Make a Green Juice and Feel Better NOW

Do you desire greater health? YES! YES! YES!

Are you constantly making excuses? YES (It’s too cold, I’m too tired etc)

Is there always something seemingly more important to do in the moment? YES (fold the laundry, pay bills, clean the kitchen, buy groceries etc)

I figured I’d just answer the questions for myself. I’ve somehow put so many other things ahead of the list in my life when all I really wanted to do was just make and enjoy a homemade organic green juice. So while I stare at the pile of laundry next to me I’m sipping my green juice, blogging and feeling happy. Making and drinking green juice as I usually do, in the quiet of my home, early in the morning, has an extremely cathartic effect on me. I feel calm, refreshed and approach all the tasks of my day in a more relaxed manner. All the noise that was going on in my head about all the things that need to get done today that was truly making me feel overwhelmed is gone! All I did to make it stop the ‘noise’ was to do something I love that took less than 15 minutes from start to finish. So while I think everyone should make a green juice especially because it sets the tone to make healthier choices the rest of the day, the moral of the story is to just hit the PAUSE button as soon as your day begins and perform a task that is calming. For me, this morning, it was prayer and a green juice, what will it be for you?

Here are 2 green juice recipes that hopefully inspire you to take time for yourself each morning so you can feel better NOW 🙂

• Cucumber (1)
• Celery (2-3 stalks)
• Apple (2 apples)
• Lemon (1)
• Romaine Lettuce (1 head/heart)

Green juice recipes don’t get easier than this…

• Celery (3-4 stalks)
• Apple (2-3 apples)
• Lemon (1)
• Spinach (2 large handfuls)

 

~Make and enjoy a green juice for a better start to your day!~

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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!~

9 New Juice Recipes from my vacation in China

I spent last week on vacation in China. Yup! I said China. My beloved cousin/sister-from-another-mother/BFF/maid-of-honor/ok… I think y’all get it, lives there. There is simply no other reason I would go to China. Don’t get me wrong, I love to travel, but my preference is almost always to go to a place with sun, white sand, clear blue waters and cute English-speaking beach boys. That aside, I had THE time of my life! I thoroughly enjoyed my stay there (Shanghai and Nanjing) and took time to really soak in all the sights and sounds. China is a beautiful country, with a fascinating history and is quite the experience when it comes to food. As it pertains to this blog, I am so excited to share with you the incredibly delicious juices I enjoyed during my 6 day adventure there.

I did not look for all the great juice bars my cousin and I came across. They were simply everywhere. Everywhere. In malls, train stations, the airport and were street shops on busy roads. It was such an incredibly exciting find for a juice-lover like me. All the juices were affordable and ranged in price from $2-$4.

As soon as I arrived in Nanjing from Shanghai, with luggage in hand at the train station we came across this juice bar. My excitement was palpable. I thought I’d died and gone to juice heaven. He had what looked like an Omega VERT 350 and a Vitamix. Some of the juice recipes were combos of fruits juiced and then blended in the Vitamix i.e. my first juice was apple and mango. He juiced the apples and then blended the juice in the Vitamix with the mango. I hardly ever do this at home because I only want to clean one appliance but this juice was such a delicious treat and I appreciated his effort to make my first juice in China!

LEFT: Apple and Mango 

RIGHT: Orange, Pear and Lemon

Our second juice bar encounter was in Fashion Lady Shopping Center. We got our juices much faster at this juice bar because they had everything prepped and sitting in many different stainless steel bins waiting to be juiced/blended. They were both super tasty!

LEFT: Papaya and Orange (the oranges were juiced and then blended with the papaya)

RIGHT: Watermelon and Strawberry (this was just blended)

Our third juice bar experience was in a mall. I got to finally enjoy a green juice, I noticed that almost all the juice bars had recipes with just fruit which is ok because it’s better than no juice but I was craving something green and was thrilled to find cucumber on the menu. We enjoyed…

LEFT: Apple and Grapefruit

RIGHT: Carrot, Apple and Pear

BELOW (green juice): 2 Cucumbers and 1 Lemon, I actually paid attention to the proportions when they were making this one:-)

It was nice to see that they used my first and one of my favorite juicers, a Breville Juice Fountain Plus.

Our fourth and last juice bar encounter was on my second to last day in China. It was the perfect breakfast!

LEFT: Orange and Mango

RIGHT: Watermelon and Mango

Anyone travel to a city/country with lots of juice bars? Kindly share… 

~Juice, Travel & Be Merry!~

NEW Juicer Alert! Omega J8006 and Birthday Joy

I’m in love. Yes, love. It feels real. It’s the new kind. The one that makes you skip, hop and sing. I can’t believe it. I’m telling everyone and anyone that cares (or doesn’t) about the new love of my life. She’s shiny and new, sturdy and strong, sleek and sexy! She does a whole lot but I honestly just care that she juices.

It’s the month of my birthday and I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than to get a new juicer. After months of research, which pretty much consisted of reading reviews and watching YouTube videos, I finally decided on purchasing the Omega  J8006 masticating juicer. I have owned my beloved Breville Fountain Juice Plus for 5 years now and it has served me more than well. I purchased it for $120 at Macy’s (with a coupon) in December of 2008. I unfortunately began to notice over the past few months that my pulp was getting wetter and wetter which meant wasted nutrients and money! Not cool. I am beyond thankful for my beloved Breville and for the little bit it cost me, it has rewarded me with great health and for that there is no price! I will more than likely still use my Breville from time to time but for now the star in my kitchen is my Omega J8006 masticating juicer.

Feel free to check out my post on Types of Juicers to get a simple rundown on the different kinds of juicers, their pros and cons, price points and what juicer will probably work best for you.

After only having experienced a centrifugal juicer, I knew I had to try something different. I purchased the Omega J8006 at Bed, Bath & Beyond for $239 with the 20% off coupon you can sign up for online and receive in the mail. It normally retails for $299. Thanks BBB, gotta love a deal 🙂 🙂 🙂 The Omega J8006 is sooooooo much better at juicing leafy greens and clean up is a breeze because the parts are so much smaller. My first juice recipe with my new juicer had to be the first juice recipe I ever posted on this blog (most popular one too) and one of my favorites, Grapefruit & Apple Juice Recipe.

Here she is…

~Happy Birthday to me & Happy Juicing!~

2 Green Juice Recipes #26 and #27

Here are 2 new green juice recipes. One is light and sweet and the other is tart and has a stronger ‘green’ flavor. Both are equally delicious and of course full of nutrients that are bound to leave you feeling clean & much healthier. Use organic ingredients if possible. Each recipe makes approximately 16 ounces of green juice.

Recipe # 1: Cleansing Green Juice

• 1 large cucumber
• 5 celery stalks
• 2-3 apples
• 1/2 lemon (you can juice with the peel on)

All the celery (a powerful diuretic) in this juice makes it a great cleansing juice recipe!

Recipe #2: Tart & Zing Green Juice

• 2-3 mustard green leaves (they are pretty bitter so use with caution)
  
• 1/2 inch of ginger, no need to peel!
• 2 apples
• 3 celery stalks
• A handful of cilantro

Adding ginger to a juice definitely boosts its anti-inflammatory power, strengthens the immune system & improves circulation. It also gives the juice that ‘zing’ flavor!

~Juice & Enjoy!~

Juice Recipe #25: Three Greens Juice and Juicing Tips

I LOOOOVE having a day off. I mean, who doesn’t? Nothing inspires me more to create delicious and healthy recipes like having a day off spent ONLY at home. My internal alarm/bladder woke me up at 5:40am which I was very upset about but I turned my frown upside down and found about four more hours of blissful sleep. I then woke up feeling refreshed and of course ready to have a fresh organic raw homemade green juice! I generally make smoothies when I’m headed to work and juice on my days off. Today’s juice had to be simple, green and as always yummy! Here are a few tips to make your juicing process far more enjoyable.

• Line the pulp container with a plastic baggie that you would usually get at a grocery store. It saves on clean up time! 
• ALWAYS clean all the parts of the juicer immediately after juicing. It makes for an easier clean up and extends the life of your juicer. Dried-on pulp on your juicer’s parts is not the business!
• If you’d love to have juice for breakfast and would like to save time in the morning then clean your produce the night before. 
• Always keep your juice recipes simple. Unless you’re nuts like I am at times and want to make an ‘everything’ juice and an ‘everything’ green juice. I try to keep my recipes under 5 ingredients. You really don’t want to know what celery, ginger, carrot, beet, tomato, apple, garlic, kale, lemon and collard juice tastes like, trust me! My everything juices were beyond delicious though 🙂 There was a method to that madness.

So back to today’s juice. Here are the ingredients:

• 4 large organic celery stalks
• 2 organic granny smith apples
• 1 organic romaine heart

~Juice & K.I.S.S. (Keep it Simple Sweetie)~

Do you have any other tips? Do share…

Juice Recipe #20: Bright Orange Goodness

So I made 32 ounces of Bright Orange Goodness as I’m calling it to have for breakfast tomorrow. I prefer to drink my juices immediately after making them for many reasons…

• that’s when they taste the best/super fresh!
• they are just the right temp for me, not too cold and not too warm. I’m one of those “water with no ice please” people. A few juices tend to taste better chilled or on ice though.
• and most importantly, they haven’t began to oxidize yet. Juices are loaded with the most live enzymes, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals immediately after. So if juicing strictly for health is your thing, the best way to store them is not to! 🙂

We don’t live in a perfect world though so because I have to get up at an ungodly (5:30am) hour to get ready for work tomorrow and every minute of sleep is worth more to me than my first born child (that I don’t have yet), I juice the day before sometimes. Sssshh!! Don’t tell the juice gods. But do tell about this awesome recipe when you try it. Go with organic veggies and fruits whenever possible but if you had to pick only two (heehee!) go with the celery and apples. They are always at the top of the naughty list for being super high in pesticides.

• 4-5 organic carrots
• 2 organic fuji apples
• 8-10 organic celery stalks
• 1/2 an organic lemon

~Juice, enjoy and store only if you have to!~

PS: Fill your container all the way to the top with your juice if you’ll be storing it to minimize the amount of air and therefore oxidation of your juice.

Juice Recipe #19: Green Juice aka My Sunday Snack

Here’s a new green juice recipe I made this weekend that I absolutely enjoyed and wasn’t too ‘green’ tasting. While I can usually tolerate the greenest of juices I realize many can’t, especially those new to juicing. So in an effort to convert as many people to my green-juice-loving cult I am making an effort to create veggie and fruit recipes that are light, tasty and refreshing. This recipe fits that bill to a T!

• 2-3 really large handfuls of romaine lettuce
• 1 green apple
• 1 large head of broccoli
• 1/2 lemon

This should make somewhere between 14-16 ounces. I’ll definitely be making this recipe over and over again.

~Juice and Enjoy!~

PS: I called it my Sunday snack because I drank it this afternoon/evening while trying to figure out what to make for dinner. It filled me up and kept me thinking straight so I could make a healthy choice. Yay Juice!

Juice Recipe #17: My ‘Everything’ Juice

I woke up this past Saturday morning and was doing my usual browsing on YouTube for inspiring juicing videos when I came across a video titled Juice Recipe for Perfect Health and Radiant Beauty. I really enjoy watching the Life Regenerator’s videos on YouTube and was particularly inspired by it. In the video he makes his own ‘everything’ juice because he’s moving (I have got to learn how to add videos to this blog! I’m such a newbie). I enjoy juicing any time of day and any day of the week but my absolute favorite is on a Saturday morning. Interestingly enough, this is how my mother juices ALL the time. She has no rhyme or reason to her juice ‘recipes’. She literally just throws whatever she has in her fridge into her juicer and somehow creates pretty tasty concoctions. I have absolutely never made a juice before with so many ingredients or as I’m calling it… an ‘everything’-I-have-in-my-fridge juice. I had lots of fruits and veggies that were super ripe so this was the perfect excuse to juice and then go grocery shopping!

Here are my ingredients and pictures of the finished product. Of course I had beets so the final product red.

My ingredients included: beets, carrots, broccoli, celery, apples, pineapple, grapefruit, lemon and grapes. I made 72 ounces of juice that I spent the next day and a half drinking. Yum 🙂

         

The best part about my ‘everything’ juice is that it ended up tasting EXACTLY like the tree tomato fruit which I have never seen here in the US but grew up eating and enjoying in Kenya. It tastes sweet, tart and sour all at the same time. Is tart and sour the same thing? LOL! I have no idea. Anyway,  It was a beautiful and nostalgic moment when I tasted my juice. It reminded me of the abundant and wonderful childhood I had as I was always surrounded by the freshest tasting fruits and vegetables. Until the time comes when I can go back ‘home’ and enjoy a tree tomato fruit and more importantly the company of my friends and extended family I will have my ‘everything’ juice. Thank God for my ‘everything’ juice.

~Juice ‘everything’ and enjoy!~

Juice Recipe #13: Evening Regulator by Cherie Calbom and Maureen Keane

Here’s the second new juice I made today from Juicing for Life by Cherie Calbom, M.S. and Maureen Keane, M.S., C.N.

Evening Regulator

• 2 organic apples, seeded
• 1 organic pear

This recipe is simple and sweet! It’s fantastic over ice. I have actually developed an affinity for my veggie juices so I consider my all-fruit juices a treat and try not to make them too often but when I do boy do I enjoy them. 🙂

~Happy Juicing!~