When did it become so cool to be healthy?
Take a quick look around. The smoothie and raw food industry is big business at the moment. It’s exploded in popularity. You’re more likely to encounter an organic juice bar, paleo cafe or people walking around sipping green liquids out of a jam jar than you are to find a Mcdonalds on your block. The social media fuelled selfie fitness explosion has given way to the endless fad of smoothie and healthy meal pics all promising the fountain of youth, health and wellness.
All things are not created equal, however, and like everything in the health and fitness industry there’s a lot of myths and mistruths. For instance go for a walk in your local mall and see the lineup of kids at juice bars and you’ll find that most of the juices or smoothies are loaded with sugar, sweetened juice, calories and fat all designed to make it taste great so that you keep coming back for more.
Fads come and go, however, trends are long lasting. If you think of a fad as a wave in the ocean then a trend is the the tide. Fads get a lot of attention, but disappear quickly.
As a personal trainer and health expert i’ve devoted my life to helping people improve and maintain their health through fitness and better food choices. Ive turned the health around for people with chronic fatigue, diabetes, heart disease and other ailments. For years i’ve advocated green smoothies to all my clients especially if you don’t get enough vegetables in your diet. Quick to make and easier to drink, now anyone at home with a good blender can get in on the act as a gateway to a healthier way of eating.
The folks at Omniblend Australia felt likewise and have released a “trilogy of treats” to make it easier for you – 3 books packed full of over 50 healthy, tasty recipes (a few of my own included) designed and carefully created for anyone with a blender. Breakfasts, drinks, soups, smoothies, cocktails, nut milks, desserts, cakes, quiches, burgers, it’s all in here. Quick and easy to make they come out best in an Omniblend Blender.
In case your wondering, my own blender experience started when i had to resort to chewing my smoothie instead of sipping it from an underpowered blender i had bought from a department store. I knew it wasn’t meant to be like that so like a lot of other people i was going to jump on the Nutribullet bandwagon after seeing the ads running on late night tv. After doing a bit of online googling i discovered that while the Nutribullet can only make 600ml smoothies, i could get a commercial grade blender for a tiny bit more money that was 4 times more powerful and could make 10 times more yummy dishes. Baby Food, cheese grating, coffee grinding, smoothies, juices, desserts, soups in 4 mins, grind grain into flour, wet chop vegies, bread dough, frappes, icecreams, nut milks and it’s even self cleaning. Just calling it a blender is a bit misleading. I like to think of it as a “Superblender”.
Workout Warrior Smoothie
What i noticed most with my clients was that they didn’t have time to spend preparing a meal in the morning, and that while at work, or out and about, they had no quick, easy, healthy option. This is what i love best about my blender and making green smoothies. I love that i don’t have to think about what I’m going to have for breakfast and I can carry them anywhere. I can drink them in the gym, on the road, in the car, while i’m studying, at airports, or during meetings. My clients say they love drinking them while they do their makeup, reading the newspaper and watching their kids at footy.
So where do you start and how do you actually make yummy, healthy treats that actually taste great and not like freshly mown lawn cuttings?
Well this is why these 3 books are great. There’s a recipe for every function, party, or celebration you could ever possibly have – breakfasts, blenders to oven, desserts, savoury, cocktails. Every base is covered. Absolute beginner all the way through to creative genius. All described in an easy to understand manner.
“Liquid Revolution” focuses on drinks, smoothies and cocktails. If you want some creative inspiration to impress your friends then start here. The alcoholic cocktails especially look pretty sexy.
Lemon Thyme Chicken Breast Burgers
“Essential Recipes” contains a veritable panoply of gluten and dairy free recipes while “Friendly Recipes” is “the bee’s knees”. The must have blender bible. A recipe for every occasion contributed to by expert food practitioners, businesses, health experts, fitness and personal trainers. My favorite section is probably “Savoury”. Did you know you can prepare quiche, shephards pie with cauliflower mash, or lemon thyme chicken breast burgers (my own contribution) in your blender?
They’re also full of great pics. You get to see each and every dish your creating. Thats something i’ve always found important as i’ve often wondered especially when it comes to smoothies – “Is it meant to be this colour?”.
Full of easy to understand directions there’s nothing extremely fancy nor expensive in these recipes. There’s no hard to find, exoctic ingredients like lecithin granules, spirulina, or “what the heck is this?”. Everything can be made by a beginner in the comfort of their own home.
All up these books are a fantastic addition to your home. You don’t need a degree in the culinary arts nor live beside a farmers market to make these. If you’re starved for time, or just want to introduce more vegetables and greens into your diet then these books are a must. Whatever your fitness regimen, health goals, or aspirations are these books will help you get there. Great Stuff!
$19.95 each or $50 for all 3. They are all included free when you buy an Omniblend Blender anywhere from around the world. Get them on the Omniblend website or contact me. As an added bonus to my readers you can grab 2 of my recipes included in the books for free right here on Bodystyling Fitness.
Marc D.
