After making raw peanut butter before in our Blendtec blender, we were anxious to try our own homemade almond butter.

Raw nut butters add healthy fat and omega-3′s to your diet. We like to smear small amounts on celery.

Raw Almond Butter Ingredients:

2 cups raw almonds
1/2 tablespoon olive oil (or your favorite oil)

Directions:

You can make almond butter in either a high-speed blender (we use a Blendtec) or a food processor with the “S” blade. Less than high-end blenders may be problematic with making a smooth nut butter.

I find that it is easiest to make nut butter in a food processor, but it takes some time – about 12 minutes. There is, however, a way you can make almond butter in less than a minute using your Blendtec blender, and I’ll show you how below.

Step one is to add the almonds and 1/2 tablespoon of oil to your food processor or high-speed blender. You can skip the oil if you are using a food processor, but I find that a little oil helps when making it in a blender.

If you are using a food processor (use the “S” blade), it’ll take about 12 minutes. You’ll have nut crumbs after about 4 minutes, thick and chunky nut butter(ish) by about 8 minutes and by 12 minutes, you’ll have thick and smooth nut butter. You will have to stop the food processor every few minutes to scrape stuff stuck on the sides.

If you are using a Blendtec or Vitamix blender, use a low speed. With my Blendtec, I start with #3. Once the almonds become a fine powder and begin sticking to the sides of the jar, stop the blend and scrape the mixture from the sides back into the blades. Resume your blend. Repeat as necessary. You will be stopping more frequently to scrape and stir the ingredients than you would in a food processor.

Make sure you don’t blend for too long. If the machine is getting warm, turn it off and wait for it to cool down. This is especially important if you are using a lower end blender.

Homemade almond butter is highly perishable (because it’s raw), so store it in a cool place out of direct sunlight and use it up within a week. We keep ours in the refrigerator.

Now, here is the easy way to make almond butter in less than one minute!

Make Almond Butter In Less Than One Minute With Blendtec’s New Twister Jar!

Almond butter takes up to 12 minutes to make in a food processor or high-speed blender. And you have to stop and scrape, stop and scrape, stop and scrape some more!

But there’s now a fantastic solution that allows you to make creamy, raw almond butter in less than one minute using your Blendtec blender! The new Blendtec Twister Jar is a compact pitcher and lid that is specially designed to prevent ingredients from sticking to the sides of the jar while blending.

You simply blend as you normally would and then twist the lid to move the special blades along the edges of the jar while blending. With the Blendtec Twister Jar, you no longer have to stop blending, scrape the sides and resume – over and over again.

We were sent a test pitcher and we’ve made almond butter in less than one minute! It’s so much easier than any other way I know of making it. If you make a lot of nut butters, hummus or small recipes like fresh baby food, raw ice cream, salsa, sauces, etc, then the Blendtec Twister Jar will save you a ton of time.

Just think, you’ll save about 11 minutes every single time you make nut butter!

You can get the Blendtec Twister jar starting on September 15, 2011. This jar is compatible with Blendtec Home blender models. Check it out here!

Another great thing the Blendtec Twister Jar does is make creamy, soft-serve-like banana ice cream! Because of the twister blades, it keeps the blended fruit from sticking to the sides and into the blades. Raw ice cream comes out much better and smoother in the Twister Jar than it does in the full size jars.

Find out more about the Blendtec Twister Jar and get your own today!

Thriving On Raw Foods

In order to thrive on the raw food diet, you need more than just nut butters, avocados and coconuts. While they might fill you up and satisfy your appetite, they can throw your diet (and health) off balance if over used. Many raw foodists eat too much fat, many eating up to 80% of their calories from fat!

Instead, base your diet on fresh fruits and vegetables and incorporate smaller amounts of healthy fats like fresh almond butter. My Thriving On Raw Foods program shows you how to get the right proportion of fats, fruits and vegetables. It’s a 21-day transition plan that provides a ton of recipes, daily meal plans and expert advice for planning a raw food diet that can work long term. Find out how to avoid health problems on the raw food diet and start thriving today!

Many of our readers ask us what blender we recommend and our answer is, and always will be, the Blendtec Total blender (with the WildSide pitcher).

But what if you just don’t have $450 to fork over for a new blender? What if you want a high-quality blender that does what the top two blenders on the market do but for half the price?

Until recently, I didn’t know what to recommend because I prefer to only recommend what I know and use, and that’s always been a $400+ blender.

When I was sent a JTC OmniBlend V 3 HP blender (model TM-800A) to try out last month, I was quite impressed with it. For the price, it’s a pro-level smoothie blender that makes amazing smoothies.

What Is The OmniBlend V 3 HP Blender?

The JTC OmniBlend V 3 HP blender boasts a powerful 950 watt, 3 horsepower motor. The motor matches the horsepower of the Blendtec, which has a 1560 watt motor, and it’s greater than Vita-Mix’s 2 horsepower. Now when it comes to blending green smoothies, pure horsepower isn’t really that big of a deal. The difference between 3hp and 2hp is negligible when blending fruit and greens. It all comes down to blender design.

So moving on, the OmniBlend V has a six-blade assembly. (Two additional, downward-angled blades are located beneath the four blades pictured.)

It also comes with a large, 64-ounce square pitcher. I prefer a square pitcher design because it’s easier to clean, remove ingredients and, in my opinion, blends much better. The pitcher and blades are appropriate for both wet and dry ingredients.

A nice accessory that comes with the OmniBlend V is a tamper tool. A tamper is a great thing to have, especially when making green smoothies because greens love to get stuck above the blades. When you put in 4-5 cups or handfuls of greens and you don’t want to spend the time chopping them up first, a tamper gives you an easy shortcut by allowing you to push them down while your smoothie is blending. Does the Omni V really need a tamper tool? Keep reading…

The blender has a simple button interface panel that allows you to select “slow”, “medium” and “high” speed settings as well as a “pulse” button. It has three timed blend cycle buttons, 35 seconds, 60 seconds and 90 seconds.

The Omni V has a wide, steady base. The blender (with pitcher) stands about 16 and 1/2 inches tall, 7 and 1/2 inches wide and 9 inches deep. There is no digital display. There is convenient cord storage beneath the blender base.

The blender comes with a 7-year warranty.

The Omni V 3 HP blender retails at $250. That’s almost a $200 savings from the top two blenders on the market right now.

My Experience Using The OmniBlend V 3 HP Blender

When it comes to green smoothies, the OmniBlend V does a fantastic job. It outperforms any department store blender. It quickly and easily handles large chunks of fruit, whole leaves of kale and liquifies hard things like carrots and pineapple core perfectly. There’s no “sipping and chewing” your smoothie like you do when using cheaper blenders.

The texture of each green smoothie we blended was creamy and smooth. The consistency wasn’t quite as smooth as our Blendtec, but pretty close. We didn’t get any chunks of fruit that didn’t blend and we didn’t get large bits of leaves in our smoothies either. This blender breaks open cell walls and releases nutrients so that your body is better able to absorb them. We were very happy with the smoothie quality.

Only once did I have to use the tamper tool, and that was more my fault than the blender’s. Typically, we’d simply toss in large chunks (not whole fruits) and handfuls of leafy greens (not chopped), then hit the “High” button and the blender would pull the ingredients into the blades without having to use the tamper or hit the pulse button first. Smoothie making is easy and frustration-free with this blender!

I found that the best procedure for making a green smoothie was to hit the “High” button, count to about 30, then turn it off (hit the “High” button again to turn off).

My experience with the 35-second timer button was that it started slow, then sped up and wasn’t as effective in pulling the ingredients into the blades. Keep in mind that I routinely blend 4-5 cups of greens or an entire, large head of romaine in my smoothies, so I definitely give blenders a good workout. Using the tamper tool to push the greens down about 10 seconds into the timed cycle would do the trick nicely if you use a ton of greens like I do. You could also “Pulse” it a couple times, then hit the “35″ button.

While you can purchase an optional sound enclosure, the Omni blender isn’t that loud. It’s quieter than my Blendtec.

See The OmniBlend V In Action (Video)

How OmniBlend Compares To Blendtec, Vita-Mix and Other Blenders

The OmniBlend V 3 HP blender is very close in quality and power to the top two leaders in the blender market – Blendtec and Vita-Mix. Both Blendtec and Vita-Mix make slightly creamier smoothies, but you won’t notice the difference unless you were previously using these two blenders before the Omni. The difference is very slight and almost negligible.

Both the OmniBlend and Vita-Mix come with a tamper tool. The Blendtec doesn’t need a tamper tool (especially with the WildSide pitcher).

Blendtec has a wide array of preset buttons (smoothie, juice, salsa, etc…) and more precise speed controls than the Omni’s simplified button options. Vita-Mix offers more precise blending control as well. You won’t be able to fine-tune your blends with the OmniBlend V, but for things like smoothies, nut butters, salsas and fruit ice creams, it’s not a problem.

The Omni is similar in size and weight of the Blendtec (it’s bigger around at the base). The Vita-Mix is much taller.

All three blenders come with a 7-year warranty.

Blendtec and Vita-Mix are both made in the USA, OmniBlend is made in China.

The OmniBlend V 3 HP blender is not a $250 Blendtec or Vita-Mix, but it’s close and delivers professional quality smoothies at this price point.

Would I Buy This Blender?

I’m not switching from my Blendtec to the OmniBlend V, but if I was in the market for a blender right now and I absolutely could not spend over $250, I’d purchase the Omni for sure. At only $250, it does what a high-end blender should do and makes fantastic green smoothies for the money.

OmniBlend V 3 HP blender has a 3 horsepower motor and blends powerfully. It makes green smoothies that have a rich, creamy texture and is a pleasure to use. It’s got a 7-year warranty so you know it’s built to last and comes with a 30-day, risk-free return policy.

If a Blendtec or Vita-Mix is simply out of reach, then I don’t think you will be disappointed by the Omni blender.

To find out more about the OmniBlend V 3 HP blender and to order your own, click on the image below.

Disclosure Statement: While I was sent a blender to test out, the above write-up is my own opinion about the quality of the Omni blender. I was not monetarily compensated for the above review.

A new Blendtec Total Blender starts at $434.95 retail. I consider that a small price to pay when it comes to quality, enhanced nutrition, time savings and expanded culinary horizons when it comes to green smoothies and raw foods. (You can use your Blendtec blender for far more than just smoothies!)

Now there are a few things you can do to get this blender cheaper.

One option is to take advantage of Blendtec’s 3-pay plan. Basically, you buy the blender using your credit card and pay one third up front with the other two payments automatically billing 30 days and 60 days later. This allows you to get a brand new, high quality blender with a full 7-year warranty for smaller monthly payments.

Another option is to consider purchasing one of their factory reconditioned models. These blenders are factory reconditioned by Blendtec and are guaranteed to work like new. They are also covered under warranty and the price starts at $384.95. That’s a $50 savings.

Don’t be afraid of refurbished or factory reconditioned items. I routinely buy factory reconditioned for the significant cost savings. In fact, the laptop I am typing on right now is factory reconditioned and it has worked splendidly with heavy use over the past 9 months! It also cost a lot less than the full retail price.

I strongly recommend purchasing your new Blendtec blender directly through Blendtec or an authorized retailer. Of course, you can check out deals on used blenders on Ebay, but keep in mind that you are purchasing a used blender without a warranty. Not every manufacture allows warranties to be transferred so be wary of warranty purchases on Ebay, especially if they are third-party contracts.

Also, Blendtec recently increased their warranty coverage to 7 years, so older blenders may not qualify for the new 7 year warranty.

Older models of the Blendtec Home blender can also be found on various retail websites on the web. These usually start at $399, which is just slightly cheaper than purchasing the very latest model directly from Blendtec. The newest Blendtec Total Blenders (FourSide and WildSide) have upgraded features and smarter touchpad settings that I feel provide a better user experience than an older, outdated model.

Find out more about the why we love and recommend Blendtec Total Blenders or go ahead and get your own today.

Still cant afford a Blendtec? Find out why we recommend the less expensive, but very powerful JTC OmniBlend V 3 HP blender.

“I bought a $20 blender from Target and began blending green smoothies. I really enjoy them but I am wondering how do I reduce the foam (bubbles) that forms on top? I’m not sure if the reason I get the foam is because it is a cheaper blender, fruit/veggie choice, or something else. I can easily pour or scoop the foam out but wanted to know if there was a way to prevent this?” – Jazmine

Jazmine, I’m afraid your foamy green smoothies might be caused by your $20 blender. It sounds like what is happening is that your blender is somehow sucking air into your smoothie and these air bubbles are causing the foam to appear.

Another possible cause might be that you have too much liquid in your blender and it’s whipping the ingredients with the air in the pitcher to make a frothy drink.

What I would do is this:

In your next smoothie, be sure to use a good base fruit like banana or mango. Add no more than 4-6 ounces of water (if using two bananas) and steer clear of watery fruit like citrus, watermelon and grapes. If your smoothie turns out frothy, it’s probably your blender design.

If your smoothie comes out normal, then you were probably adding too much liquid.

My only concern about using a blender that makes foamy smoothies that are filled with air bubbles is that you are oxidizing your fruit and greens during the blending cycle. Of course, oxidation is inevitable when you chop fruit and even chew it, but a blender that sucks too much air into the pitcher to create bubbles is, in my view, over-oxidizing the food. This can lead to a slight decrease in nutrient content, but I wouldn’t say it’s detrimental to your health.

If you can swing it, I highly recommend getting a high-end blender, especially if you are committed to making green smoothies a daily part of your life. Even though they are a bit pricy, they are worth it and then some.

I use the Blendtec Total Blender and it’s my main kitchen appliance.

Do you have a question about green smoothies, raw foods, health and nutrition? Just ask using our contact form!

Find more answers.

We couldn’t imagine our life without this blender. We thought we knew how great a green smoothie was when we made it with our old department store blender. Our first blend with the Blendtec proved to us just how good a green smoothie can be when it’s made in a high-end blender.

The Blendtec Total Blender has some pretty AMAZING features:

• POWERFUL 1560 watt, 3 peak horsepower motor for rich, creamy green smoothies!
• One-touch buttons with pre-programmed blend cycles (it’s got one for smoothies!)
• 64 or 96-ounce BPA-free pitcher made from a durable, break-resistant copolyester (plastic).
• Weighs just 7 pounds. 7″ wide, 15″ tall and 8″ deep” (will fit under most cabinets on kitchen counters or in a suitcase!)
• Available in black, white and red.
• Seven-year warranty.

Some of the AMAZING smoothies we’ve made with our Blendtec blender!

5 Reasons Why We Love Can’t Live Without Our Blendtec Blender

Better Quality Smoothies: You’ve all heard the saying, “you get what you pay for.” Blenders are no exception. Our Blendtec Total Blender whips up the creamiest, richest and smoothest green smoothies day after day after day.

Davy and I EACH make one or two green smoothies each day. In our old blender, the leafy greens didn’t blend up as well and we had to finely chop our fruit and greens. Needless to say, our smoothies were not very creamy – we had to sip and chew them!

We were both amazed at how creamy our smoothies were in the Blendtec! We could even blend up frozen berries, tough pineapple core and kale greens with no problem.

Besides green smoothies, we make sun-dried tomato marinara sauce, salsa, warm vegetable soups, ice cream, nut butters and more!

Time Savings: We noticed very quickly that it wasn’t taking as long to make our smoothies in the Blendtec Total Blender. Davy, being very analytical, added up the amount of time we usually spent making green smoothies and timed that by a year. He figured out that we actually saved 182.5 hours per year making green smoothies with our easy to use, easy to clean Blendtec than we did in a cheaper blender!

When we first bought our Blendtec blender, I was working full time and my mornings were already planned to the minute. Saving even 5 minutes would have been nice! Clean-up is also a lot easier and quicker. I don’t have five pieces I have to take apart and wash. All I have to do is take the top off, add some warm water and a drop of dish soap, push one of the pre-set blend cycle buttons and wait for it to finish. It’s great!

Maximized Nutrition Benefits: Blenders blend fruits and vegetables so thoroughly that they break down cell walls, unlocking the maximum amount of nutrients, antioxidants and phytonutrients that you can’t get from chewing alone. You will unlock even more nutrition from a high end blender since you won’t have even small bits of greens or other fruits that other blenders might not be powerful enough to handle. Tough leafy greens such as kale, collard greens and parsley blend up thoroughly in the Blendtec Total Blender.

Less Waste: The Blendtec has a high-speed motor, so it can puree things you might not be able to blend in a regular blender. I regularly blend pineapple cores and seeds in my smoothies now. The Blendtec blendes it all up into a creamy smoothie.

Longer Life: We use our Blendtec extensively on a daily basis. Not only do we enjoy a dependable, durable blender that will last us many years (perhaps a lifetime), we also get a 7-year warranty that outlasts our old blender’s total expected operation life.

We’ve put 3200 blends on it in just 18 months. That’s equivalent to a smoothie per day for 8.7 years!

Incredible Smoothies would not be possible without our Blendtec blender!

Are you tired of being frustrated by fighting with your current blender every time you make a green smoothie?

Do you want richer, thicker, creamier green smoothies that don’t have bits of unblended fruit or greens?

Do what we did and make an investment in your health and give a Blendtec blender a prominent place in your kitchen!

The thing I love about raw soups, besides the flavor, is that you can whip up tasty creations with whatever you have leftover in your kitchen and it only takes a minute or two to prepare!

As with most raw soups, it is low in calories so it makes a perfect snack or complement to a raw food meal.

Recipe

• 3 to 4 large, organic celery stalks
• 6 organic vine tomatoes
• 1 large organic yellow pepper
• 1 large organic zucchini (with skin)
• 1 teaspoon chili powder and/or a dash of cayenne to taste
• 1 teaspoon dulse flakes
• 1 teaspoon ground flax seeds
• 1 clove of garlic
• About 4 ounces of filtered water

Directions:

Add the water and tomatoes and blend for about 10 seconds to form a liquid base. Then add the rest of the ingredients and blend on high for about 30 seconds or until smooth. If you don’t have a high-speed blender, your blending time might be longer.

This soup is a rich source of iodine because of the dulse sea vegetables. It’s also a good source of calcium, iron and Omega-3s!

Find more raw vegan soup recipes that you can make in your blender!

Add the water or liquid first. Water, juice or coconut water help create a vortex that blends your smoothie ingredients and pulls fruit and leafy greens into the blades. Depending on your blender and the types of fruit you add, I recommend using anywhere from 6 to 8 ounces of liquid for a smoothie recipe.

Add fruit next. When making a green smoothie, always add the fruit before adding the greens. Greens just love to get bottle-necked into the middle of your blender’s pitcher just out of reach of the blades. By adding the fruit first, you’ll have a much larger and more powerful vortex as the fruit puree will pull the greens into the blades.

Chop/shred, then add to the pitcher. Chop your fruit first and shred your greens with a knife before adding to the blender. The more powerful the blender, the better it will handle larger chunks of fruit. If your blender isn’t top-of-the-line, then dice up the fruit and shred the greens adding a little at a time.

Use the pulse button to get things started. The pulse feature gives the ingredients in the pitcher a powerful nudge to get things going. It helps crush ice, break up large pieces, boost the speed and dislodge pieces of fruit that get stuck. Even the high-end Blendtec Total Blender uses variable speed presets for smoothies. Varying the blending speed helps deal with all of the shifting fruit and greens in a green smoothie. With my old blender, I’d hit the pulse button a few times to start, then run it on high. Sometimes I’d need to stop it half way through and pulse it a few times before running it on high again to finish blending.

Find a blender with a “tamper” tool. A “tamper” is tool specifically designed for (and should come with) your blender that allows you to push ingredients into the blades while the blender is running. It’s a wonderful thing to have if you make a lot of green smoothies. Unfortunately, very few department store blenders will come with one. Also, resist the temptation to use a kitchen utensil as a tamper. I once blended a fine mixing spoon that way!

You can, of course, stop your blender and push ingredients down with a kitchen spoon. Adding a little extra water is also helpful when blending becomes tough.

If upgrading your blender is not an option but you’re going nuts with the one you’ve got, then try these tips for smoother, stress-free smoothie making.