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

Chris, my brother-in-law and co-founder of Adventure Naturals explains raw foods in plain, easy to understand language. It’s as easy as apple pie to understand, so watch and learn. Also, don’t forget; we are still raising our startup funds on Kickstarter. We have 40 days left to meet our $5,000 goal. Anything helps, even giving at the $5 level means more than you will ever know. That is the beauty of crowd funding. Hundreds of people can donate a small amount and make a HUGE difference.

Health & Fitness, RAW Food, Smoothie Tuesday by OrganicClimber
adventure naturals, energy bar, RAW Food
4 comments

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What makes an energy bar and energy bar? Watch the video and find out, and listen to by short plea about how you can help launch my new energy bar company – Adventure Naturals.

The $5 Plea

Now, through Christmas, if you donate just $5 to our Kickstarter campaign you will receive an extra energy bar. These bars will retail for around $3 each, so you are essentially saving $1, AND you are helping start an AWESOME company, dedicated to bringing nutritious energy foods to the masses.

Think about it, $5 doesn’t go very far these days. Five dollars barely will cover a large latte, you can’t even buy a move ticket with five dollars, it will barely even get you food off a value menu, and five dollars won’t even get you two gallons of gas. So, when you think about it, your five dollars is going a LONG way by helping start our company.

So, check out our project and make a donation today!

Climbing, Cross Training, Cycling, Health & Fitness, Nutty Friday, RAW Food, Recipes, Running, Smoothie Tuesday, Trip Reports, Uncategorized, Whacky Wednesday by OrganicClimber
carbohydrates, energy bar, fats, kickstarter, nutrition, protein
1 comment

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Before I get started with the recipe, I have a plea. Visit my Kickstarter page and make a $5 donation. As you probably know by now, I am starting up a raw food snack company – Adventure Naturals. But in order to make it happen we need startup capital to pay our first months rent and buy our first batch of product. A simple $5 donation gets you a tasty energy bar. Just think, that $5 earns you a bar that will retail for $3, AND it helps bring nutritious goodies to the weary traveler, backpacker, rock climber, runner, swimmer, and you!

Anyway, here we go. I thought it would be fitting with the Christmas season upon us to create a Christmas themed smoothie. When I think of Christmas, the flavor that instantly came to mind was peppermint. So, I made a trip to Whole Foods earlier last week and picked up some peppermint extract to create this delicious smoothie. I also had a sweet tooth earlier in the week and created a raw ice cream that I will likely post the recipe to later this week.

The Recipe

• 2 frozen bananas
• 1/2 teaspoons of peppermint extract or flavoring
• 1 giant hand full of spinach
• 8oz of almond milk
• 8oz of water
• 2 TBSP of cashew butter
• 1-2 TBSP of agave nectar (optional)

Directions: Throw all the ingredients into your Vitamix (or high-speed blender) and process until smooth. This should produce two servings. If you happen to be considering the purchase of a Vitamix for a Christmas present, you can order through the link on my Vitamix page (use coupon code: 06-004609) and receive free shipping. Sure, those coupon codes are ALL OVER the internet, but if you order it through me I get a nice commission!

Anyway, Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays. I hope you enjoy the smoothie. It is certainly one of my new favorites that I will likely make year round. How else am I going to use up a bottle of peppermint extract?

Smoothie Tuesday by OrganicClimber
adventure naturals, christmas, kickstarter, mint, organic, peppermint, RAW, smoothie
No comments

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Wow, it seems like forever since my last smoothie post. Things have been crazy busy since getting married, and working on the startup of Adventure Naturals. I haven’t forgotten about smoothie Tuesday, though. I was hoping to bring you a holiday themed smoothie today, but the store was out of a certain ingredient I was looking for, so it will have to wait until next week!

But, I do have a tasty treat I blended together just this morning from what fruits I had in the freezer. This smoothie has a crisp taste with a tart finish, thanks to the cherries. I find it amazing how many different tasting smoothies I can come up with just from the standard fruit selection I always have on hand in the freezer.

The Recipe

• 1 part strawberries
• 1 part peaches
• 1 part cherries
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 2-4 TBSP of cashew butter (based on the size of smoothie you make)
• Protein & Greens Powder of your choice
• Part Almond Milk & Part Water (just enough to cover the fruit)

Directions: Combine all the ingredients into a blender and process until smooth. Proportion the fruit out based on how many servings you want. I used about 2.5oz each, yielding 2 large servings.

Pour into a glass and enjoy. I apologize for not having a picture for this one. I took the photo and left the media card at home. So, I will post it tomorrow, once the media card is back in my possession.

Also, remember to check us out on Kickstarter. We need YOUR donation to help us get started. A simple $5 donation is rewarded with an energy bar (retail value is $3). Anything you can give, even if it’s just $1. It would be greatly apreciated.

Smoothie Tuesday by OrganicClimber
cherries, cherry, delicious, peach, peaches, RAW, smoothie, strawberries, strawberry, tart, vegan
2 comments

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Well, my wedding day is almost here and I managed to complete our Kickstarter project for Adventure Naturals. I knew I could get it done, but a small part of me freaked out when my business parter had to cancel our shoot last week due to flooding in his house. But we were able to shoot Tuesday morning, and I managed to edit the video in a short amount of time. It’s not perfect, but it will do until I get back from the Honeymoon and redo the entire thing!

I hope you will take a moment to check out our project and consider donating. Donating as little as $5 gets you an energy bar. We are trying to raise $5,000 on Kickstarter, but we really need $10,000 to get started, so please, keep on giving after the $5,000 goal is met. You still get gifts for the donation and we get closer to what we actually need to start.

Anyway, I will be out of pocket for the next week and a half (going on a cruise with my lovely new wife), but my business partner will be answering any emails and messages through Kickstarter. It’s always been my dream to run my own business, and what better business to start than a raw food company? It truly combines all my passions. So, please, help my dream become a reality

Climbing, Cross Training, Cycling, Health & Fitness, Nutty Friday, RAW Food, Recipes, Running, Smoothie Tuesday, Trip Reports, Uncategorized by OrganicClimber
business, energy bar, food, kickstarter, RAW
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Okay, so there isn’t actually any peanut butter in this smoothie, but it does use raw almond butter. You are more than welcome to substitute actual peanut butter though if you so desire, but since becoming a raw food fan I have converted to almond butter. This delicious smoothie has already become on of my favorites, and was my fiancées idea! Last, night while we were grocery shopping I asked her for an idea for a Smoothie Tuesday post. I was hoping for something not containing bananas this time, since a majority of the smoothies I make contain them. The resulting smoothie consists of mostly delicious berries, and goes down smooth!

The Recipe

• 4oz frozen strawberries
• 4 0z frozen black berries
• 4 oz frozen raspberries
• 2+ TBSP of raw almond butter
• 2-3 TBSP of raw honey (or agave to make it completely vegan)
• 1.5 cups of almond milk

Process all contents in a blender. Yields, two servings, or one for a very hungry individual! I could have easily drank both this morning.

Also, I have set up an email distribution list to send out updates about Adventure Naturals. Updates will include information about the start of our new business, special offers, healthy tips, and more. We plan on launching or raw food energy bars and seasoned nuts early next year.

In other news, I had an MRI yesterday on my knees, hip and low back. I have still had a lot of pain from my bicycle accident. My chiropractor thought it would be a good idea to have everything checked out since the swelling still hadn’t gone down all the way, in addition to the pain. I should get the results back today, and will be posting an update here as well as on Twitter.

I also plan on heading out to Enchanted Rock this weekend. I’m itching to get outdoors. I don’t think I will be able to get any climbing in because of my condition, but I still hope to hike around a bit. Regardless of how much activity I actually get to do, it will be worth getting outside and enjoying some clean air, away from the city.

RAW Food, Smoothie Tuesday by OrganicClimber
almond butter, almond milk, black berries, jelly, peanut butter, raspberries, RAW, smoothie, strawberries
2 comments

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Since my bike accident last Friday, I have been pumping my body full of anti-inflammatory goodness including this delicious smoothie. Named in honor of Texas – The Longhorn Smoothie! Seeing as how I now live in the Capitol of Texas, I thought it would be very fitting. Sorry there are no pictures for this one. But, I do promise it’s tasty.

The Recipe

• Apx. 1 Cup of Almond Milk
• 6oz of Pineapple
• 1 Fresh Peach, or the frozen equivalent
• 1 hand full of frozen cherries (or fresh if you have them)
• 2 TBSp of Agave Nectar or Raw Honey
• Optional: Greens and protein powder, or a hand full of fresh greens. Spinach is my favorite

Process in a blender until smooth. Of course, I recommend the Vita-Mix blender! There really is nothing better, honestly!

Smoothie Tuesday by OrganicClimber
cherries, cherry, longhorn, peaches, pineapple, smoothie, texas
No comments

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Wow, I’m so sore today after spending the weekend in Arkansas, climbing and bushwhacking through the overgrown brush on the trail. I’m cut (from thorns), bruised (from the rock), and tender all over from climbing the steep lichen covered rock. I haven’t been climbing as much lately so this fun weekend really did me in. But, despite beat down feeling I have decided to bring you a new smoothie recipe.

After a trip to HEB last night we came back with lots of nectarines, one of my favorite fruits. I also had some mangos left over from the pervious week that were not ripe enough to dry for the climbing trip; but, upon returning home they were the perfect ripeness for a smoothie. So, this morning I tossed a couple of nectarines in the blender along with a mango and two bananas, and came up with a delicious smoothie.

The Recipe

• 2 fresh, ripe nectarines
• 1 small mango
• 2 bananas
• 4 TBS of agave nectar
• Optional: greens and, or protein powder
• Ice
• Note: Serves Two

Place all the ingredients into a blender and blend. For super blending power, check out the VitaMix blender, it’s my FAVORITE kitchen tool. Using the link on my web site you get free shipping and I earn a small commission.

RAW Food, Smoothie Tuesday by OrganicClimber
banana, fresh, mango, nectarine, RAW, raw smoothie, smoothie, Vita-MIx, vitamix, Vitamix discount
1 comment

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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
1 comment

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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
2 comments

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