Tuesday, January 31, 2012

'Tis the Season of Gardening Catalogs

No matter how sick I am of my little garden patch in late September, my heart always skips a beat when I get the fresh new catalog in the mail in the middle of winter.  It must be a combination of "absence makes the heart grow fonder" plus just plain looking forward to spring...but here I am dreaming of what I will plant this year!

I can't help planning a "juicing garden" this year.  Vegetables that I was never interesting in preparing before have a new exciting perspective when I think about drinking them.  Of course there is the huge advantage of not having to pay the "organic" prices at the market!

Today's Juice:
1/2 head romaine lettuce
2 celery stalks
2 apples
2 pears
2 c. raw spinach


p.s.  Yesterday's attempt to drink 35 oz. failed.  What I learned from that challenge?  Waste not, want not!  When drinking solo, I can handle 24 oz. at the most at one juicing.  I saved the last glassful to drink later in the evening but by 9pm, when I was in the mood for it, the flavor had become far less palatable and the color had even browned.  Why not just juice what I know I can finish, and then just juice again later?

Monday, January 30, 2012

A Challenge

One cucumber, one grapefruit, three apples, one half head of romaine lettuce and two celery stalks juiced makes 35 ounces of tasty raw juice.  This would be more juice than I ever consumed in one day before.  Can I do it?  It is a challenge I am up for!





P.S.  Thanks to my in-laws for bringing juice ingredients over yesterday for a sweet Sunday recipe.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Cabbage Verbiage

"Ewww, what's that bad smell?"  My four-year old was less than pleased with the odor made the  cabbage wedges being pushed down the chute of the juicer.

Reading up on juicing cabbage shed some light on the problem of pungent juice.  One blogger recommends following cabbage and almond juice with a pure apple juice chaser.  Another juicer recommends carrots paired with cabbage, as it is a familiar flavor from most coleslaws.  I did also see the tip (in reference to a different recipe) to drinking odiferous juices out of a cup that has a lid, through a straw.

The verdict on today's juice?  I personally was not offended by the smell.  The flavor was light and fresh.

Stinky Drink:
1/3 head of cabbage
1 peeled cucumber
1 peeled grapefruit
2 apples


A side note of interest: I discovered that there is a trace of cyanide in apple seeds.  This does not affect people eating an apple who may swallow one or two accidentally.  But if the seed is masticated, (as a juicer would do) the poison would be released.  So, this small trace is reason enough for me to continue to cut the seeds out of my apples before I juice them (which is nearly daily!).

Friday, January 27, 2012

Sour Grape(fruit)s

For all my childhood picky-eating preferences, one flavor I've always loved is grapefruit.  My mom used to serve them halved, broiled, with cinnamon-sugar sprinkled on top; my mouth waters thinking of it.

But when it comes to juicing, grapefruit's super dominant flavor can't be paired with just any veggie and fruit.  And it seems to me that the sour should be countered by a sweet.

I made a winning combo today, and 24 oz. was never so easily swallowed.


Sour Power
1 grapefruit peeled
1/2 head romaine lettuce
2 celery stalks
2 apples
1 pear

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Kitchen Sink Juice

When my brother made a homebrew years back that he called "Kitchen Sink Brew", it was really very delicious.  Adding all the small remains of ingredients from an assortment of brew mixes worked fine for beer...but it does not necessarily work for juicing.

I think I waited too long to juice today.  I was too "blah" to even think about a good medley.  Mindlessly throwing in a wide variety of veggies today gave us a juice the color of mud.  In defense of the bland blend I have to say that it did completely revitalize me, besides my husband says he didn't mind the taste at all.

Casting Too Wide a Net:
2 c. raw spinach
5 small carrots
2 celery stalks
2 radishes
1 tomato
1/2 c. fresh parsley
1 apple
2 pears

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Tropical Tang

As it turns out, celery may be my favorite juice ingredient for many reasons:
  • it's flavor is subtle and works with almost any other veggie and fruit
  • celery is very juicy, leaving very little pulp
  • it's inexpensive
  • it's extremely healthy
  • frankly, celery is fun to send down the hopper, watching the greens lower bit by bit to their juicy fate
Here's a great juice that has a heavenly, light foamy body and yet it's not super sweet: almost sour, in fact. 

Sensible Drinking:
5 stalks of celery
1/2 pineapple
1 grapefruit (peeled)
1 head of romaine lettuce
1 stalk of kale
A guy walks into the doctor's office. A banana stuck in one of his ears, a celery stalk in the other ear,
and a carrot stuck in one nostril. The man says, "Doc, this is terrible. What's wrong with me?" 
The doctor says, "Well, first of all, you need to eat more sensibly."

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

It IS Easy Being Green

My favorite time of the day is over and I wish there was another glass to drink.  But I'll feel the benefits from my juice for the next couple hours!

Yesterday's maiden voyage into romaine lettuce juice was successful, and this veggie is nearly pure juice.  Romaine lettuce leaves behind almost no pulp, it's amazing.

But when I make this recipe again I'll double the romaine lettuce and add a cucumber and celery.  There just can't be enough green ingredients.  No offense to Kermit the Frog, Yoda, and other green creatures but when it comes to juicing, it IS easy being green.
Liquid Salad:
3 c. romaine lettuce leaves
1 1/2 c. raw spinach
1/4 c. parsley sprigs
1 tomato
3 apples
1 pear

Monday, January 23, 2012

Hawaiian Punch!

The outdoor thermometer said 59 degrees at 3:15 this afternoon.  We opened all the windows and let the fresh breeze blow through our home.  The sun even shone a bit!  The weather inspired my drink today...

Wannalookandfeelgood:
1/4 pineapple
2 carrots
1/2 romaine lettuce heart
1 lemon
2 celery stalks

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Get Well Soon Juice

Our household was ravaged by the stomach bug this past week.  Each person got it, one after another (my six year old got it twice) until I was the last one standing.  I thought my prenatal vitamins and daily juicing was going to preserve me from this virus, but alas, a body can only take so much exposure before succumbing!

Two days without juicing allowed me to fully rehydrate myself, but I admit I had been missing my raw beverage.  I did find a great recipe online to use to fight the commom cold and flu, which I look forward to using next time I feel that characteristic tickle in the back of my throat (for me, a sign of oncoming illness).  But with the stomach bug, I believe the only thing to do is "starve the fever" until the worst is over...

On The Mend Blend:
1 tomato
2 celery stalks
2 c. spinach
4 strawberries
2 pears
1 apple
1 cucumber, peeled
Easily digestible, chock-full of viatmins

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

not-so-Still Life

Mentally organizing ingredients for today's juice, I realized I could create a cute face with the raw fruits and veggies before they are liquified.  This made me think of Guiseppe Arcimboldo's thematic veggie and fruit still life paintings.

Summer, by Arcimboldo
Silliness, by Rachel
How ironic that the raw potential, left arranged and uneaten, may be called "still life", but as soon as they're consumed, the vegetables and fruits transform into a life force that allows energy, action and healing!

Action Juice:
1/4 cantaloupe, with rind
1 large carrot
1 cucumber, peeled
1 clementine
5 strawberries
3 branches raw kale

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Juice-To-Go

It's happened a few times lately that I decided to make juice right before running errands.  If I haven't yet finished my tall drink I have just taken it with me in the car.  It's ten times more effective at refreshing me than a cup of coffee.

Today my hubby requested juice before a German language lesson.  It was a two hour class that according to him "flew by".  He credits the juice-to-go as part of the reason it was so fruitful...pardon the pun. 

Fast, Frothy and Fabulous:
1/2 peeled cucumber
1 tomato
2 apples
1 pear
2 celery stalks
1 1/2 c. raw spinach


P.S.  The "Pulp Bread" I made Saturday had mixed reviews.  The bread flavor was overpowered somewhat by the kale pulp.  But one six-year-old member of the family who normally has an aversion to all things green, can not get enough of it.  He had some for an after school snack today...
Maybe my 6 year old likes it because of the chocolate frosting I put on top...

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Color Therapy

One of my favorite elements of juicing is watching the layers of pure hue stack in the juice pitcher as I feed in each different ingredient.  After I finish, I stir all the colors together and enjoy seeing what color the juice ends up being.

Today I did part beet and part kale thinking that green plus red equals brown...but red won out.  Even my nine year old commented spontaneously, "Wow, the red really dominates the green!"

Full Spectrum:
1/2 beet
2 c. raw kale
2 stalks of celery
2 apples
2 pears
p.s.  Tomorrow my family will eat a loaf of quick bread I made from the pulp of today's recipe...I followed a zucchini bread recipe, but substituted today's very green pulp for shredded zucchini.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Eating the Pulp

From the manual that came with the juicer, down to blog after blog, even in juicing how-to videos, everyone recommends eating the pulp that is left over after juicing.  The pulp that is caught by centrifugal juicers is not very appetizing-looking, though.

Tonight I gave it a whirl with this afternoon's juice pulp.  I added nothing to the pulp, but shaped it into patties.  Coated in bread crumbs, I cooked them in a tablespoon of olive oil until golden brown.  After that, I imitated a typical eggplant parmesan recipe.

The result?  It tasted a lot like eggplant.  Crispy on the outside, moist and non-offensive on the inside.  But it wasn't eggplant.  It was a whole variety of bits of fibrous goodness that would have otherwise been thrown away.   

This Juice Makes Good Pulp:
2 apples
1 pear
3 carrots
1/2 cucumber (peeled)
1 1/2 c. raw spinach
3 radishes

Friday, January 13, 2012

Mixing Melons

Rather new to the juicing world, I have been selecting ingredients soley based on personal craving.  Additionally, I have been cautious with my new juicer and have taken a bit of time to "prep" fruits and veggies before I juice them.  Cutting stems and seeds out of fruit, peeling clementines, etc.

Today I used cantaloupe with my other standard fruits and veggies.  It was delicious and slightly tropical tasting.  Although, I think I'll halve the amount of melon I use next time (from 1/2 melon to 1/4 melon), as it was a super sweet juice.

But I read today that some people advise against mixing any other fruits with melons when you juice.  Apparently this can cause some kind of bad reaction?  Also interesting is that many cantaloupe nutrients are in the rind.  I cut the rind off today, but next time I will definitely try leaving it on!

Today's concoction:
1/2 cantaloupe (rind and pulp removed)
2 apples
1 pear
3 celery stalks
1 1/2 c. raw kale

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Cucumber Foam

The last time I had cucumber foam was slurping it out of an oyster shell at a fancy restaurant in Washington, DC ten years ago.  My husband was the winner of a WGMS call-in prize: dinner with the radio personality Shannon Finney and her then fiance, Jim Totten.  It was a sublime dining experience; the fresh, light, cool cucumber fluff never replicated until today.

Though we've experimented with juicing cucumbers a couple times before, I recently read a tip to peel the cucumber to avoid adding a bitter flavor to your juice.  Not only was the juice more delicious, but the texture of the juice was light and fluffy, foamy.

An additional benefit to using cucumbers in your juice is the anti-inflammatory qualities in cucumbers; if you or a loved one is suffering from a sore throat this could be soothing.

What went in:
2 celery stalks
1/2 beet
1/2 cucumber (peeled)
2 clementines (peeled)
2 apples
1 pear
pink foam clings to side of glass

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Too Much Spinach?

I've been stuffing raw spinach into my juicer lately and today wondered how that will affect me.  Apparently, spinach (like many other leafy veggies and some fruit) contains oxalic acid.  Which, if your family history makes you prone to kidney stones, you'd be wise to avoid overdosing.

However, one source says that oxalic acid only becomes harmful when spinach is cooked.  The oxalic acid in raw spinach is not harmful.

But most intriguing is the percentage that spinach is protein.  Thirty percent!  When it tastes so good mixed with celery, tomato and carrots...why not continue throwing a handful in your daily juice?
Why the worried look?  Green stuff is good!

There now.  You see?
Juice this:
1 1/2 c. raw spinach
1 large carrot
2 stalks celery
2 apples
1 pear

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Juice Fun vs. Juice Fast

My dabbling in juicing has been very rewarding.  The benefits my husband and I have experienced are increased energy level, decrease craving for junk food, and clarity of thought.  We're basically having fun.

My mom just started the ten-day juice fast.  It is my understanding that the beginning of the fast is very difficult.  My mom is in the trenches of the juice fast.

News from the Trenches
Yesterday was her first day and she drank only juice all day and ate an avocado before bed.  Besides being hungry all the time, she is also not enjoying such delicious recipes as I am.  She is following a strict 80/20 ratio of vegetables to fruit.  Keep up the good work, Mom.

Meanwhile, I will keep having fun.  I find 3:30 in the afternoon to be a groggy time of day for me.  The last few days have been much improved since I've begun juicing.

Afternoon Delight:
1 1/2 c. raw spinach
3 carrots
2 celery stalks
2 apples
1 pear
10 strawberries
1 tomato



Monday, January 9, 2012

Suck Out All the Marrow of Life

"I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, To put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die, Discover that I had not lived." -Henry David Thoreau

As I was sipping my green goodness today this quote popped into my head.  If you tweak it a bit, it can be applied directly to juicing...

I juiced the vegetables because I wanted to eat deliberately, I wanted to drink deep and suck out all the marrow of vegetables, To juice roots and eat raw fruits and vegetables and Discover how to eat.

Ingredients to Inspire:
10 strawberries
1 apple
1 pear
1 c. raw kale
2 celery stalks
1 c. raw spinach

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Roethlisberger, Tebow and The Juice

Not this kind of Juice
Playoff games may usually be a time for consuming heavy, greasy and salty foods...but not for this family today!  My husband and I packed up our Breville and brought washed and prepped ingredients with us to his parents' home for the game this evening.

My in-laws enjoyed trying the juice certainly more than watching the Steelers fall behind in the first half.  Add my mother-in-law's amazing homemade artichoke, pepper and chicken pizza on whole grain crust and you are so satisfied you don't even mind losing to the Broncos.

Giddyup:
2 c. raw kale
3 carrots
2 radishes
3 apples
1 pear
2 celery stalks
2 tomatoes

Saturday, January 7, 2012

The Money Beets

A new year is a good time to try new things. Buying beets, for example. Even though the cashier at Krogers rang them up as collard greens, I am in no position to correct her. It was my first time buying them.



This morning I learned that beets are no joke. They are intense. My stained tablecloth, fingers and mouth can attest to that. My daughters couldn't resist trying this red, red juice.

And, as luck would have it, I ran into an expert juicer last night. She told me that juicing the long, stalks of greens at tops of beets is perfectly fine if you plan to drink immediately.

2 beets (greens and all)
3 carrots
2 pears
4 clementines (peeled)



Blogger's Note:  Although this is the exact recipe that I enjoyed, it should be mentioned that I did experience nausea for a couple hours after I posted this blog entry.  After some research, I believe the nausea was due to the amount of raw beet I consumed.  One blog I found lists side effects of too much beet consumption, and recommends 1/4 or 1/2 beet at a time.


Friday, January 6, 2012

Making Juice for Friends

Today three good friends came with their children. Trying juice was not the purpose of their visit, but I couldn't resist offering some to them!

They watched the Breville work and some of the children enjoyed the demonstration. We all had a small serving and discussed the flavor. Some of the kids tried it, too!

I showed my friends the pulp produced by today's recipe. I find that kale makes more pulp than any other fruit or vegetable that I've used.


What we drank:

3 pears
3 carrots
2 celery stalks
3 c. raw kale
1 tomato

Thursday, January 5, 2012

The Panache of Spinach

I made grilled mozzarella, marinara, pepperoni and spinach sandwiches for lunch, but someone picked their spinach off their sandwich. Though I am not blameless in the picky eating category, I've always loved spinach.

Juicing spinach is thrilling. My four year old helped me by using the food pushing tool and we both exclaimed at the bright green juice that dripped through the fountain. My guess is that even Popeye the Sailor man would switch from eating spinach by the can if he tried my recipe today:

2 apples
1 pear
3 large carrots
1 1/2 c. raw spinach
1 celery stalk (leaves and all)
1 tomato



p.s. Someone who didn't want spinach on their sandwich sucked down a tall glass of this juice a few hours later proclaiming it "great!"

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

I Can't Believe I've Lived This Long Without Tasting This Stuff Before

After almost no previous exposure to juicing, I viewed "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" on hulu about 3 months ago. The film is very convincing! I arranged to borrow my mom's juicer this spring after my baby comes, but instead my parents suprised me with a Breville for Christmas.

January 4th marks my fourth juicing day and I am bursting at the seams to share the awesomeness of this liquid gold.

Today's recipe:

1 1/2 c. raw kale
2 apples
1 pear
3 large carrots
1 tomato

This was my first experience with kale in my life. The whole kitchen was filled with the earthy scent of chopped kale. The juice was a gorgeous dark green, and the flavor was fresh and sweet.