Vitamix

Vitamix recipes
Mike, it will come with a useful manual and recipe selection so don't worry too much. As a recent purchaser and already an enthusiastic user, I can vouch that you have made a very good decision which will do your health no end of good. Several older hands here, like Jennifer, will be able to give you lots of great ideas. Enjoy it.

livealive said:

Vitamix
I eat my vegetables, do I Need this machine ?

non-vital
No, you don't. You're fine already.

But it does make it easy to create delicious smoothies and lovely soups etc.

(Raj, I'm assuming that as well as a good range of veggies you also eat plenty of fruit. Is that correct? If not, please do and there a Vitamix might help. I've just knocked up a smoothie of banana, apple, grapes and spinach - very tasty and good food value.)

MikeK703 said:

Sounds delicious
Tex, that smoothie sounds delicious ... if we get rid of that last ingredient.
One evening during dinner, about 55 years ago, I sneaked the canned spinach (yecch!) from my plate and put it in some tissues and put that in my pocket. (My mother used to let me eat in front of the TV to watch the Mickey Mouse Club so it was easy to do.) I planned to flush it right after dinner. It was an old trick that had worked for me many times before. This time, however, my father was spending too much time in the john and my pocket was bulging. I panicked and and tossed it into the top shelf of my parents' bedroom closet. Two years later my mother found it. She called me into the room and asked me what it was. I said, "It looks like spinach." "How did it get there?" she asked. I answered, "Maybe it was there when we moved in." She laughed and I got off scot free. But I wouldn't hesitate to do that again if my wife ever made me spinach.

Spinach
I personally gag on cooked spinach but happily stuff two large fitsfulls in my vitamix. It ends up green but with the fruit combination you cannot taste the spinach. Honest. And spinach is incredibly good for you. I toss in things like carrots, broccoli, celery etc. In with my fruit. You will love this machine. I Google vitamix recipes and there is a vitamix community on Facebook.

MikeK703 said:

Organic?
Do you guys use organic fruit and vegetables? Or just the average supermarket variety? The former is very expensive and the latter is inundated with pesticides and other chemicals, I'm sure.

I don't have a preference.
I don't have a preference. Organic is expensive. As it is, buying the vast amount of produce that I consume now gets expensive but worth it. I've lost 13 pounds and find that I make a conscious effort to eat better whether at home or at a restaurant.

Texas_wedge said:

Spinach
What a great story Mike.

It takes all sorts - I eat spinach almost every day. I love it. I eat it in smoothies, I eat it raw, in salads or on its own and I cook it a couple of times a week, usually with fillet steak and french fries. It's an excellent food and it turns any smoothie green, no matter what else is in it, even if you don't use much, and green is my favourite colour.

Well done on the weight loss Rae - always assuming you are better off a bit lighter. In the UK, 'organic' has been a good selling point though there's been a bit of a backlash of cynicism as to what it sometimes amounts to, after the odd expose. Is that the same Statesside? Must agree that the agri-chemicals problem is a real one.

V8
I can drink a ton of V8 every day. Plus I love my veggies. Can't get enough brocolli or cauliflower. Or Corn or beats, ( love beats) or......love it all. To bad I like hamburgers and pizza too. As a matter of fact, I like almost everything. It is a good thing I push myself to exercise or I would be a beach ball.

foxhd said:

spinach
Yum! Love spinach...Mike you are right about the sodium. After last weeks good news on my response to the MDX, I need to work on doing many things healthier.

So yes, I do some fruits, mostly some berries in the morning, and sometimes my wife brings me papaya, etc. I don't think I eat as health as the rest of you or make that much of an effort. (I had a 2 scoops of Gelato today, still feeling guilty). I have an old juicer, 15 years old, continues to serve the purpose, so unless I hear otherwise, I am not buying the Vita thing. TW has already endorsed I eat OK, I will take hid word for it and hope the Gelato doesn't do any harm.

I think all of us should have garlic and turmeric in the kitchen. Google for recipes, or I can write some here - Dal (Lentils, legumes), chic-peas, black-eyed peas, "kidney" beans (no pun intended).

Try some "chana masala", heat 1 tbsl olive oil, add diced onions, chopped garlic, chopped ginger, add a green chili or 2, cook until brown, add turmeric, cumin, some salt, add water (don't ask me quantities, I never measure), now add the pre-soaked chic peas (soak overnight), pressure cook, it's what my wife and mother do.

Spinach recipe, if you'll know what paneer is - look for Paalak Paneer (spinach and cubes of cottage cheese).

Fox, from where you were to where you are, the sodium thing should be a cake-walk, minus the sugar, fat, cream, and sodium. "Maybe" try one meal completely without salt, the next time you will appreciate less salt. I have cut back the salt, now restaurant food is too salty, before I used to add salt to their food.

Fox / TW, your spirit is an inspiration. I have felt a sense of community here, and I am grateful for the help you'll provide.

Thanks.

Texas_wedge said:

Greens
I'm relieved that Mike has cleared up a point for me - I'd assumed that the V8 Fox guzzles was a brand of engine oil.

Mike, I'm guessing you're not a brassica fan either, on taste grounds. I can't get enough broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, raw cabbage, kale, spring greens, etc etc and I'd jump at a spinach or a broccoli quiche anytime, but then I'm a bit like Fox, a natural born omnivore, although I draw the line at things like peanut butter - how anyone could even put anything so revolting in their mouth beats me. (I presume it's also responsible for a lot of cases of sensitivity leading to anaphylactic shock.)

Raj, thanks for the recipe which I may try sometime. Two favourite dishes of mine are saag aloo and saag gosht (the latter of which obviously you wouldn't eat). Two of the places we like to eat at in Edinburgh are Indian vegetarian restaurants.

When you opt for a low salt diet it's a bit restricting on where you can eat out because you realise with horror how much salt so many restaurants put in their dishes.

What is Gelato?

Be careful...
I believe I would have starved to death by now if not for peanut butter, so thems fightin' words...try some in a smoothie sometime, might change your mind.

MikeK703 said:

Peanut butter
Love peanut butter. Have for decades. A big source of protein for me.

?
I don't know what to say - happens occasionally