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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2013
I just can not say enough great things about this book! I bought this because it serves a lot of my dietary goals--raw, vegan, healthy. I want to get more fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds into my 9 year old daughter. We also have a 91 year old to take care of that has problems eating (difficulty swallowing & digesting, low appetite, sensitive to strong flavors, etc etc.) So making the healthiest smoothies possible is a perfect solution for all this. You are feeding your family top nutrition foods, it's quick and easy to prepare, they go down easy, and you can sneak in all kinds of things that you might otherwise be clueless about how to serve. We also live in hot AZ and a cool smoothie is always nice.
So far we have tried the Creamy Orange, Mint Chip, and Cookie Dough smoothies. I can not believe how Delicious (yes with a capital D!) the Mint Chip smoothie was!! I never thought of spinach beyond a salad/soup/sandwich ingredient. We had the Mint Chip smoothie for breakfast this morning. It was so refreshing and satisfying, and I was quite proud of myself that I served my kid spinach and banana, cashews and super-healthy cacao for breakfast! Wow wow wow. We also (we being me, the kid, the husband) liked the Cookie Dough smoothie too. It is so sweet and yummy, dessert-like, but guess what's in it! Pecans, dates, cacao, a pear, coconut water... I like that there are never any unhealthy ingredients used to make the healthy stuff taste better. It's ALL healthy. Julie uses coconut ice (pour coconut water into ice cube molds) a lot to sweeten and chill things. And cacao (pure, raw chocolate) is also healthy for you. When most people think of chocolate, they think of candy bars, cake frosting, ice cream. But cacao is the natural, original state of chocolate before all the junky additives like sugar and dairy. And in its raw form, it is VERY good for you. All I know is it makes you feel like you're eating dessert. Without the guilt.
As for the book itself, it is full of excellent photos of the smoothies that really make you want to try the recipes. The author has some (4-5?) pictures of herself through the book which i appreciate--I admire her beautiful, glowing skin and hair and point out to my daughter that the author looks so pretty because she eats healthy (hey whatever works to motivate your kids!) I appreciate though, that she did not overdo it including photos of herself as other health food "gurus" have done in their cookbooks. I appreciate SOME pics of the author, but the focus should be on the food, you know?
There are tons of tips, advice and information on the ingredients, where and how to shop for them, how to make the smoothies, key symbols to show you the different benefits of each one (high in protein, heart health, bone health, beauty benefits, etc)
I will be gifting this book to friends who are health-conscious. I have seen some reviewers criticize this book for the "difficult to find" ingredients and really do not understand the problem there. If you are already shopping for cookbooks online, then you can order ingredients online. I ordered the camu powder from Amazon, same place i bought this book. I can easily order the cacao nibs, hemp seeds, goji berries, maca powder, etc here too, or any other of the numerous online retailers that offer it (sources listed in the back of the book).
This book is extremely user friendly and has a supportive, positive tone. She has a start-simple approach. No need to go out and spend a ton of money on superfoods all at once. Buy a few new ingredients and start with those, which is exactly what I am doing. This book is just FUN. I am so excited to keep trying all these crazy ideas that work so well and make me feel so good. Next up is the chocolate smoothie that calls for 3 cups of steamed cauliflower. Never thought of using cauliflower in a smoothie, but if anyone can pull it off, Julie Morris can!
So far we have tried the Creamy Orange, Mint Chip, and Cookie Dough smoothies. I can not believe how Delicious (yes with a capital D!) the Mint Chip smoothie was!! I never thought of spinach beyond a salad/soup/sandwich ingredient. We had the Mint Chip smoothie for breakfast this morning. It was so refreshing and satisfying, and I was quite proud of myself that I served my kid spinach and banana, cashews and super-healthy cacao for breakfast! Wow wow wow. We also (we being me, the kid, the husband) liked the Cookie Dough smoothie too. It is so sweet and yummy, dessert-like, but guess what's in it! Pecans, dates, cacao, a pear, coconut water... I like that there are never any unhealthy ingredients used to make the healthy stuff taste better. It's ALL healthy. Julie uses coconut ice (pour coconut water into ice cube molds) a lot to sweeten and chill things. And cacao (pure, raw chocolate) is also healthy for you. When most people think of chocolate, they think of candy bars, cake frosting, ice cream. But cacao is the natural, original state of chocolate before all the junky additives like sugar and dairy. And in its raw form, it is VERY good for you. All I know is it makes you feel like you're eating dessert. Without the guilt.
As for the book itself, it is full of excellent photos of the smoothies that really make you want to try the recipes. The author has some (4-5?) pictures of herself through the book which i appreciate--I admire her beautiful, glowing skin and hair and point out to my daughter that the author looks so pretty because she eats healthy (hey whatever works to motivate your kids!) I appreciate though, that she did not overdo it including photos of herself as other health food "gurus" have done in their cookbooks. I appreciate SOME pics of the author, but the focus should be on the food, you know?
There are tons of tips, advice and information on the ingredients, where and how to shop for them, how to make the smoothies, key symbols to show you the different benefits of each one (high in protein, heart health, bone health, beauty benefits, etc)
I will be gifting this book to friends who are health-conscious. I have seen some reviewers criticize this book for the "difficult to find" ingredients and really do not understand the problem there. If you are already shopping for cookbooks online, then you can order ingredients online. I ordered the camu powder from Amazon, same place i bought this book. I can easily order the cacao nibs, hemp seeds, goji berries, maca powder, etc here too, or any other of the numerous online retailers that offer it (sources listed in the back of the book).
This book is extremely user friendly and has a supportive, positive tone. She has a start-simple approach. No need to go out and spend a ton of money on superfoods all at once. Buy a few new ingredients and start with those, which is exactly what I am doing. This book is just FUN. I am so excited to keep trying all these crazy ideas that work so well and make me feel so good. Next up is the chocolate smoothie that calls for 3 cups of steamed cauliflower. Never thought of using cauliflower in a smoothie, but if anyone can pull it off, Julie Morris can!
