Posts Tagged ‘Victoria Boutenko’

BiG Stories - Going Green Waaaay Up North

Friday, August 27th, 2010 by stacey

map-of-canada-thompson-manitoba

The stories and comments we’ve had coming in for our BiG Believe in Green challenge are enough to make you jump for choy.  Bobbi sent in a story that we’ll be entering into our BiG story contest, and we thought we’d share it with you now.  We’re still working towards and getting ever closer to our $10 000 goal for The Girls’ Club, but we haven’t quite got there yet.  If you sign up today  you can still get in on all the calls, downloads, recipes, and the chance to win a $400 Blendtec blender!

One of the rewarding results is that many are realizing how possible, how doable it is to make changes and a difference.  Not even location is an excuse as you’ll find out from Bobbi who lives almost 800 km and 10 hours north of the city of Winnipeg where I live in the province of Manitoba (hehe… and even with all that distance, we STILL figured out we know at least one person in common… like Tera says, “we really are all connected!”).  But I’ll let Bobbi tell you about how *she* is finding ways to go green up north and what amazing changes green smoothies have made!

Dear Tera,

My name is Bobbi and I live in Northern Manitoba on a beautiful lake, one hour from Thompson.  I have a husband and three children - Ian (7), Aaron (4), and Rya (2).  I am a school teacher and I will be teaching music this coming year.  I’ve been off since the end of June with them and I have about 2 and 1/2 weeks left, till school starts.  I’ve really enjoyed this BiG Green Smoothie challenge.   (more…)

10 Joyful Reasons to Believe in Green

Friday, August 6th, 2010 by stacey

- by Stacey Terry

Believe in Green

You know that feeling… the one you get when you’ve just done something good?  Where a choice had no down side?  Where something you do for yourself has positive, valuable ripple effects for other people?

It kinda starts in your chest and then creeps into your throat, all the while expanding, bubbling, blossoming… and that feeling bursts into a grin, and if you’re a big ol’ softy like me, you feel your eyes glass up with even more joy because you can’t help but see the good, and there’s some kinda self-satisfying humbling glee in being part of something bigger than yourself.

It just. feels. soooo. good!

That’s how I’m feeling these days leading up to BiG!

I love that feeling… and it’s one worth sharing!  And I challenge YOU to join me in the joy bubble!  So here are 10 reasons for you to consider… pick your joy, any joy, and become part of something BiG! (more…)

Green Smoothie Song

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 by stacey

Me, me, meeeeeee….

La, la, laaaaaa….

[garggggggggles]

Join hand with the Raw Family and begin!!

Green Smoothie Guidelines for Optimal Health Benefits by Victoria Boutenko

Monday, August 17th, 2009 by stacey

Victoria Boutenko contributed this article on Green Smoothie Guidelines for Optimal Health Benefits as an additional support for participants of The International Green Smoothie Day Live program.

- by Victoria Boutenko www.rawfamily.com

“Why do I ask for directions? Because I hate wasting time.”

-Harrison Ford

Victoria BoutenkoEver since the invention of the green smoothie, I have been drinking them daily  myself and sharing them with others. I love green smoothies so much, I am committed to drinking green smoothies to the last day of my life. Everyone in my family fell in love with them and many of our friends did too.

Wherever I go, I gather new information from green smoothie fans worldwide. Through everyday blending, research, experience, and letters from our readers, we have created the best recipes and came up with the basic principles of green smoothie making and consuming.

To help people receive the most benefits from drinking green smoothies and to avoid some typical mistakes, I have created the following guidelines:

  • Prepare your green smoothie first thing in the morning in the amount that you usually consume in one day, one or two quarts (liters). Pour enough smoothie in a glass for your morning enjoyment and keep the rest in a refrigerator or another cold place.
  • Sip your green smoothie slowly, mixing it with saliva. Sometimes I put my smoothie in a coffee mug with a lid and carry it with me to the car or to my office. That way I minimize a chance of spilling it and keep it private without distracting others.
  • Don’t add anything to your smoothie except greens, fruit and water. I don’t recommend adding nuts, seeds, oils, supplements or other ingredients to your green smoothie. Most of these items slow down the assimilation of green smoothies in your digestive tract and may cause irritation and gas. Even though I provide recipes with more than basic ingredients in my books I encourage you to stick to the basic green smoothie recipe (fruit and greens) in your daily routine.
  • Drink your smoothie by itself, and not as a part of a meal. Don’t consume anything, even as little as a cracker or candy with it. You may eat anything you want approximately 40 minutes before or 40 minutes after you finished your smoothie. Your goal is to get the most nutritional benefit out of your green smoothie.
  • Do not add starchy vegetables such as carrots, beets, broccoli stems, zucchini, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, egg plant, pumpkin, squash, okra, peas, corn, green beans, and others to your green smoothies. Starchy vegetables combine poorly with fruit and may produce what my children call “gas 4 less.”
  • Don’t add too many ingredients into one smoothie, such as nine different fruits and a dozen different greens. Try to keep most of your recipes simple to maximize nutritional benefits and to keep it easy on your digestive system.
  • Learn to prepare a really delicious green smoothie so that you are always looking forward to the next one. If your drink is not tasty, you will eventually discontinue consuming it. Keep your taste buds happy.
  • Always rotate the green leaves that you add to your smoothies. Almost all greens in the world contain minute amounts of alkaloids. Tiny quantities of alkaloids cannot hurt you, and even strengthen the immune system. However, if you keep consuming kale, or spinach, or any other single green for many weeks without rotation, eventually the same type of alkaloids can accumulate in your body and cause unwanted symptoms of poisoning. You may read more of the significance of rotation of greens in the next chapter of this book. Please note that you don’t have to rotate the fruit in your green smoothies. Most commonly used fruit have very little or none of the alkaloids and cannot cause the same toxic reactions as greens. At the same time, rotating fruits will enhance the variety of flavor and nutrition in your smoothies.
  • Choose organic produce whenever possible. The absence of pesticides and other toxic chemicals is only one of many benefits of organic food. The most important reason to consume organic food is the superior nutritional of organic fruits and vegetables in comparison to conventionally grown produce.  We have been discussing earlier, how deficient most people are. The best way to nourish your body is to consume organic produce and whenever possible, locally grown. I consider it very important to get the fruit that was allowed to ripen on the vine because it is the best for nourishment. Tree-ripened fruit is several times more nutritious  and when  consumed shortly after picking retains significantly more nutrients.

By Victoria Boutenko, Copyright ©2009
www.rawfamily.com

Victoria Boutenko For International Green Smoothie Day

Friday, August 14th, 2009 by admin

International Green Smoothie DayI am more than pleased to announce the fact that Victoria Boutenko will be joining us tomorrow morning for an exclusive (don’t you love that word!) teleseminar interview in honor of International Green Smoothie Day!

It’s coming up tomorrow and friends, family and frisky health-seekers around the world will be raising their glasses in celebration of the great, green health elixir: GREEN SMOOTHIES!

You’re more than welcome to raise a green glass with us and tune in for tomorrow’s teleseminar with Victoria. You can access the call information here! You’ll see when you get to the teleseminar page, there’s a place where you can leave comments, questions, etc. We’d love it if you put in your great, green greetings–tell us where you’re from and what your favorite green smoothie ingredients are. ;-)

I’ll do my best to include pictures, feedback and success stories as they happen throughout the next few days!

I’m playing some groovy tunes in the background and getting excited!

Are You Up for a Green Smoothie Revival?

Friday, May 8th, 2009 by admin

green smoothie revivalIn case you missed the latest issue of Health in High Heels, I’ve been overcome with a renewed love affair for Green Smoothies.

Naturally, it happened out of necessity. After a week of finding my resistance was futile in the face of some heavy duty salt cravings, I buckled down and finally blended up some good old fashion Green Smoothie Loooove.

I admit, for someone who calls herself the “Green Smoothie Queen” it had been far too long since I’d enjoyed one myself.

My rekindled love affair with Green Smoothies means YOU are invited to join me in a GREEN SMOOTHIE REVIVAL! We’re celebrating it with a very special offer for anyone who orders one of the 40 copies we have left of Victoria Boutenko’s Book, Green for Life. You can read more about it in the latest issue of Health in High Heels.

For now what I’d like to do is invite you to join me and participants of the 6-Week Detox program and the 90-Day Don’t Be So Obsessed About What You Eat program and dive into a 1-3 day Green Smoothie Feast this weekend.

We propose that you spend tomorrow shopping and stocking up on fruits and green and loooads veggies. If you have a Mother’s Day dinner planned, you might like to start on Monday. Those of us whose families are more accustomed to our green menu can start on Sunday.

I’ll do my best to pop in here every day for the next 4 days encouraging anyone who is willing to participate along with us!  There’s nothing to sign up for, but if you’re looking for specific recipes, you’ll want to check out the special offer that was made available in the latest issue of Health in High Heels!

Hope you’re up for this Green Boost and I look forward to your comments and participation. If you’re up for some fun, just leave a comment and announce your commitment to participate in a 1-3 Day Green Smoothie Revival with us! Then follow along on the blog and enjoy the ride!
Dandelion delights,

Tera

P.S.

WHooooa! I almost forgot to tell you, we gave the Green Smoothie website a whole new look! Check it out!!

Sip, Slurp, SMILE! A Green Smoothie Recipe Your Kids Will Love

Saturday, October 11th, 2008 by Nora

Happy Thursday Everyone! Well I’m back and feeling quite fabulous. That little sick invasion was just what I needed to get myself refocused. Ever since I got my appetite back I have been on a mostly liquid diet of smoothies, juices and teas. Oh yes, and I have to share. Just to prove that we can all learn from each other….I made my first parsley smoothie. I had never even thought of using it before I heard Tera raving about it. It consisted of celery, parsley, pineapple, raw honey and coconut water. It was quite an inventive smoothie if I say so myself. I have a fridge full of celery that my body has been craving. I have been using it for wonderful juices, but this morning I realized that I can now blend this in my new awesome Blendtec. Seriously smoothie making changes dramatically when you have one of those powerful puppies answering your ‘Will it Blend’ doubts.

After sharing my tips last week I realized that I want to lay out the green smoothie facts. I have to say I am really excited to be part of this blog. I just keep envisioning someone typing in “Green Smoothies” in the Google search bar this baby popping up. So I want to do all of you green smoothie adventurers justice and lay out some of the green smoothie facts and my favorite starter recipes.

I have to give all my credit to Mama Boutenko, as I call her. I picked up 12 Steps to Raw Foods one day while at Whole Foods, just on a whim. I had already read through many uncook books and Dr. Cousens’ Conscious Eating, but something drew me to this book without really knowing much about the Boutenkos. I was really surprised by this raw book. For the first time in very long time, I found a book that I couldn’t let go of. I read it every chance I could. It was so easy to read, and for the first time some of the raw food concepts became very clear to me. In the book Victoria goes into depth about green smoothies and the many benefits of consuming them. Ever since then, I switched fruit only smoothies to green smoothies. When ever I introduce someone else to green smoothies I reference Victoria’s Ode to a Green Smoothie . Every benefit that Victoria points to as a result of drinking green smoothies, I can attest to.

So, if you are wondering what all the hoopla is about these green drinks check it out for yourself. Read the article, and then if you are more interested get yourself one of the Raw Family Books. I know that Green for Life goes into detail about green smoothies as well, but I have to say that the copy I bought from Sergei in person has been making its way from friend to friend before I have had a chance to snuggle up with it. Really though, check the Boutenkos out. They have something for everyone, even books in Russian. Once you have delved into the fabulous world of The Raw Family, get back to the blender and make one of my favorite “introduction” green smoothies. It’s a Strawberry- Banana Smoothie like you have never tasted. Forget that strawberry, banana shake loaded up with dairy products, it’s time to take one of the most favorable fruit combos and freshen it up! I can’t think of a cute name for this. I’m up for suggestions.

  • 2 cups baby spinach (so sweet and gentle, perfect for getting your system use to raw greens)
  • 1 banana (frozen for that creamy ice cream effect)
  • 1 cup strawberries
  • About a cup of water, or just enough to blend to desired consistency
  • Raw agave, honey or stevia to sweeten

Blend

Pour

Sip, Slurp, SMILE!!!

P.S. Kid love helping with this smoothie, it’s so easy for them to throw in the spinach, peel the banana and then count the strawberries. They love to drink something they have helped make. It also creates a very healthy concept and attachment to greens.

Till next week….

Love, Peace and Kale
Disa