'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?

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.

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!).

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

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

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."

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