Kitchen

[Moonchilde]

Clueless, judgmental and clearly uninformed. And wilfully so.

[sidsmom]

.......but I'm not the one with a blood sugar problem. Maybe I AM on to something? It's not the carbohydrates....it's the fat. Low fat diet will tame & normalize BS issues. www.drmcdougall.com

[Moonchilde]

Bwahaha! Snort.

[Flika13]

On 5/31/2014 moonchilde said: Bwahaha! Snort.

What she said!

[Moonchilde]

On 5/31/2014 Blubird said: Moonchilde thank you for your reply. I was trying to think of a nice way to say what you said. I do agree that many people jump on the latest fad diet or food without really knowing anything about it. Many people who eat gluten-free products have no idea what gluten is or where it's found. The same thing is true for carbohydrates. Many people think carbohydrates are only found in sugar. Knowing that I have a family history of diabetes I'm trying to do everything I can to not go down that road. I would love to have a smoothie with grapes and bananas and peaches but that would be a big fructose (sugar) overload for ME.

The other thing that people don't realize is that what is "too many" carbs for a given meal or snack for a diabetic varies from person to person, and that foods are tolerated differently by different people. One person can eat a banana and not have a spike; another person will spike. You learn what spikes *your* body, and what doesn't, so much. I used to be on a very active forum where a lot of the discussions would be about what did or didn't spike people, and it varied widely. I miss orange juice! ETA: Typo!

[Serenity-Now]

Low carb diets are much better for diabetics, even healing.  My dh was recently diagnosed, and his doc praises the control he got over his diabetes via low carb dieting alone.  It saved him from having to go on insulin shots, something he definitely doesn't want to do!  He had been on low fat diets previously, but those often have the low or non-fat cookies & sweets, snacks & yogurts etc. that are filled with all the various types of sugars--a definite no-no for diabetics!  So, be very cautious about believing that low fat diets help diabetics--there may be a select few that do, but I'm betting that they only work because they are low fat & predominantly low-carb!  I'm not trying to be obnoxiously disagreeable here, I'm worried about diabetics getting erroneous information that could harm them.  Research carefully, don't believe what someone says--including me  when it comes to your own health, or those that you love.

[Nightowlz]

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@Flika13 wrote:
I'm trying to talk myself into buying a Vita Mix. I would like to make the green smoothies but with very little fruit due to their carbohydrate content. Are there any low-carb smoothie recipes? Oh, and I won't eat berries. Thank you.

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You like the veggies but not the fruit & I'm totally opposite. Even though you won't eat berries or other fruit if you put them in a smoothie it will change the flavor & taste that you will probably like. I like blueberry/banana smoothies but I don't like to eat blueberries. I add spinach to some smoothies & cannot taste it. That's store bought spinach. I could taste it when we used fresh spinach from the garden. The 5 Magic Veggies are Cabbage (red or green), Spinach, Carrot, Yellow Squash & Zucchini. These are not suppose to change the taste in your smoothies. Check out blenderlady.com You can search low carb green smoothies online & find a lot of recipes.

[bebe777]

@Flika13 I posted my recipe in the Recipes section but I though you might like to have a look at it. I drink about 32oz of it every day. I think it's delicious, if I do say to myself!! You can reduce the amount of pineapple and apple in it to whatever fits your health needs. Enjoy!!! -- bebe 

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MY VITAMIX GREEN SMOOTHIE   

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Below is the basic green smoothie recipe that I make every morning. This makes 30-40oz. of green smoothie. As soon as I make it I pour it into three glass 16oz. empty Snapple bottles, refrigerate the extra bottles, and then drink green smoothie throughout the day. The recipe is a twist on Dr. Oz's green smoothie. I use more veggies and less fruit. I also add a bit of oil because some of the nutrients are lipid/fat soluble. Your intestine can't absorb these particular nutrients unless they are bound to a fat (examples: the lutein and zeaxanthin for eye health that are found in green leafy veggies).

Except for the pineapple, all the produce is organic. This is important because, since you are emulsifying everything, your body would be absorbing all of the pesticides in the produce.

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MY BASIC GREEN SMOOTHIE

* 1 tablespoon flaxseed (grind first) - great lignan source. Or 1 tablespoon phosphatidylcholine granules - great choline source. Or a tablespoon of another healthy oil that you like, such as coconut, avocado, or mild EVOO.

* 6 kale leaves (green antioxidants / lutein / zeaxanthin), or substitutions:

-- green swiss chard (using some red rainbow chard will give you your red antioxidants but it changes the green flavor slightly. it's an acquired taste)

-- spinach which is sweeter (less bitter)

* 1-2 napa cabbage leaves (cruciferous vegetable - amazing health benefits from recent research / only use the napa cabbage because it doesn't have the cabbage taste that other types of cabbage have)

* 3 long celery stalks

* 1/4 to 1/3 cucumber (excellent silicon source for good skin)

* 1 to 1.5 medium carrots (orange antioxidants, Vitamin A)

* 1-2 small red apples (red antioxidants, quercetin)

* 1 inch diameter cut of pineapple, cut off outside prickly skin (yellow antioxidants, bromelain)

* 1/3 medium lemon with peel (yellow antioxidants / detoxifier / limonene)

* ginger to taste - great anti-inflammatory (for me, 1 to 1.5 inches of ginger but I like a powerful ginger kick, start gradually. You can always slice in more ginger a bit at a time)

* 1/2 cup of water

* 6-12 ice cubes to water the smoothie down a bit, depending on taste

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Directions

1) Put the 1 tablespoon of flaxseeds into a dry Vitamix container and grind them up. I was amazed but the Vitamix actually does grind them up into a flour. If you add them after you have put the other ingredients in the Vitamix may not grind them all up.

2) Add 1/2 cup water. Then add the cucumber and celery. Then add in everything except for the leafy greens (kale and napa cabbage). Turn the Vitamix on and emulsify the produce until it's slightly chunky smooth (probably 30-45 seconds).

3) Add the kale and napa cabbage and blend for another 30 seconds. -- For some reason the leafy greens emulsify better if they're added after you have roughly blended the other produce.

4) Add the amount of ice you need to create the liquid consistency that you prefer and blend for another 20-30 seconds. The smoothie should be completely emulsified by now. If it's not then just blend until it's the consistency that you like.

5) Now's the time to taste your green smoothie and modify it your liking. If it's too bitter you can add more apple or pineapple for added sweetness, or more celery or cucumber to reduce the bitterness. If it's too bland then you may want to slowly add a bit more ginger.

Enjoy!!

-- bebe  

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Vitamix vs. Ninja Storm

Before I bought my Vitamix Pro 750, I bought QVC's Ninja Storm Food & Drink Maker (K39392) TSV for $29.95. I was pretty sure that the Ninja wouldn't be effective, but before I took the Vitamix plunge it was worth the $40 mistake to be sure.

The Ninja actually did a good job of emulsifying everying except what I really needed emulsified... leafy green veggies. Green smoothies are an important part of my daily diet. No matter how long I left the leafy greens in the Ninja it just cut them up into very small bits. I couldn't even drink the green smoothie because I had a gagging reflex when I kept trying to drink it.

I was also really terrified by the very sharp blades that the Ninja has. A slip of the fingers would mean a trip to the emergency room and that was a chance I was not going to take.

The top of the line Vitamix Pro 750 is amazing. It's much better than the previous generation of Vitamix. It emulsifies the leafy greens even more quickly and it's significantly quieter. I searched around for the best price and eventually I was able to buy one (with the extra container to grind dry foods) for $629 including S&H (and tax free). I viewed this as a purchase for the long term and I think it's a great investment. Preparation and clean up is done in no time!

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