The Nutribullet Review

If you are into juicing and blending, I have a product that you will absolutely love. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! Let me first say that I am not getting paid for this review (although, it would be nice!) and that I bought it with my own money...kind of...I'll get to that near the end of the review. So, what is it? The Nutribullet by Magic Bullet. Some call it a blender, but actually it is an extractor. Thus, making it way more powerful than an average blender. It breaks down all types of produce, seeds, grains and nuts. In it, you can make healthy juices, smoothies, dips, sauces, flours, nut butters, and more. My personal favorite recipes are Nutriblasts (as described in the booklet), sorbets, and fresh fruit shakes. It is like a juicer and blender all-in-one!

Included in the box are the following: the motorized base, a milling blade, an extractor blade, 2 regular cups, 1 tall cup, 1 handled comfort lip ring, a comfort lip ring, 2 resealable lids, and a resource booklet (guide, recipes, and nutirition plans).

How it works
Mostly, I use the Nutribullet's extractor features. It is the primary blending blade. It liquifies fruits and vegetables for easier consumption and maximum digestion. The longer you let it run, the smoother the items will become. However, be careful! The power of this machine is incredible. It has 600 watts of power, so it works fast and letting it run too long will cause your blend to heat up. Thus, when making drinks, I prefer using frozen fruits and/or veggies. If I'm making a soup or dip, it doesn't really matter...unless I cannot find out-of-season or ripe produce. Then, frozen is almost a sure winner.

Sorbet has become my favorite hot weather desserts since getting the Nutribullet. Check out two of my blends below. I would post more of my concoctions, but you will be licking your computer screen!



Pina Colada Sorbet

Cherry Sorbet

Pina Colada Sorbet
1/2 cup coconut milk, (unsweetened)
Splash of Pineapple juice
1/2 cup pineapple, frozen
Drop of Coconut Extract
Few cubes of ice

Throw items into the Nutribullet in the order listed. You want the frozen fruit and ice closest to the blade. Reverse the order for traditional blenders. Blend. If mix is too thick, add a splash of liquid (milk, juice or water). Serve immediately. Freezing may require reblending.


Cherry Sorbet

1/2 cup frozen cherries
1/2 cup almond milk, vanilla

Throw items into the Nutribullet, blend, and enjoy! Please note, I am not a chocolate lover, but I have been told that adding chocolate protein powder, chocolate cacao powder, or substituting the vanilla almond milk with chocolate almond milk or chocolate soymilk will bring you a chocolate-cherry delight!



The Nutribullet also comes with a milling blade that allows you to make nut butters (peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, etc.) and flours (oat, bran, whole wheat, etc.). Using this tool definitely makes for healthier baking. Seriously, you can make oatmeal flour out of regular ol' Quaker Oats and turn Truvia into a healthier powdered sugar. Holiday baking may have become much healthier!

Clean Up is a Breeze
The power and results of the blends are great! However, the clean up is the absolute best part. I own a juicer and traditional blender. The challenge in using these items regularly is the clean up. The juicer has so many parts to be sanitized. Although I do find it easier to clean than a sink full of pots, pans, and dishes, it can still be somewhat an inconvenience. The Nutribullet on the other hand only requires a simple quick wash or rinse of the cup and blade. It can't get much better than that!

The Ultimate Deal
The Nutribullet sells online and through the infomercial for $119. It retails at Target and Walmart, and other discount stores for $99.99. Well, I found out that Bed, Bath, and Beyond carries it for $99.99 minus the 20% off coupon, totaling $79.99 plus tax. I went to BB&B with coupon in tow to get it, but they didn't have it in stock. The store associate asked me if I wanted to order it and have it delivered to my house...at no additional charge. Yes, I exclaimed! So, my price was $40 off the TV price and the bonus...I had $150 in BB&B giftcards from my bank reward points. So, essentially I got my Nutribullet by paying my bills each month! Yay me!

Check out the YouTube videos or better yet, get one and try it. You will use it everyday...just like I do! Here's to our journey to better health!

Best wishes,
Angela

March is Women's & Nurtition Awareness Month

March is National Nurtition Month & Women's History Month. What a great way to celebrate women's health? This month as you continue your journaling and build the established heart healthy principles, we turn our focus to nutrition.  We must eat to survive, so it can be quite challenging to deal with any sort of eating disorders and food obsessions. It is important that we develop a better understanding about nutrition and food.

Why do we need food? Best answer is that food supplies our bodies with the energy and nutrients it needs to survive. Amino acids, proteins, are used to build and repair our muscles, immune system, hormones, nervous system, and organs. Calcium is important for a variety of reasons; perhaps strong bones and teeth being the most discussed. Vitamins and minerals supply us with the additional protection, strength, energy, and procession that is needed to keep our physical and mental vessels going. This month, we will discuss the various vitamins and minerals, A through Zinc and their benefits to our health.

MONTHLY CHALLENGE:
As we have learned that it takes about a month to get into the swing of things and develop a new habit. So, we are hoping you will take this 5-A-Day challenge. It is easier said than done. However, it is not all that hard to do. Simply eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Some people like to create salads, soups, and smoothies to get most of their servings in one or two meals. Others use reminders like 5 bracelets or timers or meal planner to help. Whatever you decide to do, don't forget to journal your experience and notice the benefits to your body and mind.

Try something fresh...5-A-Day...your life may depend on it!

Climbing the Healthy Food Ladder

We get many questions on how to best eat cleanly and healthily. There are many weight loss and diet programs out there, but we do not subscribe to telling people to “diet.” Diet should not be used a verb! It connotes temporary action. Instead, think of it as only a noun, as in: “Your diet should include healthy foods.” So, to help you on your journey, we must cover eating for a healthy life.

Most folks try to reach an optimum diet, but we don’t really know what that is or what is included. Some nutritionists suggests eating cleanly (fruits and vegetables with lean proteins) 90% of the time and give into temptations (fatty and sugary foods) 10% of the time. Others find it more realistic and able to achieve at 75%-25%, respectively. However, neither ratio solves our mystery of what foods to include. Are all fruits, meats, grains, and vegetables made equal? Are they only bad if we do bad things to them?

Here is a little help --

A few years ago, we were introduced to Michi’s Ladder through a workout program by Beachbody (makers of  popular workout videos: P90X, Insanity, and others). THIS IS NOT A PITCH OR ENDORSEMENT OF BEACHBODY OR THEIR WORKOUT PROGRAMS!

What we did find valuable is what they call Michi’s Ladder. It is simply a list of foods divided into tiers according to their healthiness. According to their website, Teambeachbody.com,

“Michi's Ladder is not a diet. It's a simple substitution plan. To lose weight, try swapping the foods you eat for similar foods in tiers 1 and 2. The more you eat in tiers 1 and 2, the more you'll increase your chances of losing weight. There are some healthy foods in lower tiers, but they're either calorie dense or nutrient deficient. To lose weight, you want to maximize the nutrients in every calorie you consume. Note on frying: Foods should be eaten raw, steamed, grilled, poached, baked, or broiled. Frying automatically drops even the best foods into tier 5.”

Follow the link to a printable Michi’s Ladder. Look to see what tier you are primarily eating from and try to swap out some items. Download it and use it to decide your grocery list. Keep it in the car, at your desk to help remind you about food choices. Remember, you don’t have to completely overhaul your life immediately. Gradual changes can make lasting results.  To assist you in eating cleanly, try to get most of your nutrients from the top two tiers.

MICHI'S LADDER

Choose healthy foods for a healthy diet…your life depends on it.

Juicing for Health

June is National Fruit & Vegetable Month. All month long, we will help you identify fruits and vegetables as well as preparations of them to help you on your health journey. The Food & Drug Administration suggests our diets contain five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. It doesn't seem like a lot but when we really thinking about it, it's hard for us. We may eat a burger and french fries. We'll the lettuce and tomato on your burger barely qualify for a serving. French fries count as a starch, not a vegetable. Drinking our fruits and veggies is one of the fastest ways for us to get our recommended servings. After all, we all enjoy a good fruit juice. And, some love popular vegetable juices. Or do we, really?  Below are reasons why we should juice our own fruits and veggies:

Quality Control
Most of us buy our juices from the grocery aisle, not even the refrigerated section. Most of those bottled juices have added sugar, preservatives, color, and maybe flavors. So, after all of that filtering, diluting, and adding, there is a juice that resemble the original fruit or vegetable. Juicing your own fresh fruits and vegetables allows you to control what goes into the juice. So, if you want apple juice...juice an apple. That way, you know it's 100% juice, no additives, color, or sugar. The quality of your juice is based ONLY on the quality of your fruit.

Cost Control
Bottled and can juices are becoming quite expensive. So is purchasing produce that sit and rot due to our natural tendency to reach for orange juice over an orange. However, buying a bag of oranges is much cheaper and more environmentally friendly than bottles and bottles of orange juice.

Flavor Control
When you juice your own foods, you get to choose what you put in it. We have found that many will drink vegetable juice when adding a sweet fruit like apple or pineapple to it. You can be creative and develop new recipes. There are only a few rules to juicing, so the sky is the limit to your flavor profiles. Below are some recipes to get you started, but don't be afraid to try some of your own. Try seasonal fruits and vegetables; they are the sweetest and most ripe. Summer is the best time to start!

Portion Control
You can control the amount of juice available when you juice. Oftentimes, we buy two-three bottles at the grocery store. Most will simply get another cup after drinking one. That means we consume more calories, sugar, and preservatives. That also means we are drinking less water and milk because of our ready consumption of pre-made fruit juice. Because there are no preservatives, you should drink your juices immediately. So, you will only need to make the amount you plan to drink immediately. Doing so allows you to control the portions and resulting fruit sugar intake of yourself and your family.

Nutrient Control
Eating fruits and vegetables in raw form is the most recommended preparation. Raw foods keep the nutrient and benefits of produce in tact. Cooking can dilute, destroy, or simply remove valuable nutrients from produce. However, when we think raw, we immediately think salads. And if you know like I know, your jaws will soon tire from chewing on lettuce. Juicing is a fast and delicious way to consume some of your foods in their raw state.  However, I do suggest that you balance eating with drinking your fruits and vegetables. Chewing is a natural desire for humans. We must satisfy our oral fixation on chewing. Additionally, juicing separates out the fiber from foods. Fiber is important to our digestive system and has to be an important part of our diets. So, don't just juice, but definitely try it!

Choosing a juicer - I recommend a juicer with a large mouth hopper, warranted blades, and dishwasher friendly. The less prep and clean up, the more you will use it. I also suggest a great blender to extend the possibilities of juicing. These are two of my favorite summertime kitchen aids.

Some recipes - One of my favorite cookbooks, Juicing for Life, includes recipes for specific health-related challenges. I have included a few for detoxification and body cleansing. They are also great for weight loss. As time goes on, we will share disease-specific recipes and the benefit for specific foods.

Warm Apple Pie (a hot apple tea)

1 tart apple

Water

Apple pie spice

Cinnamon stick for garnish

Juice apple. In small pan, bring 2 oz. juice and 4oz. water to boil. Season with liberal amount of spice. Serve in a teacup. Garnish with cinnamon stick. (Add honey or turbinado sugar to taste, if desired.)

Cherie's Cleansing Cocktail/Body Cleanser

1/4" slice ginger root or 1/2 cucumber

1 beet

1/2 apple

4 carrots, greens removed

Push ginger or cucumber, beet and apple through hopper with carrots

Mineral Tonic

Handful parsley

2 turnip leaves

1 kale leaf

4-5 carrots, greens removed

Roll up parsley in turnip and kale leaves, and push through hopper with carrots

Evening Regulator

2 apples

1 pear

Alternate pushing apple and pear through hopper

Ginger Hopper

1/4" slice of ginger root

4-5 carrots, greens removed

1/2 apple

Push ginger through hopper with carrots and apple

Berry Cantaloupe Shake

1/2 cantaloupe, with skin

5-6 strawberries

Push cantaloupe and strawberries through hopper

Garden Salad Special

3 broccoli flowerets

1 garlic clove

4-5 carrots, greens removed or 2 tomatoes

2 stalks celery

1/2 green pepper

Push broccoli and garlic through hopper with carrots or tomatoes. Follow with celery and green pepper.

NOTE: The resulting juice can have a lot of foam. You can simply stir it to mix the remaining fiber into the drink. Some prefer to strain the foam using a variety of ways. I suggest running it through a small drink strainer a few times to get it completely smooth. Or, you may use a blender.

Try juicing today...your life depends on it!