When my 26th birthday was approaching a few weeks ago, John asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I'd been pining for a juicer and once I agreed to find room for it in our apartment (1 bedroom apartments aren't always the best for storing loads of kitchen appliances), he ordered me one and within 48 hours, it had arrived!
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| My first homemade juice! Beet, apple, and kale |
I have read quite a bit about juicing vs. smoothies and while I love making smoothies for breakfast (easy way to get loads of veggies and fruits), I love a cold, refreshing juice when I can. Juicing allows you to get tons of nutrients and vitamins in an easy and concentrated way, but with that, you are losing out on the produce's fiber. So far, I've been making both smoothies and juices in order get the health benefits of both.
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| Swamp juice aka kale, carrots, and blood oranges |
When people hear about juicing, they think about juice cleanses. I, personally, enjoy chewing my food far too much to ever do a real juice cleanse. I tried a one day cleanse when a friend who worked at a juice company sent me coupons, but by mid-day, I was missing chewing and downright hungry. While food should be about nutrients and vitamins, it also for me is about experience. I love cooking or baking, sitting down to a meal, relaxing, and chewing. Instead of cleansing, I've been enjoying a fresh, cold juice first thing in the morning, normally after a work out. I've even gotten the boyfriend to enjoy the veggie-packed juices! We have used it to make mixers for alcoholic drinks, but if you're going to have a mixer, why not make it fresh?
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The foam on top of this grapefruit, orange, romaine, and
mint juice was so pretty! |
Overall, this has been an awesome birthday present and I love using it.
Have you tried juicing? Thoughts about it?
I do carrot, celery, and green apple! It's delish and the tartness of the green apple means I can barely taste the celery (which I normally avoid). Wins all around!
ReplyDeleteI find having one sweet component (even a sweet potato or beet!) helps cover the flavor of things I don't love like cucumber and celery! :D
DeleteHey Rebecca!
ReplyDeleteI have really gotten into Organic Carrot Juice recently. I don't make it myself but have found a great deal on it at Costco. I drink almost exclusively water throughout the day (about a gallon) but like how refreshing the carrot juice is and it is also another great source of potassium (which is hard to get enough of).
If I could only make one type I would probably make a smoothie because of the extra fiber, but love carrot juice. I need to find a reliable and easy source for Tart Cherry Juice as well because that stuff is awesome!
With as much cooking as I do now (and I can't say I really enjoy it) because of the sheer volume of food that I eat throughout the day supporting my gym and running... I probably won't take the time to juice too often but I think it is a great idea and will try and find more already juiced for me :)
Chris
http://www.mavrocatstrength.com