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!~

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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!~

Juice Recipe #21: Thanksgiving Juice

I can’t believe I haven’t had a single post since right before Storm Sandy came and turned mine and so many other people’s lives around. I pray for those whose lives will never be the same again and it is admirable to see the country come together to help in any way possible.  Like so many of you Thanksgiving is truly one of my favorite holidays and in the spirit of gratitude for all that we have, are and can do I would like to take the time to list 5 things that I am beyond grateful for.

1. The idea and inspiration to begin this blog this year. Eating and Living well is my life’s passion and this blog has been a wonderful channel for expressing that. Thank you World Wide Web, thank you Word Press, thank you Breville Juice Fountain Plus, thank you Olympus Pen epl1 and thank you Veggie Markets.

2. Thank you to every follower, reader and ‘liker of my posts’. Thank you for validating my work and taking the time to support my blog and sharing in the excitement that a little homemade juice can bring.

3. There are no words to express how grateful I am for the strength and health that I have had this year. I have gone the entire year without so much as a sniffle. This time last year I was suffering from my umpteenth cold, couldn’t breathe and felt like death warmed over. Yup! It was that bad. Health is our Wealth.

4. I am thankful with every breathe that I take for my AMAZING family but most importantly my beloved husband. He is my rock, my #1 fan and my best friend. I am grateful that he tastes almost every one of my kitchen creations and gives me feedback that is sometimes a bit too honest 🙂

5. I am thankful for this juice recipe I created last week while feeling mooshy and happy inside. It awoke my taste buds and got me excited to juice like crazy again.

• 2 cups of pineapple, chopped
• 2 oranges, peeled 
• 1/2 an inch of a ginger root

~Juice and Give Thanks!~

Types of Juicers

I was so eager to get this blog started and begin sharing the wonderful new juice recipes I was creating in my kitchen that I completely forgot to go over a few basics that anyone new or old to juicing might like to read about. I remember how hungry I was (and still am) for information in the beginning of my juicing journey. Having said that I would like to take the time to discuss very simply and clearly the three main types of juicers along with their pros and cons.

CENTRIFUGAL JUICERS

This is by far the most popular and most affordable type of juicer on the market. These juicers have a round disc with sharp blades that grind the vegetables and fruits as you push them through, allowing the juice through the sieve and out the spout while discarding the pulp on the opposite end into a container.

 Pros

• most affordable (price range is about $40-$300).
• high RPM which makes them the fastest
• they have a wide mouth/large feeding tube which means you don’t have to chop up your fruits and veggies too much or at all.
• produce a pulp free high-yield juice

Cons

• not so great at juicing leafy greens
• can be quite loud
• they have several (some quite bulky) parts to clean. I place a plastic baggie in my pulp container before I begin juicing which makes for one less part to clean up. I also clean the other parts immediately after juicing and before enjoying my juice.
• The shredder/grinding disc spins incredibly fast which means the juice begins to oxidize. Try to always drink your juice immediately and store only if you must regardless of what juicer you use.

I own a Breville Juice Fountain Plus that I purchased in December of 2008 for $120 (with my Macy’s coupon).  Check out the first green juice recipe I ever made with it. This is the one and only juicer I have owned and it has NEVER given me a problem. I use it several times a week and the only con that sometimes makes me want to get a new juicer is the fact that it is just ‘ok’ with leafy greens. Otherwise, I love my juicer, take good care of it and feel eternally grateful for the abundance of health that has come my way because of what it can do!

Here is my Breville Juice Fountain Plus today…

MASTICATING JUICERS

These are single gear juicers and tend to be more expensive than centrifugal juicers. They work by slowly grinding vegetables and fruits and then squeezing the juice out.

Pros

• great at juicing leafy greens, including wheatgrass
• easier to clean than centrifugal juicers
• can make nut butters and fruit sorbets
• not as loud as centrifugal juicers

Cons

• they are more expensive than centrifugal juicers and range from about $200-$400
• they are much slower than centrifugal juicers
• they have a smaller feeding tube and therefore veggies and fruits need to be cut up quite a bit to get them through

After doing a bit of research if I wanted to purchase a masticating juicer I would get the Omega Vert VRT350. They seem to have great reviews across the web, have a 10 year warranty and are upright which means they take up less counter space!

TRITURATING (TWIN-GEAR) JUICERS

These juicers also work by grinding and pressing the juices out except they have an even slower RPM and double the gears to produce the highest quality juices a juicer can make.

Pros

• able to juice any and all kinds of produce including leafy greens and wheatgrass exceptionally well
• produce an incredibly high quality juice that barely undergoes any oxidation or exposure to heat.
• produce extremely dry pulp
• fairly quiet

Cons

• most expensive and can range from $500-$2500
• take the longest to make juice but good things come to those who wait, right?
• have several parts to clean that can be a bit of a hassle.

Check this out to see what I consider to be the Rolls Royce of juicers. They cost a pretty penny but they definitely get the job done exceedingly well.

Remember, the BEST juicer for you is simply two things:

• the one you can afford
• the one you will use

~Happy Purchasing and Juicing!~

What juicer do you own and what kind is it? Do you agree or disagree with these pros and cons? Do you have a ‘dream’ juicer? 

My beloved juicer (Breville Juice Fountain Plus) and my Virgin Green Juice Recipe

I took this picture the day I bought it (as a Christmas present to myself :-)) back in December 2008.  Hands down, it is my favorite kitchen appliance and the best self-gift ever 🙂 As for the first juice I made…well…it was love at first sip!

Here’s my Virgin Green Juice Recipe

• 3 organic kale leaves
• 4 organic carrots
• 1 organic granny smith apple, seeded

Do you remember your first?