Romaine Lettuce Juice :D

For the weekend I took a juice break since I was super busy and I washed the juicer really well and didn't want to get it dirty. Today I got back on the juicing train and tried romaine lettuce. I usually make enough for just one good glass but today I liked it so much I made a double . Even my one year old daughter likes it! Ok so I did my usual mix of one apple (green granny smith is recommended on most juicing sites), a pear, and a mango. In general mangos and strawberries really add good flavor to veggie juices. I added about 3 stalks of the romaine lettuce as well. I also add about half a cup of purified water to the juicer after. It gets all the little bits of juice out of the juicer and cleans the blade. I tasted it and voila another juicing success. So i decided to make more, enough to fill my carafe (small pitcher). In the second mix I added even more romaine lettuce since the flavor wasn't too bitter or strong. In the end I ended up using about half of the romaine lettuce head for all of it. I added another pear and 2 fiji apples. I tasted that one before I added it to the first mix and it tasted great  too, however I feel the original mix was best with the mango. I mixed the two together and poured some into my daughters sippie cup  with a bit of filtered water and she loved it! Just an FYI to anyone who wants to add mangos to their juice, there is a really hard center that is the seed but it kind of blends with the fruit so you have to cut the pieces off around it and juice the pieces, but do NOT put the seed in the juicer even if it says you can put the fruit in whole. I hope this helps someone. I think Romaine is a veggie that I can add in larger quantities over time and really get used to the flavor quickly. Happy Juicing. Oh and if anyone has tried anything that I have yet to try please share. I would love suggestions

Days 2 3 and 4

Ok juicers I had failed at my first attempt at juicing but I was not discouraged. Realizing that watching you tube videos of raw food diet juicers who had way more discipline that I would ever have would not help me like veggies nor their juice I set out to try one veggie a day mixed with fruit to single out each veggies flavor. The idea came from day 2 of juicing. My second attempt had absoulutely no cucumber however it did contain celery, parsley, a super tiny peice of ginger and spinich with apple, mango and pear. It was drinkable but smelled horrid. I put in a reusable plastic cup with a lid and straw, added some purified water and some ice and drank it down... half way. Oh yeah I added half a really juicy lemon too. I don't really like lemon too much either. There was something about the concoction that wasn't quite right and so this inspired the idea to juice one veggie at a time till I figure out what I don't like and what I do like. So, DAY 3. I juiced 3/4 of a bag of chopped green kale. I think it was too much. Kale is bitter, even with 2 apples, a pear and a mango added. I think I can juice kale in the future but a lot less, and I will buy whole kale and juice a leaf. Trying to keep all the peices from flying out the juicer was difficult. Another lesson learned. The next day I juiced spinach (big handfull), an apple, a pear and half a box (container) of strawberries and it was much better than the kale. Still a bit bitter but not the horrid after taste of the kale. Today is day 4 of juicing and I juced a celery stick and a half with 2 mangos and a green apple. SOOOO much better. I have been adding a little bit of purified water to the juicer when I am done. It gets the remnants of what I juiced out and dilutes the juice so it's not so potent. Celery is definately something I can slowly learn to add more too. My husband liked all the juices and I think he can juice for life. Me I am going to need some work but I am determined to get used to it. After all alcohol is an acquired taste and I adapted just fine and love strong drinks.I hope to do the same with juice. Tomorrow I think I will try parsley with fruit and I will let everyone know how it goes :) Happy juicing. Once I really get confident with certain recipes I will post a video on how I do it and the juicer I use, etc.

Day one, battle with cucumber

I would like to start this blog by saying that I am not a health nut or avid juicer in any way. I didn't even start eating veggies till I was in my twenties (I'm 27 now). After the birth of my daughter I had gained about 70lbs and I started a strict medical program that barely affords me any time to live a life let alone excersize. So I decided to start juicing. My step father was 329lbs and started juicing and has lost 30lb in 30 days. He convinced me to give it a go so I bought a breville juicer IKON and a ton of fruits and veggies. After a few days of juicing I decided to start this blog in hopes of helping at least one person in the world who battles with veggies and juicing like I do. I am attempting to try several recipes until I find one that I like enough to start a fast with. After a failed first attempt at juicing I have decided to try green veggies with fruit one veggie at a time and will post on how they taste. I am hoping to get an idea overall of what veggies I will be able to tolerate in a fast and just to drink in general. If I can keep it up I will blog all the way through my fasting attepmt. Here's hoping. Below is my first attempt at juicing. Day one was Monday March 19, 2012 and I was all set to juice. I decided to start with a recipe that Martha Stewart has on youtube about a juice that she wakes up to. Roughly it contained Parsley, ginger, celery, cucumber, apple, pear and pappaya. I do NOT liek cucumber or celery, in fact I barely like any raw veggies but those two are at the top of my vomit list. But I decided to be a big girl about it and get juicing. I added more pear and and apple than she did realizing that I would need it. And I also used less celery and only a half a cucumber. To be honest the flavor was really good and I switched the pappaya for a mango.I took a few sips and then proudly walked across the street to my neighbors house to share my new drink with him (he is interested in starting to juice too). He liked it but commented that the cucumber was overwhelming. I then took it to my husband and his mom (she too lives across the street). They took a sip and both liked it but she commented on the cucumber as well. I then took it home to drink it for dinner. My husband decided to make a juice too so the machine was on loudly. I continued to drink but could no longer seem to handle the cucumber and then up it all came. I threw up all the juice I had drank which was only about half a tall glass. I then ran to the bathroom to continue to vomit. The stench of cucumber would not leave my nostrils or taste buds. I spent the remainder of the evening snacking attempting to get the cucumebr to leave me. It didn't First attempt failed! Oh well, lesson learned, stay away from veggies you HATE because no amount of fruit can mask it. My second attempt was the following day. Below is the link to the Martha stewart Juice recipe if anyone would like to try it :)