What Should I Juice First?

Ahhhhh, it is almost here!  I am almost ready to start juicing for real!  Time to decide what my first juice in my brand spanking new juicer will be.

Should I do Kale? Carrots? Romaine? Beets? Cucumber?

How do I sweeten it?  Lemon?  Apple?  Berries?

Do I put anything extra in it? Wheat grass juice?  Aloe Vera?

The Healthy Green Drink Diet has some great recipes and also some lists of foods to juice!  The below lists are taken from the Healthy Green Drink Diet – Although these lists are not all inclusive, but they give us new juicers a great place to start.

Common green foods that are juiced:  Arugula, Basil, Beet Greens, Bok Choy, Broccoli, Cabbage, Celery, Chard, Cilantro, Collards, Dandelion Greens, Kale, Lettuce (or mixed greens), Mint, Mustard Greens, Parsley, Spinach, Turnip Greens, Watercress,

Common veggies that are juiced and are not necessarily “green”: Tarragon, Fennel, Radishes, Mizuna, Kohlrabi, Purslane, Green Onion, Radicchio, Brussels sprouts, Carrots, Oregano, Beets

Commonly added fruits (remember, use sparingly): Apricot, Apple, Bell Pepper, Berries, Cherries, Cantaloupe, Cranberries, Cucumber, Grapes, Grapefruit, Guava, Honeydew, Kiwi, Kumquat, Lemon, Limes, Mango, Nectarine, Orange, Papaya, Pear, Peach, Persimmon, Pineapple, Plums, Raspberries, Star Fruit, Tangerine, Tomato, Watermelon

Commonly added super foods (stay tuned for more blog posts on super foods!):  Acai Berries, Aloe Vera, Bee Pollen, Cayenne Pepper, Flaxseed oil, Garlic, Ginger, Wheatgrass, Sprouts.  Some of these are added after the other veggies have been juiced.

Commonly added sweeteners (remember, use sparingly): Agave Nectar and Honey

Whew, now that I have all of my choices, where do I begin?

The Mercola Website suggests beginning your juicing journey with vegetables that you enjoy eating.  It stands to reason that if you enjoy eating the vegetable that you will enjoy drinking it.  Makes sense to me.  They also recommend starting with cucumber (peel if not organic), anise, and celery (should be organic if possible) as these are the easiest to digest.  Along with adding a little lemon or lime for taste.  Although, I am not quite sure what anise is….it is not a common ingredient in the Minnesota grocery stores.  Here is the wikipedia link to anise.  I’ll have to keep my eyes out for that one.

Once you get used to cucumber, anise, and celery they recommend adding in lettuce, spinach, escarole, and endive.

Lastly, once those are handled with ease then you can add in cabbage, bok choy, and or herbs.

Where is Kale you say?  I thought the same thing.  Apparently, Kale is pretty strong after it’s been juiced so it is best saved for a couple of weeks into your juicing journey.  I am not sure I am going to be able to hold off though…maybe I’ll have to toss a leave of this nutritional powerhouse into my juice after a couple of days 😉

So……my first juice will be…..drumroll please…..

Cucumber, Celery, and Lemon/Lime it is! I may or may not add an apple to sweeten it, I think cucumber and celery is pretty sweet so may hold off on the apple until I start doing lettuce and kale.

Can I Just Get My Juice In A Packet?

The days are slipping by and I am getting closer and closer to beginning my fresh green juicing journey.  I thought to myself, should I begin to prepare my body for the explosion of goodness that is going to be flooding my cells?  If I was going to prepare my body, how would I do it?

Green Superfood!

Yesterday, I talked about the subpar green juices in a bottle, but from what I can tell, green superfood packets seem to be highly accepted out there in the juicing world as a safe and decent alternative to juicing when a fresh juicing experience is not available.   Basically what these companies do is dehydrate the veggies and turn them into a powder.  Then when the powder is added to a smoothie, glass of water, glass of milk, etc. you can drink to your health!

So, I decided to give it a try.  Down to my Whole Foods I went and found myself looking at a wall of options.

After talking to the nice lady at Whole Foods I ended up selecting the pineapple lemon grass flavor from Amazing Grass for $2.50.

This packet can be mixed up a couple of different ways – with filtered water, milk, poured into a smoothie, etc.  I decided to mix it with water since I would likely be using this option for when I am traveling and I probably wouldn’t have many options for what to mix it with.

First, I added a little bit of water to my glass

Then in went the Amazing Grass

I mixed it with a spoon

And then added more water and ice

It actually had a pleasant taste!  I mean, don’t get me wrong it didn’t taste like a starburst or anything (a girl can hope, right?) but for mixing green superfood with only water I would definitely give it high marks.  I am excited to try the other flavors that are available and think this will be a great alternative when I don’t have fresh juice at the ready.

I did this experiment at 3:00 in the afternoon, at the time of my normal daily dip in energy and I really do feel like this drink got me over the hump.  For those of you that are trying to decide if you want to get a fresh juicer I would recommend buying some packets and giving this a try to see if it is something that you might want to work into your daily routine.  Fresh juice is ALWAYS the best option, but for starting out or traveling I would give this two thumbs up.

Here is some more reading on this topic – see you tomorrow!

Nice Hair.org – This site provides an awesome overview of many different kinds of powdered green drinks with price points.

Health Kismet – Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Superfood Powders

Bottled vs. Fresh

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Alternatives To Fresh Juicing

All of us have walked into a grocery store and seen the Naked brand of juice and wondered if that could work for our juicing fix.  I know….I’ve done it.  Can I get my fresh juice, fresh nutrients, fresh veggies, and good for me glow from this quick bottle of juice?  I wish it could be true….man, do I wish it could be true.

But, alas, it is not.

I will not reinvent the wheel, as there are a TON of good blog postings out there on this topic, but the one thing that rings true with all of the research is that nothing can replace spending 15 minutes of your day (and approximately 1 hour a week on planning and shopping) on drinking good old-fashioned green juice that has been squeezed from the pulp in your kitchen.

The gist of it is that these drinks have gone through a high heat pasteurization process which destroys the majority of the good stuff we are looking for when we do fresh juicing.  Therefore, the sugar in a bottled juice is much different from the sugar and fiber in a fresh juice due to this process.  One of the biggie juice companies is being sued because they have slid in a few extra synthetic ingredients – you just can’t trust that you are getting what you paid for.

Here are some great articles that can give you a lot of the research that you are dying to read about – seriously, good stuff.  Really, check them out.

Life With Greens: This article does a GREAT job of outlining bottled vs. fresh juices.  A worthwhile read!

The Wellness Warrior: Why bottled juice does not contribute to your daily fruit and veg intake

ABC News: For those of you looking to whittle your waste line, this article will speak to you.  Also, it has a calorie comparison of popular bottled and restaurant juices.

Huffington Post: Looks at the amount of sugar in bottled juices

Tomorrow I am going to be giving you the lowdown on Green Superfood Products (green juice in a packet).  Stay tuned!

The Juicer

OK, I’ve decided to start juicing.  Now what?!?!  Next step, what machine is going to be my partner in this process?

There is a lot to consider when buying a juicer:

• How often is it going to be used?
• How much is it going to cost?
• What kinds of foods are going to be juiced?
• Does the kind of juicer effect the amount of nutrients in the juice?
• How much space will it take up on my counter?

In my situation I am going to use it every day and money doesn’t grow on trees so cost is an issue – BUT I do have a birthday coming up (as we all know!) and so I have a little extra oomph that I can put toward my birthday gift.

My juicing inspiration came from Kris Carr’s Crazy Sexy Diet book so that was the first place I looked for the answers to these questions.  In addition to this resource I did a lot of research on the web.  Please see the bottom of this post for the links.

What I learned is that there are three categories of juicers on the market: Centrifugal, Masticating, and Twin Gear.  Huh?  I quickly realized this was going to be a little harder than I thought.  After a little digging I came up with the following summaries:

Centrifugal (aka – the grinder): Least expensive. Easier to clean but spins the veggies/fruits so the nutrients will oxidize* more quickly which means the juice may lose some of its nutrition.  Juices made in a centrifugal juicer should be drank as soon as possible after juicing.  Good for the new juicer that is testing the green waters. $25 – $200 (estimated)

*Oxidization – when oxygen gets to the veggies and turns them brown.  Have you ever had guacamole sit out at a party for too long and it turns brown…yep, too much oxygen.  Same with apples in a waldorf salad….remember, I did mention I am from the Midwest.  Yes, I serve waldorf salad at Easter 🙂

Masticating (aka – the chewer.  Single Gear/Singe Auger/Cold Press): Mid-range in terms of expense.  Operates at a slower speed and fruits/veggies are squeezed and pressed as the juice and pulp are separated, so you get more juice from your veggies/fruits because there is less heat involved.  Less foam with this type of juicer. Is a good choice for a home juicer that wants to maximize nutritional value and has some extra cash on hand. $200 – $400(estimated)

Twin Gear (aka – the presser. Triturating): Most expensive.  Presses food between two interlocking roller gears.  Juices lose the least amount of nutrients. These are very big and can take up a lot of counter space.  Many juicing restaurants use this type of juicer so if you are looking to do this at home and store under the cabinet during the day, this may be a bit bigger than what you are looking for.  They are the top of the line juicers though and many can also juice wheatgrass**.  $400 – $600 (estimated)

**At this time I have not yet explored the wheatgrass juicers but I hear there are juicers that are made specifically for wheatgrass juicing.  Look forward to more about this topic as I begin juicing and learn more about what wheatgrass has to offer!

Other things to consider is amount of pulp and size of chute (size of chute will determine if you need to cut the veggies/fruit before putting them into the juicer).

Lastly, if you are looking to have your juicer do something in the kitchen in addition to juicing be sure to check that out.  Many of the more expensive varieties make other food products like baby food, nut butters, ice cream, etc.

My advice?  Go to Amazon and type in “juicers”.  You will get a list that encompasses all kinds of juicers.  Read the reviews, look at the prices, pick one that speaks to you.  There is no right or wrong answer – just juice baby, just juice.

For me, I chose the Green Star Twin Gear, I am starting a blog after all.  It was a LOT of money and I am super excited about my future juices – the countdown has begun!  In my “about” section, did you notice that I used the word “wonderful” when I mentioned my husband.  Not a mistake 🙂

Huffington Post Types of Juicers Article

Harvest Essentials Article

Ferns Nutrition – 5 Main Types of Juicers (I combined a few for ease, but this really is a great article!)

Raw Juice Cleanse Recipes.com (Great breakdown of the different types of juicers – a great overview)

Let The Juicing Journey Begin

I am going to be 37 in eight days…  How did that happen?!?!

As I continue to turn the calendar pages on my life I am realizing the importance of eating for “health”.  I have heard about juicing and have been thinking about giving it a try for a number of years.  But now is the time.  Now that I am turning 37 I am going to give this juicing thing a go.   My goal is to drink at least one green juice a day!  On this blog I will post the recipe that I use each day, the amount I spend on juicing ingredients, how various ingredients taste and juice, and many, many other important items related to juicing.  My hope is that blogging about this information will allow others to learn with me and begin a juicing journey of their own!  I can’t wait to share with you what I learn along the way so that you can avoid my pitfalls as well as incorporate any of my successes!

As you get going on your juicing journey as well please be sure to comment and let me know who you are, how your juices are tasting, and how drinking a green juice a day is changing your life.  I can’t wait to hear from you!

First things first:

• What is a green juice?  I am defining a green juice as having at least 75% vegetables.  My understanding is that these juices can get a little…er…strong.  So, sometimes a sweet fruit is needed to balance out the taste.
• Will a green smoothie count as a juice?  For now, no.  Although I think that smoothies can be very healthy, for right now I am sticking to the juicing.  My system can only handle so much of the green stuff at one time – if you know what I mean.  I do hope to incorporate green smoothies into my routine, but that will come at a later time.
• Where will I get the recipes?  I will be borrowing some recipes from books, websites, and other people that are kind enough to share them with me.  When I use a recipe from another source I will be sure to let you know where I got the recipe from.  I also like to use my creative powers in the kitchen, so I might make up a few recipes of my own!

I am using the week before my 37th birthday to begin preparing and getting ready for my juicing extravaganza.  I need to figure out what juicer I am going to get, where I am going to get my veggies, how juicing every morning is going to fit into my routine, and most importantly, what I am going to juice first!  I will be checking in daily to let you know how this is going for me.  Till tomorrow!

Amy