Veggie Juice at Whole Foods- and you can customize it!

In the middle of Day 23.  Did a nice grocery shopping this morning before church, so I'm set for a few days!

Yesterday was one of those days when the groceries are running scarce around the house, and you have a 1,000 projects in action.  I have avoided as much as possible buying juice out, but in the early evening I acquiesced and stopped by Whole Foods, the natural grocery store.

Whole Foods has a fresh juice bar, which includes a great assortment of veggies:  kale, spinach, parsley, ginger, celery, garlic, beets, carrots; and a few others I cannot recall.   They have a few mixes of their own on the menu, but the "real deal" is they let you customize your own, and it's all one price.  The 16oz is $6.99 ~ kinda hefta in terms of a glass full of veggie juice, but a lot less than eating out, which I have not been doing, and it kept me on track in terms of my green juice needs.


So, now we have Robeks and Whole Foods, who will juice veggies or fruit for you; and Jamba Juice and Smoothie King, with fruit juices and minimal veggie options.  

All offer wheatgrass shots, and Whole Foods will sell you a tray of wheatgrass for $15.

Don't Try This at Home, Folks!

Boy, I've been underwater busy this week!  It's been my first full week back to work with all the people around, lunches out (I don't go), and more.  Most challenging week ever.  

18 total pounds lost to date (as of Saturday morning)
Finished Day 21 as of end of day Thursday

I have juice for 2 meals a day, and vegetables in some form for the third.  I have added some cooked vegetables to my diet, and started making Miso soup for myself, as I felt a weird craving for it (I was guessing the protein from the tofu?).  All of the ingredients are "approved" for the juicing phase, except the tofu.  I checked the Reboot food list for "After Your Reboot", and the tofu in the Miso soup is on that list.  So I made some and it was awesome.  It adds about 1.5 oz tofu protein to my day.  My weight loss has slowed, likely as a result of adding these things, and insufficient exercise, but I am not going to complain.

Sistah Sandi shared a link with me today, reminding us that Mango Skin is to be Eaten.  So put that in your juicer!

Stupid Juicer Tricks 

A few days ago I performed an ill-advised experiment.  I took my usual apples, and added some cut up fruit, leftover from dinner the night before.  Bad Idea.

As soon as the fruit hit the blade of the juicer, a bunch of it flew out and hit the kitchen cabinets.   I looked inside the waste receptacle and saw that the fruit was not quite unscathed, but certainly not juiced.  

I pulled it out, and juiced the apples.  Then, I added the cut up fruit to the apple juice, and used my immersion blender to blend the fruit in. It was quite tasty!

The photographic record is below:

Fruit before I put it into the juicer

Nothin' but cut up fruit!

Juice, before I used my immersion blender to blend in the cut up fruit

Starting Day 18

Here's my weight loss as of this morning:  16 lbs! More recipes and info will be added later today.

Day 16... Down 15 pounds! And 3 new recipes

I'm quite pleased.

It's been a busy week for me.  I wasn't sure how the juice fast would go, but at the end of everyday I look at what's in the fridge, make sure what I need is there, and think about how much longer I can or want to do this.  


After finishing 2 full weeks, I can see myself completing a month, or 30 days.  I'm not certain I will, so for now, I'm aiming for 21 days.


I feel OK.  I kinda miss coffee, but I am not tempted to grab my husband's morning cup out of  his hands.  Yesterday I was around a lot of Diet Coke, and I missed it, but was OK with a caffeine-free Passion Tea from Starbucks.

RECIPE NEWS!

Today I added a banana to my morning juice.  My older children were out of town for a couple weeks, and when they returned they watched "Fat Sick and Nearly Dead" with me, and now are converts. As they are teenagers, fasting is not advised for them, but they are interested in drinking juices with me!  That's 5 out of 5, my friends!

DON'T PUT A BANANA IN YOUR JUICER!  

Here's how you incorporate a banana into your fresh juice: 

1. Juice all of your prepared fruits and/or vegetables.
2. Peel your banana.
3. Using an immersion blender:  Add banana to juice pitcher.  If not enough room, pour off some of the juice into a cup to avoid overflow.  Pulse/blend a few times to liquify banana.  Or: A regular blender:  Pour prepared juice into blender pitcher.  Add banana, run for about a minute to fully process banana.

I highly recommend an immersion blender, if you do not already have one. I use my all the time. I've had two: a Cuisinart, which lasted about 8 years, and now a Waring. I use it when making sauces, soups, and now adding "non-juicer" friendly stuff to my juice-fast drinks. Here are a 2 examples. Click on the photos below for more info:  

Waring Professional Immersion Blender $37-$40

Cuisinart 200 watt SmartStick Blender About $28-$30

It even comes in Pink and Turquoise!

ANYWAY, here are 3 new recipes that I made yesterday and this morning:

Summer Sweet Breakfast Invigorating and Refreshing

1 big handful of spinach leaves 1 clementine orange 5 nectarines 4 large Granny Smith apples 1 lemon, including skin 1 thumb-size piece of ginger 100 ml coconut water (at the end to rinse all remaining juice out of the juicer) Yield: 1100 ml (2 servings) I added a small dash of nutmeg to mine.   Household Votes: I liked it, my two teen daughters loved it, and my 10-year old hated it.

Day's End Juice Easy Drinking Mild Blend

This was a very mild, almost bland mix.  I actually liked it, as a break from some of the bold green flavors.  1 big handful of spinach leaves 2 Kale leaves 1/2 cucumber 1 small apple, Gala 4 small carrots 2 stalks celery 1 big handful of parsley 1 large chunk of ginger 100 ml coconut water (at the end to rinse all remaining juice out of the juicer) Yield: 600 ml (1 serving) I added a small dash of cumin and salt to mine.

Banana Blast Breakfast Sweet and Different

1 big handful of spinach leaves 4 skinny carrots 6 large Granny Smith apples 1 lemon, including skin 1 thumb-size piece of ginger 1 banana (not pictured) 100 ml coconut water (at the end to rinse all remaining juice out of the juicer) Juice everything EXCEPT the banana.  Put the banana into the juice mix, and pulse it a few times with the immersion blender to liquify.  Serve Yield: 1250 ml (2 servings) Household Votes: I liked it, Loved by all.

End of Day 14

Today is the end of day 14 of my juice fast.  I am sticking with it, repeating recipes I've made earlier.

I need to weigh myself and update my stats.  Overall I feel OK, and am unsure how much longer I will fast.

A favorite recipe

6 carrots
2 Granny Smith apples
1 lemon, peel on
1 bunch kale
1 quart strawberries
1 cucumber
½ bunch cilantro

Yield: 1650 ml
Taste: Exceptional



I finally started keeping track of quantity and yield on day 6, and this was the first. I am going to make this again tomorrow, as I really loved this combination.

2 Keepers- an Awesome Juicing Day

When it comes to making "Keeper" recipes... well, it helps when you've just gone to the grocery.

Last night I picked up a variety of ingredients for the next few days.  I learned a lot last week, and made varied choices in limited quantities, to ensure freshness and stave off boredom.

The juices made today were particularly delicious.  My sister and I assembled them together-- think of the old adage "two heads are better than one".  She suggested things that I wouldn't normally do, and I did the same.  The results are these two awesome recipes that I think you will make again and again.

Morning Eye Opener Approx 1/2 Mango couple chunks pineapple handful spinach 3 apples 2 clementine oranges 6 carrots small handful parsley bunch of cilantro stems cinnamon and nutmeg (optional) coconut water Yield: 900 ml juice, 100 ml coconut water: 1000 ml (2 full servings) Particularly delicious blend.

Sunshine in a Glass 'cuz that's what it tastes like I could drink this everyday.

1/2 bunch of kale 4 celery stalks 5 carrots 1 apple ½ small beet 1 lemon, including skin ½ jalapeño ¼ bunch parsley ⅓ bunch cilantro 2 tomatoes, seasoning to taste 100 ml coconut water Yield: 1100 ml (2 servings)