The Early Rising Challenge has begun!
Last night I was in bed over 1 hour earlier than usual (around 11pm instead of after midnight), however I didn’t end up falling asleep until 12:30am. My body is very much on a consistent schedule, so it is going to take me a while to adjust.
Some good did come of it. I got up just after 6:30am this morning, despite getting just 6 hours of sleep. I know I am going to be dragging today, but I think the only way I will be able to get my body on a new schedule is to have a few sleep deprived days. Everything will even out. :) My reward was Baked Breakfast Cake. Mmmmmm. So worth it. Plus, I just made a huge pot of Japanese Sencha and I am going to workout + WMM2, so I think that will have me feeling energized for a long baking day!
A Kitchen Appliance Confessional
My name is Angela and I am scared of new kitchen appliances.
Cooking? Baking? Whipping up crazy recipes? I’m down. You know I thrive on that stuff.
Figuring out a new kitchen appliance that has the potential to chew my finger off? I’d rather clean my closet than open the box. [Yes, I actually cleaned out the closet when I was supposed to be unpacking the juicer! Classic Avoidance Syndrome.]
The first step is admitting you have a problem.
So here I am, coming clean to you guys today.
Remember this beautiful food processor that Eric bought me for my birthday in 2009? Well, I broke it within the first 2 minutes (trying to process soft dates). I somehow managed to convince Kitchen Aid to send me a new food processor and embarrassingly, the new processor has been sitting in the box ever since.
I have been using my old half-broken processor all this time while a new one sits in the box! Typing it out sounds absurd, actually!
However, I stand sit here before you vowing to overcome my fear. I am determined, not only to become a food processing whiz, but to master my juicer, in every way, shape, and form.
I will start with the juicer. I channeled my inner fabulous goddess, Kris Carr from Crazy, Sexy, Life. [For Kris’s thoughts on juicing read the interview I did with her here! She talks about the benefits of juicing and her favourite superfoods and juice recipe.]
Behold the Breville Juice Fountain Plus:
As you can see, I was able to figure it out! It was actually really easy.
Look OSGMOM, 10 fingers! :D
I created my very first juice!
Rainbow Sorbet Juice
Ingredients:
- 1 large field cucumber, not peeled
- 1 organic apple, cut into thirds, not peeled, stem removed
- 1 lemon, peeled
- 1 cup organic baby carrots (grocery store was out of whole organic carrots)
Directions: Juice, stir, and serve immediately! I juiced the lemon on low and the rest on high.
Tip: Put a grocery bag in the pulp container so clean up is easy.
It created this beautiful juice that looked exactly like rainbow sorbet (albeit melted) that I used to eat so much as a child!
The order I juiced was: 1) Lemon, 2) Apple, 3) Cuke, 4) Carrots
Seriously fun.
I read you are supposed to toss the big pulp pieces before baking with it. Rather than throw any pulp out, I would rather process it all in the food processor to thin it out and make it even. Or you could just throw all of it directly into a soup! I like big chunks in my soup. :)
I have big plans for this pulp, don’t you worry!
I will let you know what I make with this. Eric and I tasted some pulp and we were so surprised at how tasteless it was! The juice has ALL the taste!
The juice really is the LIFE of the produce.
It made about three of these wine glasses!
[Sorry for the bad lighting, it is dark outside and flash batteries are dead.]
I was DYING to try it. I poured the glass and took a sip…
I was instantly floored by the taste. My taste buds were literally dancing!
The apple and lemon paired so well together, however the juice was not too sweet nor too sour. Just perfect. The cucumber and carrot were lovely as well, although not as pronounced. Just perfect background flavours, if you will.
Eric even liked it himself and drank his glass. I drank two full glasses and could have drank more but my belly was about to burst.
If I could describe it in one word it would be FRESH.
It was the purest tasting juice I have ever had by far. It was fun picturing the healthy nutrients being absorbed into my blood. But maybe I am just a nerd like that!? ;)
However, no review would be complete without a couple cons:
1) The cleanup was sort of a pain. Several of the parts are dishwasher safe, but my dishwasher typically doesn’t have much room in it due to all of the dishes I use in a day! I did it by hand and then put them on a towel to air dry. No biggie.
2) It is expensive. Eric and I figured that the juice we made was at least $3-4 worth of produce. Ouch! I can’t see myself juicing every day, but I can see myself doing it 3 times per week, alternating with Green Monsters. I think if I can use the pulp in my cooking, I can justify it a little more since I am not throwing anything away. This will just get my creative wheels a spinning.
Have you ever had fresh juice before? What is your favourite recipe?
I’m so excited to experiment with all kinds of fruits and veggies. Please share your fav. combos below! I bought some beets, organic celery, and fresh ginger too. I wonder if they go together?
Off to workout my big strong heart then a full day of baking + shipping…zing, zing, zing!!! Have a great day everyone!
Try carrot/ginger. That is so yummy!! :)
I love the MM dance party reference!
2 tips on juicing and saving $$$
1) Try to hit up the discounted produce bin when possible, carrots and apples are often plentiful in there, and perfectly fine for juicing
2) instead of using a whole peeled lemon, you can use ~1/4 unpeeled lemon – the taste should be similar, and that way you get all the benefits from the skin + use less lemons
your idea of souping up the remaining veg. is great!
I haven’t tried it and I am dying to! Yours looks like rainbow sherbet. :)
Yay! Looks yummy! Am always wondering what to do with the pulp, seems like such a waste to throw it out…can’t wait to see your tips :)
I knew you would love it! I love my juicer so. It IS expensive, but I combat it (slightly) by not only cutting down on juicing around 3-4x a week, but usually mostly vegetables (which tend to be cheaper than fruit) and just a little fruit for sweetness.
xoxo
Kris
Anytime I think of juicers, I think of one a past step-father had purchased. Nothing fancy and apparently that meant no fancy (or tasty) juices either. LOL
I love making a juice with apple, Romaine or kale, ginger, and lime! So spicy and delicious!
WOW! Looks and sounds yummmy! I’ve never tried juicing but this makes me want to. Another item for my “wish list”.
Diana
i’ve actually never had fresh juice! I really want to try it, but it’s always so expensive at restaurants.
couple questions – do you think you’re getting all the nutrients/benefits you would be if you just ate the fruit/vegetables by themselves? What about fiber, etc that is in the skin? I’ve always been curious about that.
Leaving the fiber out makes the juice much easier for your system to digest, and therefore easier for your body to absorb the nutrients. Your body just has to work less.
I have a small Breville juicer someone gave us for the wedding but it is still in the box. I already do so many dishes! I don’t feel like adding more. I bet that will change this summer though.
Ohh I’ve been wanting to try juicing! Does it fill you up?
I am so jeolous! I wish I had a juicer. I was drooling looking at your juice pics.
I love apple and celery together and sometimes apple, celery, carrots, cucumber!!! It’s very refreshing and I drank them all the time back in high school when I wouldn’t eat any veggies. I did love juice though :)
I got a food processor for Christmas and it’s like it’s too exciting, I haven’t taken it out of the box either.
And I went to bed early last night wanting to wake up at 6am but I slept until 8, not a good idea, so busy!
I saw a recipe for crackers made from pulp not too long ago. I would love to see you try that! If there is a way to make that taste good, it would be such an exciting grain-free cracker option!
I was about to comment the same thing. :-) I think I saw it on Kath’s blog?
I would love to have a juicer someday! :)
I juice daily, sometimes twice per day. It is exepensive but I have already seen wonderful benefits from it. I do like your idea to line the pulp container with a bag and then use the leftover pulp. I can’t wait to see what you do with it.
Mmmm…I love fresh juice..but I know that it can be a mess!
Sorr you have so much trouble falling asleep– that is SO frustrating :-(
I love juicing! My usual recipe is:
1/2 cucumber
5-6 kale leaves
1/2 – 1 apple
1/2 lemon
1″ fresh ginger
1/2 beet
So so so good!
For the pulp, you can make crackers, breads and macaroons. I’d recommend checking out the blogs “Soap and Chocolate” and “Choosing Raw” for some good suggestions.
I love juice! It’s cheaper for me b/c I get 90% of my fresh produce from Costco in bulk. A 20 lb bag of carrots and a 10 lb bag of apples will make a lot of juice!