Friday, October 3, 2014

Juicing!

Bringing in a new kitchen appliance is a huge deal in the 300 square foot condo I share with my boyfriend.  Recently, after a few months of persuasion, I finally convinced the boyfriend it would be worth the space to buy a Breville “Fountain Crush” Masticating Slow Juicer.  I have TMJ (I grind my teeth at night when I’m stressed out and it has messed up my jaw), and it’s hard for me to spend a lot of time chewing foods such as raw carrots, celery, and other hard vegetables are tough.  Having lots of fresh veggies is really important to your health for many reasons, but I’ve become particularly concerned about getting rid of free radicals in my body as I’ve heard about so many young, otherwise healthy people getting cancer.

Juicing seems to be one of those things that sound like a good idea, but many people end of buying one and only using it a few times.  It takes some time to prepare the vegetables, put them through the juice, and then clean the juicer.  I’d say about 20 minutes per batch I make.  I’ve heard people say they feel like they are wasting a lot of food, but it depends on the food (greens have almost no waste, carrots have a lot) and what you do with the leftovers (compost, cook).  Another issue is cost.  Even with some good deals at the Farmer’s Market and Trader Joe’s, it’s expensive to get quality ingredients, but it’s a lot less expensive than buying them at the supermarket.

Here are my favorite four recipes so far:

Green Lemonade:

·         1 Head Romaine Lettuce

·         4 Leaves Kale

·         1  (1/2 inch) Piece of Ginger

·         1 Apple

·         1 Lemon

The original recipe calls for 2 apples, but I’m fine with 1

Apple, Carrot, Ginger:

·         2 Apples

·         8 Carrots

·         1 (1/2 inch) Piece of Ginger

Just like it sounds.

Beet Basic:

·         2 Beets

·         2 Carrots

·         1 Apple

·         1 Orange

·         1 Stick Celery

·         1 (1/2 inch) Piece of Ginger

Watermelon Delight:

·         2 Cups Watermelon

·         ½ Cup Raspberry