The Organic Climber – Blogging about climbing, RAW foods, vegetarianism, running and cycling.

Vita-Mix 5200

Whenever people ask me what blender I suggest, I always tell them the Vita-Mix 5200, and this was even long before I was an affiliate (offering free shipping). In my opinion there is no other option if you are going to be making smoothies every day. There are numerous reasons for getting a Vita-Mix 5200, so I have composed a list of reasons to make the investment.

1. Ease of use – It’s just simpler. Just this morning I was trying to make a smoothie using my old Cuisinart blender that my fiancé currently has at her apartment. It was a very difficult process. Ever so often, I would have to stop the blender, take a spoon, and push the fruit back down into the blades. That is rarely ever needed when using the Vita-Mix. The base of the hopper is wide and the blades are flat. Things just blend well in the Vita-Mix! The two horsepower motor will pretty much blend rocks. This ends up being a huge time saver too, as blending your smoothie will only take seconds – and is fuss free!
2. Tamp it down – There are occasions where you will want to blend a large amount of fruit or create something like a sorbet, or a smoothie without much fluid to help the blades turn and process the contents of the hopper. The Vita-Mix comes equipped with a tamper that can be used to press down the contents without having to stop the blender. This is something other commercial grade blenders don’t offer. This again makes for an easier smoothie making experience.
3. Making breads – With a Vita-Mix you can easily knead sprouts and grains to make bread. I have made a couple of different raw breads using the Vita-Mix.
4. Chopping Nuts – The Vita-Mix 5200 is a variable speed blender that allows you to perform tasks such as chopping nuts. I have used this a couple of times to chop nuts for energy bars. It’s also good for creating things like almond flower and grinding flax seed to powder.
5. Breaking down the cell wall – With it’s two horsepower motor, the Vita-Mix blender will break down the cell wall of fruits and vegetables, releasing a plethora of nutrients otherwise not available from chewing.
6. Overall health – Owning a Vita-Mix blender will improve your overall health and well-being. Because of it’s ease of use you will find yourself making delicious smoothies and other wonderful recipes a lot more frequently. The only time I ever don’t make a smoothie for breakfast is when I meet eat at a restaurant with friends. As a result of owning this wonderful machine you will be giving your body wonderful nutrients provided by raw foods.
7. It’s easy to clean – The hopper is not dishwasher safe, but is very easy to clean. Simply place some dish soap in the container, fill half way with water, and blend on high power for a few seconds to a couple minutes and your container is clean.

If you are still using a conventional blender I would strongly encourage you to invest in a commercial grade blender; especially if you are making smoothies on a daily basis. The machine comes with a 7-year warranty. It’s guaranteed to work like new for seven years. For somebody consuming a large amount of raw foods daily and using a blender regularly, performance and a long lasting piece of equipment is key.

Before purchasing my Vita-Mix I did A LOT of research because of the price tag, but I firmly believe I made the right decision. I have never regretted it.

RAW Food, Smoothie Tuesday by OrganicClimber
5200, food, RAW, smoothie, Smoothie Tuesday, Vita-MIx, vitamix
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Seasoned Lemon Pepper Cashews

Lately, one of my favorite snacks has been seasoned cashews. I have been creating a lot of batches in the dehydrator lately, and occasionally buying some store bought versions. I’m a huge fan of seasoning up cashews because of their light taste, which really allows for the flavoring to come alive!

I recently picked up a batch of raw cashews from HEB to make my first batch of seasoned nuts since moving to Austin. As I was exiting the isle, I noticed they had a lot of bulk seasoning mixes on the end-cap. After browsing through them, the lemon pepper seasoning stuck out to me the most, so I thought I would try seasoning up some of the cashews with this flavor.

The result was a huge success. I ate almost half the batch before they even finished drying. My fiancé also commented on how awesome they were. So, I am really excited about sharing this simple recipe that is easy to make, even without a dehydrator.

The Recipe

• 2 cups of raw cashews
• 2.5 TBSP of lemon pepper seasoning
• enough water to cover the cashews

Directions

1. Place the raw cashews into a large mixing bowl and fill with water just until they are completely covered and let soak for two or more hours (filtered water is best)
2. Drain the water from the bowl
3. Sprinkle half the lemon pepper seasoning into the bowl and mix thoroughly
4. Sprinkle in the remaining seasoning and mix thoroughly
5. If you have a food dehydrator, place the seasoned nuts onto a drying rack and dehydrate for 24-36 hours at 115 degrees
6. In an oven, place the nuts on a non-stick sheet and bake at 115 degrees for 24 hours; you may need to turn the nuts periodically to ensure consistent drying

Once the nuts are thoroughly dry and crunchy, they are ready to consume. I will warn you ahead of time. These guys are super tasty and addicting. Make sure you have some self-control before making these. Otherwise, you may end up eating 2 cups of nuts on your own, in one sitting.

Nutty Friday, RAW Food, Recipes by OrganicClimber
cashew, cashews, lemon, nuts, pepper, RAW, seasoned, seasoning
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I’m a little apprehensive about posting this, but sense my goal is to start posting more again I figured I would. Plus, I’m behind on part two of my trip report to Colorado. I have some pretty big news to share. Even though nothing 100% official yet I have begun work on a raw food snack company along with a friend of mine from Austin. I have already started trying to perfect recipes, test larger batches, and research production. We will be having our first actual business meeting tomorrow morning.

This may not come to a surprise to those of you that have tried my recipes before and even suggested I go into business selling them. It has been an idea I kept in the back of my mind for a long time. But, after recent career coaching with Kent Julian of Live it Forward, and reading Dan Miller’s books 48 Days to the Work you Love and No More Monday’s, I have decided it’s high time I go into business for myself.

Through reading Dan’s books and being coached by Ken I have been inspired to finally pursue work I truly love. I have always known I’m not truly cut out for the traditional 9-5 job, but have always been afraid to take a leap of faith and start my own business, or when I did, I quit pursuing at the first road block that came my way. I’m tried of mediocrity and know I’m fully capable of achieving something great. I have decided to take my passion for raw foods (especially snack and energy foods) and start something I can truly pursue and enjoy with all my being.

I have become a firm believer that we don’t have to settle for a job we hate just because it’s “secure”. With the current state of our economy, no job is truly secure. So why not take charge of your career path and begin working for yourself? Or, if you truly feel you need the structure of a traditional 9-5, then don’t just settle for a job because it pays well or has good benefits. If you don’t like your job it’s not worth the misery, and you will never truly succeed unless you are doing something you genuinely care about.

So, I would encourage any of my readers that may be frustrated with their job to take action and start living your dream! The two links posted at the beginning of this blog post are a great place to start for inspiration. I have spent the past seven years simply performing a job that I’m not truly cut out for. Fear has kept me from pursuing greater things in the past, but the material I mentioned above has helped me break free from that fear. I am looking forward to this business venture and will be sharing details here as they unfold. Be sure to follow me on Twitter and add me to your blog feed if you haven’t already.

Well, my weekend officially begins after work today. I’m headed down to Austin for a nice long four day weekend. I will be meeting with my business partner, spending time with my girlfriend, and rock climbing. It should be an exciting weekend!

RAW Food by OrganicClimber
48 Days, career, company, Dan Miller, dream, dreams, inspiration, job, Kent Julian, RAW Food, startup
1 comment

RAW Chocolate Covered Cashews

Ever since discovering the RAW Peanut Butter Cup Smoothie, I have been somewhat addicted to this wonderful substance known as cacao. But, I will say this. As with any food, moderation is key. I have recently cut back my cacao intake after hearing of some negative side effects of the tasty powder. However, I’m not totally convinced that the positive benefits don’t outweigh the negative.

This recipe is really simple and only requires three ingredients. It takes almost no time to make, other than the time to dehydrate.

The Recipe

• 1 Cup of Cashews
• 1/2 TBSP of Agave*
• 1 TBSP of Cacao Power

*In the batch I made I actually used 1 TBSP of agave, but felt like it was too much.

So, start by placing one cup of nuts in a mixing bowl, then pour in the agave and mix thoroughly. Once the nuts are well coated with agave (add more agave if needed) pour in the cacao powder and mix until well coated. Next, place them on a dehydrator sheet and dehydrate for 24 hours. After 12 hours remove the nuts from the sheet and place on the mesh tray.

Alternatively you could use your oven set at a low temperature as well. Since the nuts are not roasting it is okay if you use a lower temperature, just make sure you keep it under 116 degrees in order for it to remain raw. This tasty little snack will provide you with healthy fats, carbohydrates, antioxidants, and protein. This is also a good “energy” snack because of the carbs from the agave and stimulant like properties in the cacao (called theobromine). But I would avoid consuming too many of them before physical activity because nuts are generally harder to digest than raw fruits and veggies.

Nutty Friday, RAW Food, Recipes by OrganicClimber
agave, cacao, cashew, energy, nuts, RAW, snack
2 comments

Electric Green Fire Smoothie

Lately I haven’t quite been feeling myself. My stomach has been a bit upset, and I haven’t had as much energy as I usually do. I know there is a strong connection to the fact that I have not been eating as much raw foods lately and I haven’t been running as much either. I believe the combination of the two has lead to poor digestion and lower energy levels.

So, knowing this I decided to forgo a cooked meal this particular evening and make another green smoothie. This made for a nearly 100% raw day. Since I knew I really needed some greens I loaded this one up with lots of green stuff. It wasn’t as sweet as the berry smoothies I make that usually just have greens powder, or the occasional hand full of spinach, but the apple and banana made it just sweet enough to enjoy and the ginger added a nice kick to it, thus the fire!

One of the main reasons I put ginger into this smoothie was for it’s medicinal properties. Ginger is known for aiding in digestion and helping circulate blood flow. It’s also a good warming food for those colder months when you are consuming raw foods, but today it was primarily to help with digestion. I also cut some up and brewed a tea from it as well that actually tasted surprisingly well, I didn’t even add sweetener to it as I usually do with my tea.

Ginger is actually classified as a stimulant, which makes sense, seeing as how it helps increase the circulation of blood flow. As I mentioned already it helps with digestion, but also helps combat constipation and colic. My stomach pains lately are somewhat odd, but consuming the ginger really did help. I will have to start keeping this stuff around more often, especially when I’m not consuming a high amount of raw foods.

The Recipe

• 1 large hand full of spinach
• 2 stalks of celery
• 1/2 frozen banana (optional but helps sweeten it a bit)
• 1/2 granny smith apple
• about 1/2 of a medium sized piece of ginger peeled and cut into slices for easier blending
• 1 cup of water
• 6-8 cubes of ice

Blend thoroughly and enjoy! This particular smoothie is much “greener” than what I usually make, but lately I haven’t been feeling as well and felt I needed more greens.

RAW Food, Smoothie Tuesday by OrganicClimber
apple, celery, ginger, granny smith, green smoothie, raw smoothie, smoothie, spinach
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YUMNUTS

Recently I had posted about my homemade version of YUMNUTS. Not too long after making the post Yumnuts Naturals sent me some free samples, so I decided to review them here on my blog. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I was pretty excited when the packaged arrived at my door, containing one 5oz bag of Chili Lime flavor and sample sizes of Sea Salt, Toasted Coconut, and Chocolate. I was skeptical about all of the flavors except for the Chili Lime, which really resonated with me. They closely resembled the Cajun flavored nuts I had bought in the store and made on my own. They had a bit more of a kick to them though, which I liked a lot. At first I thought it was going to be impossible to consume the nuts in one sitting, which I was happy about because I can easily devour a 5oz bag of the Cajun flavor in one sitting. However, I quickly found myself picking the bag back up and polishing them off. As with any nut, these are extremely filling, but also flavorful; they left little to be desired.

Next up was the Toasted Coconut flavor, which I found to be lacking. I’m not a huge coconut fan, but do use coconut flavor fairly frequently in raw food recipes, but the flavor combination didn’t do the trick for me. The Sea Salt flavor was the bare bones version of YUMNUTS but were very tasty and just as addicting as the spicy flavors, but nowhere near as tasty. The plus side of these is that the only ingredients in them are sea salt and gum acacia. But if you have read Michael Pollen’s Omnivorous Dilemma you will know it’s best to avoid such foreign ingredients.

My favorite of the flavors YUMNUTS so far have ben the Chocolate flavored nuts. They remind me a lot of peanut M&M’s which was perhaps one of my favorite candies before I gave up eating candy (for the most part). I have already consumed more bags of these than I can count on one hand and look forward to making my own raw version once I get my dehydrator out of storage. For now I will have to do with a mild addiction to a still healthy nut, although less healthy than any of the others.

The Chocolate nuts contain: honey, sugar, cocoa powder, milk powder, and soy lecithin. The biggest disappointment in the Chocolate nuts is that they contain sugar in addition to honey. Why go overboard with the sweetener? Although there is a lot of debate about soy going on, soy lecithin isn’t all that bad and is a great source of Vitamin B. Granted these aren’t really the healthiest nut you can be addicted to, but it sure beats candy and other sweets. The only truly healthy nut is 100% organic raw nuts, but I am learning that truly raw nuts are hard to find and organic nuts come at a really high price.

So in conclusion, give YUMNUTS a try, but remember moderation is key with anything. I would also like to mention that Yumnuts are roasted, so you don’t get as many beneficial enzymes as you would with raw nuts. Also, YUMNUTS don’t use any oils to season their nuts, which is good in the sense that you don’t have a lot of added calories, but the down side is they are using foreign ingredients (gum acacia) to coat the seasoning on the nuts. Again, it comes back to moderation, so enjoy these healthy snacks. They are an excellent replacement for just about anything you would find in your break room vending machine.

Health & Fitness, RAW Food by OrganicClimber
cashew, nuts, seasoned, snack, yumnuts
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Lately I have been bad about recording down my smoothie ideas and successful concoctions. Not intending to brag, but just about every smoothie I create comes out wonderful! There is the occasional mess up though, but it’s usually just too strong in a certain flavor. For example one I made a couple weeks ago contained pineapple and it ended up having a very strong/sharp taste due to having too much pineapple in it.

Most of my creations come about by accident. I don’t typically set out to design a great smoothie. What usually happens is I am out of something what I typically make, so I rummage around the fridge and fruit basket to see what I can find.

My most recent creation is a strawberry pineapple mango smoothie. Typically I would just throw in strawberries and banana, but all I had that I thought would work was mangoes. This is actually my go to fruit to mix in when I am out of banana. That has been the case a lot lately since the grocery store seems to only have non-ripe bananas that I have to wait for to ripen.

Anyway, this smoothie is simple and straight forward….

The Recipe

• Approximately 5oz of freshly cut pineapple,
• About 6 frozen strawberries
• Approximately 4oz of
• ½ dropper of stevia
• 1 TBSP of raw tahini
• 1 cup of hemp seed milk
• Your choice of greens, greens powder, and or hemp seed protein (optional)
• 1 TBSP of optional flax meal (optional)

This smoothie is great for relieving inflammation due to the pineapple and flax seed. I have been making a lot of highly anti-inflammatory smoothies lately due to my shoulder bursitis I have suffered since a car accident last June. I previously mentioned this in the Pineapple Grape Smoothie recipe. It does seem the pineapple helps a lot with the inflammation, but as with any food or medicine the effects wear off. So, I’m trying as hard as I can to keep as many anti-inflammatory foods in my diet. Sadly, some things I really like to eat, such as dates are highly inflammatory so they can cancel out other foods. So, it’s important to keep an eye on this. Web sites like Nutrition Data will help you determine not only calorie count and nutritional information, but they give you an inflammation index as well.

As a parting note, if you have been following my blog for a while know you may have noticed I used stevia for sweetener instead of agave. This is because I am attempting to include less of this in my diet now. I recently discovered that I possibly have a low performing thyroid, and in order to help improve my thyroid health I am cutting back on sugars. This means less stevia, as well as less bananas. This will be somewhat hard for me as I typically consume a few bananas a day, but I have already started replacing those snacks with healthy raw nuts, with on occasional package of Yumnuts (which I will be reviewing on the blog soon).

I have a big sweet tooth, so making things like Peanut Butter Cup Smoothie will have to become less frequent. Both agave and bananas are really high in natural sugar, and agave being high in fructose is not good in mass quantity. I still plan on continuing to use it in my sports drinks and energy bites though as it is high in crabs and releases slowly into the blood stream for longer lasting energy. This is also why it’s safer alternative to sugar for diabetics. But as with anything moderation is key.

Additional Note: This smoothie is VERY high in protein. So, eliminate the protein powder if you want to cut down on this. I think I estimated it had about 28grams total.

RAW Food, Smoothie Tuesday by OrganicClimber
agave, anti-inflamatory, inflamation, pineapple, recovery, smoothie, stevia, tahini
1 comment

Okay, I know it’s Wednesday, but I’m long overdue for a post. Life has been extremely busy lately. I have been gearing up for a move that will hopefully take place soon. I recently posted Getting confirmation on living the dream, but sometimes plans change. I have come to realize that often times we plan out a path, but God has something else in store for us, big surprises and sometimes disappointments. But in my case, I was thrown a huge curve ball and was pleasantly surprised. To make a long story short (I will post a longer version later) I will be moving to Austin, rather than Colorado, to pursue the girl I first fell in love with nearly two years ago. All I am waiting on before making the move is the sell of my house, which SHOULD happen pretty soon. But I also have to remember that the way I want things to happen may not be best. This could be held up for another month or longer. It has already drug out for two months.

Rock climbing at Reimer's Ranch near Austin, TX - my future new home.

Anyway, on with the smoothie recipe. Yesterday I got back into the climbing gym after not having been in over a week, and prior to that I was lucky if I was getting in the gym once a week. This season has not been filled with as much climbing as I had hoped for. Despite being out of prime climbing shape I decided to run 4×4′s with my climbing friend Scott. Basically you take turns climbing the same route four times, you have on to the next route and repeat the process. You do this until you fall. So, we decided to climb 5.9 routes after warming up on an easy 5.7 climb. We managed to finish 12 laps without any falling, but we both had our first fail at lap 13.

So, we continued on with our 4 laps, getting as high as we could each time. After finishing this, we moved on to bouldering after cooling down on some easier routes. So, in all I climbed about 19 routes and four boulder problems. All this to say, I did A LOT of climbing for being out of shape. I guess it goes to show I wasn’t as out of shape as I thought, but needless to say I needed a good anti-inflammatory recovery smoothie.

This smoothie is chock full of anti-inflammatory goodness and protein. As I have mentioned before pineapple contains bromelain that can be used to help treat sports injuries, trauma, arthiritis and other types of inflamation. I also added ground flax seed as well for a balance of omega three and six. The omega three contains the anti-inflamatory properties needed. So without further or do, here is the recipe…

The Recipe

• About 1/4 – 1/2 a 160z container of chopped or frozen pineapple
• 6-8 fresh strawberries
• 1+ cups of hemp milk
• 1 TBSP of raw tahini (optional, it didn’t affect the flavor much)
• 1/2 TBSP of your favorite greens powder
• 1 TBSP of hemp seed protein

My guess is this smoothie has around 18 grams of protein, I’m not sure what the carb count is, but my guess is around 54 grams, giving you a nice 3 to 1 ration. If you desire something closer to 4 to 1 just eliminate the tahini and replace the hemp milk with water or rice milk.

And don’t forget if you are considering buying a Vita-Mix 5200 blender you can get free shipping by clicking through the links here on my site. Granted these coupon codes are all over the internet, but by clicking through here I actually get a commission. I would be very grateful if you purchased through me! This blender is a powerful workhorse, a purchase you won’t regret if you are eating a lot of raw foods and making lots of smoothies.

Get Free Shipping through this link!

Climbing, Health & Fitness, RAW Food, Smoothie Tuesday by OrganicClimber
anti-inflamatory, austin, carbs, Colorado, dream, free shipping, pineapple, protein, recovery, smoothie, strawberry, Vita-MIx, Vitamix discount
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Pineapple Grape Banana Smoothie

Ahhh, it’s the return of smoothie Tuesday. I know you have been waiting for it. Well, I have a really tasty one for you today. I randomly thought of this one after staring at the frozen grapes in my freezer for weeks – I thought man, those would go great with some pineapple, if only I had some. So, next time I was at the store I picked up some pineapple and ended up making a recovery smoothie later that night after a climbing workout.

This is an excellent recovery smoothie because of the anti-inflammatory properties found in the pineapple. Bromelain is the enzyme in pineapples that contain the anti-inflammatory property, it also helps with digestion, so this smoothie is easy on the stomach, it will also help digest any food consumed after the drink. Additionally  pineapple is high in vitamin C and is great for fighting off colds. I have even been told it’s a great way to help get rid of a cough.

The grapes (as well as the pineapple) are high in anti-oxidants contained in flavonoids, which help slow the aging process. For those of you just starting out vegetarian or are going vegan, grapes are a good source of both calcium and vitamin B6. Grapes also are rich sources of vitamin A and C in addition to  minerals like potassium, iron, phosphorus, and magnesium.

I would also like to note that the inflamed bursitis in my right shoulder has significantly decrease after drinking this smoothie.  I am not sure if there is a direct relation to the large amount of pineapple consumed through blending or not, but I plan on trying this smoothie again if the inflammation comes back. I will be very happy though if I discover thre is a relation, because the inflammation has been with me for almost a year now and I’m doing everything I can to avoid cortisone injections.

The Recipe

• 8oz of freshly cut and diced pineapple
• one big hand full of frozen grapes
• 1 banana
• 1 TBSP of cashew/almond butter (optional)
• 1 TBSP of hem seed protein (optional but great for recovery)
• 1 TBSP of greens powder or 1 hand full of fresh greens
• 1/2 cup of almond milk
• 4 cubes of ice
• water (just enough to cover the fruit and aid with blending)

Directions: Simple; just throw it all in the blender and WHIZ!!

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Health & Fitness, RAW Food, Smoothie Tuesday by OrganicClimber
banana, bursitis, grapes, inflammation, pineapple, protein, recovery, smoothie
1 comment

Black pepper medley, chipotle, and cayenne pepper seasoned cashews.

The other day while picking up some fruit at Kroger I ran across some seasoned cashews under the name brand Yumnuts. They were seasoned in black pepper and other spicy spices, so I decided to attempt my own raw version. They are very simple to make, all you need is your choice of raw nuts, olive oil, and spices.

I chose cashews, and for the spices I went with a black pepper medley, chipotle, and cayenne pepper. To season the nuts, place about 2.5 cups into a mixing bowl and pour about 1/2 TBSP of olive oil over them and mix well. Once they are coated with olive oil season generously. You can consume immediately, but I opted to throw mine in the dehydrator overnight to let the olive oil dry. I imagine they would air dry just as well.

Enjoy your homemade yumuts!

Nutty Friday, RAW Food, Recipes by OrganicClimber
almonds, cashews, nuts, seasoned, yumnuts
3 comments