Be warned. This is not an amusing, nor witty blog post. There isn’t a funny story, or a great life lesson that can be applied to a juice recipe this week. There isn’t even a recipe. It’s not that I’m lacking in material. I could have written about the “great fix everything juice” that I’m hoping to create soon, or the “tidy up your house juice”, the recipe for which is proving somewhat illusive! Perhaps a blog about the benefits of wheatgrass juice for pets as well as people, or building on the recent article I read about the benefits of nitrates in beetroot juice. But no, this week, I’m going to keep it straight and informational. Read on…………………….
I’m aware that I write this blog every week, and I know that a large percentage of people who read it don’t have a juicer. My hope is that eventually, something I write will resonate with a reader which will inspire them to either rent a machine from me, or take the plunge and buy a juicer for themselves. If you are considering buying a juicer, I thought I would take some time this week to review the three main types of at home juicers available on the market today to make the purchasing decision easier for you.
Essentially there are three kinds of juicers available to the at home juicer; manual, centrifugal and masticating juicers. Below you will find an outline of each kind, what they do, and a brief summary of the pros and cons, in addition to my recommendation of the best brand within each of the three categories.
Manual Juicers
These tend to be manual juice presses, which you can buy very cheaply. They are good for the odd glass of orange juice, but are not very practical when it comes to making vegetable juices, or larger quantities of juice. They are relatively inexpensive at around $30-$50. You can also buy manual wheatgrass juicers in a similar price range, (in which case I would recommend Weston Wheatgrass Juicer) but then you have to source a good supply of wheatgrass, or grow your own and that will require a whole other blog post!
Centrifugal Juicers
This type of juicer chops your fruit and veg into small pieces and then throws them against a spinning bowl that in turn separates the juice from the fibre. The benefit of this kind of machine is that it is quick and easy to use, and much less expensive than the next category of juicer. The quality of the juice you get is excellent and the yield is good too. The downside, is that because of the heat generated by the frictional nature of the process, you do lose some of the nutritional value of the juice. However, in tests done on good centrifugal juicers, 90% of the nutrients remained in the juice. The best one on the market is the Breville Juice Fountain Elite. It is widely available for around $280. It is easy to clean, easy to assemble and very easy to use.
Masticating juicers
Masticating juicers grind the produce into very small particles and then press them through a screen. This means that because the juice is extracted at much lower speeds than a centrifugal juicer, more of the live enzymes stay intact. The downside of these machines is that the feed chute for the produce is very small, so it requires a lot more prep time cutting up your fruit and veg. The machine also runs more slowly, so the actual juicing process takes longer. The best machine on the market, in my opinion is the Green Star Elite GSE 5000 Juice Extractor which is around $500.
My recommendation for a first time at home juicer would be to go with the Breville centrifugal juicer. This will allow you to make great tasting, nutritionally overflowing juices, quickly and easily with little prep or clean up. If you decide that you want to take juicing to another level, then the bigger investment in the Green Star masticating juicer would be something to consider.
I hope the information proves useful and that it will allow you take the leap and get a juicer on your counter top today! As for the recipe for that “tidy up your house” juice, I guess you’ll just have to wait a little longer.
Happy juicing,
Jx
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Wrinkle Busting
It has been a busy week. There's no doubt about it, things have moved up a gear in the Jones household - a new highschooler, a fourth grader, running a small business and a travelling husband have all combined to press my foot a little harder to the gas pedal of life. I thought I was handling it all pretty well. Thought I was keeping my stress levels fairly balanced. Even though I might have been frazzled on the inside, I felt that the picture I was portraying to the outside world was one of energy, youthfulness and inner calm.
It would seem I was wrong.
I was doing my grocery shopping this morning at a local store when the young gentleman on the checkout gave me a sharp dose of reality. When I say "young" gentleman, I'm guessing he was around 25 years old. As I cheerily began putting my produce away, he looked at me closely, and said "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?" I didn't recognise him, and commented that I didn't think we had met before, but that I do have a common looking face, and people will quite often think they know me when they don't! "No, really" he said "you're very familiar to me, do you have kids that are my age, maybe I play soccer with them?"
After I resisted the urge to hit him over the head with my bag of kale, I pulled myself together, flashed him what I hoped was a withering smile and left.
I'll be honest with you. I was disappointed. I carry around an image of myself in my head, I think we all do. I believe there is a mismatch between the image of me in my head, and the real me on the outside! In my image, I really don't look like I might have kids who are 25 years old instead of 13 and 9.
Obviously, my new pace of life in the fast lane is having an outward impact after all, and it prompted me to look to my juice books and find a recipe for increasing skin glow and reducing wrinkles!!!!!!!!!
So here it is, the wrinkle busting juice -super-rich in vitamin C, and bursting with substances called anthocyanidins and proanthocyanidins which among other things, have powerful protective and regenerative properties directly linked to collagen. It's easy to make, fabulously good for you, and tasty as well. I will be drinking it by the quart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wonder if the checkout guy at Trader Joes will notice?
Happy Juicing
Jx
The Wrinkle Buster
2 apples
12oz pitted cherries
I make the apple juice using the juicer. Then buy a bag of frozen cherries (the aforementioned store do a good line in these!). Use a hand blender to whizz the cherries with the apple juice, making a delicious smoothie. You can make this using fresh cherries (which is better, but more expensive and harder to do at this time of year) but make sure to take the pits out first, before putting them through your juicer.
It would seem I was wrong.
I was doing my grocery shopping this morning at a local store when the young gentleman on the checkout gave me a sharp dose of reality. When I say "young" gentleman, I'm guessing he was around 25 years old. As I cheerily began putting my produce away, he looked at me closely, and said "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?" I didn't recognise him, and commented that I didn't think we had met before, but that I do have a common looking face, and people will quite often think they know me when they don't! "No, really" he said "you're very familiar to me, do you have kids that are my age, maybe I play soccer with them?"
After I resisted the urge to hit him over the head with my bag of kale, I pulled myself together, flashed him what I hoped was a withering smile and left.
I'll be honest with you. I was disappointed. I carry around an image of myself in my head, I think we all do. I believe there is a mismatch between the image of me in my head, and the real me on the outside! In my image, I really don't look like I might have kids who are 25 years old instead of 13 and 9.
Obviously, my new pace of life in the fast lane is having an outward impact after all, and it prompted me to look to my juice books and find a recipe for increasing skin glow and reducing wrinkles!!!!!!!!!
So here it is, the wrinkle busting juice -super-rich in vitamin C, and bursting with substances called anthocyanidins and proanthocyanidins which among other things, have powerful protective and regenerative properties directly linked to collagen. It's easy to make, fabulously good for you, and tasty as well. I will be drinking it by the quart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wonder if the checkout guy at Trader Joes will notice?
Happy Juicing
Jx
The Wrinkle Buster
2 apples
12oz pitted cherries
I make the apple juice using the juicer. Then buy a bag of frozen cherries (the aforementioned store do a good line in these!). Use a hand blender to whizz the cherries with the apple juice, making a delicious smoothie. You can make this using fresh cherries (which is better, but more expensive and harder to do at this time of year) but make sure to take the pits out first, before putting them through your juicer.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Juicing for the Holiday
I like to embrace the high days and holidays of my own religion and those of other religions which have an impact on me and my family. Since moving to the east coast, we have come to learn more about the Jewish faith, and some of the traditions which surround important Jewish festivals. One of my favourites is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. Those of you who know me personally, know I love a good fresh start! The calendar new year is also a high point for me, all that reflecting on what's happened over the last few months, all that looking forward to upcoming adventures and challenges for the months ahead. I just love it!
So, every year, at Rosh Hashanah, I encourage myself (and my poor long suffering family!) to embrace the idea of thinking about how we have behaved over the last year, have we tried to live well, act well and be well? In the areas where we find ourselves lacking, (and there are many!!) we try to think about how we might do better in the coming months and what we might focus on, to help us become kinder, more accepting and brighter people.
Part of our tradition is to go apple picking at some point, when the children are off from school. We have had some really "golden days", where the sun has shone, and we have gathered apples by the boxful. (We have also had freezing cold days where it rained, and the family's enthusiasm for my endeavour was sorely tested!!) The great bi-product of this is that we end up with a whole bunch of apples to eat, cook with, and JUICE!
So, this weeks recipe is in honour of Rosh Hashanah, and I hope it gives you a healthy sweet delight for a sweet year ahead.
Happy Juicing,
Jx
Sweet Apple Delight
4 apples
1/2 lemon (not peeled)
Wash the produce, then whizz them through the juicer. Serve over ice.
So, every year, at Rosh Hashanah, I encourage myself (and my poor long suffering family!) to embrace the idea of thinking about how we have behaved over the last year, have we tried to live well, act well and be well? In the areas where we find ourselves lacking, (and there are many!!) we try to think about how we might do better in the coming months and what we might focus on, to help us become kinder, more accepting and brighter people.
Part of our tradition is to go apple picking at some point, when the children are off from school. We have had some really "golden days", where the sun has shone, and we have gathered apples by the boxful. (We have also had freezing cold days where it rained, and the family's enthusiasm for my endeavour was sorely tested!!) The great bi-product of this is that we end up with a whole bunch of apples to eat, cook with, and JUICE!
So, this weeks recipe is in honour of Rosh Hashanah, and I hope it gives you a healthy sweet delight for a sweet year ahead.
Happy Juicing,
Jx
Sweet Apple Delight
4 apples
1/2 lemon (not peeled)
Wash the produce, then whizz them through the juicer. Serve over ice.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
You Can't Beat a Juicy Pear!!
When I was out grocery shopping at the weekend, I was delighted to see a glut of pears on display wherever I went. There are a number of different varieties available, and all of them make delicious juice. The other great news about pear juice is that you don’t have to wait until the pears are ripe before juicing them. This is particularly brilliant, as I don’t know about you, but I have great difficulty in choosing ripe pears in the store, so I buy slightly under ripe ones. I get them home and then I seem to wait and wait and wait and wait for them to get soft, and then all of a sudden, overnight they turn to mush!
Thankfully, you don’t need to worry about this when making pear juice, in fact slight under ripe pears work better through the juicer. Pears produce lots of thick, sweet and creamy juice. It can sometimes be too thick and sweet, which is why it’s best when combined with other fruits.
Pears are a valuable source of vitamins B6 and C and of copper. They are also are high in soluble fiber, similar to apples, making them good for the bowels and digestive tract.
Why not nip out and get a bag of pears to try this juice, you’ll be glad you did!
Pear-fectly Delicious
2 pears
2 carrots
1 thick slice pineapple
½ inch ginger root
Put everything through the juicer and enjoy. This juice can be a little thick, so you can either blend it with some ice to thin it down, add an extra carrot, or add some water.
Happy Juicing
Jx
Thankfully, you don’t need to worry about this when making pear juice, in fact slight under ripe pears work better through the juicer. Pears produce lots of thick, sweet and creamy juice. It can sometimes be too thick and sweet, which is why it’s best when combined with other fruits.
Pears are a valuable source of vitamins B6 and C and of copper. They are also are high in soluble fiber, similar to apples, making them good for the bowels and digestive tract.
Why not nip out and get a bag of pears to try this juice, you’ll be glad you did!
Pear-fectly Delicious
2 pears
2 carrots
1 thick slice pineapple
½ inch ginger root
Put everything through the juicer and enjoy. This juice can be a little thick, so you can either blend it with some ice to thin it down, add an extra carrot, or add some water.
Happy Juicing
Jx
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Getting Back to Normal
What a crazy few weeks it has been. How circumstances can change so quickly.
Events which have happened both here and elsewhere in the world have reminded me of how precious life is, and how the balance of life can be upset in a heartbeat. My thoughts go out to those who were seriously impacted by hurricane Irene. We were out of the country at the time, and it was just awful seeing the reports of what was happening here to friends and neighbors. It didn't seem like the right time to write a cheery blog post about a tasty juice, so I thought I would wait a couple of weeks.
Now, we enter the phase of getting back to normal - getting houses repaired, getting children off to school, getting yards fixed up. It's a lot of work, and a lot of stress.
I thought it might by helpful to give you a recipe for a restorative juice, to use when you've had a hard day,or are expecting one, when things just feel too hectic and you need to help your system recover and repair, giving it the energy it needs to deal with all the "stuff" that needs dealing with.
Restorative Stress Buster
1 handful English (of course!) parsley
5 carrots
2 apples
2 big handfuls spinach
2 stalks celery
Pack the greens into the juicer chute before you turn it on, then top with an apple, turn on, and push through the juicer. Juice the other ingredients.
This should make enough for two big glasses of juice, so share it with a friend, or put it in a flask to have at lunchtime.
The combination of vegetables will restore the balance of magnesium and potassium which can be lost during stressful times, as well as providing beta-carotene, zinc and vitamin C.
Here's to a good week!
Happy Juicing,
Jx
Events which have happened both here and elsewhere in the world have reminded me of how precious life is, and how the balance of life can be upset in a heartbeat. My thoughts go out to those who were seriously impacted by hurricane Irene. We were out of the country at the time, and it was just awful seeing the reports of what was happening here to friends and neighbors. It didn't seem like the right time to write a cheery blog post about a tasty juice, so I thought I would wait a couple of weeks.
Now, we enter the phase of getting back to normal - getting houses repaired, getting children off to school, getting yards fixed up. It's a lot of work, and a lot of stress.
I thought it might by helpful to give you a recipe for a restorative juice, to use when you've had a hard day,or are expecting one, when things just feel too hectic and you need to help your system recover and repair, giving it the energy it needs to deal with all the "stuff" that needs dealing with.
Restorative Stress Buster
1 handful English (of course!) parsley
5 carrots
2 apples
2 big handfuls spinach
2 stalks celery
Pack the greens into the juicer chute before you turn it on, then top with an apple, turn on, and push through the juicer. Juice the other ingredients.
This should make enough for two big glasses of juice, so share it with a friend, or put it in a flask to have at lunchtime.
The combination of vegetables will restore the balance of magnesium and potassium which can be lost during stressful times, as well as providing beta-carotene, zinc and vitamin C.
Here's to a good week!
Happy Juicing,
Jx
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Just Peachy!
I have been enjoying being back at home, making the most of those creature comforts that I missed so much last week.
Getting out and about at the farmers markets and experimenting with different juices. I am often trying to work with specific ingredients in order to incorporate them into juices to help specific ailments, that's what juice therapy is all about.
Sometimes though, as I wander around my local store, or market, I am inspired to make something, with some great, fresh, local organic produce. That happened this week with peaches.
Aswell as being perfectly delicious, peaches are a great source of beta-carotene, folic acid, vitamin C and vitamin B3.
That being said, the main reason to try this weeks juice is because it is just decadently delicious, and can only be made with ripe, succulent, juicy peaches, just like you'll find in the store this week.
If you don't have a juicer, you can also make this by simply stoning the fruit, and putting it into your blender along with some ice. It will be thicker in texture and more like a smoothie, but just as fabulous.
Peachy Perfect
6 peaches
ice
Wash the peaches and stone them. Juice four of them, and add the juice to the remaining two peaches in a blender along with the ice. Whizz the lot together, pour into a pretty glass and relish every sip!
Happy juicing,
Jx
Getting out and about at the farmers markets and experimenting with different juices. I am often trying to work with specific ingredients in order to incorporate them into juices to help specific ailments, that's what juice therapy is all about.
Sometimes though, as I wander around my local store, or market, I am inspired to make something, with some great, fresh, local organic produce. That happened this week with peaches.
Aswell as being perfectly delicious, peaches are a great source of beta-carotene, folic acid, vitamin C and vitamin B3.
That being said, the main reason to try this weeks juice is because it is just decadently delicious, and can only be made with ripe, succulent, juicy peaches, just like you'll find in the store this week.
If you don't have a juicer, you can also make this by simply stoning the fruit, and putting it into your blender along with some ice. It will be thicker in texture and more like a smoothie, but just as fabulous.
Peachy Perfect
6 peaches
ice
Wash the peaches and stone them. Juice four of them, and add the juice to the remaining two peaches in a blender along with the ice. Whizz the lot together, pour into a pretty glass and relish every sip!
Happy juicing,
Jx
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Camping and Juicing.............
I've just returned from a week camping in beautiful Narragansett, Rhode Island. My husband was competing in the Providence Ironman 70.3 which took place on Sunday July 10th. My family and I love camping, and always manage to fit in a trip or two at some point throughout the summer. I'm always faced with the dilemma of what to do about my juicing though. Should I take my juicer along, and plug it into the outlet in the restroom area in the same way that half the campsite plugs in their iphones and computers? Is there a way of powering it up through the car outlet, in the same way that my children avidly charge up the batteries on their ipods? Has someone come up with a clever way to make a solar powered juicer???? It seems not, and so, I sadly left my juicer at home, and decided to do the best I could with what Narragansett had to offer in the juice department.
We left Friday, and so I stocked up with a massive green juice before we left, and took a flask with me for the journey.
Our first night under the stars proved that some tents are more waterproof than others, and after several hours of torrential rain, our tent was left seriously lacking. The only upside was that Mark got in some extra swim practise for his race!! Under normal circumstances I would have been reaching for my juicer first thing to give myself some extra ping for the morning, but that wasn't an option.
The next night saw us up at 3am in order to drive the hour away to the start of the race. My children are great supporters of their Dad, but this challenged even their enthusiasm! However, we got into the spirit of things and had a good day cheering on the amazing athletes who challenge themselves to their limits. I must admit that by this point I too was feeling quite challenged, and really was missing my juice!
You would think we would get a good nights sleep, that we'd kind of deserved a break by this point, but no, mother nature was really out to show us who was boss on this trip. In anticipation of the weather forecast, we covered the tent in plastic sheeting tied down by string. Just as well. At 3am the heavens opened, and we were under the most vicious thunderstorm I have ever witnessed. The plastic sheeting held up, the tent remained relatively dry, but we were terrified that we were about to get struck down by lightning at any point - and Archie, my son, slept through the whole thing!
Monday morning dawned bright and clear, but by this time I was having quite a large sense of humour failure and was suffering from quite serious juice withdrawal symptoms! A detox in reverse!
The remainder of our trip passed relatively uneventfully, just the usual sprinkling of crazy campers, insect bites, earwigs, and frozen squid for fish bait leaking in the back of the car.
You can only imagine my joy as we pulled into our drive last night after a long drive home.
With relish I pulled out my juicer and made my favourite go to juice. A green delight of apples, kale, romaine lettuce, lemon, spirulina and wheatgrass, all blended with ice. Fantastic.
This camping trip gave me the break from my routine which showed me how much I really value my juicy lifestyle and the benefits that it gives me. I think perhaps I had become a little complacent about it, like we do about so many things. It's so easy to take things for granted when it becomes part of our everyday wallpaper.
This morning I feel like a new woman. I am marvelling at how lucky we are to have a microwave, a cooker, clean bedding, no bugs, a roof that doesn't leak and most importantly a juicer!!!
Below is my go to Green Juice, give it a try - I'm going to be drinking it all day!!
Green Juice
1 head romaine lettuce
1 big handful kale
2 apples
1/2 lemon
1 tsp spirulina
1 tsp wheatgrass
ice
Juice the first four ingredients, then add the spriulina and wheatgrass powders along with a handful of ice and whizz with a hand blender.
We left Friday, and so I stocked up with a massive green juice before we left, and took a flask with me for the journey.
Our first night under the stars proved that some tents are more waterproof than others, and after several hours of torrential rain, our tent was left seriously lacking. The only upside was that Mark got in some extra swim practise for his race!! Under normal circumstances I would have been reaching for my juicer first thing to give myself some extra ping for the morning, but that wasn't an option.
The next night saw us up at 3am in order to drive the hour away to the start of the race. My children are great supporters of their Dad, but this challenged even their enthusiasm! However, we got into the spirit of things and had a good day cheering on the amazing athletes who challenge themselves to their limits. I must admit that by this point I too was feeling quite challenged, and really was missing my juice!
You would think we would get a good nights sleep, that we'd kind of deserved a break by this point, but no, mother nature was really out to show us who was boss on this trip. In anticipation of the weather forecast, we covered the tent in plastic sheeting tied down by string. Just as well. At 3am the heavens opened, and we were under the most vicious thunderstorm I have ever witnessed. The plastic sheeting held up, the tent remained relatively dry, but we were terrified that we were about to get struck down by lightning at any point - and Archie, my son, slept through the whole thing!
Monday morning dawned bright and clear, but by this time I was having quite a large sense of humour failure and was suffering from quite serious juice withdrawal symptoms! A detox in reverse!
The remainder of our trip passed relatively uneventfully, just the usual sprinkling of crazy campers, insect bites, earwigs, and frozen squid for fish bait leaking in the back of the car.
You can only imagine my joy as we pulled into our drive last night after a long drive home.
With relish I pulled out my juicer and made my favourite go to juice. A green delight of apples, kale, romaine lettuce, lemon, spirulina and wheatgrass, all blended with ice. Fantastic.
This camping trip gave me the break from my routine which showed me how much I really value my juicy lifestyle and the benefits that it gives me. I think perhaps I had become a little complacent about it, like we do about so many things. It's so easy to take things for granted when it becomes part of our everyday wallpaper.
This morning I feel like a new woman. I am marvelling at how lucky we are to have a microwave, a cooker, clean bedding, no bugs, a roof that doesn't leak and most importantly a juicer!!!
Below is my go to Green Juice, give it a try - I'm going to be drinking it all day!!
Green Juice
1 head romaine lettuce
1 big handful kale
2 apples
1/2 lemon
1 tsp spirulina
1 tsp wheatgrass
ice
Juice the first four ingredients, then add the spriulina and wheatgrass powders along with a handful of ice and whizz with a hand blender.
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