Purple Juice!

Huzzah!  Purple juice!  I've been adding red cabbage to my recipes lately, trying to make a pretty purple juice and it has kept turning out brown.  Until today. And now, the long awaited, deliciously understated, mildly mellow, satisfyingly sweet juice recipe!

Purple Prose for You:
2 c. red cabbage
2 c. iceberg lettuce
3 celery stalks
1 carrot
2 apples
2 plums

Optional addition of a little "cheese".

ta-da!

An Apple a Day

We love having loads of apples around.  They are such a great snack for kids and I love adding them to ordinary recipes to make something extraordinary.  Sometimes I grate them and make apple bread or muffins.  Or I chop them and sprinkle them in pancake or waffle batter (with cinnamon, of course!).  And don't forget how delicious sliced apples are in your green salad, accompanied by walnuts.

Sweet Green:
2 c. turnip greens
1 c. iceberg lettuce
3 celery stalks
1 c. grapes
1 apple
1 orange

Little Juicers.

And Now For Something Completely Different

 Yesterday I discovered a practical use for my juicer.  This is not to say that drinking vitamin packed juices isn't beneficial, but I really view it as a nutritional supplement at this point.  So, we had friends over last night and planned on serving Margaritas.  I had purchased a bag of limes and instead of hand-squeezing them as I usually do, I peeled the limes and juiced them in my Breville.

I wanted to investigate the pulp and re-juice it if it seemed really wet.  I discovered to my delight that the citrus pulp was very dry.

Since I had the juicer out and running, I went ahead and made a delicious afternoon energy juice.  It just feels really good to drink a green juice.

Friggin' Heathy Juice:
2 c. spinach
2 c. turnip greens
1 cucumber
1 c. bok choy
3 oranges
1 apple

Do You Know Your Lettuce Quiz

This is a fun quiz that is very hard! It made me realize I should expose myself to new varities and experience the differences. Have fun. By the way, I scored a 12 out of 21...

Cabbage and Cuke

You know those V8 commercials from the 90's that showed a man walking at an angle?  Everything would be cured by him drinking his vegetable juice.  I really understand that concept now that I'm juicing!  My whole outlook brightens as I down my daily juice.

Today's flavor is very dominated by cabbage and cucumber...which although is a nice change after all the turnip greens I've been drinking lately, I wouldn't say is extremely delicious.

V- Fusion:
1 c. red cabbage
1 cucumber
1 head romaine lettuce
2 plums
1 apple
1/2 c. mango

Taste the Rainbow

This was an accident, I swear.  A beautiful, happy, nutritious, tasty accident.

ROYGBIV:
1 c. strawberries
4 carrots
5 stalks celery
2 c. turnip greeens
1 c. blueberries
1 c. red cabbage

Juice the rainbow.

Before stirring.

Funny how all those beautiful colors mix together to make brown.  Just like my toddler's paintings.

Turning Over a New Turnip Leaf

Well, now that I have bought two pounds of turnip greens, I'll be drinking a lot of "powerful" juice.  Today I used red cabbage with my turnip greens.  The cabbage juice is a rich red-violet color, but once I added all other ingredients, my juice was chocolate brown.

NOT Chocolate:
2 cups turnip greens
1 cup red cabbage
2 carrots
2 stalks celery
1 orange
1 apple

Have you had your Not Chocolate today?

Oh, Snap!

Want to drink a juice that bites back?  Then you want to use turnip greens in your recipe.  They don't look like much: weeds, really.  But they are sharp and crisp, and go a long way for flavor.  So refreshing.

The Strong, Silent Type:
2 c. turnip greens
2 c. spinach
2 celery stalks
2 oranges
1 apple

Just Plummy!

Plums are great for juicing.  Packed with vitamins and a mellow sweetness.

What A Good Juice Am I:
3 branches kale
3 stalks celery
1 cucumber
2 apples
2 plums

I am Jack Horner and I approve of this message.

Something New

Here's a yummy combo I haven't tried before:

Red Velvet:
1 beet
3 stalks celery
1 c broccoli
1 c baby carrots
1/3 pineapple
2 c strawberries
1 apple

Buckling Down

You know it's time to stop eating chocolate when your 10 year old expresses relief at having a green salad with dinner.  This is how it always goes, though.  Easter baskets (halloween bags, Christmas stockings, etc) are full of a variety of goodies, then they slowly get picked over until a week later when there are just Dots, Now and Laters and stale Peeps leftover.  This is the point when Mommy chooses to discreetly THROW IT ALL AWAY.  (good riddance!)

Sometimes we need to have a break from celebrating and return to normal, sweets-are-rare, life!

By the way, here is a link to an awesome list of tips on avoiding that nagging chocolate craving.

Back To Business:
5 branches kale
5 stalks celery
1 cucumber
2 oranges
1 apple

C'mon Get Happy

Shout Allelulia, c'mon, get happy.

Easter Joy:
1/3 pineapple
3 carrots
2 oranges
1 cucumber
4 celery stalks
1 apple

You're welcome.

Fruit Is Worth The Calories!

Burning the Midnight Juicer

Recently I juiced late at night for my husband.  When he is in a groove with his writing he'll keep working past bedtime.  But staying up late usually requires another small meal for energy.  A tall glass of juice was just the brain food he needed.

No Rest for the Weary:
1/2 beet
3 carrots
2 stalks celery
1 mango
1 apple

Broken Food Pusher

Well, the first sign of wear and tear has appeared with my Breville.  I have been using it daily for three months.  The food pusher is hollow, plastic, and the cap is removable.  Under the lid is a metal disc attached with screws that thread into the hollow plastic pusher tube.  The threading for the screw broke on one side, so that the metal disc cannot attach.  The cap can still attach.

As far as I can tell, the metal disc served no crucial purpose.  It was not air tight so that when it fell off, I detected some food particles in the pusher tube that had been trapped.  Without the metal disc I suppose it is easier to clean.

I did notice that the part costs $25 to replace and that it is currently out of stock on the Breville website.

Beginnings and Endings

We have two maple trees in our side yard that I'm afraid are in decline.  The past few years their health has been suspect as they've grown fewer leaves each spring.  This year there are a couple branches full of new little leaves, but for the most part the branches are bare like in the dead of winter.  They are in stark contrast to our weeping cherry in our front yard which is quivering with living pink blossoms and busy bees pollinating.

This makes me think of a certain fig tree which, found not bearing fruit, was pruned.  It's life, though.  Even in my day to day routine, things need to be pushed aside, or "pruned" to make room for new priorities.  A new baby is a great way to shake things up. 

It's no different with nutrition.  Juicing every day not only made us find counter space for this enormous appliance, and fridge space for all the produce.  But also, when I fill my body with veggies, I'm putting less of other stuff in.  For me, it's afternoon snacking that has been "pruned" and replaced with raw juice.

Keeping Priorities Straight:
2 branches kale
2 radishes
1/2 english cucumber
2 stalks celery
1 apple
1/4 pineapple

Holy Ripe Bananas, Batman!

Bananas fall into the "unjuicable" category of produce.   I have read that they make a mess and clog a juicer because of their soft, non-juicy texture.  Other unjuicables include avocados, coconut and (for some juicers) mangos.

Today, my daughters and I made a Sunday-fruit-juice-special, and then added half the juice to the blender where I had previously pureed two ripe bananas.  After blending it all together the final product was thick and smooth, like, well, a smoothie.  My husband, who likes all banana flavors (natural and artificial), went ape for this juice.  I thought the banana flavor paired well with fruit juice, but I think I'm more of a veggie juice girl after all.

Juicy-Smoothie:
1/4 watermelon
1 large tomato
8 strawberries
1/3 fresh pineapple

blend above juice with 2 pureed bananas, though the juice can stand alone.

This is your juice.

This is your juice on bananas.