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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Hello, from Austin! Today’s edition of Smoothie Tuesday comes to you from my new home in Austin, Texas. You may remember my recent post about a lovely lady named Kristy. Well, we are engaged and getting married in November. It feels great to be in such an amazing city. There are some many vegetarian friendly restaurants here; there are even several raw food establishments. The one that is most well known is called Daily Juice. I actually haven’t been yet, but will probably make a trip there sometime soon.

Not only does Austin have lots of great food, but also there are plenty of recreational opportunities here. I will have not shortage of places to run, cycle, and climb. The live music scene here is also awesome. I think I am really going to feel at home here.

Anyway, today’s smoothie recipe is truly a superfood. Inspired by Naked Juice, I decided to make my own at home because I love the taste of the Naked drinks, but I’m unable to digest them well. I always end up with a weird stomachache. I assume it’s because of the flash pasteurization the drinks are put through. The process kills a lot of the beneficial enzymes that aide in digestion. But, this homemade version leaves all those nutritious enzymes fully intact.

The Recipe (serves 2)

• 2 Apples
• 1 whole mango (a smaller one)
• 2 kiwis
• 4 chunks of chopped pineapple
• 1 whole banana
• 1 small hand full of green
• 2 Tsp of wheat grass powder
• 1 Tbsp of Spirulina
• Apx. 2 cups of water

Place all the ingredients in a blender and process thoroughly. If you have a Vita-Mix blender this will be a fairly quick process, but other blenders will take a lot longer to break everything down, especially the greens.

I also apologize for there being no photo this time. I tried, but the lighting in my fiancees apartment is horrible, I couldn’t get my own reflection out of the glass, no matter how hard I worked different angles. Hopefully I get this figured out before next weeks post.

Smoothie Tuesday by OrganicClimber
homemade, juice, naked, smoothie, spirulina, SuperFood, wheat grass
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Hint of Mint Green Smoothie

The other day I randomly got the idea of using finely ground mate in a smoothie to create an energy drink. I got the idea after discovering a green tea powder some friends of mine had. I inadvertently put a scoop of it into our smoothie, and it was wonderful! So upon arriving at home after that weekend I decided I would try a similar drink with peppermint yerba mate, thus creating a raw energy drink.

Although mate is caffeinated, it’s only about the equivalent of 1/4 cup of coffee and is naturally caffeinated. The mate I used for this smoothie was by Explorer’s Bounty. The mint flavor was just right, and became a bit stronger the longer the drink sat. Mate is a common ingredient in a lot of recipes by Brendan Brazier, as well as my own Shot Blok recipe. Mate is an excellent source of natural energy.

The Recipe

• 1 large hand full of spinach
• 1 large banana
• 1 packet of finely ground (using coffee grinder) Peppermint Mate*
• 1 cup of water
• 8 cubes of ice

* You can use your choice of mint flavored tea if you don’t have mate. Also, if you want to increase the amount of mint flavor, simply add another tea packet.

Place all the ingredients in a high speed blender, (preferably a VitaMix), yes I am partial, and blend.

I can’t attest to how effective the drink is in providing energy, but combined with healthy greens and the sugar from the banana, I’m pretty sure it will be quite effective.

Also, if you have been considering a Vita-Mix you can get free shipping through ordering from my affiliate links. I do get a small commission on the sell to, so I would greatly appreciate purchasing through my site.

Smoothie Tuesday by OrganicClimber
drink, energy, mate, mint, peppermint, RAW, smoothie, yerba
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Mixed Berry Smoothie With Cherries

During my recent trip to Colorado I ended up buying a batch of cherries to snack on, but ended up coming home with at least half a bag. So, I decided to use the rest in a new smoothie recipe. This one is great for all you runners, climbers, and other athletes out there. Cherries are a great anti-inflammatory. In it’s concentrated format, it has 10 times the strength as one aspirin; and, it’s all natural! To make this an even better recovery smoothie, I added chia seeds to help boost energy levels. You could take it a step further and add flax seed, but I didn’t want to mess with the flavor too much.

I don’t typically buy cherries that often, but this smoothie was so tasty, I could easily see myself buying more and throwing them in the freezer. Simply adding them to my normal daily mixed berry smoothie would be a welcomed treat. The tart, sweet taste just hits the spot, and the hint of vanilla I added via a flavored rice protein powder just stepped this recipe up an extra notch. So enough talking up the smoothie, enjoy this delicious and powerful recovery smoothie, or just simply drink it for no other reason but to enjoy it.

The Recipe

• 1/4 of a 10oz bag of mixed berries
• about 5 oz of fresh cherries (or fresh-frozen cherries)*
• 1 heaping TBSP of vanilla flavored vegan rice protein (alternatively you can omit this and simply use vanilla extract)
• 1 TBSP of your favorite greens powder
• 1 dropper full of Liquid Stevia (or some variation of sweetener)
• * Make sure you blend this smoothie very well, especially when using fresh cherries, you want to make sure you destroy the pits and stems of the cherries. This is one instance where having a Vitamix is a huge advantage.

If you happen to be interested in purchasing a Vitamix, doing so through clicking the links on my website actually helps me out. I get a nice little commission, and you end up with free shipping on an amazing, must have machine for any raw foodie, vegan, or smoothie addict. (coupon code for the free shipping on a Vitamix 5200 is 06-004609)

Mixed Berry Smoothie With Cherries

Smoothie Tuesday by OrganicClimber
anti-inflammatory, berry, cherry, inflammatory, RAW, smoothie, Vita-MIx, vitamix
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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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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
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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!!

Get Free Shipping through this link!

Health & Fitness, RAW Food, Smoothie Tuesday by OrganicClimber
banana, bursitis, grapes, inflammation, pineapple, protein, recovery, smoothie
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After getting back from a run the other day I found myself very hungry, as usual. Normally I make a smoothie and prepare something else to eat along with it, but I had lots to do that night and decided I would have to survive on just the smoothie. What I came up with ended up being extremely filling and really delicious. I’m calling it the dinner smoothie. I also didn’t use much liquid in this one either, so it ended up being very thick. You really need a Vita-Mix to create this one, but if you don’t have one, just add more rice milk or water.

The Recipe

• 5oz of frozen mixed berries
• 5oz package of frozen mangoes
• 2-4 TBSP of almond butter (approximate, I did not measure)
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup of raw honey (approximate as well) agave for 100% vegan
• about 1/2 cup of rice milk

Directions: After combining all ingredients into your Vita-Mix process until smooth. You will have to use your tamper on this one to force the frozen fruit down into the blades. Don’t be afraid of the churning sounds! Your blender can handle it, you  have the top of the line machine!

Now, enjoy!

RAW Food, Smoothie Tuesday by OrganicClimber
dinner, mangoes, mixed berries, RAW, smoothie
1 comment

Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips takes the stage during Denton's NX35 Conferette this past weekend.

Wow, I can’t believe I let an entire week go by without posting any other content. Life has been pretty hectic lately. Last week I think I only ran once and never even once made it to the climbing gym! I spent last Thursday – Sunday night at the NX35 Conferette in Denton, Texas. It was quite amazing. Flaming Lips, Midlake and StarDeath and White Dwarfs headlined the festival. But anyway, on to the smoothie recipe.

This was another little “accident” because I thought I was out of bananas, but turns out there was a batch hiding in a canvas grocery bag sitting on the counter. After  three nights of being up late going to shows I found myself scrounging for fruit Sunday morning before church and rummaged up half a bag of frozen mangoes, some frozen strawberries I stole from my roommate (Phillip if you are reading this I’m buying more) and some frozen grapes. So, I tossed them all in the Vita-Mix along with some hemp milk, agave nectar, vanilla extract, hemp seed powder and greens powder and then blended it all up.

The Recipe

• 1/2 bag of frozen mangoes
• small amount of frozen strawberries
• hand full or two of frozen grapes
• 2-4 TBSP of agave nectar
• 1 small cap full of vanilla extract (note: my cap is very small)
• Optional: greens powder and/or hemp seed protein*

* another option is fresh pinach, I made this smoothie twice already, second time was using fresh greens.

Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips during Denton's NX35 Conferette. The mini music conference (mini compared to SXSW) was where I spent most of my weekend.

RAW Food, Smoothie Tuesday, Uncategorized by OrganicClimber
grapes, hemp milk, mango, mangoes, RAW, smoothie, strawberries, vanilla extract
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