We make many choices in the course of our lives.   When I decided to get pregnant, I made the choice to become a vegetarian.  I thought that was the right choice for my baby.  It turned out to also be the right choice for me.  My daughter was born 18 years ago.  At that time there weren’t a lot of choices or places to turn that supported my beliefs.   I didn’t want to give her dairy and I didn’t want to give her meat.  I’ll never forget at each visit to the pediatrician when the doctor would ask her if she was drinking milk and eating meat and my little girl would just nod her head.  Then we’d have a good laugh in the car.  There’s more than one way to get your vitamins and nutrients!  She was rarely sick and she was growing in all ways.  I made choices.  I made mashed bananas and mashed vegetables.  I purchased the expensive, organic baby food at the local health food store.  As she grew, I made other choices.

We live in a town without fast food.  I am thankful for that.  I took as much as I could in the car with me for road trips.  Eventually we’d have to stop at a restaurant or fast food chain.  Again, the choices there were minimal.  Today there are more choices .  And now there’s much more support for kids and making healthy choices every day for yourself and your children.

How do you make the choice to eat healthier?  It starts with asking for just that…And then listening.   At a yoga retreat many years ago, I sat down to a silent breakfast.  I asked my body what it needed to eat.  I walked through the food line and put only what my body needed on my plate.  How did I know?  I listened.  I sat and thanked all the hands that came into contact with the food on my plate.  I took one small bite.  I put the fork down.  I chewed until it was liquid in my mouth.  And I did that again and again until I was finished.  I took the time to slow down.

Two years ago I made the choice to delve into a raw food lifestyle.  The internet has put in front of us a wealth of knowledge.  We make choices every day.   Lately my choices come more from my body than my mind.  I wake up grateful for the gifts that will appear in my life that day.  Does it always work?  Nope…it doesn’t.  That’s where the choice of feeling guilty or not comes into play.  I choose to drink my greens.  I choose to eat smaller amounts.  Since my transition to more living foods, I need less food.  I feel the best I’ve ever felt.  Do I eat this way 100% of the time? No, I don’t.  And that’s my choice.

Yesterday I visited a friend at his farm.  He was kind enough to let me go home with a bag full of his root veggies and swiss chard.  Yes, that’s right….it’s Dec 10th in Vermont and he’s still growing greens!  I’m writing this with a green smoothie by my side.  I put in my Vitamix the following ingredients:

1-2 cups water

Two big handfuls of fresh organic swiss chard

Small amount of parsley

One frozen banana

One cup of frozen raspberries

Every part of my mind this morning wanted to eat something that my body didn’t want.  I took deep breaths and I made the choice to drink what I knew would make me feel better.  Ultimately it really is about feeling better.  Body and soul.  I will be thinking about you today making the right choice for your body. I’ve come a long way and I’m still learning. Here’s to the choices we make and may they be the right ones for each of us.

Donna, I chose that, Bergonzi-Boyle

Oh, who am I kidding.  There’s only one answer here.  JUICE!!!

Ghandi said, “Chew your drink and drink your food.”  What does that mean?  Very simple, take the time to liquefy your food before swallowing, and swish your drink around before swallowing.  Liquid is the way to go for assimilation and elimination.

The only question I ask myself in the morning is this… “Should I use my Champion juicer or my Vitamix today?”  Or use my own teeth!  I first started seriously juicing over two years ago.  When I went “raw” and bought my Champion, I juiced anything I could get my hands on.  Fruits, veggies….mixing whatever I wanted.  My teenager loved taking different colored concoctions to school.  Her friends would always ask, “Did you buy that”?

Here’s one of those easy juice drink recipes:

Veggie/Fruit Drink
Four carrots
Two apples

If your produce is organic, you don’t have to peel, but it’s a good idea to peel non-organic produce.  I don’t even core the apple.  Put all ingredients through your juicer and pour into your drink container and take it to work or school.   You can add anything else to this drink for your own taste. How about some ginger or lemon?  Or how about this for the holidays?   Cranberries, apples and grapes.  Throw them by the handful into your juicer.

We used our juicer every morning.  Then my friend gave me “Green For Life”, by Victoria Boutenko.  She says this about green smoothies…  “Blended green smoothies are a simple and delicious way of accessing the healing properties of greens.  Whether you eat a raw food, vegan, vegetarian or mainstream American diet, regularly drinking green smoothies can significantly improve your health.”

Ok, now I’m onto something. I had never heard of these and I was really getting tired of the whole breakfast drama.  Out came the Vitamix and in went the kale and fruit. That was it!  Kale, water and fruit.  Whatever fruit I had on hand.  My daughter didn’t try these right away.   I waited patiently till one day she said, “I’ll try those things now.”  And so she did and is still drinking them today. We were getting more green in our diet than we were eating cooked or in our salads!  Kale, spinach, collards….any green.

Here’s one of my favorite green smoothie recipes:

Two handfuls of any green on hand.  Spinach is a good starter.
1-2 cups of water
Three strawberries
One banana
Teaspoon Flax oil or crushed flax seed

Place all in your blender.  I use the Vitamix.  It whips it up quickly and there’s no pulp.  I also use frozen fruit or ice cubes to keep the drink cool.

I felt good knowing that if  I couldn’t control everything she ate during the course of the day, that at least I was sending her out of the house with something that to me…was better than the conventional breakfast I grew up with.  And how easy and convenient!  I love green smoothies.   I always have frozen fruit in the freezer, and some sort of green in the fridge.  Summer was great for heading out to the garden and juicing all the leaves of the veggies that were growing.  Yum!

There’s one warning here:  Drinking green smoothies every day can lead to more energy, a better night’s sleep, weight loss, less cravings for cooked or unhealthy processed foods, and an overall clearer picture of life.  Not to mention more cravings for green smoothies.

Donna, yep I juiced that, Bergonzi-Boyle

Detox time!  I’ve gone through a few and these were some good detox recipes that I followed.  Let me know what you think of them by adding a comment!  What you put in your body is the most important decision you make each day and we all know nutrition is an important element to a healthy body.  Also, I linked up some words in here with the equipment I used – if you click on them and don’t have the necessary equipment, we happen to have it!

Have a favorite recipe you want to share? We’d love to share it, e-mail us at info@877myjuicer.com

Detox Recipes

Choose all natural and certified organic products when possible. Enjoy!

Lemonade Detox

Drink this delicious detoxifying lemonade throughout the summer. It will make one eight oz. glass.

· 2 tbs fresh squeezed lemon juice

· 1 tbs 100% pure organic maple syrup

· 1/5 tsp cayenne pepper

· 8 oz. glass spring water

Strawberry Almond Smoothie

· ½ cup almond milk

· ½ cup frozen organic strawberries

· 1 tbs. organic maple syrup

· Combine all ingredients in your juicer, juice and serve cold.

Spinach, Apple, Walnut Salad

Prepare this simple salad on a warm summer evening. With each bite, you get a splash of juice and the crunch of nuts.

· 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

· 2 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette

· 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

· 3/4 teaspoon salt

· 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Whisk together oil, balsamic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Keep refrigerated.

· 1 1/4 lb spinach lettuce (1 bag)

· Dice 1 large Braeburn Apple (1 1/4 cups),

· 3/4 cup cut organic raw walnuts

· Toast walnut and toss lettuce, apple, and walnuts in large bowl with just enough dressing to coat.

· Makes 4 servings.

Enjoy and Be Well,

Juicy Josh

www.877myjuicer.com

When you’re a health nut you tend to buy a lot of produce. This is a great thing until of course you begin to add up the cost of all the items you’ve had to toss because they went bad before you had a chance to eat use them. For me, I’ve developed an adversarial relationship with bananas. I buy a lot of bananas and it seems that they’re almost always over green in the produce section, they sit on my counter for two days ripening, I use maybe 2 and, whamo!, they’re brown. Now, fortunately because I use them primarily in my daily power shakes (that’s a smoothie to most normal folks) I can cut them up and freeze them. But if I want to just enjoy a fresh banana, I’ve got to perform this juggling act of wanting a fresh banana on just the day of freshness. It’s enough to drive you bananas. The same thing happens with lettuce and other leafy greens. I get a couple uses and then have to begin this pruning process. Almost half of it ends up in the disposal. Now possibly I’m a bit daft when it comes to this stuff but I’ll assume I’m not alone in my frustration. So I did a little research and decided to share with you what I found about storing produce to maintain freshness and maximize taste and nutrition. Most of this info comes from the Postharvest Technology Research and Information Center at UC Davis.

It’s important to understand that not all fruits and vegetables can be stored in the same way. Some do best only on the counter, others should be stored only in the refrigerator and others should start out on your countertop and then be moved into the fridge. We tend to think that keeping things in the fridge will extend their life but this is only true for certain items. The cold temperature of a refrigerator can stunt the ripening process of many fruits and veggies which will seriously affect texture and taste. Below I’ll give a full breakdown of what goes where but let’s talk about the optimal setting within each storage area first.

Fruits and vegetables that can go in the fridge should be kept apart, optimally using one produce drawer for each. This is because the ethylene produced by fruits can have a detrimental effect on taste and how quickly produce goes bad. It’s a good idea to purchase a small ethylene inhibiting gadget like the E.G.G. (Ethylene Gas Guardian) which can significantly increase the life of refrigerated produce. Both fruits and veggies should be kept in either perforated plastic bags or in something specially designed for keeping produce fresh like green bags by Evert-Fresh. Even in the most supreme conditions it’s important to try to use your produce within a few days because the longer you store it the more you lose freshness.

Produce that is best stored at room temperature should be kept out of direct sunlight. To prevent excess moisture loss, keep produce in a vented plastic bowl, in perforated plastic bags or in an Evert-Fresh Green Bag (now Debbie Meyer Bags). Don’t put anything in a sealed bag because the low oxygen and accumulation of carbon dioxide will slow ripening and increase off-odors and decay.

Below is a breakdown of what produce should be stored where.

Refrigerator: Apples (after 7 days), apricots, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, cut fruits, figs, grapes, nashi, raspberries, strawberries, artichokes, asparagus, green beans, lima beans, beets, Belgian endive, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cut vegetables, green onions, herbs (not basil), leafy vegetables, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, peas, radishes, spinach, sprouts, summer squash, sweet corn.

Ripen on the counter then store in the refrigerator: Avocados, kiwifruit, nectarines, peaches, pears, plums, plumcots.

Room Temperature Only: Apples (Fewer than 7 days), bananas, grapefruit, lemons, limes, Mandarins, mangoes, muskmelons, oranges, papayas, persimmons, pineapple, plantain, pomegranates, watermelons, basil (in water), cucumbers*, dry onions**, eggplant*, garlic**, ginger, jicama, peppers*, potatoes**, pumpkins, winter squashes, sweet potatoes**, tomatoes.

*Can be kept in the fridge for 1 to 3 days if they are used soon after removal

**Keep in a well ventilated area in the pantry. Protect potatoes from light and avoid greening.

Be Well,

Juicy Josh

877MyJuicer.com

(Name the song and artist that the title quote is from and get $5 off any purchase at 877MyJuicer.com.)

So most people would call it a smoothie nowadays but to me it is, always has been and always will be my power shake.  And I start my day with it religiously.  I’ll get into the ingredients in a bit but an explanation of my intentions first.

Being that for the last two weeks I’ve written some basic articles on juicing, I wanted to write one on the differences and benefits of blending specifically.  The problem is many of the same principles hold—blending is essentially another great way to get all the nutritious goodness from fruits and vegetables…  So how do I write this article without sounding redundant?  The best way as I see it is to lay out my breakfast; the Power Shake.

To juice or to blend?  Well, I’m not promoting one over the other.  There are several unique benefits to juicing.  For example, you can’t (or at least I wouldn’t) blend wheatgrass.   In the same way there are many things about blending that just can’t be substituted with a juicer.  For one, you can’t get phytochemicals by juicing because they live primarily in the rind or pulp of the produce.  You also can’t juice yummy grains or nuts but in a blender you can liquefy the stuff right into whatever concoction you come up with.  Not to mention with a good blender, in addition to shakes (smoothies) you can make soups, hummus, peanut butter and many other things.  So here’s the recipe for my power shake—just one example of  something delicious and nutritious that is only possible with a blender.

The Power Shake

• 1 Organic Banana
• A couple cups give or take of frozen organic blueberries/Strawberries/cherries/any berries you like (mix and match)
• A hand full of soaked raw pumpkin and sunflower seeds
• A tablespoon of organic peanut butter
• A tablespoon of Flax Seed oil (keep in the freezer)
• 1 serving of a live food liquid vitamin
• 1 serving of a super green food powder
• 1/2 serving of vanilla whey protein
• 1/2 serving of a complex brain protein powder which includes amino acids, GABA, Glutamine, and much more.
• A tablespoon of Psyllium husk fiber (mmm regularity ;o)…
• Organic apple juice mixed with any other you like (I do mango and coconut often).  Use enough to liquefy.

With a start like this the day can only go well.

Be well,

JuicyJosh

Here are some various smoothie recipies. Hope you enjoy them!

Mango Pop

• 1 mango
• 1 handful strawberries
• 1/4 pineapple
• 6 tablespoons pineapple juice

Arctic Fruits

• 1/2 pineapple, fresh or canned
• 1 handful frozen strawberries
• a few dashes of pineapple juice

Blueberry Bliss

• 1 mango
• 1 handful blueberries
• Juice 1/2 lime
• 1/2 cup apple juice

Peachy Fruit

• 1 1/2 peaches
• 1/2 mango
• 1/2 orange
• 1/2 cup orange juice

Fizzy Fruits

• 2 handfuls blueberries
• 2 handfuls of strawberries
• 4-6 ice cubes
• Sparkling mineral water

Ginger Dream

• 1 mango
• 1/2 grapefruit
• 1/8 grated ginger root
• 1/4 cup apple juice

Watermelon Whiz

• 11oz watermelon
• 2 handfuls raspberries

Tangy Taster

• 1/2 melon
• 2 kiwi fruits
• Juice of a lime
• 4-6 ice cubes
• Sparkling mineral water

Fruitty Vanilla

• 1 mango
• 2 tangerines
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1/2 cup orange juice

Great Grapefruit

• 2 grapefruits
• 2 mangoes
• 6 ice cubes

Go Mango

• 1 mango
• 1 orange
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 1/2 cup apple juice