juicing

the holiday season has arrived and with it comes lots of food.  it's no secret that we love to eat, but it's important to keep a good balance.  in addition to old fashioned exercise, we love juicing.  over the weekend we made a trip to the grocery store and loaded up on fresh fruits/veggies which we made into several different juices.

juicing is so easy and healthy.  the best part is that there pretty much aren't any rules and you can create any type of concoction that you can dream up.  you don't have to follow a recipe or exact measurements.  each juice is different.  we love hitting up the farmers markets in the warmer months and loading up on lots of fresh fruits and veggies to put through the juicer.  in the cooler months, we see what looks best at the grocery store and go from there.

the juicer that we use is a breville juice fountain plus and we absolutely love it.  our all-time favorite juice recipe is this carrot apple ginger juice.  we also really love this carrot, apple, ginger, cucumber, and kale juice too.

one staple that we always have on hand is a 5 lb. bag of carrots in our fridge.  we put carrots in almost every juice that we make because we love them so much.  they have a great color and are full of beta-carotene.  in addition to carrots, here are some other ingredients that we love to throw in our juicer . . .

apples - apples are great for naturally sweetening up juices that might otherwise be sour or bitter.

ginger - ginger is awesome.  it can alleviate gastrointestinal distress, it has anti-inflammatory effects, and it can help reduce cancer.

red and gold beets - no matter their color, beets are a good source of phytonutrients called betalains which are great for detoxing.

citrus - lemons and limes can help to strengthen your immune system, cleanse your stomach, and purify your blood!

leafy greens - spinach and kale are full of vitamins and minerals.  parsley is full of iron and has anti-inflammatory properties as well.

celery - celery stalks are full of antioxidants and celery is considered to be one of the world's healthiest foods!

cucumbers - cucumbers are full of both water and fiber, and they taste wonderfully fresh.

ps: need more proof that juicing is great?  here are two juicing documentaries that we really enjoyed: fat, sick, and nearly dead chronicles a man's personal mission to regain his health by vowing to only drink fresh fruit and vegetable juice for 60 days.  in addition, fat, sick, and nearly dead 2 presents realistic solutions to make long-term sustainable improvements to eating behaviors and overall health.

happy juicing!
love, laurie

carrot, apple, ginger, cucumber, and kale juice

we really love juicing fresh produce and we juice as often as we can, so we were heartbroken when our old trusty juicer (which we inherited from my mom) decided it had seen the end of its juicing days.

we scoured the depths of the internet searching for a new juicer, and after reading a million product reviews we finally settled on a breville juice fountain plus.  we've had it for a few weeks now and we completely love it!

we put some of our fresh produce from the farmers market to use over the weekend and made a great juice with carrots, apples, ginger, cucumbers, and kale.  it's full of nutrients and it tastes great!

carrot, apple, ginger, cucumber, and kale juice
prep time: 5 minutes
yields: approximately 5 cups

ingredients:
10 carrots
4 mcintosh apples
1 inch piece of fresh ginger root
4 cucumbers
6 kale stalks

directions:
wash the produce and peel a 1 inch piece of fresh ginger root.  run the produce through a juicer (most juicers work best if you start with the hardest fruit/veggie first and work your way down to the softest).  chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

enjoy!

love, laurie

ps: here's our all-time favorite juice recipe which we make often along with a few juicing tips too

carrot apple ginger juice

let's talk about juicing.  i have this faint memory of people juicing back when i was a kid.  i guess it was popular at some point during my childhood.  everyone and their brother ran out to buy a juicer and to marvel at the fact that they could make a solid into a liquid in just a few seconds flat.  as a kid, it seemed gross.  no, i will not drink your concoction of miscellaneous vegetables that more closely resembles swamp water than it does juice.  yuck.

it seems as if juicing is all the rage again lately.  i love how fads and trends get picked up, forgotten, and then rediscovered again.  kind of like overalls, but that's another discussion.

my mom has had a juicer sitting on a shelf in her kitchen for years, no doubt left over from when juicing was last popular.  after discovering this relic at my parents' house i was beyond delighted.  i mean, juicers are crazy expensive.  (if you don't believe me go price out one of those babies at your local kitchen accessory store.)

the idea of a free juicer sounded perfect.  i decided to dust off my mom's old juicer and take it for a spin.  for my first adventure in juicing, i wanted to start with something simple (and with something that would not resemble muddy swap water) . . . carrots, apples, and ginger.

the carrots give this juice such a vibrant orange color.  it's so bright and cheery.  the apple provides just a little bit of sweetness, and the ginger gives it a zing.  ginger is so good for you by the way.  you will feel so healthy drinking this juice.

before we dive into the recipe, here are a few helpful tips . . .

1. start with the hardest fruit/veggie first and work your way down to the softest.
2. cleaning the juicer is crazy annoying, but an old toothbrush really helps to get into the hard to clean places.
3. don't throw away all of that excess fruit/veggie pulp when you are done juicing.  instead, you could make fruit leather with it, or throw it into a smoothie, or add it into recipes for pancakes, muffins, etc.  if that doesn't appeal to you, compost it.

carrot apple ginger juice
prep time: 5 minutes
yields: 1 cup
adapted from two blue lemons

ingredients:
2 carrots
1 apple
1 inch piece fresh ginger root

directions:
trim the ends off the carrots and peel them.  wash the apple and cut it into small pieces (be sure to remove the apple cores).  peel a 1 inch piece of fresh ginger root.  starting with the carrots, then the apple, followed by the ginger, run everything through the juicer.  serve right away or let chill in the refrigerator.

enjoy!

love, laurie