Cantaloupe Carrot Beet Juice

Last night I tried a new juice. It was pleasant tasting and my husband said how much he liked it. I threw in what I had on hand. Here is the basic recipe:
 
3 Bunches Beet Greens
1 Beet
1 Cantaloupe
1 Handful Watercress
2 Peaches
7 Carrots
1 Cucumber

I always juice my greens first followed by the softer fruit and vegetables and then the harder ones. The softer fruit and veggies should be juiced on a low speed and the harder ones on high speed. The lower speed allows the juicer to extract more juice from them.

I have definitely felt better since starting to eat clean and juice more. I also love to make smoothies in my blender.

Give this recipe a try. I think you will like it and it is full of healthy nutrients our body's need.

Happy Juicing!

Cucumber Watercress Beet Green Juice

This morning I got up and headed right to our new farmers market. It was small, but I was able to pick up corn on the cob, cucumbers, peppers, squash, local honey, watermelon, tomatoes and beets. It was great and I hope that it continues to grow. I love being able to know where my food is coming from and that it is organic.

The juice that I made is very mild and may seem a bit bland due to the refreshing cucumbers I added to the mix. The kids all drank it and said that it wasn't a favorite but that it was "OK". I will take that. As I learn and create recipes, I am all for whatever my kiddos will drink. I noticed that the apples did not juice well this go around due to the fact that I used my apple peeler instead of putting larger chunks of apple into the juicer. That may account for why it was a mild flavor.

Cucumber Watercress Beet Green Juice

1 Bunch of Beet Greens (I used the greens from 3 beets)
1 Bunch of Watercress
1 Yellow Squash
7 Carrots
2 Cucumbers
2 Green Apples
1 Peach


Juice the produce starting with the greens, cucumbers and other produce. 

Here is a photo of the finished product. It is not as pretty as some of my other juices. My kids wanted to know why it was a gross brown color :)

For your info, watercress has many benefits including: Anti-anemic properties, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, eye health, colon cleaner, improve thyroid function, liver detox, improves digestive function, relieves eczema and maintains healthy and strong bones. Wow. And this is just from one ingredient in this juice. 

I am going to start one of the reboot juicing programs myself this week to see how I feel. Visit www.jointhreboot.com to find programs, recipes and nutritional information about juicing from the star of Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. If you didn't receive the movie free for being a BzzAgent like I did, you can find the movie at the link above and check out his incredible story of finding health. Then you too can learn all the benefits of juicing. Let me know if you try any of the reboot programs. I would love to know how you liked it. I will be reporting on my experience at the end of the week so stay tuned!

Happy Juicing!

Why Organic Produce for Juicing?

There is a huge amount of information available today via the internet. As I change my eating habits it is sometimes difficult to know what information is vital for my success in eating the healthiest foods available to me. Juicing brings in the extra challenge to get the best produce knowing that everything in or on the produce will go into my juice and therefore into my body. With many pesticides used in the commercial production of food, I feel it is important to know how to minimize the pesticide impact on my body and my family.

The USDA, Consumer Reports and The Environmental Working Group got together and listed the produce containing the highest levels of pesticides. With this knowledge I am able to know which produce I am going to work to get from local farmers, farmers markets or organic from the grocery store. I try to buy organic, but it is not always possible for me. This list of produce consists of fruits and vegetables with the most pesticides.

• Celery
• Peaches
• Strawberries
• Apples
• Blueberries
• Nectarines
• Bell Peppers
• Spinach
• Cherries
• Kale/Collard Greens
• Potatoes
• Imported Grapes

And here is the list of produce with the lowest amounts of pesticides.

• Onions
• Avocados
• Sweet Corn
• Pineapples
• Mangoes
• Sweet Peas
• Asparagus
• Kiwis
• Cabbage
• Eggplant
• cantaloupes
• Watermelons
• Grapefruits
• Sweet Potatoes
• Honeydew melons

In my quest for information I love these lists to help me diminish the probability of pesticides harming my family and having a negative affect on our health.

Did you know? You should not put Bean Sprouts, Figs, Bananas, Avocado, Bok Choy or Mushrooms into your juicer.

This information and more can be found at www.jointhereboot.com. Although this information was provided to me free of charge along with the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead for being a BzzAgent, all opinions in my blog are my own and I feel strongly about the information presented. 

Happy Eating!

Robust Red Juice Recipe

We are back in our home after our flood...for the time being. I did not do a good job at clean eating on the run, at hotels, restaurants and relatives homes so I officially started this morning. Along with my egg white omelet, I threw together a beautiful red juice that wasn't bad. In fact, I really liked it. My husband said it wasn't bad and my kids practically spit it out :) Ha. I love how honest my kids are...most of the time. (I am very careful with the "does this make my butt look big?" questions).

I went to the store to find that they did not have organic produce. Dang! I bought what I needed, came home and put 1 part distilled vinegar into 10 parts water in the kitchen sink. I placed all my juicing ingredients into the sink and let them sit for about 10 minutes. I scrubbed the carrots and the beets with a vegetable brush then rinsed everything in cool water to get the pesticides and wax off. I think it worked well.

Here is my recipe for this morning's  

"Robust Red Juice"

2 Large Handfuls of Baby Kale (found last week at Costco)
3 Collard Green Leaves
1 Beet
6 Carrots
4 Stalks of Celery
1 Golden Delicious Apple

Being a BzzAgent I received free information and the video Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead in the mail.  I get to watch and read about juicing and give my honest opinion of the product. The video chronicles one man's juicing journey to a healthier life. In the literature I received it lists many health benefits of a variety of fruits and vegetables. From this information I found that my Robust Red Juice helps protect good HDL cholesterol, protects the liver, is a great source of vitamin A and potassium, helps with muscle relaxation (we all need some of that :), increases energy, helps prevent cramps, detoxifies, helps estrogen ratios, discourages breast cancer growth, has anti-cancer properties and provides me with many potent micro-nutrients. WOW!All that in one juice.

Try this recipe and let me know what you think. Visit www.jointhereboot.com for more juicing info.
Happy Juicing!

Juicing...Worth the Hype?

As a bzzagent I have the opportunity to try products out for free, report back about them and talk with others about how I did or did not like them. I recently had the opportunity to receive "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead" to watch and give my opinion about it.

How many of you have seen the documentary "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead"? It chronicles the life of one man who decides to take his life into his own hands. Weighing in at over 300 pounds, the realization that he is unhealthy and headed down the wrong path hits him. He can either continue down this path of self-destruction or he can do something about it and fight for his health and a better life.

He chooses the latter and begins his journey with 60 days of juicing. In the end, he is healthier, happier and an advocate of juicing and healthy lifestyles.

There is no need to jump in and do 60 days of only juicing. I think many individuals get scared thinking that they need to go to the same extremes to get any benefits. Visit this website to read about his program called the "reboot" program. The nice thing about the reboot program is that there are a number of different programs to choose from. Some are all juicing no solids while others incorporate juicing at the beginning of the day and then eating a well-balanced, healthy dinner. One program is simply as many and as much fruits and vegetables as you want. Simply click here to take an assessment to find out which program fits your lifestyle. I love that it is FREE to access these juicing and meal plans.

I am incorporating juicing into my family's 100 days of Clean Eating Challenge. My kids like juicing and it gets them to eat more fruits and especially vegetables each day.
This morning we had this juice:

Apple, Carrot, Kale and Cantaloupe Juice

1 Cantaloupe

2 Apples

2 Handfuls of Baby Kale Leaves (found at Costco)

7 Carrots

Mmmmm so good for me!

The vegetables this site recommends to juice are: Arugula, Beets, Asparagus, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Collards, Cucumber, Endive, Fennel, Garlic, Green Beans, Jerusalem artichokes, Kale, Leeks, Mustard Greens, Onions, Parsnip, Pumpkin, Radish, Sweet peppers, Romaine, Scallion, Snap peas, Spinach, Sprouts, Squash, Sweet potatoes, Swede, Swiss chard, Watercress, Zucchini and Tomato.

There are recipes, guides to what fruits to eat and general juicing facts and information. The main guideline is to eat a rainbow everyday. Make sure you get enough different colors into your diet so that you are receiving all the benefits.

The downsides to juicing are that it costs more money because lots of produce needs to be juiced and it is more time consuming to clean-up. Each time you use the juicer you must clean it up. My new juicer is much easier to clean than my old one and I have a system that works for me. I fill my sink with hot, soapy water. As soon as I am finished juicing I rinse off each part and put each piece in the soapy water. I scrub the piece with all the tiny holes in it before putting it in the water. Then after drinking my juice and getting picked up I pull each piece out, thoroughly wash them and replace the pieces for next time.

Considering the health benefits, I say incorporating juicing into the diet is worth the effort. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Happy Rebooting!