost 100% raw (we just eat something cooked like corn tortillas, beans or rice every 3 or 4 weeks) so we are very high raw and I cannot see myself eating any other way. So the green smoothie challenge was sort of my birthday present for raw food, but everything got going in such a way I cannot explain. I just found myself making lots of different smoothies, taking pictures of each one, taking pictures of my daughter drinking them, started uploading recipes, and I just found myself totally excited about everything and then you say that you were going to give away a blender. I had to have my blender so my excitedness was so great that I just had to have my blender.
You wanted us to make a ripple effect on others… hey Tera what you are doing is making the waves roll in over here, not just a
ripple. You are good at doing what you do! You really got me moving. At first, I really wanted my blender and my mind was thinking about what to do to get people into green smoothies and where I was going to go and give demonstrations, and somewhere in between, everything started to move. The universe started to make things go so fast I haven’t had time to stop. I am like a little machine working non stop. And it is because I can’t stop now.
I just started a website which is just comming up tommorrow, I hope. The site is www.comefrutasyverduras.com.mx The first site in Mexico about green smoothies and I launched a campaign to increase the intake of raw organic fruits and vegetables in the diet of children, youth, adults and the elder through the use of green smoothies. I have my first talk and demo in a school tomorrow morning. Ohhhhhh, I can’t believe this is happening. People just keep on saying what a great campaign, and how great it is that I am trying to improve my community’s health.
My daughter is so happy that we are going to go to teach other kids how she eats and that makes me really happy. And guess what, the blender isn’t important anymore. I know and feel that god has something very good and of higher value here and I am going to continue doing what I have to do. Thanks a lot for making a ripple effect and I hope to achieve the same in the years to come. I don`t know who you are, but I can feel the goodness in your heart and I guess god puts us in the right place when the time is right. You have been an example of keeping true to yourself and I would love to be able to meet you someday. I don’t 
know what`s going to happen with the web page but I even made a recipe book with the recipes I made from the green smoothie challenge and wrote some of the benefits of greens. This is going to be a downloadable free ebook in spanish, the first one of its kind. I’m even considering starting a raw food class on Saturdays, because on weekdays I will be doing the campaign in schools, hospitals and any place that wants me to give a little greensmoothie demo.
I will have the first pictures tommorrow after the demo that starts at 11:00 am, so please let me know where I can send them to because I would find it lovely that you got to see them and I don’t know if the web page will be ready by tomorrow. I have been learning html this week to be able to make the page and using a template. I would hire someone, but I don`t have the money. I am a stay at home mom, because of the allergies of my daughter, homeschooling her, living with only one budget in Mexico (that`s why I thought about the blender in the first place, this babies cost $10,000 mexican pesos which was about $1,000 usd when the dollar was at 11 pesos, but now at 15 pesos it`s impossible). I would love for you to look at the webpage when it is ready. I`m putting lots of hard work and I am pleased with what I am accomplishing. I guess that`s what counts even though it has been a crazy week and a half.
Thanks for your e-mails, your work, and even if somethimes you think you are not making the world a better place, just think again. My life has change for the better and I hope to be doing the same for others.
In hope of someday meeting you,
Alejandra Hernando
P.S. I have a little tune I sing with my daughter after drinking a smoothie or green juice because this makes us sing and dance, every time.
“El verde me hace fuerte, el verde me hace bien. Tu comes verde y yo tambien.” and she told me today, if tomorrow that we are going to the school, she can show the song to the other kids. So we even have a little song for our campaign. I`ll try to get it on video if I can.
YOU CAN SEE A VIDEO OF THIS EVENT ON ALEJANDRA’S SITE BY CLICKING HERE
Dear Alejandra,
Thank YOU so much for this outstanding display of enthusiasm. To know that the steps we make here have ripple effects in your part of the world move me to tears. I’m thrilled. Not only are we willing to send you your new Blendtec Blender, but I will also offer you at least 5 hours of consulting (that’s worth 3 blenders!! ;-)) and whatever else it takes to support you in getting your website to be a powerful source of inspiration to others! Please connect with Lau-raw who will be starting www.crudivas.com, the Spanish version of our Raw Divas website. She has translated all the materials for our 7-day detox and will be in charge of this site very soon. I’m sure that together you could be a very powerful and inspiring source of good news for the world. We’d like to help you develop your website and work with Laura to bring this message of Raw Food to the Spanish speaking community in a beautiful and powerful way!
Here’s some more inspiration for what you’re doing out there:
When living in Costa Rica, in only a week or two I completely changed the school’s snack program. When we arrived the children were eating deep fried foods as their snack, or ice-cream with lots of sugar. I sponsored the school by buying the first BIG batch of fruit and little plastic bags (long like a tube) and I taught them how to make fruit popsicles using watermelon, banana, and other fruits. They then sold the popsicles and had more than enough money to buy more ingredients and with it they improved the quality of the school lunch program making more salads and vegetable dishes. So, not only had we improved the health of the school, but we created a fantastic source of revenue for the school as well. All it took was a bit of a push to get things started.
There are so many things we can do to inspire and empower others around us, and for your efforts I applaud and thank you! It really is so touching to hear these stories. Thank you and PLEASE KEEP GOING!!!!
With love and gratitude,
Tera
Here was her response, when I told her she’d be getting a new blender:
WOW!!!!!!!! I just can`t stop smiling, laughing, jumping and I just can’t believe it. Thank you soooooo much. These 2 weeks have just been so full of energy, good things, LOTS of hard work and everything is in place. I even have some friends going to Texas next week so let me ask them if they could bring it to Mexico. (Because I don’t know how much it would cost for shipping and taxes sending it to Mexico.) Magic is in the air and this is the best price I have ever won, and the best part is that I won it just for doing what I am supposed to be doing. I am happy, and I just can`t stop my body from wanting to dance, and with the little prize at home, I`m ready to make lots of green smoothies to share.
Thanks for the ripple effect, it just feels fantastic.
Alejandra
This is what excites me the most, that in the process of inspiring her community, she is now ON FIRE! I love that. THAT is the web of life. THAT is community and the human spirit in action. I don’t know how to reach all the people in your local community, but YOU DO! and we can certainly help you make it happen. You just have to have the courage to knock on doors, to open them and share your message with the world.
There’s a runner up in this category and her name is Julie. Julie, I just want you to know that I’m going to get in touch with Blendtec and SERIOUSLY do my best to score another blender. I loved your story and so appreciate your enthusiasm and guts to do what you did. I’ll share her story soon, because I know this blog post has gone on quite a while, but I strongly encourage you to get out and validate the people whose stories I’ve shared here. And share your own. I’ll get back to putting the success stories at the end of the blog post. For now, soak it up and celebrate, you Green Smoothie Wonder Workers.
Loooove and hugs,
Green Smoothie Queen
a.k.a. Tera
Greetings to all sunshine slurpers! Today we’re into Day 1 of the LIVE 3-Day Green Smoothie Mini-Course! People are definitely excited about what to get, what to expect, and they’re already diving into the Emerald Lounge and posting photos and comments. We’re especially excited to see all the NEW people who have never heard of green smoothies!
It was not so long after giving birth that I got this clear call for live foods… I dug out 2 books I bought long ago of the Boutenko family and started to read them. Everything felt so right! Talking about it around me got me to The Raw Divas web site and everything around it. I totally fell in love with the approach, the support, the stories, but most importantly, the heart behind it!
So here I am reading all I can about raw food while breastfeeding my newborn!
I am just loving beetroot at the moment, and have come up with a super recipe for beet smoothie, which not only has great liver cleansing powers, it’s also my favourite colour….Purple!
Tropical Tune-up and Relaxer
This week I was fortunate to be able to speak at a “Greening Your Life” seminar for a small group of moms and their babies. I thought a lot about what I wanted to talk about because there were so many ideas I wanted to share with them,; however, having 45 minutes in which to speak, I wanted to really get the message out about the importance of non-toxic cleaners in the home as well as the importance of organic and locally grown foods.
What did I just hear? Did my daughter just ask me about putting greens in her smoothie? Ahh, music to my ears as they say!
Occasionally I would hear an exclamation of disbelief such as, “This has greens in it?” I paid attention to those comments, and found it often happened with stronger fruit flavors such as the cherries that are currently popular in our home.
I do not know if it is a coincidence that the girls prefer smoothies that are as much red (or blue) as they are green. It’s the juicy berries or cherries that will take the color more red, or in the case of blueberries, blue. It stills depends on the amount and variety of greens used, but if enough very red juicy berries or cherries are used, the color will not be bright green. Our favorite recipe lately uses some regional frozen pie cherries.
A while ago, Melissa Gill won a Home Study program through the Chidiet website and Jim Carey’s promotions. We asked her to provide some updates on her experiences and learning. Here’s the first update we’ve had from the trenches! Sounds like she’s had her nose in books! 
“I was not nervous to try (the smoothie) but it was better than I thought it would be.” - Rhylan, Grade 7
