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on January 9, 2014
This is an exceptionally well-written book, and the layout is fantastic. It's easy to read, and making all the smoothies is straightforward. There are a lot of nice pictures throughout. This is a bit of a food snob book, however. I've never heard of most of the ingredients, and this book emphasizes, basically, the "evil" dairy products, and God forbid whey protein! So, no yogurt or milk in these smoothies - those are for people that don't know how to use calories wisely. To name the most commonly used ingredients in this book: dried white mulberry, sea buckthorn berries, lucuma powder, Medjool dates, dried goji berries, maqui berry powder, and camu berry powder.
It's written in a very friendly manner, and all of these weird-sounding ingredients are well-explained. But I wouldn't know where to begin to find them. If you buy them online, they are expensive. Sure, lucuma powder or goji berries may have more antioxidants than blueberries, but when I can find beautiful, fresh blueberries locally for a third the cost, I think I'll go with blueberries! It isn't written with a condescending tone, but it definitely thinks all other sources of vitamins and minerals from basic fruits and vegetables are for people living in the stone age.
The most disconcerting thing is when I went to buy these ingredients online, many reviewers were saying things such as "not supposed to be eaten raw" or "sent me to the hospital with bad skin reaction". I'll stick with what I know, and what's locally available! There are plenty of nutritious and organic fruits and vegetables around that are more suitable for healthy smoothies!
It's written in a very friendly manner, and all of these weird-sounding ingredients are well-explained. But I wouldn't know where to begin to find them. If you buy them online, they are expensive. Sure, lucuma powder or goji berries may have more antioxidants than blueberries, but when I can find beautiful, fresh blueberries locally for a third the cost, I think I'll go with blueberries! It isn't written with a condescending tone, but it definitely thinks all other sources of vitamins and minerals from basic fruits and vegetables are for people living in the stone age.
The most disconcerting thing is when I went to buy these ingredients online, many reviewers were saying things such as "not supposed to be eaten raw" or "sent me to the hospital with bad skin reaction". I'll stick with what I know, and what's locally available! There are plenty of nutritious and organic fruits and vegetables around that are more suitable for healthy smoothies!
on April 12, 2017
In the 2-3 months I've had it, this book has provided me with so much emotional - and physical - fulfillment! As a single person with not much in the way of an appetite and limited energy, you quickly discover that making standard meals just doesn't make sense in terms of the energy and effort (and then you end up eating the same leftovers for days!) It turns out that smoothies are one of the few things in this world that actually make more sense to prepare when you're single- a blender full of smoothie doesn't go far for a family of four, but it's perfect for a single smoothie-loving person! And... smoothies just make me happy! There's something very self-nurturing about sitting down with a fancy glass full of frozen healthy goodness.
I have seen some people here say this isn't the best book for a beginner, but I'd have to disagree. I was a complete beginner to making smoothies when I bought this book, and after just a few months of smoothie making, I've easily learned enough from Morris to craft and adapt my own recipes. Some say the ingredients are hard to find, but if you have the internet and know how to use a search engine, you can find ingredients easily enough. It is true that many of the ingredients Morris recommends are expensive (maca and maqui powders, I'm looking at you), but she includes a substitution table near the back of the book so (for example) if you can't afford hemp seeds or just don't want to wait for them to ship across the country, you can use sunflower seeds from your local supermarket instead.
Some of the recipes in the book are better than others. For example, Rhubarb Mint fell flat for me, as I felt like the dates and the orange juice overwhelmed the more delicate flavors of the rhubarb and mint, and I also felt that the date and orange flavors just didn't go well together. But for every one recipe I found that was only okay, there are about 3-4 others that are outstanding. Blueberry Maqui may be the best smoothie I've ever had in my entire life, and I've hunted far and wide for good "smoothie bars". (And I even omitted the maqui powder from that recipe, because I am still in the process of acquiring some of the more exotic ingredients!) Mayan Chocolate (a spicy cacao blend) was so outstanding I was moved to make a second batch the next day, because I couldn't stop thinking that night about how wonderful it had been the first time around. Sweet Pea was marvelously, vibrantly green, although I added three times as much parsley as the recipe called for, because after tasting it I just wanted more parsley flavor.
That's actually one of the strengths of the book- Morris encourages readers to cast aside perfectionism and strict adherence to recipes with her "It's a smoothie, not a science" mantra. I have usually been the sort of person to stick closely to recipes. (Some might say "stick closely" would be an understatement.) With this book, I have felt so free to substitute, adapt recipes to my own personal taste, and just generally say to myself, "ah, that's close enough." It's been delightful to discover that, the vast majority of the time, what I make tastes wonderful regardless. It's rare that something as basic as a cookbook can free a person to really step outside of their comfort zone and grow new confidence.
Being a perfectionist, there are still one or two small ways I think the book could be improved. Morris is thoughtful enough to include a recipe for a dog smoothie, but there is no cat smoothie recipe. My cat tries to steal my smoothies all the time (just today I turned my back on a citrus smoothie for a moment only to find him up on the counter, his face shoved into my glass as he eagerly licked up the citrus flavors that the internet swears repel all cats. Yeah, not mine.) I would really love to be able to share some of my smoothies with him without having to look up each ingredient's "cat-safety" on the internet first. Even a table in the back listing which ingredients are and are not toxic to cats would have been greatly appreciated. Also, while I love the convenient little icons next to each recipe indicating that a particular smoothie is supportive of cardiovascular health or bone health or beauty or detoxification, the academic in me is murmuring "citation needed." There is a basic list of references in the back of the book, but it is not clear which parts of this book are connected to which sources Morris references. However, this is a recipe book, not an academic paper, and as such these drawbacks are quite minor.
Other good points... The majority of the recipes are very tasty and healthy (I've never eaten so many leafy greens per week in my life). The protein smoothies I've made (there's a good mix of different smoothie "genres" represented here) really are as filling as a standard meal would be. No nonfiction book is complete without good indexes, and this one has two, both helpful.
Overall, this is a wonderful book, accessible to beginners, with beautiful colorful pictures that are likely to inspire readers to make their own "superfood smoothies."
I have seen some people here say this isn't the best book for a beginner, but I'd have to disagree. I was a complete beginner to making smoothies when I bought this book, and after just a few months of smoothie making, I've easily learned enough from Morris to craft and adapt my own recipes. Some say the ingredients are hard to find, but if you have the internet and know how to use a search engine, you can find ingredients easily enough. It is true that many of the ingredients Morris recommends are expensive (maca and maqui powders, I'm looking at you), but she includes a substitution table near the back of the book so (for example) if you can't afford hemp seeds or just don't want to wait for them to ship across the country, you can use sunflower seeds from your local supermarket instead.
Some of the recipes in the book are better than others. For example, Rhubarb Mint fell flat for me, as I felt like the dates and the orange juice overwhelmed the more delicate flavors of the rhubarb and mint, and I also felt that the date and orange flavors just didn't go well together. But for every one recipe I found that was only okay, there are about 3-4 others that are outstanding. Blueberry Maqui may be the best smoothie I've ever had in my entire life, and I've hunted far and wide for good "smoothie bars". (And I even omitted the maqui powder from that recipe, because I am still in the process of acquiring some of the more exotic ingredients!) Mayan Chocolate (a spicy cacao blend) was so outstanding I was moved to make a second batch the next day, because I couldn't stop thinking that night about how wonderful it had been the first time around. Sweet Pea was marvelously, vibrantly green, although I added three times as much parsley as the recipe called for, because after tasting it I just wanted more parsley flavor.
That's actually one of the strengths of the book- Morris encourages readers to cast aside perfectionism and strict adherence to recipes with her "It's a smoothie, not a science" mantra. I have usually been the sort of person to stick closely to recipes. (Some might say "stick closely" would be an understatement.) With this book, I have felt so free to substitute, adapt recipes to my own personal taste, and just generally say to myself, "ah, that's close enough." It's been delightful to discover that, the vast majority of the time, what I make tastes wonderful regardless. It's rare that something as basic as a cookbook can free a person to really step outside of their comfort zone and grow new confidence.
Being a perfectionist, there are still one or two small ways I think the book could be improved. Morris is thoughtful enough to include a recipe for a dog smoothie, but there is no cat smoothie recipe. My cat tries to steal my smoothies all the time (just today I turned my back on a citrus smoothie for a moment only to find him up on the counter, his face shoved into my glass as he eagerly licked up the citrus flavors that the internet swears repel all cats. Yeah, not mine.) I would really love to be able to share some of my smoothies with him without having to look up each ingredient's "cat-safety" on the internet first. Even a table in the back listing which ingredients are and are not toxic to cats would have been greatly appreciated. Also, while I love the convenient little icons next to each recipe indicating that a particular smoothie is supportive of cardiovascular health or bone health or beauty or detoxification, the academic in me is murmuring "citation needed." There is a basic list of references in the back of the book, but it is not clear which parts of this book are connected to which sources Morris references. However, this is a recipe book, not an academic paper, and as such these drawbacks are quite minor.
Other good points... The majority of the recipes are very tasty and healthy (I've never eaten so many leafy greens per week in my life). The protein smoothies I've made (there's a good mix of different smoothie "genres" represented here) really are as filling as a standard meal would be. No nonfiction book is complete without good indexes, and this one has two, both helpful.
Overall, this is a wonderful book, accessible to beginners, with beautiful colorful pictures that are likely to inspire readers to make their own "superfood smoothies."
on April 30, 2013
If you're a novice smoothie maker, you will really appreciate how Julie took the time to go through the steps of smoothie making in great detail and will be introduced to amazing smart combinations.
If you, like me, have been making smoothies pretty much everyday for the last 10 years, have exhausted your creativity to combine ingredients and could use some really unique, tasty and nutritious recipes, you will absolutely love this book.
Superfoods may sound foreign if you haven't used them before and you don't necessarily need to buy every single superfood out there, you can certainly leave out the superfood suggestions for many of the recipes and still end up with a vibrant and nutritious drink. Some of the superfoods can be expensive but a bit goes a long way. Julie provides excellent information on each superfood, how, where and what form to buy, benefits, serving size and substitutions.
I got this book on a Saturday and on the next day I basically ended up doing a smoothie day, each recipe I tried was so delicious, so full of flavor and was packed with so many nutrients that I kept wanting to try more recipes :-) Everything I've tried so far was absolutely amazing, really love this book, there are combinations of ingredients that I would have never though of after so many years making smoothies.
** Update: Yesterday I started to explore one of the chapters called superfood shots,they are small, highly condensed smoothies, what a fantastic idea! Yesterday I had one called 'Stress recovery', there is one for energy boost, one for fighting cold... Really interesting ideas!
If you, like me, have been making smoothies pretty much everyday for the last 10 years, have exhausted your creativity to combine ingredients and could use some really unique, tasty and nutritious recipes, you will absolutely love this book.
Superfoods may sound foreign if you haven't used them before and you don't necessarily need to buy every single superfood out there, you can certainly leave out the superfood suggestions for many of the recipes and still end up with a vibrant and nutritious drink. Some of the superfoods can be expensive but a bit goes a long way. Julie provides excellent information on each superfood, how, where and what form to buy, benefits, serving size and substitutions.
I got this book on a Saturday and on the next day I basically ended up doing a smoothie day, each recipe I tried was so delicious, so full of flavor and was packed with so many nutrients that I kept wanting to try more recipes :-) Everything I've tried so far was absolutely amazing, really love this book, there are combinations of ingredients that I would have never though of after so many years making smoothies.
** Update: Yesterday I started to explore one of the chapters called superfood shots,they are small, highly condensed smoothies, what a fantastic idea! Yesterday I had one called 'Stress recovery', there is one for energy boost, one for fighting cold... Really interesting ideas!
on December 18, 2015
I have been wanting to learn how to make more healthy smoothies for quite awhile but didn't know where to get started. The ones at Jamba Juice are way too sweet for me, they always give me a sugar headache and I hate it that they don't make their drinks with organic milk and load them up with frozen yogurt. I always order mine with half the yogurt, twice the fruit. I've been making my own peanut butter and banana smoothie at home which I love but am now lactose intolerant so I thought I had to give up smoothies, but all of the recipes in this book are made with non-dairy "milk" which includes things like "Almond milk" (which I had previously thought was almond flavored milk but now know has no milk/dairy in it at all!). Many of the recipes are fruit based, with some greens (loved the strawberry/basil idea), and most of the recipes call for some "super" berries that are expensive, hard to find fresh, and not easy to find in a local market, so there is an up front investment if you want to add those ingredients to your smoothies, but the author provides a good comparison of total cost per drink and it is reasonable. She also provides a good amount of information on how nutrient dense these drinks are. All the recipes avoid dairy products because they produce acid in the body which was completely counter-intuitive to me. A lot of the fruits including most of the berries in her recipes generate acid as well....and dairy is an awesome source of protein as long as you buy organic, but as I said, I'm lactose intolerant so these non-dairy smoothies were great options for me. She does address protein by adding nuts and seeds to her recipes, however, you need a really powerful blender to pulverize most of them, so keep in mind, that could be another investment if you want to try these recipes. Of course, you don't have to follow the recipes provided, you can eliminate some ingredients, experiment with what combinations of fruits, vegetables, thickeners/bases, and sweeteners that you like most. There is a page in the book on how to "build" a smooothie, what ingredients to put in first, next, etc. and a good explanation of super foods, plus a list of fruits and vegetables that are nutrient rich so you can build your own without following her recipes. I found about 5 smoothie recipes that I thought I would like to give a try, that I could make with my inexpensive blender without having to buy any expensive, hard to find ingredients and see how far that takes me before I decide if/when to invest in building a "pantry of super foods" listed in the book.
TOP 500 REVIEWERon January 19, 2016
I've had this book for over a year now, and I absolutely love it. It has inspired our whole family to eat healthier.
The nutritional information alone makes this worth the price. I learned from this book about all kinds of healthy smoothie additions like gogi berries, chia seeds, coconut, maca powder, and camu root (all easy to find on Amazon or in a health food store). And she gives you the nutritional info about each one (suggested amounts, fat, calories, vitamins, and benefits).
There is also a section organized by symptom (weight loss, energy, digestion, etc) and specific suggestions of smoothies to target each need.
Most of the recipes that I've tried from this book have been great, although I tend to improvise and modify them.
I have a friend who just started a soft foods diet, and I'm ordering a copy for her today.
The nutritional information alone makes this worth the price. I learned from this book about all kinds of healthy smoothie additions like gogi berries, chia seeds, coconut, maca powder, and camu root (all easy to find on Amazon or in a health food store). And she gives you the nutritional info about each one (suggested amounts, fat, calories, vitamins, and benefits).
There is also a section organized by symptom (weight loss, energy, digestion, etc) and specific suggestions of smoothies to target each need.
Most of the recipes that I've tried from this book have been great, although I tend to improvise and modify them.
I have a friend who just started a soft foods diet, and I'm ordering a copy for her today.
on September 25, 2016
This is an excellent superfood smoothie book with lots of information. Although there are more superfoods, the author chose to spotlight 15 of them (available berries, algae, cacao, camu berries, chia seeds, chlorophyll rich superfoods, flaxseed, goji berries, hemp seeds, maca, maqui berries, mulberries, pomegranate, sea buckthorn, and North American berries like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries ) which we should consider adding to our smoothies...not all at once though. She gives the benefits of these superfoods, serving size, substitutions, and buying options.
True, many of these foods are not readily available in the average grocery store but they can be found online at places like Amazon or other online outlets, in health food stores, and I've even seen a lot of them in Target....yaaay Target!
If you have to buy all of this at once, it could be expensive. But I look at it like this, if cost is an issue try to purchase ingredients over time instead of at once and a lot of the ingredients last quite a while.
The author does not use cane sugar or cane juice, corn syrup, dairy (including, milk, yogurt, and ice cream, eggs, food coloring, isolated soy whey, puddings, cake mixes, whey protein, or any protein powders that include any of these ingredients). So if you are looking for recipes that require any of these ingredients, look elsewhere or plan on having to tweak the recipes provided.
The author also discusses how to make smoothies:. bases and thickeners, ice, liquids, flavorings, sweeteners, and bulk foods foods and provides examples of each of these.
Just remember, the author's intention is a focus on superfood smoothies, not blended desserts made of mostly fruit and the ingredients above that she doesn't use. If you keep this in mind and realize her intent, you will not be disappointed with this purchase.
Oh and I've tried the first 17 smoothies in the book and most are great. I haven't tried one that made me say dang...WTH is this. Out of the 17 I tried, I would say at least 12 of them are definite keepers for me. I try to have a different recipe everyday from the book everyday.
True, many of these foods are not readily available in the average grocery store but they can be found online at places like Amazon or other online outlets, in health food stores, and I've even seen a lot of them in Target....yaaay Target!
If you have to buy all of this at once, it could be expensive. But I look at it like this, if cost is an issue try to purchase ingredients over time instead of at once and a lot of the ingredients last quite a while.
The author does not use cane sugar or cane juice, corn syrup, dairy (including, milk, yogurt, and ice cream, eggs, food coloring, isolated soy whey, puddings, cake mixes, whey protein, or any protein powders that include any of these ingredients). So if you are looking for recipes that require any of these ingredients, look elsewhere or plan on having to tweak the recipes provided.
The author also discusses how to make smoothies:. bases and thickeners, ice, liquids, flavorings, sweeteners, and bulk foods foods and provides examples of each of these.
Just remember, the author's intention is a focus on superfood smoothies, not blended desserts made of mostly fruit and the ingredients above that she doesn't use. If you keep this in mind and realize her intent, you will not be disappointed with this purchase.
Oh and I've tried the first 17 smoothies in the book and most are great. I haven't tried one that made me say dang...WTH is this. Out of the 17 I tried, I would say at least 12 of them are definite keepers for me. I try to have a different recipe everyday from the book everyday.
on June 23, 2016
This book was a present for my boyfriend at Christmas. It made a great small present to go with the blender I got him. He uses it fairly often.. The book has a nice dust cover on it and came well packaged. It is a hardcover, sturdy book. I so often have the problem of recipe books falling apart fairly quickly, because of all the attention those books get. I also bought it at a really good price! It has a lot of good information on the basics of smoothie making, as well as, a bunch of yummy recipes! This is a vegan recipe book so there are no milk or meat products used in any of the recipes. Some of the recipes call for ingredients that the normal kitchen does not have such as acai powder, sea buckthorn juice, etc. However, the author lists everyday substitutions for most of the ingredients and lists online sources for all of the unusual products. VERY HANDY, I found the recipes different and interesting. The Mint Chip smoothie is my favorite! Here is the recipe to give you an example.
Mint Chip Smoothie Recipe:
Makes 2 18-ounce servings
2 cups frozen spinach
2 cups frozen bananas
1⁄4 cup raw cashews
3 tablespoons cacao nibs
2 tablespoons (packed) fresh mint leaves, minced
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups rice milk (original variety)
1⁄2 cup coconut water
sweetener, to taste (optional)
Blend all the ingredients together until smooth. Taste, and sweeten
as desired.
But do not stop there, there are so many wonderful, healthy smoothie recipes in this book and I still haven't gotten a chance to try them all. Very creative recipes. Wonderful resource, would highly recommend to anyone.
Mint Chip Smoothie Recipe:
Makes 2 18-ounce servings
2 cups frozen spinach
2 cups frozen bananas
1⁄4 cup raw cashews
3 tablespoons cacao nibs
2 tablespoons (packed) fresh mint leaves, minced
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups rice milk (original variety)
1⁄2 cup coconut water
sweetener, to taste (optional)
Blend all the ingredients together until smooth. Taste, and sweeten
as desired.
But do not stop there, there are so many wonderful, healthy smoothie recipes in this book and I still haven't gotten a chance to try them all. Very creative recipes. Wonderful resource, would highly recommend to anyone.
on January 25, 2016
This book is changing my life! I have purchased 3 copies. My first copy was a couple of years ago, two more recently for friends. I finally dove head first into it a few months ago. Yes, there is the initial purchase of new and unfamiliar but exciting ingredients. BTW - all the more unusual ingredients can be found right here on Amazon. Yes, you have to make coconut water ice, almond milk ice, bags of frozen bananas and bags of frozen spinach, but once you get a rhythm going, there is no going back. Believe me, it is worth the effort and it actually does not take that much time. My beau and I have a smoothie for breakfast 5 days a week and one for dinner 7 days a week. My initial interest in the book was nutrition and the health benefits of all the superfoods, but it turns out we are both loosing weight, which is something we have been trying to do. Also, this is totally curbing my sweet tooth. Having smoothies like Mint Chip and Cookie Dough are doing the trick and for that I am GRATEFUL! I love that the sweetness is from dates, bananas, mulberries and maple syrup. I have my favorites and have been adding in a few new ones every few weeks. This book is also great if you are looking for an anti-inflammatory diet.
on March 20, 2015
Be prepared to spend some money and time on the recipes in this book. Also be prepared to have the best tasting and healthiest smoothies you have ever experienced. It is true that many costly (and mail ordered) ingredients are recommended; Camu, Maca, Maqui Berry powders, chlorella, wheatgrass, and lucuma powders are variously used to up the healthiness of the ingredients. Many seeds and nuts are also used that you might not have on hand (chia, hemp, raw cashews). Sugar is not used though you can cheat with other sweeteners if you want. You actually don't need them. And it helps to have a powerful blender as many of the fruits are pulverized in a frozen state. Your blender will need to be able to handle ice cubes as they are also an ingredient. As far as time goes, many recipes require prior prep, such as making coconut water ice cubes or freezing bananas. There are no calorie or nutritional breakdowns, so you could overdo it if you don't pay attention. However, these cons are minor in comparison to the taste and superfood additions. These taste great and are good for you! My favorite so far is the Key Lime smoothie. It requires discipline to stop with just one. The many varieties of smoothie in these pages will keep you from burning out on one flavor. I think this book is a good investment that will keep you happy for a long time.
