Juicing Week

Since it's our spring break week (cue the Hallelujah chorus) Jason and I have committed to doing a juicing cleanse. We are juicing 2 out of our 3 meals a day (mainly breakfast and lunch). 

We've been juicing for breakfast for the past 2 weeks and I will be the first to tell you, I wasn't excited about it--at all. But, I've really grown to like it! It's like a nice kept secret knowing that your body is getting the nutrients it needs in a very manageable, bearable, mostly tasty way.

We love the Whole Foods Store that just opened up--this is a beautiful sight! Most all of these are organic as well! If you haven't gone, you are missing out. 

The reason that we wanted to juice was so that we could get more (or any in my case) raw, leafy vegetables in us. If you know me, you know I'd rather have anything but. So this was something that really peaked my interest! It's the easiest way to directly get the nutrients that we (I) wouldn't get otherwise. 

This is what a fridge ready for a week of juicing should look like!

We are somewhat flying by the seat of our pants and using these guide lines:

a main green--kale, shards, collards, beet greens, mustard greens

then a "lesser" green--spinach, cilantro, parsley, romaine, cabbage

then a root--carrots, beets, sweet potatoes

then a fruit--apple, orange, pear, kiwi, mango

either celery or cucumber

either lemon or lime

always ginger

and we just alternate what we use for each juice, mixing it up between all of those items but having at least one (sometimes two) of each.

Some juicing tips we've learned thus far: 

lemon and lime help all of them with taste, trust me. 

juice the greens first. 

beets always change the color of the juice to red (and other things!) no matter how many greens you put in there. 

ginger is a great balance for all juices. 

mustard greens are VERY SPICY--double your fruits if your choose to use that and I recommend not having them for breakfast--you'll thank me later! 

go organic, a must since it's going straight into your body. 

buy local, if you can (we have a WONDERFUL Farmer's Market located by the coliseum).

use the "discarded materials" from the veggies/fruits for a compost pile or for some other recipes.

drink the juice as soon as you make it (after you clean the juicer) the fresher, the better. 

We got most all of our juicing information from an awesome documentary that we watched entitled "Hungry for a Change". I've also subscribed to their website and they send e-mails with free juicing recipes along with some other great information. 

Dinner tonight:

green shard, ginger, lemon, orange, carrots, romaine, and beautiful lacinato kale