Monday, August 29, 2011

Juice Explained

Unlike green smoothies, practically everyone has heard of and knows what juice is. The difference is, juice you make in a juicer is vastly superior in nutritional value and taste than what you'd buy in a store. Not to mention it doesn't contain preservatives, sugar, dyes, "natural flavors", or any other number of additives. Even if you are lucky enough to find "fresh" juice at a store like Whole Foods, it's not as fresh as what you can make at home. And as time goes on, juice oxidizes and will taste less "alive" and lose some nutritional content (amount depends on how it's stored and for how long).

Probably not going to find broccoli-apple-parsley juice at your local supermarket

One thing to keep in mind is the caloric and sugar content of juice, especially if you are trying to lose weight or have a medical condition where you need to limit your sugar. (I do not offer any medical advice on this blog--consult your medical professional.) Drinking a large glass of fruit juice can be the same as drinking a soda--calorie-wise. (Of course a soda does not have the same nutritional value as fruit juice.) Root vegetables (beets, carrots, etc.) can also have a high sugar content. So probably not a good idea for anyone to drink a jug of juice a day. Personally, I don't drink more than one glass. And it's also probably not a good idea to drink sugary juice before bedtime. Don't forget, you can always save your juice for the next day in a canning jar--store in the fridge, of course.

Green Smoothies Explained

Purple Leaves
 one of my purple "green" smoothies
When some people hear "green smoothie" they think of a smoothie that's green but the "green" doesn't just refer to the color. In fact, many of my green smoothies are purple or brown. The "green" refers to the greens in the smoothie.

Generally, a green smoothie contains greens, fruit, and sometimes vegetables and other ingredients. The purpose of the fruit (along with the nutritional value) is to cover up the taste of the bitterness from the greens. Some people say the greens/veg should be 40%. Some say 60%. I'd say that you should start with the amount of greens/veg that you feel comfortable with. If you start out with 60%, you might think it's disgusting and give up on green smoothies altogether. Start out with more fruit and as time goes on, your taste buds will adjust and you'll find yourself actually wanting more greens and veg in your smoothie! So even if that means starting out with just a few leaves of greens in your fruit smoothie--that's okay. Don't be discouraged--you will get there!

A Note About Measurements

Some of my recipes contain exact measurements (oz, T, 5 leaves, etc.) and some are more vague (1 handful, 2 bunches, ). I will give the precise measurement if it's easy to measure/count or it's already been measured out. But there isn't really a point for me to pull out a scale or count how many grapes I used because these don't need to be precise recipes--it's not baking. For one, you might have a blender pitcher that's not the same size as mine. And your juicer might not pull the same amount of juice. Another thing is produce taste can vary greatly (not to mention your own personal taste). So 1 lime might taste great in my juice buy your 1 lime might not be enough for you. And my lime might be very sour and your lime might be pleasantly fragrant. With juicing, it's easy to taste and add as you go. With blending, it's a little bit more difficult to add more (especially if your pitcher is full) but not impossible. And hopefully you'll be able to be able to pick up tips and learn from my mistakes on here.

Sometimes I'll say exactly how much juice I got. That's because two of my containers for juicing are actually large measuring cups. Other times I'll just say how many servings. For juice, I consider a serving whatever fills up the pictured glass (don't forget the ice). With blending, I usually make a little less than what my pitcher holds (6 cups) so I don't even mention how many servings it is.

Green Smoothie - "Green Pine"

1/2 pineapple
2 lacinato kale leaves, ribs removed
2 large handfuls baby spinach
Water

This is the first green smoothie I ever made. I had no idea if my Oster Beehive blender would work on greens (I had only used it on frozen fruit before). I didn't blend it long enough at first so it was chunky. Ended up pouring it back in to blend longer and it was fine.

I now know that I should have added ice or frozen fruit to keep the foam to a minimum. I hate foam! Also, There is no need to remove the ribs from greens. It's a waste of time and food and nutritional value.

But overall, it wasn't bad for a first attempt. I hope my experiences will help you make excellent green smoothies.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Juicing Basics

I would say juicing is even easier than blending provided you keep a few things in mind. If you're using a vertical single auger style juicer like me, then you should pre-chop any long fibrous greens or veg (kale, chard, celery, etc.). This keeps the pulp chute from becoming clogged. I also chop up wheat grass. Rotating the produce will help also. So for example, if you're making juice with apples, carrots, and kale, put some carrots in, then apples, then kale, then carrots, and so forth until you are done.

You can pretty much juice any produce provided you follow the steps above. However, I wouldn't recommend juicing soft fruit such as mangoes or bananas because you aren't going to get a high yield. And I also would avoid any expensive produce such as cherries because you will be very disappointed when your $10 bag didn't produce $10 worth of juice. But of course, this is up to you and there's nothing wrong with experimenting.

So there is the added step of pre-chopping some produce but it pays off in the end. The juice to the left is called Magenta Haze.  I pre-chopped the carrots and pears for different reasons though--the pears so that they'd fit in the chute and the carrots so it wouldn't put too much of a strain on the juicer.

Green Smoothie Basics

If you're using a blender that isn't heavy duty like the Vitamix or Blendtec (I have an Oster Beehive), you'll need to pre-chop your produce. But you don't need to cut out the ribs of greens or peel cucumbers--those blend up fine. That being said, certain greens just won't blend up smooth enough and there's nothing worse than taking a big sip of smoothie and feeling tiny bits of greens on your tongue. My husband likened it to eating a cigarette. I'd skip curly kale and a large amount of dandelion greens. Lacinato (AKA Dino) kale blends up beautifully though. The beehive does fine with frozen fruit straight from the bag.

My recipes are somewhat different than many I've found because I do not prefer super thick and "creamy" green smoothies. I don't like using bananas or avocados. My average green smoothie contains 50-60% (by volume, not weight) greens and the rest is frozen and fresh fruit, little bit of veg (usually cucumber or some other gourd), seeds, water, and ice. I don't use milk/nut milks or yogurt. But this is just my preference; I'm not saying there's anything wrong about thick and creamy green smoothies.

I like to alternate the produce in the blender and then pour the water (or other liquid) in. But you should do what works for you and your blender. The picture to the left is from my very first green smoothie (heavy on the fruit). I leave a little bit of space at the top so it can blend. If you have more than will fit in the blender, blend it down and then add more making sure to always leave some room at the top. Always use something frozen, be it ice or frozen fruit, to keep the foam to a minimum.

You'll start to get the hang of it so don't be discouraged--it's not rocket science! ;)

Equipment for Juicing

Here's a list of things you'll need for juicing.

Juicer
I won't lie. A good juicer is expensive. And you can't go the cheap way here because cheap ones do not get enough juice from the produce and even worse, they heat up the juice to the point of destroying some of the enzymes. I'll go more into the differences between juices in a future post. I have a vertical single auger type juicer and I think it works well for greens, veg, and fruit.

Hurom HU-100 Juicer
This is the one I have. I've broken the screen already but since it's under warranty, they replaced it. It did take a LONG time to get the part though. This juicer is more for someone who juices just a few times a week, not for someone who does it almost every day. That's why I would buy the juicer below if I didn't have this one already.

Omega Vert HD Juicer
This one came out after I had bought the above juicer. It's almost identical but the juicer screen is 8 time stronger. It doesn't cost that much more so I'd recommend this one.
There are other types of juicers and I'll explain why I think the vertical single auger juicers are the best for my style of juicing in a future post.

Good Set of Knives
Cutting Board
Towels (Trust me--will come in handy--things can get a bit messy.)
Glasses
Large Bowls/Containers

*Optional*
Ball Canning Jars
You'll need these if you have any leftover juice. These jars keep the juice from oxidizing, which causes a decrease in nutritional value and flavor.

Glass Straws
I can't sing enough praise for Glass Dharma's straws. Why add any more to the landfill? These are elegant and strong. I got "Shorty Sippers" for my small glasses and wine glasses (I also use them for hot coffee and tea!) and "Decorative Dots Ice Tea" for tall glasses.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Equipment for Blending

Here's a list of things you'll need for making green smoothies

Blender
A lot of people think you have to have an expensive blender to make green smoothies but that is absolutely not the case. I've been using the Oster Beehive since the beginning and I'm very pleased with it.

Oster Beehive Blender
pros: inexpensive, looks good enough to leave on your counter top, glass pitcher
cons: must pre-chop produce, pitcher is only 5 cups

Vitamix Turboblend 4500
pros: will blend unchopped produce, 8 cup pitcher
cons: plastic pitcher, up to 8x more expensive than the Oster Beehive

Blendtec TB-621-20 Blender
pros: will blend almost anything, 8 cup pitcher
cons: plastic pitcher, up to 10x more expensive than the Oster Beehive

Good Set of Knives
Cutting Board
Large Bowls/Containers
Towels (Trust me--will come in handy--things can get a bit messy.)
Large Glasses (I use pint glasses)

*Optional*

Ball Canning Jars
You'll need these if you have any leftover smoothie. These jars keep the smoothie from oxidizing, which causes a decrease in nutritional value and flavor.

Heavy Duty Ear Plugs or Earmuff Hearing Protection
Seriously consider getting some type of hearing protection. Any blender you use that is strong enough to make a green smoothie will be really, really loud. And it will be running for more than just a few seconds.

Glass Straws for Smoothies
I can't sing enough praise for Glass Dharma's straws. Why add any more to the landfill? These are elegant and strong.