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.