Tag Archives: Juicing

Making Rejuvelac in 5 Easy Steps

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I love to try new things. Sometimes I’ll get on a kick about something new, but a few months later, it really doesn’t interest me enough to keep up with it. Other times, if it’s something I love, chances are you’ll hear about it – lots. I can’t help myself… you might hear about it over lunch with me or when we run in to each other at the store.  If your health is a concern, you could find me at your door with a sample of whatever it is that I think you should try to help you feel better. Don’t live near me? No problem, sign up as a subscriber here and you’ll get a post delivered to your mailbox about it.

Take juicing for instance. Everyone who knows me, knows how I feel about juicing. You all can all stop rolling your eyes now (you know who you are) . It’s true… I. LOVE. JUICING. It’s changed my life, I just know it can change your life. I think you should try it. Really. Come over to my house – I’ll make you some… Or better yet, I’ll bring you some juice to try. Yes, that’s how I roll. To date, six of my friends have gotten juicers. Two returned theirs – it wasn’t for them, but four of them love their juice… I knew they would.

One of the things that have stuck with me is Rejuvelac. My friend Lisa over at PickMeYard introduced me to it a few months back. She offered me up a glass while visiting her home. After experiencing it’s “magic” the next morning, I decided to make my own.

Why Rejuvelac? It turns out there are lots of different answers to this depending on your particular needs. For me, it’s all about that “C” word. Constipation… irregularity – those times when you “can’t go”.  I know we’ve had this awkward conversation in the past – I’ll confide in you again… when I am doing a juice fast, I get constipated. There’s a part of me that wants to cringe as I write this, but it’s been refreshing to discover that many of you experience constipation as well… I love that we can talk about it.

Once I started digging into the benefits of probiotics I was amazed… have an ulcer? Try probiotics. Intestinal problems? Try probiotics. Bladder issues? Yep, try probiotics. To learn more about probiotics, try this article from Livestrong talking about rejuvelac and this article about probiotics over at Food Matters, although they forgot to mention rejuvelac!

Yogurt (which contains natural probiotics) can be really helpful as well, but many of us don’t want dairy in our diet every day. For me, if I’m doing a juice fast, dairy is off-limits. If you have an ulcer, gerds or other intestinal problems dairy should probably be off-limits for you as well. You’ll read that yogurt seems to help intestinal problems initially, but it can be problematic a bit later, because it’s hard to digest and causes more acidity as a result.

Rejuvelac is an awesome, inexpensive, easy alternative to yogurt or probiotic capsules and a great way to give your body the healthy probiotics that it needs to keep you healthy.

Drinking a 4 to 6 ounce glass each day keeps me “regular”. The best part is it doesn’t cramp me up, make me run to the bathroom, give me diarrhea or hit me at a bad time… it just makes me blissfully “regular”.

I’ve given rejuvelac to a few friends who battle ulcers, gerds or acidity imbalances. For them, it seemed to help, but they need to give it a month or so to really feel the benefits of it and  keep it up long-term.

If you want to try to make your own batch, here’s what you’ll need…

Here’s a screen for a wide mouth mason jar…

This is a top for with a sprouting jar…

I have both, but prefer the first because I can use the jar for other things with a traditional mason lid. The sprouting jar doesn’t have a traditional (without a screen) lid and the top is a bit of a pain to use, but really, either is fine.

Once you get the jar and screen it will cost you less than a dollar a day for a batch that will last a week or two.

Follow these riduculously easy steps and voila… you’ve got rejuvelac!

1. Pour a half cup of berries into a sprouting jar…

2. Add enough water to cover them and soak over night…

3. After soaking overnight, drain, rinse and drain again… repeating two or three times throughout the next day and evening. I leave the jar tilted in a bowl so the water drains well after I rinse…

Soon you’ll begin to see some teeny-weeny little sprouts popping out…

4. When you see those little sprouts, fill up the jar with filtered water and set aside in a cool, low light area…

I like to lay a loose paper towel or piece of wax paper on top to keep the dust off, but don’t use an air tight lid. At this stage, you can also add a few raisins to add a bit of sweetness, but I don’t really think you need to do this.

In the next 24-48 hours you should see a slight fizz building up around the top of the water as it begins to ferment. The water will become slightly cloudy…

5. Once you see the fizz and cloudiness, it’s done. Drain the liquid into another 2 quart jar or pitcher, put a lid on it and store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

There will be a very slight fermented smell – I recommend that you don’t smell it before you drink it. Rejuvelac tastes light and almost refreshing. The taste of rejuvelac does not bother me, but it’s not something I sip on.

Warning: It’s okay if it’s a bit strong, but if it smells rancid, do NOT drink it – pitch it… it means it spoiled and if you drink it, you will get a bad case of diarrhea. This can happen pretty quickly in the summer if your house is really warm Trust me on this.

Each morning I pour myself a bit in a glass and drink all at once…

I love it for all its magical powers.

Note: You can refill the jar containing the drained sprouts (start at step 4) and make one more batch.

Well, that was easy, wasn’t it? I’m betting if you try it, you might just find you love it as much as I do! xo Amy

Recipe for Rejuvelac (without photos)

You’ll need:

  •  A 2 quart mason jar with screen or a sprouting jar  Note: you could also use any jar or pitcher that you own with a piece of panty hose rubber-banded around the top to drain.
  • 1/2 cup of hard red (preferably organic) winter wheat berries (I get mine in bulk from whole foods)
  • Filtered water. I use filtered water from my refrigerator dispenser or boiled (and cooled) tap water.
  1. Place 1/2 cup of berries into jar
  2. Cover with water to soak over night
  3. The next day rinse the berries, drain and repeat several times throughout the day
  4. When berries begin to sprout, fill jar with water and place in cool dark space
  5. Once you see the water become slightly cloudy with a fizz on top, strain and pour into pitcher. Store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

 

Ringing in the Year with Juicing and Eat To Live

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On Tuesday, I’m planning on ringing in the New Year with a combination of Juicing and the Eat To LIve (ETL) Six Week Plan. I originally saw Dr. Furhman on Dr. Oz and since then, I have been intrigued. I am not looking at it as a diet. I’m considering a life change. Once I get this last 45+ lbs off, I think I can be happy juicing and following ETL for the rest of my life. That is the ultimate goal here – lose weight and get healthy. Once I achieve it, I need to have a plan to maintain it. I think this is it.

“You can’t live on processed foods and factory-made foods and expect to have normal health.” ~ Dr. Fuhrman

Today, tomorrow and Monday I’m weaning myself off of caffeine (again) and eliminating white flour and sugar (again). Why? So I don’t have a terrible withdraw headache on Tuesday! Additionally, today is my last day of eating meat for a while, although I’m not  a big meat eater lately, so this is not a big deal. 

From the book Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss, Revised Edition, Dr. Joel Fuhrman The premise of the ETL plan is this…

UNLIMITED (eat as much as you want):

  • all raw vegetables, including raw carrots (goal: 1 lb. daily)
  • cooked green vegetables (goal 1 lb. daily)
  • beans, legumes, bean sprouts, or *tofu (minimum 1 cup daily in total of these)
  • fresh fruit (at least 4 daily).
  • eggplant, mushrooms, peppers, onions, tomato and other non-starchy vegetables, cooked and raw (unlimited)

*Beans should be eaten daily; tofu should be eaten less frequently.

LIMITED (not more than one serving):

  • cooked starchy vegetables OR whole grains–Maximum 1 cup per day (butternut or acorn squash, corn, sweet potato, brown rice, cooked carrots, whole grain breads*, whole grain cereals*)
  • raw nuts and seeds (1 oz. or 28.5 grams a day) or 2 ounces avocado
  • ground flaxseed (1 tablespoon a day)

*avoid breads and cereals as much as possible

OFF-LIMITS:

  • dairy products
  • animal products
  • between meal snacks
  • fruit juice, dried fruits
  • salt, sugar

You should read the book to fully understand the plan. I am working my way through it right now!

If anyone wants to join in and follow along, I’d love to do this with you! Some of you may want to explore juicing as well. I’m thinking about doing another juice fast sometime in February. Here’s a link to everything I know about Juicing if you are interested in learning more!

Juicing 101. Everything You Probably Want to Know About it and Then Some

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Are you thinking about juicing? If yes, I’m so excited for you… It’s changed my life, I know it will change yours too. I’ve been blogging quite a bit about juicing over the last year. Chances are that if you’re a newbie, you have a ton of questions – I know I did, which is why I started blogging about it this past year. Below you’ll find a ton of links with answers to questions about everything I wanted to know when I began my juicing journey! I hope this helps you on your juicing journey. Good luck and if you find you have any additional questions, post them below – I’ll try to answer every single one!

Why juicing? 

How has juicing changed my life? 

How do I get started? You’ll find a ton of info in the above posts, but here some quick links to info you may be looking for.

Juicing sounds healthy, but I hate vegetables … doesn’t it taste yucky?
What Juicer Should I Buy?

I have a high speed blender, can’t I just make smoothies?

A high speed mixer is perfect for smoothies and I have a vitamix on my wish list for someday, but if you are planning on doing a juice fast, you need a juicer. The simple reason is that a juice fast cleans out all the toxins and then because there is nothing to digest (like pulp or food), the body can make the most of all the micro nutrients by processing them ASAP and immediately absorbing them all, rather than taking the time to having to digest other things along with it. In a nutshell, juicing is about the micro-nutrients.

How much juice do you drink a day?

I try to drink about 64 ounces or 4 -16 (+ or -) ounces glasses of juice a day when I am doing a juice fast.  I usually do a 12-16 ounce fruit juice in the morning and make 2 16-18 ounce green juices and 1 16-18 ounce carrot, apple, ginger juice for the rest of the day. I also will drink a couple of bottles/glasses of water and a few cups of herbal tea (Celestial Bengal Spice) with a bit of stevia (Nu Stevia Non Bitter). When not fasting, I do two a day. 

What about the rest of my household?

Where can I get support?

What about all that pulp?

How often do you fast?

  • I have done a 3 day fast, which I think is useless. You don’t feel great until day 4, so why do a 3 day fast? That’s my humble opinion!
  • I’ve done a 10 day fast which is perfect for a beginner I think!
  • I’ve done a 30 day fast which I loved. It’s perfect if you want to lose a quick 20+ lbs. and start getting healthy ASAP- I have never felt better than while doing that juice fast. I actually would have love to extend it for 60 days, but It was ending right before Thanksgiving and I wanted to enjoy Thanksgiving. If I had to  do it over again I would have juiced through Thanksgiving. If you click on this link, you can find a summary of all the links I posted while juicing for 31+ days. (the first three days are about preparing for the fast).

How hard is to to travel while juicing?

The answer depends on where you are traveling, but I’ve traveled and juiced while in NYC and it was awesome!

What about constipation?

What if people think I’m crazy when I juice? For me, this is an easy one… If crazy means doing something that will heal my body, helps me to lose weight and to get off medication, makes me live longer and feel better than I have in years and years and years, then go ahead… call me crazy. I’m okay with that.

The bottom line is If I can do this, you can do it. We can do this. We really, really can! xo Amy

P.S. Here’s a link to some fun healthy recipes over at Carrie on Vegan. I’m not a vegan, but when I’m not doing a juice fast, I eat meat only once or twice a week and love healthy recipes – if they happen to vegan, I’m good with that!

Review: The Breville Juice Fountain Plus

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A year ago I traded in my Jack LaLanne Ultimate Power Juicer (click here for that review) for the Breville Juice Fountain Plus – $149.00. Since I am often asked about what juicer I use, I thought it would be helpful to offer a review after a year of usage. If you’re in the market for a juicer, you also might want read Five things to Consider when Buying a Juicer.

Breville Juice Fountain Plus…

Pros:

  • Easy to use
  • Easy to clean up (love that the filter + blade are permanently connected and just pop out for cleaning)
  • Powerful. I didn’t know my previous juicer was lacking power until I used this
  • Fast. Because it’s a centrifugal juicer with a powerful motor, juicing is even faster
  • Dual Speed. Juice soft fruits and vegetables on low speed and harder items  such as sweet potatoes and carrots on high
  • The juice jug has a lid to prevent splashing and to separate the froth if desired
  • Sleek, clean style. Takes up less counter space than some other juicers
  • Large shoot saves time. An average size apple will fit down it in one piece
  • Great customer service. I had a defective pusher and they replaced it immediately without any questions
  • Pulp is drier than less expensive models (dry pulp = more juice)
  • Good output of juice from most vegetables
  • Very good output of juice from most fruit
Cons
  • Like all centrifugal juicers, the juice from greens is limited. You can juice spinach, kale and other leaves, but juicing wheat grass is not an option
  • If you are juicing for illness, a centrifugal juicer (as opposed to a masticating juicer) creates more oxidation resulting in some loss of nutrients

The Bottom line for me regarding the Breville Juice Fountain Plus is personally, I couldn’t be happier with it. As far as centrifugal juicers go, I can’t imagine that a more expensive model is going to be that much better to warrant the higher price. I have tried the Breville Juice Fountain Elite $299.00. It is a tad more powerful and has a better blade, but I can’t say I love it any more than my $150.00 Juice Fountain Plus. It’s a keeper.

That said, I have been reading a lot about the benefits of a masticating juicer. Click here to see a comparison of the three types of juicers. I’d heard a lot about the Omega J8006 and had been dying to try it for two reasons – it produces more juice from greens and because of the slow speed, it creates a more nutrient rich juice. I’ve been using it now for a few weeks while visiting a friend in Florida. Look for that review next week!

Side note: Why did I trade in my Jack LaLanne for the Breville Juice Fountain Plus? Originally, for two reasons – It drove me nuts when the spout got clogged and I hated unscrewing the basket and cleaning it separately. When you are juicing 1-4 times a day that can be frustrating. Once I got the Breville, it was a big bonus to discover the more powerful motor. That’s now my favorite thing about it.

If you are just getting started, click here for a ton of information on juicing including tips, recipes and more! Have a great day! Amy

A Love Affair with Pulp

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I have been juicing for over a year now and have always thrown away my pulp. Many times throughout the year I’ve preached that you should line your pulp catcher with a plastic bag to make it easier to clean up and dispose of.

I do have a book with assorted recipes for pulp, but it’s mostly about baking muffins, breads and other things that I really don’t need to eat. I have thought about creating a compost for my pulp. That’s something I may do next summer, but in the meantime, I confess – I have been throwing it away. I know that sounds innocent enough, but now that I know better, I am shaking my head. What the heck was I thinking?

The lightbulb moment came a few weeks ago when visiting Gigi, my friend and business partner in Florida. She is obsessed with a restaurant in Cayman called Jessie’s Juice Bar. She talks about it all the time and when she’s in Cayman you always know what she had for lunch and dinner because she’s posting photo’s from Jessies like the one below…

She may or may not have licked the bowl when she finished the beet salad. You be the judge…

Definitely wanted to!

It was during one of these conversations with Gigi about her favorite Juice Bar that she mentioned Jessie makes all of her wraps from the pulp of the juices.

What??????… she makes wraps from the pulp of her juices? Hello wraps! Of course, we promptly did what any other hungry, healthy food obsessed person would do… we jumped up and made two apple, carrot, sweet potato, kiwi, ginger juices. Then we dug out the dehydrator, mixed the pulp with some flax seeds, seasonings and juice from a lemon…

then we spread the mixture onto the dehydrator trays lined with parchment paper…

We heated them at 115 degrees for 3 hours (or when not stuck to the tray). Then flipped and cooked them for another 2-3 hours. The longer you cook, the crispier they get. Soft = wraps. Crispy = wedges/chips.

I’ve been making wedges. I tear the dehydrated sheets up, spread on a bit of vegenaise or yogurt (you can find vegenaise at Whole Foods)…

top with sliced tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste…

I am telling you, this is delicious! Just yummy!

I’m going to be experimenting with some different recipes for wraps in the future, but in the meantime, here’s my very basic, no fuss, on-the-run recipe…

  1. Dump pulp from 2 juices in bowl (around 4 cups)
  2. Squeeze juice from a lemon into bowl
  3. Add 1/2 cup or so of chia or flax seeds (ground or unground)
  4. Add seasoning if desired
  5. Mix and spread onto 2-3 lined trays
  6. Cook for 5-6 hours, flipping half way through.
Store in an airtight container.

Gigi made some fruit wraps the other day – the kids loved them!

This is the dehydrator that I have. They do make plastic liner trays for it if you don’t want to mess with cutting the parchment paper…

Even better, Jessie uses an Exacalibur with square trays which make it so much easier without the whole in the middle- here’s one with five trays…

Let me know if you try them! xo Amy

31+ Days of Juicing. Day 32: Not Getting a Medal

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I ate. I’m just going to lay that out there. I ate, then I walked 4 miles at midnight around Disney to make up for it. I tried, I really did. I prepared and made juices for the entire day – packing them in a cooler for the trip to Disney. But, by the time we went to dinner with friends, Gigi and I decided we would eat if it was healthy and we did. It was delicious, I’m not going to lie. After 28 days of all juicing with the exception of a piece of carrot cake I ate, but I’m actually okay with it because it was a decision made after much thought and not impulse.

The new plan is to enjoy eating healthy at Disney for the next few days and then spend the next five days juicing before I head home. That’s what I love about juicing… I feel in control.

On a side note, I have to say I am shocked that there is not a juice bar to be found at Disney. How ridiculous is that? You would think that Epcot in particular would have one. Someone there really needs to get on this.

Yes, dinner was good – we ate at a french restaurant and I had a goat cheese salad with a vinaigrette and split an eggplant/vegetable lasagna dish with Gigi. We watched the fireworks and right before midnight, Gigi and I put on our sneakers and walked 4x around the loop connecting the boardwalk and the hotels. We figure it was around 4 miles. A year ago I really didn’t think I would ever love vegetables, but now I do… maybe I’ll eventually love walking too. One can only hope!

Have a great day! xo Amy

To start at the beginning of the series, click here!

31 Days of Juicing. Day 28: Juicing Buddy

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Yesterday was a travel day. I’m in Florida on business to work with Gigi, my friend and business partner. I love coming down here for lots of reasons, but mostly today because I have a juicing partner. I need that. I’ve been really struggling this last week to stay on track and there’s no better way to do that then to have a support system via a juicing buddy.

Even if you don’t have the luxury of having one up close and personal, you can get lots of juicing friends by visiting Joe Cross’s Join the Reboot forums.  There you’ll find tips and people like you who are interested in juicing. Some are struggling, others are just beginning and some have been successful in their quest to get healthy.

I highly recommend searching out a support system. Like anything else you do in life, it’s nice to have someone along for the ride who understands you and is cheering you on!

Amy xo

To start at the beginning of the series, click here! 

31 Days of Juicing. Day 27: Keeping Busy

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I’ve discovered that the best way to stay on track is to keep busy, so this past friday on a wet, cold, blustery night, I went to Kings Island – a local amusement park, for a haunted evening of frights and amusements. Some would say it was crazy. Okay, most would say it was crazy, but I stayed on track, rode some crazy rides, waited in zero lines and had a blast.

Saturday I helped my son clean his house so he could get ready to paint and renovate. I am sore from head to toe, but we got lots done and I stayed on track.

Do you see the trend? Keeping busy = Staying on track.

Amy xo

To start at the beginning, click here!

31 Days of Juicing. Day 25: Sabotage.

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sabotage is ugly. It’s an ugly word and the meaning of it is even uglier…

sab·o·tage: : an act or process tending to hamper or hurt

People do it to us and even worse… we do it to ourselves. Usually, it’s when we are feeling vulnerable. Nothing worse than kicking yourself when down. Sometimes it’s when something deep within over-rides our common sense. Like when I ate that piece of cheese cake late last night when no one was looking. Yep. The one that has been looking at me through the refrigerator doors since last Thursday. I could rationalize and say I lasted a week… it’s the only time I “cheated”,  but I’m not. I could say “no biggie”, but I’m not.

I’m just going to stay pissed enough at myself so I don’t eat the bread pudding that is now in the refrigerator. The one that my husband brought home for me tonight KNOWING that I’m not eating sweets or food. “Come on Amy he says… you can have one piece”. No. I can’t. Why? Because there is a bigger goal and I am going to reach it in spite of myself.

I haven’t lost a pound in three days. I’m sure that cheese cake isn’t going to help the scale tomorrow, but that’s okay. I walked three miles to make up for it and I am back on track. xo Amy

Want to start at the beginning of the series? Click here!

31 Day of Juicing. Day 24: Living a Positive Life

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So what are you? The glass is half full or the glass is half empty kind of guy or gal? For me, that question is easy… it’s always half full. I really don’t even get why you would choose half empty when you could choose half full. Would you choose sad when you could choose happy?

Yes, life can be rough and cruel at times, but there’s always something to be grateful for. I say be grateful for what you have right now, today… it could be worse. Put on your rain boots and splash in the puddles if it’s going to rain. For every bad thing that happens, you can find a good thing… which reminds me why I brought this up. Yesterday, when going to through some books I found something that said, you have permission to complain about something three times, then throw it away. Nobody wants to be around a complainer and you shouldn’t surround yourself with negativity from others or yourself.

I think there are three things you can do to become a positive and ultimately, happier person…

  1. Smile. Smile to yourself, smile to your family, smile to your friends… smile to strangers. Even if you don’t feel like it.
  2. Balance every negative comment that comes out of your mouth with a positive one. As I said earlier, no one likes a complainer… eventually, people will run from you. Don’t be that person. If something is bothering you, fine – talk about it, but then balance it with something positive. Every single time.
  3. Be grateful. Even on the worst of all days, you can find something to be grateful for. Before you go to bed, write down or say out loud three things you are grateful for about that day. This is a life-changer.
  4. Do something nice for someone you know or a stranger every single day. It can be as simple as holding a door open for someone or telling them they look beautiful. It’s amazing how good it will make you feel.
  5. At the end of the day, give yourself a hug and remind yourself that you are a good person, valuable and worthwhile… because you are.

Amy xo

PS. Holding tight at 14 lbs lost in 21 days. Ugh. I am grateful for losing those 14 pounds :)

To start at the beginning… click here!