October 2014

Recently I was invited to a luncheon with NutriBullet RX. I was like, “I don’t know if I can make it because two hours ago I made a lunch date with two girlfriends but I’m going to try and squeeze in the time.” And then that day the third for our lunch couldn’t make it so I did the thing that bloggers should never do because it’s gauche (seriously folks – don’t do this – it’s awful). I sent an email that said:

My lunch schedule just changed and I’m wondering if I could come to lunch and bring a friend.

Because ya know… free lunch for two.

And because the folks at NutriBullet RX are kind and generous and impervious to taking offense at the most ridiculous of requests, not only did they invite Sarah along, not only did they give us a fabulous lunch featuring delicious smoothies, but they then gave us both NutriBullet RX’s. I love mine – I’m an afternoon soup person and soup for one stovetop is a complete PITA. Here’s my favorite recipe:

• Chicken broth
• Heavy cream
• Some kind of vegetable from your refrigerator, counter or freezer
• Peppper

 

• Blend for 7 minutes & it’s hot and ready to eat.

No, really, that’s it. It’s a keto/Atkins approved. The device is $199 and unlike juicing you’ll keep the fiber in your food – which is what allows you to have fruit without feeling like you’ve just suckled a pixie stick.

Without further ado, here’s what Sarah has to say about it.

 

 

I’m an addict.

Thankfully, it’s not to drugs or alcohol. I’ve recently become addicted to smoothies.

I’ve always hated healthy food. I’m a full-blown carnivore and cheese enthusiast. I eat thick-sliced hickory smoked bacon with buttermilk waffles and hot-fudge sundaes after steak dinners. I’ve never met a stinky cheese I didn’t like and my idea of a fun family night is staying home and making our own cheese ravioli.

You don’t need to be a brain surgeon – or even play one on TV – to guess that my cholesterol is through the roof. And my yearly physical last month only confirmed that my whole “everything in slightly-more-than-moderation” diet isn’t working. I desperately needed to make at least one significant change if I was planning on living past 60.

So when I got a Nutribullet a couple of months ago I was very skeptical.

“You can put a whole apple in there. It blends anything.” They said.

“Can it blend a steak?”

“Do you want to blend a steak?”

“I guess not.” They have a point. But what I was really wanted was confirmation the machine could produce anything that didn’t taste like liquid salad.

I started off easy with just fruit. We made strawberry shakes, banana blueberry shakes, pineapple mango shakes. We made so many shakes we ran out of bananas in two days. So I decided to get creative/sneaky. I started throwing in chia seeds and eventually some kale into the shakes and didn’t tell my family. They were actually still really good! Not, “I’m going to suck this down because it’s good for me and doesn’t taste like ass” good. I mean it was honestly “OMG, this tastes great,” good!

Next thing I knew, we were adding things like carrots, kale, cucumbers, walnuts, flax seeds, oats…you name it. Sure all of the healthy stuff was being disguised with fruit and lemon juice, but who cares! I was enjoying something good for me.

This was going to work out just fine in our house.

The downside? Every time I go to the market I spend almost $100 on fresh produce, nuts, grains and frozen organic fruit (I’m getting a little overzealous with the dragon fruit and frozen cherries). But I imagine, once I get over the fun of playing around with new ingredients, that will taper off.

In the meantime, we’ll blend just about anything (with the exception of steak – ‘cause, ew).

Alright, I may not be up to drinking my salad yet, but I am feeling healthier, less lethargic and pretty damn good about the fact that I’ve managed to find a beyond palatable alternative to grilled cheese. We’ll see if my cholesterol is down at my next doctor’s visit.

In the meantime, I’m going to keep experimenting with my NutriBullet Rx. I just bought some fresh ginger, frozen pineapple, pomegranate seeds and a bag of spinach. I figure if don’t love it, I can always disguise it with some fruit juice. Or, perhaps a shot of vodka.

Our new family favorite:

The “A-MAIZ-ING Smoothie”

Use the large canister that makes two (2) shakes.

1 cup Kale leaves (ripped into smaller pieces and packed very loosely)

½ to 1 cup frozen pitted cherries (depending on how much you love cherries)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon fresh (peeled) turmeric

½ to 1 cup (your call – organic ginger lemonade or limeade

1 banana

½ cup Pomegranate seeds

5-10 raw walnuts

½ cup plain non-fat organic yogurt (we don’t like our shakes too yogurt-y but you can add more if you like it)

2 tbsp ground hempseed

1 tbsp grapeseed oil

Ice (as much or as little as you like depending on whether you want it to be slushy like a shake or smoother like a juice)

OPTIONAL: 1 heaping tbsp. of Nutribullet protein powder or amazing red organic (GMO free powder)