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« March 2011 | Main | May 2011 »
Why get a Juicer when I have Mr. Vita-Mix? Welll... I'll tell you why!!!
It all started a couple years ago when I was learning about raw foods. I wanted a juicer, but realized the Vita-Mix was more practical at the time. And I have NO regrets. Thinking I can't go a day without that thing...
Then months ago when my Hubs went to see a Reflexologist and Herbal Doc... They told him he needed to juice the following things to help his Gout (arthritis).. Apples, Celery and Parsley...
When he told them we made smoothies they said "That is super great, but you also want to Juice"
I found out later that when you separate the fiber, the other nutrients absorb faster and for people like hubby, that is a good thing. Because he has absorption problems, that is why they want him juicing first then smoothie to get the fiber.
Well we didn't have a juicer, so we made smoothies..
But one day I was out of ingredients, stopped at our local health food store and I ordered a Juice with those three things... OH MY YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't get enough of the stuff or drink it fast enough. Yes, I know hubby is supposed to be drinking it, but I liked it more..
So I came home, and ran some experiments with Mr. Vita-Mix. I tried straining the pulp out, I tried adding ice, adding water, not adding those things, and I could NOT get it to taste anything like the juice from the health food store.
THEN, I got a recipe for Raw Carrot cake, but it requires the pulp from juicer.. I didn't have a juicer...and then I went to California and tried Carrot/Celery juice, which knocked my taste buds for a good whirl.
And most recently tried a Super green juice drink which I slurped in two gulps and was convinced!
YES, I still love everything in Mr. Vita-mix. In fact I even perfected the frozen coffee drink. But I had to betray my beloved Black Machine of goodness, and order this Silver Beauty:
I found her on sale and free shipping. For under $90
Breville BJE200XL 700-Watt Compact Juice Fountain
I finally did it!!! And now I wait.... Hurry little Juicer friend... I know my counter will make room for you!!! The fact is, I will still use Mr. Vita-Mix every day. I think the two contraptions will work well together and my belly will be very happy!
Not sure how we have power, because this guy was lying over the road this morning, and many more lines were in the road all around us. But we did.
We saw giant oak and pine trees completely uprooted, others cracked in half.. And so many leaves on the ground that you couldn't see the road... We saw cars with windows just shattered, and houses with roofs no longer on top... It was a different kind of ride this morning..
So thankful for how things went at our house, and so sad for all those with a different outcome.
For us.. Our driveway and sidewalks were covered in leaves, our flower beds are emptied of their mulch.. We found a few shingle pieces from the roof, The Garden will need to be reworked, the Bird Feeders will need replacing and the pots on the deck are shattered... But I'll TAKE IT!!!
Started out like this... I thought, "Hey, thats not so bad"
Then it got really really really loud... so Veg and I took Cover...
Hubby comes down stairs with this in his hand:
Seriously Dude??? Your going outside??.... We'll stay down stairs thank you very much!!
When it got quiet, he said... "You have to see this, you'll never see this again"
So I got brave enough to grab my camera...
Some Serious Hail... Going back to hiding now....Its going to be a long night!
I seriously can't get enough of this stuff:
It is Sweet, Salty, Creamy, Raw, Vegan, Easy, and full of good stuff. Especially after returning from a business trip where too many cooked foods left me feeling 100% YUCK!!!
I reached for my favorite and easy Raw recipes, to stock for lunches and quick dinners (and some snacks)
One batch of Choosing Raw's Dressing, lasts me about 4 Salads. I'm sure it would last longer, but I make some BIG salads, AND, like lots of this dressing...
YUM!!! making me hungry again just thinking about it!
I think I just need to make one of everything in this book... So far I haven't been disappointed yet!!
Since I didn't have "Raw Oats" I used regular oats from the bulk section of the health food store. Can't say I know the full difference, but regardless, this bad boy wasn't cooked. It was soooo easy, only a couple ingredients, and tasted soooo good!!
I think it tastes like caramel apples. Hubby says it tastes like apple cinnamon oatmeal.
Regardless it is Gooood.... Did I mention it was really really really GOOD!
She says 4-6 servings. But mine made a pretty large pan... Still, I've been munching on it for two days, and I can say it won't last much longer.
OH MY YUM!!!!
An Orange Carrot Smoothie to prove it!!!
Yum.....
You may remember on Wednesday, I was supposed to make it to California by 12 Noon.. for a Business meeting that started at 5:00.
Wellllll, I had just a few delays, a couple detours.. and some how ended up in Salt Lake City for a total of 20 minutes...
See... Really, I was there...
I had to take these pictures from the plane to prove it... Hello Utah.. Good Bye Utah...
At some point.. past Utah but before California, we flew over this snowy wonderland...
I have no idea where we were but it sure was pretty to see!!!
And then finally, with 30 minutes to spare, I ended up in California... See...
Where there were more mountains *smile* This is a view from one of the windows in the hotel. Speaking of Hotel... this is the first place I have EVER been that had my room de-feathered before arrival... I am so very impressed!! And let me tell you.. I have gotten some serious good sleep in this non-feathered bed!!
Wowsers... Something in the California Air apparently. Either that, or just pure exhaustion which is more likely.
The first night, food was not so much Vegan..the hotel lobby store was already closed, and I was just hungry and not a happy camper.....but each meal after that, our wonderful catering team provided me with the best of Veggie goodness.
This salad had Jicama and Mango in it... I was SHOCKED... it was sooo tasty! I've never had Jicama anywhere outside of my own kitchen.. Yum!
There were more meals, Today was Asian themed, and pasta for dinner... I just didn't get the pics..
One morning they offered Vegetarian Croissant Sandwiches next to the Meaty ones.. Which I was very impressed with. They even had a cute little sign.. I didn't eat them because of the cheese. But when I checked back, all the Veggie ones were gone, and the Meaty ones were plentiful...
Also the trays of fruit were being devoured instead of the baked goods. That was Wonderful to see.
At one meal, I had the privilege of sitting next to a Vegetarian Mom.. I'm finally not the only in the company! Woohoo!!! We talked for quite a while..
The best food of my Whole trip though, has got to be this Donut... I found a Vegan Donut.. I've never had a Vegan Donut before!!!
Oh MY YUM!!! It is very good that I don't live near by!!
I saw some really funky buildings:
Some fancy Public Restrooms... Yes... I've reached a new low when I'm taking pictures of a toilet sign in a park... but really... This takes Porta-Potty to a whole new level..
And after walking about 20+ blocks in search of a decent Veg Restaurant to no avail, I came across this Juicy Goodness!
Carrot and Celery juice is all you'll find in this cup, because they were out of beets, didn't juice apples, had no lettuce, wheat grass, or..... OH the list goes on... It was an interesting place...
I did however get Carrot and Celery Juice... Yes combined... which seemed to be a little difficult for the Juice man behind the counter to grasp.. BUT what else is new.. I have odd requests apparently.
Soooo at the end of this conference week, I can't complain too much! The weather turned out to be sunny, the food grand, the meetings productive, the view beautiful and I got out for a walk each day.
Even found a Starbucks (which thought my "weird" water frap was so cool, they added it to their Special of the week).. And found a fun gadget store, so I can bring home goodies to my favorite men.
Tomorrow, I'm supposed to head home... while checking in to my flight online, there was a warning that my flight no longer exists...That can't be good right???
Ohhh, Goodnight... I have a feeling tomorrow may be a long day!
Sure he looks innocent enough:
But this little goofball is getting braver in his old age... Not only did he try to steal the Peanut Butter Sandwich from Veg's Plate.. but he tried to do it WHILE we were sitting at the table...
Here we are, talking and enjoying each others company while making lunches for tomorrow... The dog walks up to the table, Jumps and almost snatches the sandwich in plain view.
Of course I caught him before finishing the act.. but he was so proud of himself for trying.. you should have seen that little face!
STINKER!
Some of the Test results are back from my visit to the Woman's center the other day.. Yes.. they actually called... funny how that works..
My Hubs waited 2 weeks and finally had to call for his MD results.. but the Midwives and Nurses at the center CALL when they say they will.. Did I mention.. I love them!!
OK.. so I asked that they check my Vit. D as a promise to my friend, and that they check my B12 because there are some mixed words within the Veg world (and externally) regarding the absolute necessity for Veg people to supplement.
For the Vitamin D... My friend was told she needed to supplement... She eats animals, dairy and eggs and lives in a spot with out much sun in the winter time. One day she said "How do you get YOUR vitamin D?"
If she is deficient and yet eats all those things, then how do I get it, and not eat all those things. I told her I get mine from the sun... and she said "Lets just see about that... you go get checked" Fine..> So I did!!
And guess what? I'm deficient too? Even with my hours upon hours in the sun and outdoors weekly.. . Which tells me, it is NOT a Veg vs. Non Veg issue... Or how much time you spend outside issue..
And you know I will not be able to sleep until I do figure out what it is... Why do we BOTH have almost the same very deficient number, and live such totally different lifestyles in different locations? There is a mystery, that I must solve...
What is the common denominator?
Some say that you only need 15 minutes of sunlight per day.. And others say, we don't live close enough to the sun for that to work... But if I spend 5hrs in the sun, surely that would equate to 15 minutes for those that live closer? I'm just thinkin?
Which has me curious... does it accumulate? If there is a rainy week, does the number drop and a sunny week, it goes up?
Well, if you have input on this subject, I will gladly listen... for now.. I'm bamfuzzled.... And drinking a very delicious Parsley drink, because it is good for my muscles, bones, kidneys and Vitamin D *Smile*
Not to mention it Tastes GOOD!
Coconut Water, Apple, Parsley, Celery, Banana, Ice! YUM!
Now for the B12.. I don't supplement, never have... I've heard from some that it is absolutely necessary that you do supplement if your going to sustain a vegetarian/vegan diet. Well 12+ years later, I thought I would just let my blood work do the telling... To supplement or Not?
And all seems well...So I guess for that one, I shall not fret! Regardless of what others say!
I do add spirulina to a smoothie once in a while, and use sea vegetables with wraps sometimes, I use kelp powder instead of salt some days... And when making fake cheeses, I'll use Nutritional yeast once in a great while.. so maybe, that is enough... Maybe I need to increase, just in case... but for now.. the B12 is Good!
As for the Vitamin D... I'm still a little annoyed....I may need to have a chat with Mr. Sun! On a serious note, I will supplement with a Vegan variety, and go back in a few weeks, like they asked for re-check...
There is always a worry, that our bodies have an absorption issue, and I won't take that lightly if it is the case! I'm of the thought that everything our bodies do and show have a reason. We don't just get headaches, because our body wants to have a headache, and we don't show something as deficient without a cause...
Even if I don't know what that is just yet... I will FIND IT! *smile*
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So, Me and this Metal Ice Tray have a Love/Hate relationship!
I love that it is Eco-Friendly and doesn't leach any cancer causing lovelies in to my smoothies.... But I HATE that it keeps scratching, cutting and slicing my hands to bits....
Some days, we get along perfectly.. I've learned NOT to over fill it, let thaw for a minute before lifting the lever, and singing it songs sometimes helps too... (Ok not really the song part)
But other days... it is just mean... as if it is saying "How dare you try to get ice from me... Muah HaHaHa, I'll show you"
This weekend, contained some not so nice days with the Ice Tray... Maybe tonight I'll have a talk with it and try to sort out this tiff once and for all...
Some new things we've tried recently that I must share...
While visiting a local Gluten Free store, I found these awesome Pure Wrap Coconut Wraps:
You will notice that the bag is EMPTY! Sadly, they only come with 4 per bag, and I used them pretty quickly.
They had a slight coconut flavor, and I filled them with Veggie yummies topped with Choosing Raw's Sweet and Salty Avocado Dressing... I found this to be the perfect combination of tastes, and now find my self craving them...
I also found these at the Gluten Free store for my two favorite Males...... How come no one told me that Justin's now had Peanut Butter Cups???.. The boys were in Heaven...
And THIS... This will change my eating life, I'm sure of it.....The Girls at Pure2raw have been posting about their Socca Love for a while now, and I finally decided to give it a try. While at the GF store, I found some Garbanzo Flour... the rest is history!
I made mine rather plain with just a little bit of cinnamon, and pancake size on our electric Skillet:
I added a little mango salad and made the yummiest sandwich;
I also had Hummus on Socca, plain Socca and Dipped in dressing Socca.... it was a Socca Saturday!
For sure I will make more of these and add more tasty ingredients each time. Thank You to the Twins at pure2raw for sharing such wonderful Yummies!
See... I told you, I was back!! Even filled up the bulk section of my kitchen... Those jars were feeling empty and sad for a little too long.
As for my No-Eating out Challenge.... Well.. I decided not to wait until May. I was going to make every effort to eat out Less this month too...
The weekend's test went fairly well, and then today came... I looked at my work calendar and Vavoom..
"Lunch Meeting off site"
TODAY AND TOMORROW!!! Ack!!!
That put a Kabosh on my plans! However, the choice of restaurants was mine, so I picked a Vegan friendly place, and got the biggest freshest salad with tons of greens and yummy veggies. So I can't complain too badly!
Maybe I can start with that Conscious no eating out effort on Wednesday... *wink* Hey.. I tried!!!
I was talking to someone the other day that said...
"There is no way you can get through the Marathon without having some kind of injury..."
And I said.. <outside of a few skin abrasions and sore toe nail, I really had no major injuries..>
"That is Impossible" they told me... "Your Shins, Knees, Hips, have to have something wrong"
This person speaking from their own experience....
I said... <NOPE... I've got Green Goodness...... No injuries here.... >
And they said... "Just wait until you try to run again... then you'll see what I'm talking about"
OKeeDokee if you say so!!!
Glub Glub Glub Glub....Apples, Banana, Pineapple, Spinach, Wheat Grass, Celery, Coconut Water & Ice
I ran yesterday and felt Great!!! I also feel great today!! Thank you Green Goodness!!!!
Most Children in this situation would be picking out which piece of candy they want to eat...
BUT MY child... is just reading the ingredients.... He started at the bottom shelf, and went all the way up... We had to move to an outside lane so we didn't block the register....He was determined to find something decent....
This was his entertainment for at least 20 minutes.... Ha, who needs summer camp, just stick him in front of a candy isle!
"Mom, there is nothing REAL in any of this, why would people eat this stuff?"
Hmmmm... that is a very good question Kiddo!
Green Goodness in my New Glass... Oh My YUM!
