Bring on the juice!

There is nothing that makes you feel simultaneously young and ancient like being months away from turning 40 with a three year old in residence. Ugh. Yes, there is so much truth to the saying that kids help you stay young... but I have to be able to have the energy to actually get down and play with him first!

Right now I don't. My insomnia has been out of control, my weight is scary, my energy non-existent and my general creativity in a slump. A dear friend was over last week and mentioned how she had made some changes in her life because every day felt like she was slogging through caramel. Her imagery really struck a cord with me- it feels like everything I do is weighted down, like it takes so much energy just to stay upright that there is not enough left to play. In passing she mentioned watching the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, (Right now it is free to watch on Youtube) and that she was starting to make fresh juices.

The next day I sat down with the Non-Hippie Husband (with frequent commentary from the Non-Hippie boy) and we watched it. And as soon as the hour and a half was done we watched a couple of Joe Cross's interviews. And then we went and read almost all of his website. And then we went on Amazon and ordered a juicer.

We were really much more
excited about this than it
looks. Really.

A million years ago I had a Juiceman Jr. machine, and used it off-and-on for years, but it was noisy, left a ton of juice in the pulp and was a mess to clean. In the back of my mind I was expecting the Breville to be a stainless version of the same thing, but so far I am thrilled with it!

First off, it is pretty big. The pictures didn't seem like it was very big, but it takes up a little bit more space than my pro-grade stand mixer, so be aware if space is an issue. It is very nice looking though. It has a much higher-end look than the $149 we paid for it.

If you've ever used a juicer, you know that there are a handful of pieces that have to be washed every time and if you don't wash it right after you use it you will be debating the merits of throwing it out and just buying a whole new @#$&^ machine. This is no different really. If you wash it right away it is a breeze to clean up, if you let it sit then you'll be regretting it later. Same, same. This did come with a nice cleaning brush to use on the basket, and combining it with the sprayer on the sink makes clean up fast and easy.

I ended up doubling the kale, and still didn't taste it.

For our inaugural juice we decided to try something fruity and sweet that NHB would drink. (I needn't have worried though, he has so far enjoyed everything I've made.) We settled on apple, lemon, strawberry, carrot and kale. Not sure how strong the kale would be I started with a large handful, ended up doubling it and still didn't taste it in the final juice. Following the instructions, I did the kale and the strawberries on low speed and all the rest on high. Interestingly, the two things I did on low did not get as chopped up as the ones on high. I don't think it is a flaw in the low speed, probably more likely that those were so light they got spun out of the juicer basket before being totally processed, but it was interesting nonetheless.

You can see the moisture from the strawberries, but
everything else is very dry and powdery.

A full cutting board of produce made 3/4 of a beaker of juice, which was plenty for two people. As we progress we might enjoy drinking larger quantities, but for just starting out it was almost too much. I was so surprised at how dry the pulp was! The strawberries were still in chunks, and had visible moisture in them still. The kale was still in chunks, but dry, and all other pulp was the consistency of saw dust. Very fine and dry, almost powdery! After dumping the grounds out, there was not even a drop of liquid in the bottom of the collection cup- completely dry.

The juice was wonderful, and actually was almost too sweet. A later batch I added a bit of water to my cup and it was perfect. So far we've done several mixtures, but this afternoon I want to try to make a savory juice of straight veggies- we'll see how that goes!