Juicy Inspiration

This week has been tough for me in many aspects. I recently lost my grandfather who was my last living grandparent, which caused me to be somewhat depressed as you can quite imagine. Unfortunately for me (and I'm sure many others) my mood strongly affects what I eat. So being lazy and depressed for 5 days straight, my diet was very much lacking from any flair or interest whatsoever. Yet there seemed to be no way out of the "funk" I was drifting in and out of...sleep, lay around, eat crap, repeat. Finally my dear husband convinced me to get off the couch and drink some fresh juice. Simple, right? Well yes and no. 

It is quite the ordeal at my house to drink "juice" :). I use the Breville 200XL Juice Fountain to make my own, which includes selecting my mix of fruit, washing, peeling the citrus, and cutting the larger pieces into smaller ones. Then I run it all through the wonderful juicer, dismantle the juicer, and clean all the juicer parts. Only then do I get to enjoy the deliciousness to follow. Don't get me wrong, its TOTALLY worth it! I swear once you juice your own fruit you will never look at shelf-stable sugar laden "juice" the same way again. It tastes completely different and after your body gets it once, it will crave it again and again. Also there is a therapeutic value in preparing the fruit for juicing, the same way you appreciate a made-from-scratch meal that inevitably tastes better than anything commercially processed. It allows me to get in touch with the living foods I am about to ingest, which I believe contributes to their nourishment. 

So, my husband convinces me to juice. Thank goodness!!! After one glass I felt good enough to do some laundry...then dishes...then fixing meals....so on and so on. I was re-inspired. Something as simple as a fresh glass of natures living liquid gave me the strength to get back on track. You may think I'm crazy or ridiculous by these statements but I encourage you to be open to the idea of juicing. Tell you what, anyone who wants to try fresh juice can come by my house and I'll make you your first glass! Then when you venture into the juicing world, you can try out these favorite recipes of mine.

Morning Cleanser

1 cucumber

3 stalks celery

2 apples (I prefer Honeycrisp or Golden Delicious) 

Afternoon Delight

2 tangelos or small oranges

1 apple

1/2 pineapple

Crazy bout Carrots

5 carrots or 1 bag baby carrots

1 apple (Granny Smith apples work well with carrots)

*Another thing I enjoy doing is juicing the remains of this weeks fruit salad! A mix of mango, pineapple, orange, kiwi, and who knows what else tastes fabulous when run through the juicer all at once.