Quick Tip - Cleaning Your Juicer

Mine has grass in it b/c it's the
bowl I used to hold the ingredients

It's a good idea to run around 4 cups of water or so through your juicer after you finish juicing. This flushes out some particles and you have less work to do when you clean it. If you have a vertical single auger juicer like I do, then this water flush will allow you to juice a different kind of juice next without the flavors mixing. In that case, I'd run water through it until it's clear.

But wait--don't pour that "dirty" water down the drain! There are many ways to use that (extremely) watered down juice!

• Drink after exercising for a healthier alternative to sugary sports drinks.
• Pour on your compost pile.
• Water you outdoor plants.
• Use when cooking rice or other grains instead of plain water.
• Use when reconstituting dehydrated food/bouillon.

And if you freeze it in ice cube trays there are even more things you can do with it!

• Give to your dogs as a cool treat.
• Use as ice for iced tea or other drinks.
• Use as the ice in your smoothies.
• Lightly massage on puffy eyes.

Of course, the type of juice you make will depend on how you use it. You obviously wouldn't use the water from say a pear-apple juice for your savory rice dish but it would be great for boiling oats for a pleasantly sweet breakfast. Make sure you don't ever feed your dogs grapes or onions. (ASPCA Poison Control for details)

I'm sure there are many other uses for this "dirty" water--please share if you have any!

Juicing Fail - "The Breaker"

Not only did this taste awful, it broke the strainer on my Hurom Slow Juicer. The carrot tops were very bitter and if the juicer had not broken, I would have added more apples or some pears to cover up the bitterness.

The Hurom has a warrantee so the part was replaced for free--but I didn't get it for over a month. I'm not sure why it broke...maybe I should have cut up the carrots more? This is why I would buy and Omega Vert HD--the strainer is 8 times stronger and suitable for juicing every day. Unfortunately, it came out after I got my Hurom.

I'm posting my "fails" because there is always something to learn from every failure.

I included the picture of the grocery bag because it looks just like the bags you see in TV shows and movies!

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.

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.