More juice... it had been awhile

I just love the old-timey look I can achieve with Hipstamatic on the iphone! It just.... makes me want to eat more fruits/vegetables and snap more pictures!

More juice!

Last weekend I pulled out every fruit and vegetable I had in the house. I washed, peeled, chopped, prepped, bagged, juiced or just plain chomped! It was quite a production. Because my husband was waiting for me to finish up so we could go somewhere, I semi-timed myself. I thought that cleaning up after juicing was the time-consuming part. It turns out that cleaning and prepping the veggies is the long part. Followed by the tasting, critiquing, then adjusting, etc. The cleaning part is just messy. Anyway- this time instead of letting the juicing evolve as I went, I cleaned everything at the very beginning. It really was much easier. Just like making a recipe, I had my juice mise en place!

I should mention I'm thinking about doing a juice cleanse. We just watched a great documentary over the weekend called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, and it was very interesting. I got on the web site, and found that there are several different commitment levels, such as merely a 5-day cleanse, or one that you can still eat vegetables and fruits during the juice cleanse. I am looking more into that. In the mean time, I need to find more palatable ways to juice with vegetables. I love beets and carrots, but I seem to strike out when it comes to celery, kale, spinach, etc.

Mmmmm, that's good Bass!

I bought a juicer about two weeks ago. And finally carved out some time to glance at the manual, clean some fruits and veggies and give it a spin. WOW- what a magnificent invention! Why did I wait so long?

Juice #1: blueberry, beet, ginger, cara cara orange and tangerine

This one was my favorite (above). The ginger was a really nice touch, giving it a wonderful zing.

Juice #2: Honey Crisp apple, lemon, carrot, tangerine and beet

Pretty good, pretty good. I added lemon because the apples didn't quite give the tartness I was seeking.

Juice #3: Strawberry, beet, carrot, orange, tangerine, lemon, kale, ginger and mint

I pretty much threw in everything I had left. At first very strawberry-y, so I added some mint and more kale (two whole heads). These additions elevated this concoction to the number one slot for my husband. One query though, I'm not sure whether or not to add the stocks of the kale to the juicer or just the leafy parts.

Juice #4: Tangerine, asian pear and ginger

I thought I had made enough juice and was ready for clean-up until I realized I still had a giant bag of tangerines. So why not use them up? Results: surprisingly not as tangerine-y as I had hoped. And having used about 5 inches of ginger, not as ginger-y as I had hoped either. Two things I learned after the fact which might have effected the results: the filter was pretty clogged up with ginger, and the tangerines on their own weren't very juicy and tangerine-y. Now I know for next time.

All in all, a successful maiden voyage in juicing. I didn't even hate cleaning it as much as I thought. Nor the nearby cabinets and my eye glasses from errant spatter. I am ready and armed with knowledge, cash and reusable market bags for this week's farmers market. AND I'll be submitting words like strawberry-y and ginger-y to Merriam-Webster for consideration.

Fun for Fam

My husband has never particularly been into fruits and vegetables. It isn't a flavor thing, it's mostly a consistency thing. For example, he likes the taste of pico de gallo, but not the chunks. He will dip his chip into the liquid, without getting any of the tomatoes or onions on his chip. Meanwhile, I think- really? But I've learned to live with it.

Anyway, over the weekend I experimented with my new juicer (more posts to follow). I was shocked and pleased to discover that he participated in the experimentation by tasting - and enjoying I might add- and also snapping a few photos during the process. His photos are great! I love how they look a little dark and edgy, even though making juice is all about freshness and health and invigorating natural nectar! You see, juicing can be fun for the whole family!!

Photos by Greg Jacobs