Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Any fun plans? Staying in to watch the Bachelor? Going out for a romantic dinner? Nick and I found a local place that is doing a 6 course Valentine’s dinner, for a GREAT price! The menu sounded amazing, so I’m actually very excited.
In honor of my heart, I chose the salmon for tonight’s dinner. Nick chose the steak…
Do you like juice? I’ve never been a fan of juice. Even when I was a child I really wasn’t into juice. As I’ve learned more about nutrition and health, I have decided that my dislike for juice is actually quite a good thing, as I’ve counseled many individuals who seem to have a slight addiction to it’s sweet and tangy taste. I prefer eating the actual fruit, personally, and that’s also what I suggest to my clients.
About a month ago Nick mentioned he would love a juicer. Of course the first thing that came to my mind was, “yuck, no thanks!”. But then I realized that in this day and age a “juicer” isn’t just a large piece of equipment that extracts juice, but in fact today’s modern juicer can turn the entire edible fruit/vegetable into juice! So really, buying a juicer wouldn’t be such a bad idea. I convinced myself that we had enough room in our tiny kitchen for one more large piece of equipment. On Nick’s birthday I presented him with this;
Three days later we purchased oranges….
read the simple instructions, peeled three oranges…..
and made America’s favorite juice, orange juice!
I was expecting all of the pulp to be nicely mixed into the juice, however, to my horror, it was all saved in another compartment on the juicer.
Nick said, “perfect! No pulp!”. I about cried. Do you know how many health benefits are in that pulp?! TONS! I insisted that he add at least half the pulp, so he did In total, the 3 oranges made about 1.75 cups of OJ.
I even saved some of the pulp and put it in the freezer. After about an hour it was slightly frozen and I added some Truvia for a sweet treat. Sound strange? Well, it was delicious!
The juice was also delicious and I can’t wait to make other juice creations. In fact, I’m starting to think of creative ideas for summer popsicles!
Benefits of Juicing
– Depending on the produce, you may be able to eat the entire fruit/vegetable, even the fibrous core
– Minimal nutrient loss due to traveling, sitting on the shelf, and heat from pasteurization (it’s basically a raw food)
– Amazing taste
-Ability to create your own juice mixes and to be creative with your juice
Question: Have you ever juiced? Give me some new ideas please!
I almost forgot, I also made tangelo + red grapefruit juice.
I added all of the pulp to this one, and once it was chilled, it was amazing.
