All you need to know about Lamsquarter
Over the weekend we had some technical difficulties which means that Valya’s video series has been delayed. We hope to have the first video posted on Thursday.
We are currently enjoying lamsquarters in our green smoothies, so we wanted to share with you some useful recipes and information about this common edible weed.
What is Lambsquarters?
Lambsquarters is a wild edible weed perfect for green smoothies and packed with nutrition. It is also called wild spinach, pigweed or goosefoot depending on where you are located. It has a mild, chlorophyll flavor like our domestic greens. Lamsquarters is a relative of swiss chard, beets and a few exotic garden greens like orach, all in the chenopodium family.
You can find lamsquarters all over America and in many different habitats from rich farm soils to empty lots in desert towns. It tends to grow in disturbed soils, close to humans rather than in remote places. Its highly likely that you will find some in your garden. Not only does it grow everywhere but it has a very long edible season. It gets to be a good eating size around June, being a late spring arrival, and its tender leaves are available for the rest of the growing season.
I cant find Lambsquarters, where can I get some?
Any farmer is familiar with lambsquarters. Farmers who grow animals use it for feed and farmers who grow vegetables weed them out. Lambsquarters are not yet popular in health food stores, but you can buy bunches of these greens at many farmer’s markets. If your local farmer doesn’t see it, you could ask him to bring you some. I’m sure he would be happy to make a profit from a ‘weed’. Another option is to grow your own, you can purchase Lamsquarters seeds at Seeds of Change.
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Raw Dessert: Walnut & Coconut Pudding with Valya
In this video Valya shows how to make a scrumptious raw coconut pudding. This recipe is from Valya’s Raw Desserts E-book which will be released this weekend on the Raw Family site. You will see that this pudding is really simple to make, amazingly delicious and perfect for ‘non raw’ children or friends.
News from Valya and Emily
On Monday the 8th of June Valya begins a two week video series on the You Tube ‘Boutenko Films Channel‘. Each day Valya will share a unique episode that covers a range of diet and health related topics such as cleansing foods, raw travel, meals for children, green smoothies, the secret life of plants, low calorie foods, and budget meals. Each show will focus on nutritional information and ways to use foods and especially green smoothies for healing.
Valya has a rare perspective because she has been a raw foodist since the age of 9. She grew up influenced by the raw food movement and her family’s raw diet experience and now, at the age of 24, has developed her own unique perspective and views. Throughout the series Valya will shares her opinions on topics such as how important it is to be raw, why we should reduce the amounts of nuts in our diet and simple, natural ways to experience health.
You may be interested to know that Valya and I will shoot an episode each day and have it edited and posted to You Tube the next (that is, if all goes to plan:). From the 14th to the 28th of June we welcome your feedback and questions as we create the show.
Each day we will post a video with it’s recipes on the blog. You could subscribe to the RSS feed to keep record of the useful information Valya intends to share.
Diabetes, Green Smoothie Questions, Weight
Interview on How to Lose Weight with Green Smoothies
Recently I posted an article about Clent Manichs, who was able to reduce his weight to 170lbs from 400lbs. You can read about Clents history and green smoothie experiment here.
In this post Clent answers the most popular questions he received after losing weight on a raw, green smoothie diet. People who are struggling with the transition to a green smoothie diet or concerned about how to cope with cravings and the social pressure of being raw, may find Clent’s perspective helpful. I found it interesting to learn that even after such a dramatic change in his weight, Clent doesn’t have hanging skin. This is because the raw food diet helps bring the skin back to life and encourages its natural elastic ability. Victoria Boutenko explains that the Chlorophyll in the greens and especially from fresh wheat grass juice, can be responsible for skin elasticity. So if you are losing weight be sure to have lots of green smoothies and drink wheat grass.
This interview took place in 2008
Q: What are your favorite Green Smoothies?
A: ALL ORGANIC INGREDIENTS- if you can find them. I like to get my produce from the local growers market to save money and find the freshest available. Organic Produce is the most nutritiously grown, and grown without pesticides. There may not be enough nutrients in commercially grown produce. BEWARE!!!!!! STAY HEALTHY!!!!! BUY ONLY ORGANIC
Strawberry-banana-kale : Diabetic friendly:
1 cup strawberries 1 mango
2 bananas handful of blueberries
1/2 bunch kale 1 bunch of dandelion greens
2 cups of pure or filtered water 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon (optional) tastes good
2 cups of pure or filtered water
My daily favorite that has helped me lose a good portion of weight:
Super high in greens (about 70-80 % greens):
big handful of mixed greens
big handful of spinach
4 leaves of kale (and /or)
4 leaves of collard greens (and/or)
l/4 bunch of dandelion greens (and/or)
1/4 bunch of parsley (and/or)
handful of beet leaves (and/or)
1 banana
1 large tomato or 2 medium tomato’s
1/2 avocado
1/2 lemon squeezed
1/2 lime squeezed
1 apple
4 large strawberries
2 tbls ground flax seed
2 cups of pure or filtered (clean) water
1 cup ice
Makes a full Vita-Mix blender pitcher of 64 fluid ounces. add or remove water for texture.
I use four 16 oz. plastic containers to hold my smoothies and I keep them cold in a ice packed lunch cooler and consume every 2-3 hours until gone. I start my day with a fresh carrot juice with wheatgrass and 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon. 1/2 hour later i begin drinking my green smoothies.
I will snack along the day on veggies and fruits if hungry (gives jaw some exercise). I drink lots of pure water all day long. Once a day I mix barley grass powder in my water especially during work outs to help reduce soreness in muscles. Do not mix powdered greens with smoothie. It will taste nasty! Do not add protein powder to your smoothie. There is a monster amount of excellent proteins in the green smoothie already. Too much protein can damage your kidney’s over time and increase your chances of certain cancers. This formula seems to rip the fat off my body and gives me energy all day. Remember what works for me may not work for you. Although I have received optimal health, extreme weightless and no longer have symptoms of Diabetes while on this program, I will not accept any responsibility for those that follow my program. You must discuss and seek advice from a health care professional and a lifestyle specialist such as Dr. Donato www.dolphindoctor.org before beginning a lifestyle change in your diet. Personally, I am closely monitored by my Physician, Endocrinologist and Dr. Donato. I have my blood work checked regularly and check my blood sugars daily. Those of you that follow my current program, please let me know your progress. I would love to hear from you!
Green Smoothie Recipes with Kiwi Fruit
Kiwi fruits add an interesting flavor to green smoothies. If you own a high speed blender and your kiwi fruits are organic, you can leave the skin on. An alternative is to peel them or cut them in half and scoop the flesh out.
Kiwi fruits are rich in many Vitamins, flavonoids and minerals. They contain a high amount of Vitamin C (more than oranges), as much potassium as bananas and a good amount of beta-carotene. Kiwi fruits are high in Vitamin K. They are a good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol) and Copper.
I recently found some information about the health benefits of kiwi fruits and how they may prevent asthma, wheezing and coughing, especially in children.
For more information on kiwi fruits you may like to go here
Yummo Green Smoothie
By Patricia Braun (From the group ‘I’m a part of the Green Smoothie Revolution’)
Kale
Kiwi fruit
Cantelope
Green Buzz Smoothie
By Emily Brett
2 Kiwi Fruit
1 Banana
3 handfuls of spinach
1 cups of water
Rocket Fuel Smoothie
By Victoria Boutenko (From the book Green Smoothie Revolution)
2 cups of green or red grapes
3 golden Kiwis
1 ripe orange, peeled and seeded
1 small thumb-size piece of aloe vera
5 leaves ref leafe lettuce
2 cups of water
For the Brave
By Igor Boutenko (From the book Green Smoothie Revolution)
1 cup carrot tops
1 cup beet greens
1 cup bok Choy
hald cup horsetail
1 cup plums
1 banana
4 kiwis
2 cups water
Clent Manich’s Green Smoothie Weightloss Story
Clent Manich’s Green Smoothie Experiment (2008)
I called my experiment “The Green Smoothie Experiment 2″ because before I found green smoothies I read about Valerie Winters who lost 127 pounds in 25 weeks of just green smoothies. In my experiment, in addition to green smoothies I added some freshly made vegetable juice and chunks of fresh veggies. I have combined my Raw Lifestyle Diet and Green Smoothies to closely mimic Dr. Donato’s “Get Healthy Boot Camp”.
In the morning I usually drink a 12 OZ fresh carrot juice mixed with wheat grass juice. Next I prepare about a gallon of green smoothie, enough to supply four meals for me throughout the day. I usually add half of an avocado and two tablespoons of ground flaxseed to my daily smoothie. I consume my green smoothies throughout the day, a large cup every two-three hours until I finish it. Along with the smoothie meals I snack during the day on a wide variety of raw veggies, such as celery sticks, baby carrots, asparagus, sweet peppers, zucchini, broccoli, or any raw veggies. Once in a while when I crave something sweet, I grab a banana, or peach, or a handful of grape tomatoes, but in general I consume fruit in moderation. I do not add any nuts, seeds, salt or oils. I drink lots of water all day long. This way I have enough to eat in a day to control my hunger.
In the very beginning of my experiment I weighed over 400 pounds, and I was hurting myself during exercise. Dr. Donato asked me to wait until I was under 300 pounds. I lost 102 pounds in fourteen weeks without exercising. Now I train with weight three times a week at the local gym under the supervision of Dr. Donato, along with a light cardio/anaerobic exercise daily. So far I have lost 204 pounds within 9 months.
I had type 2 Diabetes. I have now cured my Diabetes and currently weigh 197 pounds Lbs. My Goal is to get down to 170 Lbs. by the end of the year. Only 27 pounds to go. Easy! I began January 26th this year. That will be 230 Lbs. lost in less then one year. I am currently training to climb/hike Mt. Whitney in September.
Due to popular request Clent shares his life story and why he drastically changed his diet
Here is a brief summary of my life and how I found the raw lifestyle that’s helping me lose weight and regain my health.When I was a child I always seemed to be a little chunky. My family had to always finish our plates at the dinner table before being allowed to leave.
Growing up my body weight was like a roller coaster, constantly going up and down. As a teenager I became aware of my weight problem and cut back on my food. When I entered high school I was very skinny and ran on the cross country and swim team. And I delivered news papers on my bicycle. I was very active and skinny and weighed about 170 – 190 pounds.
Raw Mango Jam Pie Recipe
Victoria Boutenko’s raw recipe book 
Raw Family Signature Dishes: A Step-By-Step Guide to Essential Live-Food Recipes contains delicious, simple recipes explained with step by step photography. The Raw Family have chosen their favorite recipes which are perfect for beginners, or can be used as a foundation for those with more experience.
We would like to share with you Valya’s famous Mango Jam Pie. This recipe is sugar-free, wheat-free, dairy-free, salt-free and oil-free
Mango Jam Pie
Equipment:
Food processor
Bowl
Pie Pan
Spatula
Ingredients:
For pie crust- 3 cups almonds, 1 ½ cups pitted dates, ½ cup ground nuts or dry grated coconut to sprinkle in the pie pan
For filling- 2 cups raw mango jam * (see below for quick, simple recipe for mango jam)
1. We are going to use almonds in this crust, you may use any kind of nuts. In order to obtain the desired consistency, do not soak the nuts; rather grind them dry. Put the S-blade into the food processor and grind the nuts to a fluffy consistency. Stop grinding when the nut powder is fine but still airy and light. With too much grinding it will become oily.
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How a week of Green Smoothies and ‘The Work’ can transform your life
Our friend Jennie from Raw Pleasure in Queensland, Australia attended our most recent Joy for Life Retreat in Thailand. In Jennie’s latest newsletter she wrote a review which we found to be a heart felt story of transformation. This testimonial demonstrates what a week of green smoothies combined with The Work can do for your physical and mental health.
The next Joy for Life Retreat will be in Canada this August. We are also in the planning stages for another retreat in Thailand and Australian this November.
The Joy for Life Retreat in Thailand
Written by Jennie Murphy
The Joy For Life Retreat in Thailand, run by the Boutenko family along with their friend Tom Compton was one of the single best experiences of my life. It literally has changed my life and my way of thinking in such a positive way.
Every morning we were served massive trays of glorious fruits such as mangosteens, watermelon (tastes completely different in Thailand compared to Australia. Quality!), rambutans, jackfruit, mangoes, durian, dragon fruit, bananas, and so much more. We were also welcomed to the day with as much green smoothie as we liked and each one was unique and delicious. Lunch time saw us with more fruit and a savory smoothie as did dinner. At night we had a sweet green smoothie served as pudding.
Never has my appetite for food been so satisfied. Every night I went to bed feeling completely satiated! No nightly cravings, no dreaming of food. I was completely and utterly happy food wise.
After a single day I felt my energy returning even though I’d traveled a long way and was surrounded by people I didn’t know. I’m extremely shy by nature and it’s not the easiest thing for me to be in a group of strangers but everyone was talking to each other so it was easy to sit at the fringes of the conversations and join in a little. I didn’t feel my normal worry at all and after a few days was comfortable with most of the people there.
Overcoming food cravings with green smoothies
I have gathered information from articles and a past teleconference to put together this post on hormones and how green smoothies assist with food cravings.
QUESTION: Do you think that drinking green smoothies helps overcome cravings for certain foods?
The reason we want to drink coffee for example, is because we are low in certain nutrients such as essential amino acids. These amino acids are transformed in the body into neurotransmitters. Our bodies have different substances and different needs. Hormones are one of the most important substances. It takes only a tiny amount to cause big changes in the our cells. We only have a few drops of them, but they rule our bodies and the way we feel. For example, in order to wake up we need adrenaline. In order to be happy we need endorphins. In order to feel sleepy, we need melatonin. In order to tolerate heat and cold we need thyroxin, and so on. Subconsciously we begin to crave things to satisfy our hormones, such as caffeine, alcohol, shopping, loud music, bright colors or other stimulants. This is the basis for any addiction.
Victoria Boutenko on not being Raw
I was on You Tube recently and I came across a discussion about Victoria not being raw. People had all sorts of statements about Victoria’s diet, some even said she was never on a 100% raw food diet. To keep the truth accessible and avoid confusion, I decided to post this article Victoria wrote to her newsletter group at the start of this year. It is her public statement about preferring to resin from her previous 100% raw position.
Why I say I’m 95% Raw
By Victoria Boutenko
January 9th, 2010
This month my family celebrates our 16th birthday as a Raw Family. Raw food saved our lives and I love every aspect of my raw life except for one. It becomes increasingly uncomfortable to feel the separation of us “purists,” (100% raw foodists) from anyone who is “below” that standard.
I first experienced this unease four years ago. I visited my relatives who eat a standard American diet, when suddenly my 9 year old nephew confided to me that he decided to become a vegetarian. He asked me if I would teach him to cook a vegetable soup. I froze, thinking. “How can I do that? I am a 100% raw fooder!” Yet, after looking into Sasha’s excited eyes, I went ahead and helped him cook a soup, which he loved.
oxidization with blending
QUESTION: When I’m making a green smoothie and breaking up greens in the blender, do they oxidize and lose most of their nutrients? Incidentally, I do consume a ton of greens by eating huge salads and juicing.
VICTORIA: In my book, Green For Life, I explain that in order to get nutrients from greens, every cell of the green leaf has to be ruptured. To get all of the nutrients from food by oral mastication, one would have to spend several hours a day chewing, and have extremely healthy teeth that are all in place, including wisdom teeth. By observing the results of those who regularly consume green smoothies, I now think that the assimilation of nutrients from smoothies is several times more efficient than from chewing greens. Of course, these numbers are different from person to person, but I estimate that two bunches of greens chewed are equal to approximately to half a bunch of greens blended (not juiced, because juice is missing an important ingredient: fiber). When I was juicing my greens on a daily basis, I noticed how quickly the green juice turned brown and began to taste bitter. This doesn’t appear to happen with blended greens, probably because of the large quantities of antioxidants in the fiber. Green smoothies continue to stay bright green and taste fresh for many hours if kept in a cool place.
- Green Soup Recipe with Sergei Boutenko: A way to manage blood sugar
- The Gratitude Diet
- Raw Food Snack Recipes
- What to Eat in the Heat
- Green Smoothies for Babies
- The Very Best of Me
- Green Smoothies Recipes
- Greens Make the Body More Alkaline
- Adding Medicial Herbs to your Green Smoothie & Sprouts to your Diet
- Dandelions with Sergei Boutenko
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