For someone who does art and is working on a new healthy life... what's not to love about this beautiful bowlfull of goodness ready to juice!? The natural pigments in some of this stuff blows my mind... I'm such a newbie...
- Apples go in almost everything - they cut the dirt taste or the bitterness of some of the dark leafies
- Carrots and celery have a very strong taste, so if you're concerned about the taste...
- Regarding the taste - I kind of crave it now, like this morning I didn't have my juice. BUT if you have an aversion to chugging a glass of green goop with some froth on top and might smell (see below in the list), a straw is brilliant, gets you several servings of so-good-for-you veggies FAST, and you don't taste much!
- Regarding the smell - broccoli doesn't juice real great. And it will smell up the fridge if you have juiced enough for 3 days.
- Ginger, fennel, and aloe gel are good cleansers (from my research and verified by the girl at Natural Grocers ringing me up the other day asking if I was juicing for a reason - I mean they know all of this already just by what you're buying, love that - I mentioned a detox/cleanse. Her response was "Ohhhh, that explains the ginger") By the way, you can freeze ginger (I wash it and cut it into 1" chunks), but it needs to be thawed prior to juicing, otherwise it becomes a bullet as it shoots straight at you bouncing right out of the juice shoot.
What's worked (and not) as far as planning a healthy diet:
- Buying organic is expensive, so I make every root and leaf count. Because most of it is juiced, I buy what's on sale and just toss it all in, worrying (or not!) about the taste later. And to not waste a bit, I'm composting all the left over pulp - planning for my home-grown veggies started in the window sill soon to be in the ground.
- I'm in Kansas City here and there and stock up on the organic offerings of Trader Joe's, prices are much better. I have heard some interest in making a big buy with orders from individuals when I go, can't imagine the amount of bags and transportation that would require... I heard about someone doing that with IKEA, taking orders from several people a few weeks before going to shop in person... Hmm. Another business venture?
- I don't mind that my fresh produce rots within a few days - it tells me it has not been coated with preservatives to make it last. And it forces me to use it up - sauces, juices, salads, SOME produce and herbs freeze okay, still trying to learn what does and what does not freeze well. As always, open to suggestions.
- I'm attempting to compile all my new knowledge of food into a concept (a book by the same name) "Once a Month Cooking" - my first go at it lasted about 4 and a half weeks, with leftovers for lunch on several days. My 2nd go hasn't really gone yet, I did meals last weekend for about 5-7 days but need to PLAN a big shopping trip and assembly day. PLAN is the key word here, also a rather new concept for me, and a flat-out foreign word for my family, bless them.
- Juicing makes a big mess, and it's a pain to clean out all the parts, but you have to to keep the juicer juicing, new juicers are really expensive. So I have tried juicing enough to last 3 days or so and storing it in the fridge in a sealed big bottle. Seems to work okay, but I seemed to have some un-necessary "cleansing" this week, so I may have ingested some expired concoction. *Sorry to be so out there, but that is partly the name of this game I'm learning*
