Juicing Questions: Part I

My email and blog has been blown up with juicing questions! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE it! Seriously! I can really truly only say that I feel that I am “passionate” about teaching. Now if feel that I am becoming more and more passionate about juicing, healthy living, and exercising. Side note: a few weeks ago Coach came to see me at work and stopped in the front office. I have been leading a few workouts after school for some of the teachers and other staff members. An amazing friend saw Coach and said, “Man! Your wife should be a fitness instructor!” WHHHHATTTT? I have never had such a compliment before! That was super sweet of her! Aaaannnnnd back on topic. 

I’ve decided to answer some of the popular questions that I have been getting. So, for those that think I am crazy for juicing, and couldn’t care less… close now. 

For those still reading, I wanted to make a quick “disclaimer”: We (Husband and I) read a TON about juicing, and some stuff can be way over our heads. We just do what is best for us, and easy enough for us to do. No complaints so far. But, really, you have to decide what’s best for you! 

What do you bottle your juice in?

Well, for the first month, we bottled them in old recycled (BPA free) bottles that we had. I am famous for NEVER buying bottled water. (Why? We have a huge filter for our well, so I feel it is just great coming out of the sink. Insert gasps here.) However, I kept reading how glass bottles that were air tight were the best for juicers juicing on the go. We juice all meals in the morning, bottle them up, and drink them for lunch. So, I was seriously on a mission to find glass bottles that would work best for us. Hey, if I am going to do it, I want it done right. I had Coach take me to 4 stores on a search for glass juicing bottles. No luck. Seriously, the people looked at me like I was a crazy person. One day I was on a shopping trip to Wal-Mart and just decided to look in their kitchen section. (I had already looked at 2 other Wal-Marts and found nothing.) Since summer is around the corner, I found these great water bottles. 

The paper even said “Water/Juice.” They HAD to mean freshly juiced juice, right!? So, I purchased them. I was a bit worried to show Coach because he thinks, “If it works, why fix it? Especially if fixing it costs money!” Well, when I came home and showed him how large they were, and how easily they could be cleaned… he was SOLD. He was actually “excited?!!” So, here it is folks, what we bottle our juice in. I am POSITIVE there are better options, but this has worked best for us. I may want to add that Coach even said his lunch tasted “better” in the new bottles. (I am sure this has to do with the breaking down of the veggies. The type of bottle is important in this particular process. SO the pros say.) 

What am I doing wrong if I am juicing a whole produce store, and getting little juice?

Know your juicer parts! Seriously this exact same thing happened to us. Then I took the entire thing apart and realized the mesh “blade” needed to be seriously scrubbed! The juice has to pass through this basket to go into the cup. So, this being blocked will send your juice in the pulp container. This is wasting produce! I know it is a little bit of a pain to constantly clean this basket, but seriously the amount of juice that will come from a clean basket is totally worth it! 

Also, know and experiment with what veggies produce the most juice. Collard greens have a TON of juice. We are currently hooked on collards. Also, whole produce juices more juice because less is getting sent to the pulp basket. I had a friend juice an entire bag of chopped kale and only get a tiny sip of juice. I juice three collard stems, and get a large glass of juice. So, when possible, juice the whole thing. Leave the chopping to the juicer. (Plus, it is way easier!) 

I can’t lie and say that I am the one with the great ideas and research skills to find out what veggies juice the most. My husband has been an amazing partner in this experience. He is constantly reading and sending me facts about juicing. I seriously cannot go grocery shopping without him. Real story: “Oh I read bok choy is one of the most beneficial greens. Let’s try a stalk.” Wow! Love him. 

How do you know what to juice and what tastes good? 

Well, that is really just based on experience. I can say that I am a creature of habit. If I like a juice, I catch myself juicing that same recipe for an entire week three weeks. The second day I juiced, our lunch was HORRIBLE. I seriously cannot even remember what it was, but it was nasty. I sent Coach a text saying, “Lunch was bad. Real bad. I’m sorry. I’ll never do that again.” Honestly, since then, they have been great since then.

I try to buy what’s on sale that week. I also try to buy bulk. I know that I will juice if I have it. I don’t want stuff to EVER spoil. 

Right now (and for the past 3 weeks) our lunch has looked like this: 

4 collard leaves

 1 apple

2 carrots

5 strawberries

1 orange

YUM! You just taste the apple. Seriously. 

The color is… brown. I was taught in primary school art that when you mix too many colors together, you are going to get brown. So, the color doesn’t bother me at all. However, my onlookers seem to feel the need to tell me it looks like baby poo. Yay! 

You really just have to take what you like and experiment. I did read that it is best to only juice 3 different fruits at max. Fruits are so sweet, and have different sweetness tastes, so mixing them can cause a funky taste. I always try to do only three fruits and more veggies. 

It is also very important to mix the juice well before drinking. That helps me! 

 

I also LOVE to make smoothies with pulp. On Sundays, I have my weekly long runs. If I am not having a meal replacement shake, then I will make a smoothie and add Greek yogurt. This gives me protein, and is still a smoothie. 

I juice 1 orange and take the pulp out and place it all in the blender. (I feel my blinder wouldn’t break the orange down well if I just put an entire orange in there.)

7 or so strawberries

1 frozen banana

Greek yogurt

Almond Milk

Yum. 

My favorite: What can you eat for the meal that you do eat? ( I can hear my MIL asking Coach, Can you eat that?!) 

We try to eat as clean as possible. Weekends are hard. We are big “social eaters” we love to go out! But, on typical we eat one lean meat, two veggies, and a salad. I am not a huge meat eater, so I eat hard boiled eggs before I run. I am super excited that the weather is warming up. I get to send husband out to the grill that he HAAAADDDD to have. 

This was a dinner this weekend. He said, “Take a picture of this and blog about it!” Could he be into my blogging??!!!

I never buy junk food. I bought trail mix this weekend and that has been a HUGE hit in this house. I am also addicted to the peanut butter energy balls right along with everyone else! I MAKE myself only make 2 batches a week. I should probably cut back to 1. I just LOVE peanut butter! 

There you have it. Any other juicing questions just email me at crgcain@gmail.com

Love love,

C^2