Core Diet dietitian Anne Rollins chronicles here journey on the Core Diet holiday juicing challenge! Join her in her 30 day journey……
So, I have been lured into a 30 day trial of juicing. Perhaps a bit of previous intrigue, and with minimal taunting, I am in… 30 Juices in 30 days.
My disclaimer: I have never juiced, am scared of juicing and do not own a juicer.
Typically, if I choose to start a new endeavor, I will research and analyze every possible angle, perspective and internalize until I feel expertly versed…Unless of course, I feel like jumping in with no knowledge at all so as to create a larger margin for improvement. The later is true for my juicing. After wrapping up the racing season and moving into holiday mode, I'm feeling like I need some raw enzymes and with no time to prep.
Project Juice: Day 1
I stopped by the local market today for my juicables. I read Jesse's article and remembered the mention of kale…so I bought some. I saw some aloe juice and thought maybe if the juice was blah, I could snaz it up with some aloe. I purchased many greens, ginger, ginseng and the like, and I was pumped!
Juice # (-) 1
Now I am staring at the "juicer" and a pile of veggies. Hmm. Maybe I should just look up what the other folks put in their juices? No, that was the fun…mix it up. OK, here we go. My son volunteered to grate the ginger and ginseng, and I started the show with some celery. I added some kale, parsnip, and beet leaves. When I had finished adding my ingredients, which did sound not entirely yummy, I had a very pulpy concoction tasting mostly like celery. Ah! The aloe! I poured a bit in and this had a much more desirable consistency. Perfect! We all got ready to taste the fruits of our labors. Awful. As it turns out, aloe juice may not be the answer. I threw in more ginger, more ginseng, but nothing could really muscle out the aloe juice. We started from scratch.
Juice #1
Keep it simple was the new theme. Frozen blueberries, ginger, ginseng and a shake of cinnamon. Delish. Thank goodness I had restored my children's faith in juicing (and myself!) by managing to make something drinkable! The amounts are tough to measure in juicing, but I think that might be the fun of a new juice every day.
I still have a variety of untapped vegetables in store for tomorrow's juice. Hopefully, my practice juice is out of the way. Stay tuned…
Project Juice: Day 2
Building on what I have learned from Day 1, I set out to juice, keeping it simple. I look over the fruit, and was initially thinking pear, but realize I have actually, in my raw food frenzy at the market, purchased a quince…never had one. I taste it to see what I am in for, and the texture is somewhat spongey, the flavor somewhat subtle. I think with some ginger, ginseng and orange I will have quite the refreshing juice.
Juice #2
Quince, ginger, ginseng and orange.
Again, I am left with a pulpy mess and a juice with an overwhelming flavor of ginger that I taste for the rest of the evening, much to the chagrin of others around me. I think I should do some research….
I start to read some of the comments posted about others being taunted by the Juice Challenge. Hmm. There's a question about juicers here. Maybe you can't juice in the blender…
Project Juice: Day 3
Today I stopped in Target to check out the juicers. The selection was slim and a bit pricier than I had hoped. I google searched the juicer and found that Macy's had a pretty good juicer on sale for approximately $40.00. I was on my way. Macy's at the local Mall on December 2ndis topic enough for another blog, but I did successfully purchase my blender and had renewed faith in my project.
I had been warned that juicers my have 842 pieces that would need to be cleaned, and to try to purchase one with as few as possible. Instead, I went with the one that looked like it would juice, a Bella. The one questionable feature are the suction cups on the bottom of the machine. Sure, this will be optimal for stabilization should I throw in some real serious fiberous veggies, but moving the juicer on the counter does require lift off, no sliding it under the cabinet with ease.
I remember my first rule of thumb, keep it simple, and choose a pomegranate, lime and ginseng juice for the initiation. I throw in the pomegranate anrils and flick the switch. Whoa! Like a CSI episode. Fortunately the splatter is contained within the juicer, but wait. Where's the jui.. Oh! That's the pulp catcher. The extra pitcher isn't extra. That's where the juice is suppose to wind up. I mop up the pomegranate juice pooled on the counter, and start again. (I envision a day when I can just make a juice and won't have to start over.) I place the pitcher under the spout and toss in the ingredients. Well, this looks like juice, and tastes fantastic. Juice #3 is a half pomegranate, one lime and small piece of ginseng. Finally! We may be on to something…
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