1) Stevia (my favorite sweetener)
LESS IS MORE!!! A tiny bit of Stevia goes
a LONG way - a whole packet of Stevia would ruin a cup of coffee. I use a
whole packet of Stevia in a FULL pitcher of juice. Any time I've heard people
say, "I tried Stevia and I don't like it", I've asked them how much they were
using and every time, they used something like a whole packet in something
small like a cup of coffee. Try 1/3 of a packet in something like a cup of
coffee and see how that tastes to you first! You can buy Stevia as a loose
powder, or as a liquid. If you get it either of those ways, START with a TINY
amount and work your way up! (check Stevia out in Google - it is an herb -
not a chemical - and has NO affect on your body like sugar) I have more
information on Stevia below...
2) Dates
(high in potassium and fiber)
Personally, I just plop in a couple of
whole, pitted dates when I want to add sweetness, but you can also make a VERY
sweet date puree with your Vita-Mix by soaking the dates in water over night
and then pureeing them. I haven't tried to make it myself yet, but I see in
my Internet research that you can also turn dates into a powder. Dates are my
#2 only because they are easier to buy and cheaper than my #3, Bee Pollen.
3) Bee Pollen
I get raw, locally grown Bee Pollen at my
Farmer's Market. Check it out on Google - Bee Pollen is an awesome, nutrient
packed sweetener. It has a unique taste so try it once to see if it suits
you.
4) Agave Nectar
(lower in glycemic index than honey)
5) Raw Honey
(high in "B" vitamins, also contains amino
acids, minerals and antioxidants)
Best to buy locally where the
bees gathered nectar from flowers from your area. I rarely have raw honey on
hand, so I don't use honey very often.
6) Welch's Concentrated 100% Fruit Juice
(be sure to buy the containers with the
yellow lid so you aren't getting high fructose corn syrup!)
Start out with a tablespoon, see if that
is sweet enough, then add more a little bit at a time if it isn't sweet enough
- you don't want to add too much sugar (even if it is a natural sugar like
concentrated fruit juice).
7) Xylitol
Check it out on Google. An awesome
sweetener - prevents cavities as well!
Remember, this list is just my personal
preference.
There is a lot of great information on
that website. However, I believe that their information on Stevia is overly
cautious. Common sense indicates that if you've never used an herb before,
start slowly and watch for reactions! This website quotes the FDA's reports
on Stevia and where Stevia is concerned, the FDA is operating in the interests
of "Big Agra" and the sugar industry. The FDA will go to any lengths to
protect "Big Pharma" and "Big Agra".
Here is some information about the FDA and
Stevia:
======================
Second, A word about things you
can add to your Fruit Juices or Smoothies:
This list is only what I add...
there are lots of "supplements" and "nutritional boosters" that people add to
their smoothies and juices. Also, I don't add all of them all of the time,
and sometimes I don't add any of them!
Flax Seeds
With the Vita-Mix, you don't have to use
Flax Oil (which can go rancid) or even grind your Flax Seeds first... (ground
Flax Seeds can also go rancid). You can put the flax seeds into your juice
whole and just like the strawberry seeds, the Vita-Mix will "liquify" them
right in your drink as you make it! This means that you will always have
FRESH, non-rancid Flax oil and fiber for your body!
Coconut Oil
Do a Google search to learn how nutritious
this oil can be for you.
Raw Eggs
Visit Dr. Mercola's website and do a
search of his website to learn how nutritious raw eggs can be. You will also
learn how to choose and prepare raw eggs.
Whole Nectar Soy Protein Powder
I only use one half of a scoop at a time.
I like the brand of Soy Protein Powder that we sell at a Road Show because it
uses the whole soy bean and not soy isolates. I know that the jury is out on
Soy. I've looked at both sides of the issue and all I can say is, "all things
in moderation". I wouldn't recommend using Soy powder as part of a daily
program.
Wheat Grass
This is a whole topic in itself... suffice
it to say, you can add freshly cut Wheat Grass to your fruit juices - and I
do!
======================
Fruit Juice:
The Juice is not so much a recipe as
proportions. You don't have to have all of the produce that I use in my juice
during the demonstration... I just use that many different fruits and veggies
for demonstration purposes. At home, I buy whatever fruits are on sale, or
fresh, or in season, or simply the fruits I'm craving at the time. Sometimes
I mix in a lot of fruits, sometimes I do only two fruit combos (like apples
and blueberries or cherries and banana, etc.), and sometimes I use only one
fruit (currently Mango is my favorite)!
The proportion you will learn to work
with is the amount of frozen to liquids. If you are using all room
temperature fruits (and veggies if you are including them) you will need to
add ice. If you are using frozen fruits, you will need to add water. The
amount of frozen ingredients should be enough that when you first start
blending the drink it is very thick because of the frozen stuff (like a very
thick "slushy"). In fact, many times my juices start out so
thick and frozen that they are like ice creams. This allows you to blend the
drink long enough (one to two minutes) without heating up the ingredients. As
the friction of the blades spinning at 249 miles per hour begins to heat up
the ingredients, the drink will turn from a very thick, frozen "slushy" to a
liquid. You want your drink to be liquid but very, very cold (preserves
enzymes).
Making juice is not an exact science. You
should strive for a very cold, and very well blended (one to two minutes on
high) drink. If the drink gets warm, some of the enzymes will have been
de-activated.
If you taste your juice and it is not as
sweet as you would like, add one of the sweeteners from the above list.
==========================
Here is how I make the "Must Go
Soup" aka "Tortilla Soup":
I use the recipe off of the bottle of
"Blend It Up" Spice Mix that we sell at a show. The only difference is that I
add a chunk of cheese (that is the secret ingredient that makes my Tortilla
Soup taste so good IMHO) :-)
1 large carrot
1 small stalk of celery
1 small wedge of green cabbage
a slice of Red Pepper (don't forget the
seeds!)
small slices of zucchini and yellow squash
3-4 Large Roma Tomatoes
(a much better flavored tomato is
the Campari - 6-8 small or 4-5 large ones)
1-2 stems of Cilantro
a medium clove of garlic
a slice of jalapeño pepper (to your taste)
Sea Salt to taste
2-3 shakes of "Blend It Up" spice mix
about a teaspoon of Better Than Bullion
a cube or two of cheese (Monterey Jack or
Cheddar are good)
after the above ingredients are in the
container, I add hot water to the 3 cup line on the Vita-Mix container - this
is less than 3 cups because there are already ingredients taking up space in
the container. Even though the machine can turn hot water into boiling - I
usually use my tea pot on my gas stove to pre-heat the water.
I blend all of these on high until the
temperature goes back up (the room temperature or cold vegetables will cool
off the hot water). Also don't go from "off" to "high speed" all at once...
start on variable speed low, turn the dial up to high, then flip the switch to
high. I don't blend too long because I don't want to cook the vegetables any
more than I have to, however, you can blend as long as you like to get the
soup to the temperature you want. Feel the container - you can tell when the
container is getting nice and hot!
After the broth is done... turn the
blender switch back down to variable speed #1 and add about a cup of your
"must goes"... these are ingredients that you add for flavor and texture.
These ingredients can be whatever you have in your refrigerator that "must
go", or, whatever ingredients that have the flavor that you like. At the show
I use black beans and corn. At home I also add chicken and I heat the beans,
corn, and chicken to make my soup as hot as possible when I serve it. On
variable speed #1, the machine will chop the chicken for you right in the
soup!
Other ideas for "must goes" include:
chopped meats (I use chicken mostly)
asparagus
green beans
mushrooms
cooked rice
cooked potato
broccoli
etc.
Finally, right before you are ready to
serve, add a large hand-full of tortilla chips - be sure variable speed is on
one (1) - then process only a very little bit to chop them up, then serve!
Viola!
====================
The Ice Cream
***IMPORTANT!!! If your machine stops
working while you are making something "thick" (like ice cream or nut butters)
- it did not break! The thermal heat sensor detected that the machine was
about to over-heat and it turned the machine off. Just take the container off
of the base, check the machine every 5 minutes and when the motor has cooled
off, the machine will work again!
A good way to avoid this is to make nut
butters with no more than 12 oz. of nuts at a time and to make ice cream in
batches no larger than 4 cups at a time.
In my show I use Welch's 100% Juice
Concentrate (yellow lid). I usually choose a flavor based on
white grape so that it does not turn the ice cream the color of purple
grapes. Remember, Welch's with the white lid has high fructose
corn syrup in it - bad stuff!
Pour the juice concentrate just to the tip
of the highest blade (this is 1/2 of the Welch's Juice container)
Add any veggies that you are going to use (if
you are going to use them). Unless you are ready for the flavor of
greens, I recommend sticking to one of the 5 "magic" vegetables (listed below)
and start off with only 1/4 of a cup and working your way up - no more than
1/2 of a cup.
Add frozen fruit. This is where
proportions can only come from experience. Start off with frozen fruit to
right at the 4-cup line (don't go higher as you can cause the motor to
over-heat and turn off if you try to make more than 4 cups of ice cream at a
time). I don't often use ice at home because my fruits are frozen solid - I
use ice at the show because my fruits gradually thaw in the cooler, however,
you can do a combination of frozen fruit and ice as long as the two frozen
ingredients together do not exceed the 4-cup line. Turn the machine on
variable speed 1 then run it up to 10 then flip the switch up to high. Use
your tamper to push the ingredients from the corners down toward the blades.
If you have a lot of frozen ingredients, keep pushing the tamper down from
each corner and as the tamper gets into the middle of the container pull it
right back out (keeping the tamper inside the vortex of air in the middle of
the container can block off that cool air and cause the motor to over-heat).
Also try plunging the tamper down one corner, across the middle, and then drag
the ice cream up the sides of the opposite corner. This will cause the
opposite corner to get pulled down into the whirling blades.
If you keep at this, you will eventually
get it all to mix. If you have too much frozen ingredients you can just stop
tamping it all down for a while and eventually, the friction heat will melt
the stuff at the bottom enough to allow it all to get mixed together. Every
20 seconds or so, try tamping it down again to see if it will now blend with
the stuff that has melted some on the bottom. Alternatively, you could add
more liquid.
Different fruits and different kinds of
ice will all have a different effect on the final product. Don't worry if you
don't get it right at the beginning - I make that strawberry ice cream 15-20
times a day so I have it down pat but at home, if I try a different kind of
frozen fruit (or a different ice cream recipe) my ice creams turn out
different every single time. If they are too frozen, I wait until the machine
heats up the ingredients on the bottom - if it is too runny, I add more frozen
fruit or ice.
Ideally, the mixture will begin to blend
on its own and form 4 nice "pillows" on the top. (see my Green Ice Cream
Video for an idea of what this looks like). As soon as you see the 4
"pillows", blend just a little bit longer (to get any tiny vegetable pieces
blended in) and you are done! If there is too much ice cream (anything much
over 4 cups) you usually won't be able to get the 4 "pillows" to
form. (There are marks on your container for cups, ounces, and
milliliters). But, if you have a batch that comes to right at 4 cups, you can
usually achieve the goal of getting it to blend on its own forming the 4 nice
"pillows".
Another liquid at the bottom that I
frequently use at home (instead of Juice Concentrate) is half-n-half. To
sweeten, I use Stevia, Dates, or Agave Nectar. Remember, the liquid should go
only up to the top of the blades.
Experiment and ENJOY!!!
====================
Chicken Salad:
HINT: When you food process anything,
don't add more than what will reach the 1 and 1/2 cup line on the container.
I usually do each ingredient one at a time. I love my 32 oz. Mini Wet Blade
container for food processing and making Peanut Butter because it is easier to
get the ingredients out of the smaller container.
I use variable speed from between 1-3 to
chop:
Cooked chicken breast
Carrot (5-6 baby carrots)
Celery (one medium stalk)
Sweet Onion (about 1/4 of a medium onion)
Remember, put each ingredient into your
mixing bowl after chopping them in the Vita-Mix. I don't clean out the
container between each ingredient, I just get the bulk of one ingredient out
of the container before chopping up the next ingredient!
Then, I add some mayonnaise and sweet
relish to taste.
Optional additions:
Apple
Walnuts
Broccoli
======================
Salsa:
To get cilantro (my Alzheimer's health
insurance policy) into my body frequently, I make salsa as often as possible.
Like so many of my recipes, Salsa, is one
that varies depending on what I put in it on any give day. Here are some
ingredients that always go in:
Campari Tomatoes (my favorite flavor)
Garlic (small clove)
Cilantro (to taste)
Sweet Onion (about 1/4 of a medium one)
Lime juice (a big squeeze or a thick slice
of lime with the skin removed)
"Blend-It-Up Spice Mix" (a shake or two)
Salt to taste
Here are some ingredients that I chop and
add from time to time depending on what I have on hand, and what I want to try
for that day:
Yellow Squash
Zucchini
Celery
Carrots
Black beans
Corn
Recently I have discovered that my salsa
comes out better if I chop some of the ingredients by themselves to get each
one to the size that I prefer. For example, if I try to process a carrot with
the tomato, the tomato gets pulverized before the carrot gets properly chopped
up.
I put one or two small Campari tomatoes
(or a chunk of a different kind of tomato that would make enough liquid to
just reach the tips of the blades) in with Garlic, Lime, and Blend-It-Up Spice
Mix and process to a liquid consistency.
Then, I add the cilantro and process to a
very find consistency.
Then, I add the rest of the tomatoes and
chop very lightly so the tomatoes are "chunky".
Then, I put this mixture into a bowl.
Then, I process each of whatever other
ingredients I am going to add and I chop each one individually until they
reach the size that I want.
Hint: I've noticed that mango chops up
better into chunks if it is frozen. Also, I've noticed that if you want firm
chunks of tomato in your salsa that Roma tomatos are better for that...
Campari have a great flavor but they aren't very firm - sometimes I mix the
two kinds of tomatos.
Here is a salsa recipe I found at the
Vita-Mix website:
And this link should have all of the Salsa
Recipes you could ever ask for!!!
http://www.panix.com/~clay/cookbook/bin/table_of_contents.cgi?salsa I
would just use the Vita-Mix as a food processor (variable speed from 1 to 4 or
so) whenever the recipe says "dice", "chop fine", or "mince"!
==========================
Raw Applesauce
This is a quick, delicious, and HEALTHY
applesauce that hasn't been cooked (which destroys enzymes!). I use the skin,
but remove the seeds because I can taste them in the applesauce:
Two whole apples (thoroughly washed and
seeds removed)
The juice of half of a lemon
Cinnamon to taste
Dates (I use 3-6 depending on the
sweetness of the apple)
At home I like to put the apples into the
freezer before I make applesauce - not so long that they freeze - just long
enough that they are VERY COLD! This is because they tend to heat up as they
are blending in the Vita-Mix. Place apples into Vita-Mix whole. Add the other
ingredients and then mix on high (using tamper vigorously - this is a great
"anger management" recipe). Pound the apples hard, pushing them into the
blades until they turn into applesauce. After it turns into "sauce", I
usually blend on variable speed 5-6 for 10-20 additional seconds to be sure
that I'm producing a nice, smooth applesauce.
This recipe is full of healthy fiber,
alkalizing and Vitamin C-giving lemon juice, and the enzymes have not been
destroyed by cooking!
=======================
