the art of juicing: washing, trimming, juicing + slurrying
the beginnings of my morning juicing frenzy: romaine lettuce leaves, celery, apples, pears, lemons + knob of ginger
Green Lemonade adapted from The Raw Food Detox Diet by Natalia Rose
Before you cringe at the combination.....its actually quite good and the taste has become quite habit forming as the lettuce w. celery, lemon + ginger do dress well together. I always thought lettuce juice or wilted lettuce was gross, but this turned my head to a nod. Natalia Rose's recipe includes the use of 1-2 Fuji apples to sweeten up the lemonade and I have thrown in two baby seckel pears for good measure.
That mellow rustic appeal of pear really smoothes out the aftertaste in this morning elixir......what the juicer spits out after all the ruckus......
my mid~morning trinity toward enzyme peace......still trying to wean myself off coffee......painful
scrubbed + trimmed by a fanatic - it's not as crazy + time consuming as it may appear.....but maybe it's me.....kinda like bathing babies, trimming toenails + brushing the hair back to make goo goo glossy new.....remember how pretty babies look after a nice bath?
wwwhat?.....who's spending too much time with vegetables?!scrubbed carrots with a vegetable brush while singing tunes + trimmed the top nobs bruised from delivery......
As you noticed, I have had to split down some of the vegetables and fruits to make their way through the portal with ease.this has been lunch as well as a second batch to revive me from my late afternoon lull
there is actually a good use for the remains....will tell......
orange has never been a flattering color on me except for when I was twenty something and it was a Yves St. Laurent lipstick shade that was hot orange......
Okay before you think I am schizoid about my food posts - yes I am quite extreme....but I do love my vegetables, fresh fruits and I enjoy decadent feasting as if I were dining reclined @ Roman banquet après watching the games @ the Parthenon.....I have always wanted to raise a toast with a silver chalice full of mulled wine.
But really at the end of the day.....all that feasting & jousting makes it way back to me.......and I totally refuse to wear that girdle + snug tube thing they are selling now.......what's that thing called? Why?! ~ just because I adore sausages....esp. Louisiana Hot Links doesn't mean I have to dress like one.
I am a baby(beginner) raw foodist ~ and am trying to balance + make happy my love for healthy & passionate decadent foods like the stuff I recently came across at FXcuisine.com ~ truly lovely gorgeous crazy bejewelled dining.
It may be impossible.
I admit, I am an extremist about things.
But funny thing.....it has been working.
I am pretty raw 3/4 of the day (unless for lunch meetings where I try not to let all heck break lose) and at the end of the day eat a beautifully cooked dinner with lots of fresh vegetables.
I went through a transition period of just trying to do raw entirely and I did not do well. Was not a functional situation for me ~ I had to find the balance.....it was eventually found simmering 'neath the supper pot ;-)
The juicing has just become part of my ritual ~ when I am busy and away. I juice everything in the morning & take with or keep storage in the fridge for later in the day as needed.
As if I didn't have anything else to do ~ but for those of you that do juice & include the raw diet in your daily gear....boy, it does make a big difference in how you feel!
Trying to live healthy & happy.....essentially want my cake, lobster, sushi rolls + slim trim waistline at the end of the day.....we'll see.
Okay ~ what to do with pulp?
I posed this question, and my GF who has one of those blissful gardens where everything blossoms + its always insanely lush suggested to make a 'slurry' for my flower beds:
"I blend up all my vegetable leftovers in my blender with water until I come up with a slurry that I then go out and pour directly into the soil in my garden. Oh, I put in the egg shells too, blend 'em up. Banana peels. Tea bags and coffee grinds and also the coffee filters -- add water and blend away.
The reason is, there is no soil here in Florida -- it's all sand. Nothing organic in there at all except what I'm feeding it with my leftovers.
When you pour the slurry into the earth, it absorbs quickly, goes to work with the worms and bugs......Sometimes I water it in a little if it sits on top of the soil too much.
The key is to not ever ever put any meat or protein or fats (oil) in with it ... and to throw in a little garlic if you have a clove, to keep critters away.
I do this several times a week. Always have a container on my counter for such stuff.
Other parts of the country they do actual composting, but here in Florida, too many bugs, bees, wasps, etc. so this has been a great solution. I have the yummiest flower garden soil this side of the Georgia line.
Just add water and pour it into your soil....maybe take a couple of good digs before and after to get it under the surface. Go check it in a week and see the fat earthworms chowing down.
If the earthworms are happy - then everybody's happy." ~ GF
Okay ~ so juicing can go full circle.