Happy Easter

Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving… generally holidays bring about more family get togethers.  Not that I am complaining, I cherish every time our family gets together.  With a larger family like ours, finding moments when all are available, and in the general vicinity, is a challenge but so worth it.

Then comes the interesting part, making a menu with food that everyone can eat. Often it seems people with special considerations concerning food are left more often with the option of eat & be sick, or don’t eat, and just watch everyone else enjoying the meal or dessert together.   We, like so many families, have food sensitivities and intolerances along with some actual food allergies that cause dangerous life threatening reactions.   No dairy, no wheat, gluten free, no soy, no chocolate, vegetarian, no nuts, no tomatoes… this would list would have most cooks spinning their wheels!  But watching the joy on our granddaughter’s face when Baba had some icecreme she could eat too was so precious, I gladly spin my wheels! 

Which is why I do what I do.  It does my heart good to hear that someone can finally enjoy one of their favorite desserts again as they are lactose intolerant, or to watch someone realize that they finally have a variety of dishes they can eat from because they have so many foods they need to avoid or to see the hope and excitement in the person that wants to share a healthy food with a loved one who is so very sick.  I am a grateful to witness these and more. 

There are options out there.  We can all enjoy delicious foods.  No one needs to be left out of a celebration around the family table, or any table for that matter.

Happy Easter!

Mission City Farmer's Market ~ Seedy Saturday
Heritage Park Secondary School Lobby
33700 Prentiss Ave, Mission, BC
Saturday, March 28, 2015
10:00am to 2:00 pm

New Blender, Which One Do I Choose?

VitaMix, Blendtec, Omniblender……. 

                    Decisions, decisions, decisions.

So the dilemma… I am in the market for a new blender, but which one???  This is a question that usually comes up at every class or presentation that I have done.

First off, I narrowed it down to these three because a high speed blender will pay for itself over time and is invaluable, especially if you are having a smoothie every day or even every other day, or in my case, making a lot of raw food soups, sauces, cheezzcakes and so on.   A high speed blender will liquefy the contents in a minute or 2.  Making smoothies in a regular household blender is doable, but it does take some extra time to blend and the result is not always a smoothie, sometimes it is a lumpy or crunchy.  Household blenders just do not have the power or the stamina to hold up to a lot of use over time.  They slow down, they burn out, they break.

I have an Omniblender for home use.  Now that Baba’s Raw Kitchen has become a reality, I am looking for another blender to use exclusively for that.  

So here are my thoughts about the 3 blenders and what was the final criteria that helped me make my choice.

Base:  all 3 seem to be hardworking, make a lot of noise (although the VitaMix has a new noise reduction feature).  VitaMix and Omniblender both have preprogramed times as well as on/off buttons, Blendtec just has the preprogrammed times. 

Jug:  Omniblender and Blendtec both have square jugs that seems to get a better flow of the contents when it is on.  It is much easier to remove the food at the base of the Omni or Bendtec.  VitaMix jugs are rounder and narrower at the bottom, so food is harder to scrape out.  I found that there is more food wastage because of this with the VitaMix.

Warranty:  The warranty I have on the Omniblender was only for 1 year.  They have changed that and there is now a 7 year warranty for the Omniblender.  VitaMix also has a 7 year warranty as does the Blendtec

Price:  Omni comes in around $280, Blendtec $380, and VitaMix $560

I have worked with all three blenders at one time or another.  Omni at home for the past3+ years, the Blendtec and VitaMix during the Raw Chef Certification program.  After using all 3, I can honestly say that there isn’t a difference that I have noticed.  All blend equally well and if one is a few seconds faster, I didn’t notice it.

So, with all that I chose….. the Blendtec.   I prefer to get out as much food as I can, as quickly as I can, with as little fuss as possible.  If I can reduce frustration in the kitchen, well, so much the better for all of us.  ;)

Valley Permaculture Guild Raw Food Workshop

http://thevpg.ca/event/633/

 

 Join Juana from Baba's Raw Kitchen for her two hour raw food workshop on April 9th in Abbotsford.

Learn about the benefits of raw food and how to make a delicious raw, vegan meal. The workshop includes all the food to make a three course meal including a smoothie.

Below is a sample of the menu:
> A raw smoothie
> Himalayan carrot soup and onion bread
> Zucchetti noodles with marinara sauce
> Apple pie or a chocolate brownie

$45.00 per person
$40.00 per VPG member...
$65.00 per couples

Please email hello@valleypermacultureguild.com to register and pay by cheque, cash or e-transfer. 

 

Since, the workshop is at a private residence—we will email you the address upon registration.

Note: We require a minimum of 6 people to run this workshop. 10 people limit.