Superfood Smoothies: 100 Delicious, Energizing & Nutrient-dense Recipes - A Cookbook (Julie Morris's Superfoods, 2)

In the 2-3 months I've had it, this book has provided me with so much emotional - and physical - fulfillment! As a single person with not much in the way of an appetite and limited energy, you quickly discover that making standard meals just doesn't make sense in terms of the energy and effort (and then you end up eating the same leftovers for days!) It turns out that smoothies are one of the few things in this world that actually make more sense to prepare when you're single- a blender full of smoothie doesn't go far for a family of four, but it's perfect for a single smoothie-loving person! And... smoothies just make me happy! There's something very self-nurturing about sitting down with a fancy glass full of frozen healthy goodness.I have seen some people here say this isn't the best book for a beginner, but I'd have to disagree. I was a complete beginner to making smoothies when I bought this book, and after just a few months of smoothie making, I've easily learned enough from Morris to craft and adapt my own recipes. Some say the ingredients are hard to find, but if you have the internet and know how to use a search engine, you can find ingredients easily enough. It is true that many of the ingredients Morris recommends are expensive (maca and maqui powders, I'm looking at you), but she includes a substitution table near the back of the book so (for example) if you can't afford hemp seeds or just don't want to wait for them to ship across the country, you can use sunflower seeds from your local supermarket instead.Some of the recipes in the book are better than others. For example, Rhubarb Mint fell flat for me, as I felt like the dates and the orange juice overwhelmed the more delicate flavors of the rhubarb and mint, and I also felt that the date and orange flavors just didn't go well together. But for every one recipe I found that was only okay, there are about 3-4 others that are outstanding. Blueberry Maqui may be the best smoothie I've ever had in my entire life, and I've hunted far and wide for good "smoothie bars". (And I even omitted the maqui powder from that recipe, because I am still in the process of acquiring some of the more exotic ingredients!) Mayan Chocolate (a spicy cacao blend) was so outstanding I was moved to make a second batch the next day, because I couldn't stop thinking that night about how wonderful it had been the first time around. Sweet Pea was marvelously, vibrantly green, although I added three times as much parsley as the recipe called for, because after tasting it I just wanted more parsley flavor.That's actually one of the strengths of the book- Morris encourages readers to cast aside perfectionism and strict adherence to recipes with her "It's a smoothie, not a science" mantra. I have usually been the sort of person to stick closely to recipes. (Some might say "stick closely" would be an understatement.) With this book, I have felt so free to substitute, adapt recipes to my own personal taste, and just generally say to myself, "ah, that's close enough." It's been delightful to discover that, the vast majority of the time, what I make tastes wonderful regardless. It's rare that something as basic as a cookbook can free a person to really step outside of their comfort zone and grow new confidence.Being a perfectionist, there are still one or two small ways I think the book could be improved. Morris is thoughtful enough to include a recipe for a dog smoothie, but there is no cat smoothie recipe. My cat tries to steal my smoothies all the time (just today I turned my back on a citrus smoothie for a moment only to find him up on the counter, his face shoved into my glass as he eagerly licked up the citrus flavors that the internet swears repel all cats. Yeah, not mine.) I would really love to be able to share some of my smoothies with him without having to look up each ingredient's "cat-safety" on the internet first. Even a table in the back listing which ingredients are and are not toxic to cats would have been greatly appreciated. Also, while I love the convenient little icons next to each recipe indicating that a particular smoothie is supportive of cardiovascular health or bone health or beauty or detoxification, the academic in me is murmuring "citation needed." There is a basic list of references in the back of the book, but it is not clear which parts of this book are connected to which sources Morris references. However, this is a recipe book, not an academic paper, and as such these drawbacks are quite minor.Other good points... The majority of the recipes are very tasty and healthy (I've never eaten so many leafy greens per week in my life). The protein smoothies I've made (there's a good mix of different smoothie "genres" represented here) really are as filling as a standard meal would be. No nonfiction book is complete without good indexes, and this one has two, both helpful.Overall, this is a wonderful book, accessible to beginners, with beautiful colorful pictures that are likely to inspire readers to make their own "superfood smoothies."

Since my Ninja Mega Kitchen System took a while to ship (back ordered) I wanted to spend some time reading up on smoothie-making and Superfoods in order to educate myself before I just jumped into my "Green Drink Detox." And after reading David Wolfe's book on Superfoods, I got an education I would not soon forget. Then I read Gabrielle Raiz's wonderful book before I read this Julie Morris book.While shopping on Amazon a few weeks later, I spotted this Julie Morris book - that wasn't even released yet, but that I could buy for $4.95 as an advance copy. Having read four books prior to this one, I can honestly say this is, BY FAR, the best and most complete book I have read to date.About the Author: The first thing that struck me are the images of the author. She's angelic... That is to say, she has the face of an angel. The reason for her glow is probably due to her diet. Los Angeles-based natural food chef and advocate of whole, plant-based foods and superfoods, Julie Morris has worked in the natural food industry for close to a decade as a recipe developer, writer, cooking show host and spokesperson and executive chef for Navitas Naturals. Interesting that she grew up in the San Fernando Valley - as did I. She also wrote "Superfood Kitchen" and based upon my experience with this book, I'm sure to purchase that book as well.Nested between the hardcovers are 194 pages of the most complete information you could ask for - with the possible exception of the natural sugar content of each recipe.PART ONE: Glowing by the GlassfulSmoothies: The perfect form for function ....... pages 2-3Superfood Smoothie PrinciplesSmoothie Basics ................................................ pages 7-14Creating the Best SmoothieSmoothies vs. JuicingBuilding your SmoothieSuperfood Smoothie Essentials ..................... pages 16-36The Super "15"Adventurous SuperfoodsCost-cutting TechniquesToolsThe Nutritional Rewards of Smoothies .......... pages 38-40Built-in BenefitsBonus BenefitsPART TWO: The SmoothiesHow Much Smoothie Should I Drink? ............ pages 44-176RecipesFruity & LightGreen & CreamyRich & CreamyStealth BlendsPremium BlendsSuperfood ShotsWhat Happened to my Smoothie? .................. page 180Storing SmoothiesPART THREE: ExtrasCharts, Guides and Resources ....................... pages 182-188Making Nut & Seed MilksSuperfood Substitution Cheat SheetConversion ChartsResource GuideReferencesBRAVO! Author Julie Morris did 99% of the homework and research. She even shot the vivid photographs of all the drinks and ingredients.She offers, "To date, no one yet has succumbed to cliche and actually asked me if my cup was half empty or half full. If anyone ever does, and I happen to be lucky enough to be holding a superfood smoothie, I have the perfect retort: My dear, this cup is packed." I like the way she thinks.Like Gabrielle Raiz, Morris asserts that counting calories is not important because all of us have a different metabolism rates. Nutrient density comes first and I agree.I also agree with her that sweeteners like Splenda, aspartame, saccharine, etc are known neurotoxins and carcinogens that should be left out of any smoothie recipe. Though she suggests if you can't sweeten your smoothies with things like dates, agave, figs, raisins, etc, the use of Stevia is okay.FINAL WORDS:What I find astounding about this particular book is that the author really created a complete smoothie book. She gives you important information about superfoods, some recipes for specific ailments and each recipe has symbols coding it for heart health, low calorie, bone strength, immunity, protein, cleanse/detox and beauty. About the only information missing is natural sugar content.If you take the more important information from David Woilfe's Superfood book and mesh it with the practical information found in Gabrielle Raiz's Smoothie Magic book, the end result would be this well-crafted book.Whether you're just starting a smoothie detox or a daily smoothie routine or you're a seasoned smoothie-making veteran, you should own this book. If you buy just one book on healthy drinks - make it this one!I only wish I had been able to buy this book first because it renders most of the other smoothie books secondary and almost moot.I rate this book 4.75 out of 5 stars.CHEERS!Printed in China and published by Sterling Publishing, New York[...]NOTE: I wrote this review for Epinions.com as well.

The recipes don't have nutritional information, which is really why I gave it 4 stars. After all, I bought this book to improve my health and well-being. So the lack of nutritional info is a real disappointment.Also, just so you know, when you get the book, if you are committed to really giving it a go, you are gonna have to order stuff online. Even Whole Foods does not carry dried mulberries, for example. And you might decide (like I am learning) that you're gonna need a bigger blender. For the super foods, I suggest nuts.com. Check them out; their customers rave about them. For the blender, I'm saving my pennies for a Vitamix, which isn't essential, but my blender is struggling.All of that said, the recipes are terrific, and I'm committed to this. Mainly. I probably won't order the algae ... But read up on the super foods, starting on page 16. The goji berries are yummy and life-changing. The orange-goji smoothie is my favorite so far (I added the zest of the orange and substituted frozen berries for ice). Yum! The introduction of goji berries and chia seeds into my diet is well worth the price of the book and much more.Bottom line: I sort of thought this would be a book about making smoothies from berries, bananas and kale. There is that, but it's more than that too. I'm excited about it! I'll update with results in a few weeks.