Orange, Apple, Pineapple and Lemon Juice

I really enjoy my super green juices but sometimes there’s nothing more satisfying than a sweet juice, especially for breakfast. I was a little bored with my usual orange juice so I came up with this blend and added 1/4 lemon to make it tart and not overly sweet. This juice is loaded with Vitamin C and will give you energy to get (and keep) you going all day! This juice is also a crowd pleaser so feel free to make and share this juice with your family and friends. Use all organic ingredients if possible 🙂

• 3 oranges
• 1/4 pineapple
• 2 apples
• 1/4 lemon

~Juice&Enjoy!~

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Here’s a Juice, Smoothie and Salad Recipe you’ll love!

I can’t believe it’s been 2 months already of eating a mostly raw vegan diet. I’m not a big fan of labels because I don’t want to deter anyone from my main message which is that fruits and vegetables ROCK!!! The more fruits and veggies you add to your diet the healthier you will be and feel… guaranteed! I do appreciate labels though for how important they are in having discussions of any kind. In my quest to attain greater health this year, those words (raw and vegan) are the IT words. My diet has sloooooowly evolved in the past 9 years (since I read Never Be Sick Again by Raymond Francis) and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve never gone cold turkey on anything. Cold turkey does not work for me. I am much further along than most people I know who for years have quit this, that or the other, announced it to the world and sworn by everything, only to be smothered in grease on a Friday night and decide that eating healthy is too hard. Nice and slow works, no need for torture 🙂 I know my why and that keeps me going. I’ve had a few cooked non-vegan meals (one or two a week on average) since this journey began but I’m not sweating them! I am focusing on how easy and delicious it is to have simple and fast raw vegan meals! Here are 3 new recipes I made in one day. I actually wasn’t trying to create new recipes, it just happened! and then of course I thought to myself… better run and get that camera so you can share this with everyone. Enjoy folks. Every recipe was deeeeeelicous 🙂

Juice Recipe #32: Orange Glow

I love 3 ingredient juice recipes, they’re so easy! This juice was sweet and had a great zing thanks to the ginger. Remember… go for organic ingredients if possible. This recipe is very reminiscent of this ABC and ginger recipe but it tastes and looks very different. I used my Breville Juice Fountain Plus instead of the Omega J8006 for this recipe because they were all hard ingredients that the Breville just juices faster.

• 1 large golden beet (this was my first time using them and they are gorgeous)
• 5 carrots
• 1 inch of ginger

Smoothie Recipe #9: Hubby’s Fruit Medley

I have a confession. This was my husband’s creation, not mine. It is THE joy of my life that eating this way (and sharing it with others) inspires anyone, and most importantly the people I love so deeply. Hubby has become quite the smoothie maker so when he came up with this winner I knew I had to share it. If you want to do it hubby’s style just throw everything in your Vitamix (blender) in whatever proportions you like, add ‘some’ water and voila! If you’re like me, you’ll use…

• 1 mango, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup of strawberries
• 1 large banana, frozen
• 1 cup of pineapple, frozen
• 1 apple
• 1 cup of water

It doesn’t matter what fruits are fresh or frozen, I just indicated which ones I used that happened to be frozen. I particularly love using only frozen bananas for smoothies. It somehow tastes better to me.

Salad Recipe

This salad was filling and out of this world good!

• 3 large handfuls of baby kale, chopped
• 1/2 cucumber, chopped
• 1 large carrot, shredded
• 3/4 cup of broccoli florets
• 2 large handful of a variety of sprouts (garbanzo, alfalfa and bean sprouts)

Salad Dressing: 5 strawberries, 1 orange and 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar.

Ok, so balsamic vinegar is obviously not raw but I loooooove the one I have and it is fantastic for making salad dressings. The recipe would actually be just fine with only strawberries and oranges so feel free to leave it out.

~Add more fruits and vegetables to your diet, juice and enjoy!~

Visit to Whole Foods Flagship Store in Austin Texas

I took a trip to Whole Foods. Ok, so I take a trip to WF all the time. In fact, I shop at my local Whole Foods approximately once a week to stock up on my delicious organic fruits and vegetables. I really have a great time while grocery shopping there. What I experienced last month though, at the Whole Foods Flagship Store in Austin, Texas was pure bliss. I went to Austin with hubby to visit family and when the opportunity presented itself on a Saturday morning to spend an hour and a half there, I took it. I pranced out of the hotel room, programmed the GPS in the rental car and sped down those vast, open Texas highways. I have never felt more care free and excited about a solo trip. Besides hanging out with my awesome family it was the highlight of my trip so I thought I’d share it with y’all. I took these pics with my handy dandy iPhone too. Didn’t want to look to crazy with a big camera. I was two weeks into my new journey of trying to eat mostly (90% or so) raw vegan so I needed the extra inspiration.

A beautiful array of organic and local vegetables at Whole Foods in Austin, Texas

Aren’t they arranged in the prettiest pattern? I wonder if I can make mine look like that in my fridge…

Sprouted & Raw nuts and seeds. I didn’t have time to sample any but they looked delectable.

You can make your own custom trail mix! nice 🙂

Sooooooo beautiful

I got a few reusable bags for souvenirs.

It was a few days before Valentine’s day so LOVE was in the air.

Whole Foods Raw (and some organic) JUUUICE!!! They were divinely delicious. I bought 3 of them and all 3 were out of this world good. Great job Whole Foods!

I’ll be back 🙂

My all organic Sunday morning hotel room Breakfast in Austin courtesy of WF: orange juice, strawberries, blueberries and bananas. Deeeelicious :-)) Go RAW!

Anyone else been to the flagship Whole Foods store? Has anyone had a fun fruit and veggie shopping experience out of town? Please do share… 

~Shop, Juice & Feel the LOVE~

Liebster Blog Award and Juice Recipes

Dear Amelia of Frolics & Fitness,

You Rock! Thanks for the nomination and passing on the fun courtesy of the Liebster Blog Award. I appreciate it.

So, the Liebster Blog Award is actually not an award, but rather a good way to build community, connect with other bloggers and generate attention for newer bloggers. Here are the rules:

▪   Acknowledge the nominating blogger
▪   Answer 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you
▪   11 random facts about yourself
▪   List some bloggers with fewer than 200 followers that you really feel deserve a little blogging love!
▪   Let all of the bloggers know you have nominated them. You cannot nominate the blogger that nominated you!
▪   Post 11 questions for the bloggers you have nominated to answer

What made you start blogging? I love juicing and found myself having fun creating lots of recipes in my kitchen. I decided to start a blog to share my recipes with the world and selfishly use my own blog as a reference/catalog of all my creations. It is hands down one of the most fun and exciting things I have done. One of my favorite hobbies for sure!

If you had a superpower, what would it be? To make fruits and vegetables free and available for all. I know it’s corny but I’d love to be Ms. Freggie (fruit+veggie) Claus and somehow shove bags filled with a variety of fruits and veggies down all ‘chimneys’ every night in every home.

Name one thing you miss about being a kid? Not having any bills 😦

Who is the funniest person you know (of), and why? Me! I crack myself up all the time. I’m clumsy, I dance alone (a lot)…like, seriously boogie, I can remember an old joke very easily and laugh endlessly. I mean, no one can entertain me like I can.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? I live there already. I only want to live where my family is, many of my immediate family members anyway, as most of my extended family is back in Kenya. Home is where my heart is and my heart is my family for sure.

What is your main goal for 2014? To get fabulously healthier one fruit and veggie at a time.

Who is your favorite fictional character?  Nancy Drew. She rocks. Point. Blank. Period.

How do you nurture your creative side?  Read. Dance. Juice. Sing. Workout. Pray. Clean. Blog. Walk. Meditate.

What was the last book you read? 80/10/10 by Douglas Graham. Great read! The current reads are Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Becoming Raw by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina.

What do you do to unwind? I clean and I juice. I know, the juicing thing is cliche but nothing makes me happier than sipping something green in a spotlessly clean house.

11 Random Facts About Me

1. My initials are A.A. and I think it’s pretty cool
2. I used to have a ginormous Afro for a few years
3. I LOOOOOOOVE Fruits & Vegetables
4. I was born and raised in Kenya but moved to the US as a teenager with my family.
5. I am pretty obsessive about cleaning, organizing and de-cluttering.
6. I have a terrible habit of biting the skin around my nails, gross… right?
7. I have a really good memory of sequences of numbers and/or letters.
8. Talking about myself (especially trying to come up with not 1 but 11 random facts about ME) makes me really uncomfortable, feels egotistical somehow.
9. My favorite season is Autumn and I love that word… Autumn.
10. I have one sibling, a younger brother, and he lives a million miles away (in Kenya) and it makes me sad.
11. I used to be very diligent about making a list of 5 things I’m grateful for every morning and it’s the best habit I had 🙂 Starting it back up again today and it feels great.

Blogs I Nominate

• Freedom Food Journal
• Gianna’s Kitchen
• Eat to Inspire
• I Heart Beets
• Baby Steps to Better Me
• Leafy Beans

11 Questions for the Nominees

1. What was the last meal you had?
2. What are 2 or 3 your favorite non-fiction health/wellness books?
3. What is a post on your blog that you are really proud of?
4. Who/What inspires you most on your ‘healthy living’ journey?
5. What is your favorite kitchen appliance?
6. Name your top 5 favorite fruits and/or vegetables?
7. Where do you feel the most relaxed/still/at ease?
8. What is your favorite holiday and why?
9. What is the most funny/silly/embarrassing thing you’ve said or done?
10. What is your favorite workout/physical activity/exercise routine?
11. What is your main ‘healthy living’ goal for 2014?

So I can’t leave without sharing a new pic to an old green juice recipe that is definitely one of my favorites. This was 48oz of pure love and deliciousness, is that a word? Deliciousness…

and I made this too… the oh so simple ABC juice recipe. 

~Gotta LOVE Juicing!~

Updates on Week 1 of my “New Year, New Me 6 week plan”

Happy New Year everyone! Week 1 was an absolute success! Yay! A part of me was terrified that it would be painful and tortuous, which parts of it were, but overall it went really well. I don’t know why or how, but I have experienced a mental shift of some kind just like I did back in 2005 when I read Never Be Sick Again by Raymond Francis. I just know that I want to experience newer heights in my health and this 6 week plan so far has been the best way to begin this journey. Thanks to Dr. Fuhrman and his awesome book Eat to Live! I LOVE books. They say madness is doing the same thing and expecting different results, right? It’s safe to say, I’m not crazy anymore! Some would say that I’m only crazier now but what do they know? hummph!

Let me begin by saying that truly the only challenging thing about week 1 was coming up with new and interesting ways to make vegetable dishes and not including meat anywhere. There is an abundance of wonderful blogs with great recipes so I hope to remedy that by spending some time finding a handful of recipes to try each week. My main menu on a day-to-day basis this week was as follows:

• Breakfast: Green or Fruit Smoothie / Fruit Salad / Veggie Juice *this did not change for me, this has been my standard breakfast for a long time now.
• Lunch: LARGE green salad. I learned very quickly I need to make my salads larger than usual to fill me up and to change my mix-ins and dressings daily so I don’t get bored. 
• Snack: Nuts and/or Fruits *this did not change either
• Dinner: Veggie stews with sweet potato/brown rice, Bean stews, Spicy veggie medley soup

Please note that it would vary from day-to-day in that I would sometimes have the stews and soups for lunch and the large green salads for dinner. Some of the benefits I have experienced this week are that I am much more conscious about every thing I eat and feel lighter. Transit time for my meals is much faster! The best benefit I have experienced at this point is the feeling on a sub-conscious level that I am doing right by my body. I am so glad I don’t have my scale in the house right now because only God knows that if I weighed the same I would be missing out on the wonderful feeling I have that this is the beginning of a new chapter in my life. I know I mentioned my hubby was joining me on my plan but he is definitely just a cheerleader at this point! Lol! I am very ok with that though. He makes a great cheerleader. I really would have loved for him not to ‘cheer lead’ yesterday while devouring his take-out BBQ chicken in my face.

Here is a blog I found that I just love, AlmostRawVegan. Can’t wait to dig into it some more. I really love and appreciate the community of WordPress blogs. I have learned and discovered so much through them. It’s been a little while since I put up some juice recipes so you can be sure there’s a ton coming. Stay tuned!

Please share any great blogs/websites you love that focus on healthy eating below. Sharing is caring 🙂 

New Year, New Me! Here’s my 6-week plan

I’ve been a huge Dr. Joel Fuhrman fan for a very long time. He seems to always feature on many of the great health documentaries I watch on Netflix. He appears most notably in Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead and oversees Joe Cross’ journey from Fat & Sick to Healthy & Strong status post a 60 day juice fast. Joel Fuhrman is my kinda doctor. We need a trillion more of his kind. He focuses on teaching people how they can prevent or reverse disease through having a nutrient-rich diet. I finally picked up his all-time best seller Eat to Live a few months ago and I learned so much from it. It is hands down one of the best books I’ve read in a while on the topic of ‘health & wellness’ and has a lot of information that anyone can all apply to their lives.

Which brings to me to my plan for the New Year. I don’t know when the whole ‘lose-weight-and-get-healthy-in-the-new-year’ thing started but it’s great that most people decide to pay attention to their health at this time of the year. The fact that most of us don’t keep these promises to ourselves is a whole other blog post that I’m not going to write. We’re only being optimistic now, right?

Ok, so Joel Fuhrman outlines a great 6 week plan to get everyone jump started. I am counting tomorrow as my day 1 (of 6 weeks/42 days) for reasons that are too silly to list except to say that I just want it to end on Feb 10th/Day 42. The great thing about this plan is that I have a few pounds to lose but don’t have a scale in the house so no more weekly weigh-ins 😦 I gave it to my brother who needed it to weigh his luggage for a trip and I won’t pick it up till this is over. I want the focus to be on how to be even more creative in the kitchen and make incredibly tasty & healthy meals everyday and to see how my body responds to these choices. But yes, it is safe to say I probably will NOT be amused on Feb 11th if I haven’t lost a pound.

So here’s my plan, actually it’s our plan, my awesome hubby is joining in. I don’t know what came over him but I’m excited and still a bit shocked. It’s not ok to reproduce exactly what’s in the book (i.e. the 6-week plan) on this site, since he doesn’t on his website. It’ll take away from Dr. Fuhrman’s entire message for me to divulge it and I know he spent a lot of money, effort and time researching and writing to eventually create that plan. I don’t think/hope Dr. Fuhrman’s folks will come after me for talking about how awesome he is, telling you to go get your own copy of Eat to Live and telling you about the plan I have created for hubby and I that is inspired by his book and many other books I have read.

• We will pig out on all the raw & cooked fruits & vegetables our heart desires. Love that!
• 1 ounce of raw nuts & seeds daily. This’ll be a hard one for me! I love my nuts & seeds 🙂
• We will limit the amount of cooked starchy vegetables we have to about 1 cup per day. 
• Off limits for us will be ALL processed foods, flour, sugar, dairy products, animal products, alcohol and oils. 
• As the family’s juice-maid I will create juices that are mostly veggie based. Gotta keep juicing!

The plan sounds great, right? I love it, or at least the idea of it at this point. I really feel unsettled about conforming to the idea of starting a d**t in the new year. The truth is though that I constantly aspire to be healthier, stronger and like Oprah says Live my Best Life so I’m ok with it and actually very excited about it so here goes! and it really shouldn’t be too hard seeing as I have a reputation among friends for being ‘the healthy one’. What they don’t know is that I LOVE Moscato and crave spicy chicken wings ALL the time. Look out for the updates I will have on how it’s going. Pray for us, lol! No seriously, please pray… hard! 🙂

What’s your ‘get-healthier’ plan for the New Year? If you don’t have one, why not? If you’ve stuck to a plan before and achieved great results, what were they and what helped?

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Check out this great blog and a wonderful adaption of a Maple Avenue Juice recipe.

The State of Motherhood

Here is a juice recipe from Maple Avenue Juice with just a small change. I added coconut water and adapted it for the Vitamix. Definitely check out Maple Avenue Juice for other awesome juice and smoothie recipes.

Pineapple Ginger Jazz

• 2 cups coconut water
• 2 cups frozen pineapple
• 2 whole, peeled mandarin oranges
• 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled

Blend for 1 minute. Enjoy!

Makes 4 servings.

 

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Loving My New Mason Jar Lids!

I am not a home canner and really would have no idea where to begin when canning but I am definitely obsessed with mason jars, large, small and in between. They are the cheapest and safest way to store foodstuffs (as well as many other items in and around the house). I would store my juices before in plastic containers that would stain and end up smelling kinda funky no matter how much I scrubbed them. Storing foodstuffs in glass has become all the rage these past few years but the ones made for storing liquids are pretty pricey. Thank heavens for mason jars! They come with two part lids that are incredibly annoying if you don’t can so I was very happy to discover these through one of my favorite websites. I bought the Ball Wide-Mouth Plastic Storage Caps . They come in a set of 8 and cost less than 5 dollars which is an amazing deal. Happy Shopping! Here is the recipe to the juice in the picture in case you missed it before… Bright Orange Goodness.

Ball Wide-Mouth Plastic Storage Caps

~Juice and cover your jars with these!~

My juicing journey begins

My journey as a health conscious individual began in the Summer of 2005. It all began with a book I read by Raymond Francis called Never Be Sick Again. To be honest, the only reason I picked up the book while browsing the aisles of Barnes&Noble, was because of the catchy title. Thank God for that title! I was also a very sickly individual and idea of never being sick again sounded impossible. All I needed to do was think of a cold and I’d catch one. I devoured that book in a few days and…wait for it…”my life has never been the same!” I seriously hate that cheesy phrase but that’s exactly what happened to me. Since then, I read almost every book I could get my hands on, made friends with my sneakers and began an intense love affair with fruits and vegetables. This journey has been so much fun and one of the best gifts I’ve received, besides better health of course, is juicing! 

I bought my beloved Breville juice in December of 2008 after having learned of the many benefits of juicing that I will share later and have been juicing ever since. I still remember that first juice I made (carrots, kale and an apple) and how incredibly fresh and ‘alive’ it tasted. I could feel my cells thanking me. It was filling, delicious, refreshing and full of all the vitamins and live enzymes I knew my body craved. Since then, I’ve made all kinds of juices, some amazing and some down right nasty, but I’ve enjoyed every bit of the experience. 

So as this journey continues, with or preferably without a sickness every now and again, my hope is for an ever expanding health consciousness with lots of juicing along the way 🙂 

Welcome to MapleAvenueJuice!

I have created this site for the sole purpose of sharing my love of  juicing with the world.  It has brought me great joy and great health! I look forward to every post, juice, twist and turn that this journey will bring.

~Happy Juicing Everyone!~