Sweet and Spicy

Juice fast day 5:
I did have another cheat smoothie yesterday.  My favorite shop also had frozen, blended bananas that felt like an ice cream cheat.
Today's blend turned out a little sweet.  I had prepped an extra pear and then remembered that I had fresh pineapple that needed to be used.  I also had a banana that was about to die so I refrigerated it, to firm it up.  Some juice did come out but I think the blender is a better destination for banana.
The rest:  kale, chard, parsley, apple, yellow carrots, tomato, and celery.  I added cayenne to this morning's glass.  A nice kick.

Fig Infused and Balsamic Vinegar

Inspired by a fellow blogger, I attempted a new chicken dish.  Please check Eat GFCF for the recipe.
So I tried it, with alterations.  Instead of raspberry jam, I used the pulp and some juice from sweet dark cherries (I'm such a juice head).  I used some balsamic vinegar but also substituted fig infused vinegar for some of it.  It is a little sweeter and thought it might help make up the difference for the jam.  (and I was looking for an excuse to use it).  I didn't have fresh rosemary so I used general poultry seasoning.  It still resulted in a nice new way to give chicken a kick.  I think it needed a starch and a glass of wine.  I had neither but a bed of fresh spinach worked out.

Confetti and Bubbles

Today I used the leftover prep from the last juice and added a little bit of hot pepper. A great kick start to my day!

Why We Wash

Today's dirty veggies were washed last night. There was: kale, romaine, chard, spinach, carrots, celery, ginger, tomato, pear, apple, and orange.

Piña

A simpler one today: pineapple, celery, spinach, carrots, and acai juice from the frozen packets I wrote about before.
It was good but I think the acai left a little bit of an odd background flavor.

Plug It In

Important lesson learned today: plug in the juicer, it works a little better that way :)
The juice: turmeric, asparagus, kale, beet greens, rainbow chard, grapes, parsley, pear, orange, blueberries, and an apple. I am getting the veg to fruit ratio down to how I like it, so I am consistently liking the final product.

Rainbow Chard

I love color!  There was some beautiful rainbow chard at the market this week.  I added to it: kale, touch of cabbage, ginger, a tiny bit of turmeric, grapes, orange, pear, apple, beet greens, blueberries, parsley, celery, half of a hot pepper, and dandelion greens.  It was fantastic!

Kale chips

I tried to make kale chips for the first time.  I started with purple kale so they turned out better than they may look.  I do think that I will get better the more times that I do it.  I used a cooking spray and then sprinkled on some sea salt, garlic powder and a little too much cayenne pepper.  I adapted the recipe from:  http://crazycowboywife.wordpress.com/2012/04/29/kale-chips-done-right/

Ginger

I threw in a small piece of ginger with kale, parsley, pear, orange, tomato, spinach, broccoli, yellow squash, lime and carrots. I could taste the ginger. It was a nice layer of flavor but any more would have been too much.

Juice Overflow

So, I got a little carried away and had a bit of a spill.
In that spill: kale, parsley, carrots, oranges, pear, a small beet, blueberries, spinach, and tomato.

Preparation

Last night, I cleaned up all the produce for this morning's juice. I did not cut up anything to avoid oxidation. It made the morning a little less hectic.
Today's juice: kale, parsley, scallion, carrot, mango, cauliflower, broccoli, and tomato.

Tastes Better Than it Looks

Today I used a little kale, 3 mushrooms, some parsley, a pear, half a lemon, a handful of yellow carrots, a touch of broccoli, and cauliflower. I also threw in a bag of blueberries. It looked great going in but like a greenish-brown mess coming out.
It tasted really good.

Best Juice Yet

I used 2 colors of kale, yellow carrots, tomato, parsley, scallion, 1/2 hot pepper, orange, apple, pear, broccoli, and a little cauliflower. Wow! So glad I made a big batch of this.

Heating It Up

At the farmers market, I had found a little bag with some peppers in it. I threw one in with my fridge clean out juice of kale, brussels sprouts, lemon, papaya and tomato. It was great! I will certainly do the pepper again. If you are not into hot, maybe try a half pepper.

Friday Farmers Market

I was running low on supplies so I stopped by a farmers market near work. It wasn't the most impressive place but it was Thursday afternoon. They probably gear up for weekends. I did find some Brussels sprouts and local blue berries. I added to that: 1/2 a papaya, blackberries, kale and a sprig of mint. It could have used some coconut water but I was too lazy.

Too Rind or Not to Rind

I have read on some sites that recommend leaving the rind on your citrus for the vitamins. Others state to take it off because of the taste. I left half of the rind on half of a lemon. The predominate flavor of this mornings juice is lemon rind. So, I will be taking off all of it next time.
Today's mix: kale, chard, lemon, apple, spinach, and Romaine. I added some cayenne pepper but not enough to consider it spicy.

Super Charged Morning

Nothing like a little Samba and berry juice to get you through a Wednesday.

Do Not Try This at Home

A dangerous confluence of left over produce from last week and new stuff for this week made for a nasty combination. I went juicer crazy and the crazy won.
I am left with an extra large batch of toxic vitamins. Maybe I'll try to overpower it with grapefruit.
I used: kale, swiss chard, sprouts, celery, parsley, carrots, spinach, garlic, ginger, turmeric, orange, 2 kinds of apples, and the kitchen sink.

Keeping it Safe

I started putting my veg in a vinegar and water bath before the final rinse. A good deal of stuff I don't want to eat was left in the bowl. That method is a keeper!
Today's mix: kale, broccoli, carrots, parsley, celery, romaine, and half of a grapefruit a friend gave off of a tree.
It tasted, mostly, of grapefruit.
I saved some of the pulp for eggs later on.

Mango vs Spinach

Today's mix included: Mango, lemon, strawberries, spinach, romaine, garlic, carrots, broccoli and beet root.

It looked this weird brownish color but with all the fruit, it couldn't help but taste okay.

Exercise:  Zumba and walking yesterday so Monday likely will be a work only day.