I'm aware that some of you might not have juicers at home, and might not have access to my "Rent a Juicer" programme! (See link opposite!)
However, I'm willing to bet that most of you will have a blender somewhere in your kitchen cupboards, perhaps gathering dust, or perhaps well used as a margarita mixer!!
So, this week I want you to dust it off, and get it out on your counter! We're going to use it to make a delicious smoothie which will be a vehicle for you to get all sorts of other healthy goodies into your system without you even realising! For those of you with kids, smoothies are also a great way getting nutrient rich fruits into them, especially if they are a little choosy about what they like to eat.
The combinations of fruit that can be used in a smoothie are endless, but one of our favourites uses a blend of berries and bananas. I use a bag of frozen mixed berries, with blueberries, strawberries and blackberries, but there a variety of mixes out there, and you can choose to suit your taste. (For local readers, both Trader Joes and Whole Foods do great blends).
Very Berry Smoothie
1 Banana
8oz Frozen Berries
1/2 cup Goats Milk Yoghurt
1 cup Almond Milk
1tbsp Agave Syrup (or to taste)
1 tbsp Wheatgerm
1 tbsp Flaxseed Oil
Place all the ingredients into your blender, and whizz them up to the desired consistency. I like to be able to eat my smoothie with a spoon, but if you like it more drink like, then add more almond milk. Because you're using frozen fruit, you don't need to add any ice to make it cold, it's already chilly!
Now, we have dairy sensitivities in my house, which is why we use goats milk yoghurt and almond milk, if you don't, then you can use regular dairy products.
I add the Wheatgerm because it is a great way to get Vitamin E into your body, and that is so good for your skin. The Flaxseed oil is a rich source of Omega-3 oil, which supports heart health and promotes healthy skin, hair and nails, when you blend it in to the smoothie, you don't notice it at all, so it can be a good way to give it to your children.
When you have tasted this smoothie, you will never want to buy a sugar laden, preservative enhanced, gloopy mush from the store or restaurant again - this one wins hands down!
'Till next week,
Happy Juicing,
Jx
Monday, March 28, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Keeping It Simple
When you make juices on a regular basis, there can be a tendancy to make what I call a "drink the fridge" juice. That is when you use up all the leftover fruit and vegetables from the fridge, whizzing it through the juicer and producing a delicious mish mash of flavours. Very tasty, but somewhat unfocused!
Sometimes there is a lot to be said for keeping things simple.
Less can be more, and keeping the number of ingredients in your juice down to a simple delicious few can be a good thing. Take the Florida Carrot juice below. With this juice you get all the benefits of carrots, particularly good for eyesight, and cancer prevention. Then when you add grapefruit and orange you get a delicious citrus tartness to the juice which cuts through the sweetness of the carrots. Simple, orange, fabulous!
Grapefruit juice has a high vitamin C content, and is an excellent cleanser for a clogged lymphatic system. When you're peeling grapefruits for juicing, try to leave as much of the white pith on the fruit. This pith contains a host of vitamins and minerals, including salicylic acid, which has the amazing ability to help break down and shift the inorganic calcium which may have formed deposits in the cartilage of the joints.
Orange juice is of course rich in vitamin C too, but also high in folic acid and potassium.
The Florida Carrot is a great breakfast juice. Try this for a morning routine. Wake up your system with a glass of water with a squeeze of lemon juice in it. Then make your juice and enjoy it slowly, savouring the explosion of flavours in your mouth. Then and ONLY then, have your coffee - but you may find, that you don't even want it!
Florida Carrot
3 carrots
1/2 grapefruit
1 orange
Peel the grapefruit and the orange, (remember to leave on as much pith as possible) put everything through the juicer and serve over ice.
This will make enough for one large glass of juice, but you could also double the quantities, and put the remainder in a thermos flask which you've kept in the fridge overnight, and enjoy it at lunchtime!
If you would like more information on the benefits of incorporating juicing into your lifestyle, or taking up my "Rent a Juicer" offer, then see link on the right for details. I'm also available to come along to your book group, health club, or home to talk about juicing and the great health benefits it offers. For specific health concerns, you might want to set up a one on one consultation at my studio. See the information page for details and rates.
Happy Juicing!
Jx
Sometimes there is a lot to be said for keeping things simple.
Less can be more, and keeping the number of ingredients in your juice down to a simple delicious few can be a good thing. Take the Florida Carrot juice below. With this juice you get all the benefits of carrots, particularly good for eyesight, and cancer prevention. Then when you add grapefruit and orange you get a delicious citrus tartness to the juice which cuts through the sweetness of the carrots. Simple, orange, fabulous!
Grapefruit juice has a high vitamin C content, and is an excellent cleanser for a clogged lymphatic system. When you're peeling grapefruits for juicing, try to leave as much of the white pith on the fruit. This pith contains a host of vitamins and minerals, including salicylic acid, which has the amazing ability to help break down and shift the inorganic calcium which may have formed deposits in the cartilage of the joints.
Orange juice is of course rich in vitamin C too, but also high in folic acid and potassium.
The Florida Carrot is a great breakfast juice. Try this for a morning routine. Wake up your system with a glass of water with a squeeze of lemon juice in it. Then make your juice and enjoy it slowly, savouring the explosion of flavours in your mouth. Then and ONLY then, have your coffee - but you may find, that you don't even want it!
Florida Carrot
3 carrots
1/2 grapefruit
1 orange
Peel the grapefruit and the orange, (remember to leave on as much pith as possible) put everything through the juicer and serve over ice.
This will make enough for one large glass of juice, but you could also double the quantities, and put the remainder in a thermos flask which you've kept in the fridge overnight, and enjoy it at lunchtime!
If you would like more information on the benefits of incorporating juicing into your lifestyle, or taking up my "Rent a Juicer" offer, then see link on the right for details. I'm also available to come along to your book group, health club, or home to talk about juicing and the great health benefits it offers. For specific health concerns, you might want to set up a one on one consultation at my studio. See the information page for details and rates.
Happy Juicing!
Jx
Monday, March 14, 2011
Post Workout Treat......................
As many of you know, I also run my own personal training business.
Over the years, I have experimented with different post, pre, during workout drinks and bar, goo and jellies which will boost both my performance and my recovery.
Thankfully, I have now found a great assistant in mother nature, who actually has it all worked out!
The recipe below is a perfect post exercise juice, because of the addition of this weeks new ingredient - Celery.
When we exercise, we lose vital nutrients and body fluids through our sweat glands. Celery, when combined with apple, is able to furnish your system with sodium, potassium, iron, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and vitamins B and C. Celery juice also helps to flush the body of excessive carbon dioxide, which is excellent if you live in a city or drink soda, on top of tht it helps to reduce acidity - superb for certain cases of arthritis.
Celery juice, like cucumber and carrot, will be come one of the staples in your juice kitchen. You will find that most vegetable juices you make will have celery somewhere in it.
Make your juice BEFORE you workout, then put it in a flask (which has been empty in the freezer overnight) and take it to the gym with you. That way, when you've finished working out, you'll have a delicious, cold nutritious flask of goodness waiting for you as your reward!
Please check back to the blog later this week, for exciting details of the "Rent a Juicer" programme. You will also be able to find these details on my website.
Post Workout Punch
3 apples
3 sticks celery
1 carrot
1/2 lime
Put everything through the juicer and voila! You don't have to add the lime, but I find that it cuts through some of the other flavours and gives the juice a nice ping, if it's not to your taste, then leave it out.
Over the years, I have experimented with different post, pre, during workout drinks and bar, goo and jellies which will boost both my performance and my recovery.
Thankfully, I have now found a great assistant in mother nature, who actually has it all worked out!
The recipe below is a perfect post exercise juice, because of the addition of this weeks new ingredient - Celery.
When we exercise, we lose vital nutrients and body fluids through our sweat glands. Celery, when combined with apple, is able to furnish your system with sodium, potassium, iron, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and vitamins B and C. Celery juice also helps to flush the body of excessive carbon dioxide, which is excellent if you live in a city or drink soda, on top of tht it helps to reduce acidity - superb for certain cases of arthritis.
Celery juice, like cucumber and carrot, will be come one of the staples in your juice kitchen. You will find that most vegetable juices you make will have celery somewhere in it.
Make your juice BEFORE you workout, then put it in a flask (which has been empty in the freezer overnight) and take it to the gym with you. That way, when you've finished working out, you'll have a delicious, cold nutritious flask of goodness waiting for you as your reward!
Please check back to the blog later this week, for exciting details of the "Rent a Juicer" programme. You will also be able to find these details on my website.
Post Workout Punch
3 apples
3 sticks celery
1 carrot
1/2 lime
Put everything through the juicer and voila! You don't have to add the lime, but I find that it cuts through some of the other flavours and gives the juice a nice ping, if it's not to your taste, then leave it out.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Why Drink Juice Instead of Eating the Fruits and Vegetables?
This is one of the most commonly asked questions of juice therapists, and it's a great question. Thankfully, it's also very easily answered.
When you put fruits and veg through your juicer, you are basically using the juicer as the front end of your digestive system. You're using the juicer to extract all the nutrients, the vitamins, minerals and enzymes from the produce you're juicing, and to separate them from the natural fibre of that produce, just as your body does.
So, when you come to drink the juice you've just made, your body can get to work absorbing and using the nutrients without having to "waste" valuable energy digesting them first. Nutrients begin to flow through your bloodstream within minutes, and none of the pure, natural liquid energy you are drinking needs to be used by your digestive system, as the work has already been done. It can all be put to good use repairing and rebuilding the cells of your body - brilliant!
So, this weeks recipe is building on last week, using the apple and carrot base.
Beet Treat
3 carrots
2 apples
1 small beetroot
1/2 lemon
I've added beetroot to this weeks juice. Buy it fresh, and although you can juice the greens, to begin with, cut them off and don't add them to the juice. You'll be surprised at the sweetness of it.
Beetroot is a fabulous blood cleanser, and is rich in vitamins A,B, C, betacarotene and folic acid.
It can be useful in the treatment of anaemia, and in the reduction of high blood pressure, as it can help reduce hardening and blockage of the arteries.
Give this one a try, put all the ingredients through the juicer, and again, serve over ice. The beetroot adds a certain earthiness, but the overall flavour is sweet and delicious, and it's a gorgeous colour!
Remember! If you don't have a juicer, you can find a local juicebar and ask them to make it for you, or choose an option which has the majority of these ingredients in it. I also rent out juicers so that you can try things out if you're uncomfortable with buying a juicer outright before you've really tried it. I'm sure once you have, you'll want to get one pretty quickly!
You can find details of the juicer rental on my website at jjptonline.com
Till next week -
Happy Juicing!
When you put fruits and veg through your juicer, you are basically using the juicer as the front end of your digestive system. You're using the juicer to extract all the nutrients, the vitamins, minerals and enzymes from the produce you're juicing, and to separate them from the natural fibre of that produce, just as your body does.
So, when you come to drink the juice you've just made, your body can get to work absorbing and using the nutrients without having to "waste" valuable energy digesting them first. Nutrients begin to flow through your bloodstream within minutes, and none of the pure, natural liquid energy you are drinking needs to be used by your digestive system, as the work has already been done. It can all be put to good use repairing and rebuilding the cells of your body - brilliant!
So, this weeks recipe is building on last week, using the apple and carrot base.
Beet Treat
3 carrots
2 apples
1 small beetroot
1/2 lemon
I've added beetroot to this weeks juice. Buy it fresh, and although you can juice the greens, to begin with, cut them off and don't add them to the juice. You'll be surprised at the sweetness of it.
Beetroot is a fabulous blood cleanser, and is rich in vitamins A,B, C, betacarotene and folic acid.
It can be useful in the treatment of anaemia, and in the reduction of high blood pressure, as it can help reduce hardening and blockage of the arteries.
Give this one a try, put all the ingredients through the juicer, and again, serve over ice. The beetroot adds a certain earthiness, but the overall flavour is sweet and delicious, and it's a gorgeous colour!
Remember! If you don't have a juicer, you can find a local juicebar and ask them to make it for you, or choose an option which has the majority of these ingredients in it. I also rent out juicers so that you can try things out if you're uncomfortable with buying a juicer outright before you've really tried it. I'm sure once you have, you'll want to get one pretty quickly!
You can find details of the juicer rental on my website at jjptonline.com
Till next week -
Happy Juicing!
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