Why juice? Why not juice? I like juicing. I was never one for eating breakfast, in fact I can recall my mother making shakes for me as a child for breakfast, milk, fruit, raw egg (ewwwww) etc, as I simply didn't like to eat in the morning. I still don't, yet it is the, as in THE, most important meal of the day.
Why is that? Well think of it, BreakFast.. you are literally breaking your overnight fast. If you eat dinner in the early evening, and then do not eat until the next day, then you've had at least 8 - 12 hours of fasting! So you Break the Fast every day with, you guessed it, breakfast! So what you consume in the morning really does set the tone, and your body, for the day. Provides you with the energy to get up and move, and gets other things moving again. Juicing provides a nutrient dense solution to the fast pace of today's lifestyles. The other thing that I find important is not to eat (or drink in this case) until you feel ready to do so. Listen to your body.
So here is what my breakfast looked like the other day, before it hit the juicer that is.
Why is that? Well think of it, BreakFast.. you are literally breaking your overnight fast. If you eat dinner in the early evening, and then do not eat until the next day, then you've had at least 8 - 12 hours of fasting! So you Break the Fast every day with, you guessed it, breakfast! So what you consume in the morning really does set the tone, and your body, for the day. Provides you with the energy to get up and move, and gets other things moving again. Juicing provides a nutrient dense solution to the fast pace of today's lifestyles. The other thing that I find important is not to eat (or drink in this case) until you feel ready to do so. Listen to your body.
So here is what my breakfast looked like the other day, before it hit the juicer that is.
It was a great combination, however, I do like just a simple orange, apple, carrot combo with a knob of ginger. I rarely find myself drinking tea anymore, I just do not need that morning artificial jolt. I get my kicks from my fruits and veggies!
If you are interested in juicing, then I suggest you find someone who has a juicer and borrow it for a few days, to get an idea of how it works for you. Then go and buy yourself a decent one. Spend no less than $100 or you will be wasting your hard earned pennies if you ask my thoughts on it. I have come to believe that even my $100 juicer is not big enough for the demands we put it through, to make 2L of juice, I am taking it apart at least once throughout the juicing process to make room for more pulp and getting the fibres out of the cutting blades (ginger, celery, and other fibrous plants clog it quickly). I know it only takes a minute to do that, but it's a pain anyway. Darling Hubby and I joke how we need an industrial sized juicer now, and just pack this one for road trips. Have you seen Fat Sick and Nearly Dead yet? He has a juicer in his car!!!! Way cool!
So today, Friday the 13th (insert scary music here) is day one of my juice fast. Mind you I only planned on doing the fast for one day, maybe even two, just to get the feel for it. I have never fasted before, and being the chef of the house, I think I already know what my challenge is going to be when I get into doing 10, 20, 30, and 60 day juice fasts... FOOD! As in what I cook for everyone else... for instance, here is a snap of tonights feast for the family!
If you are interested in juicing, then I suggest you find someone who has a juicer and borrow it for a few days, to get an idea of how it works for you. Then go and buy yourself a decent one. Spend no less than $100 or you will be wasting your hard earned pennies if you ask my thoughts on it. I have come to believe that even my $100 juicer is not big enough for the demands we put it through, to make 2L of juice, I am taking it apart at least once throughout the juicing process to make room for more pulp and getting the fibres out of the cutting blades (ginger, celery, and other fibrous plants clog it quickly). I know it only takes a minute to do that, but it's a pain anyway. Darling Hubby and I joke how we need an industrial sized juicer now, and just pack this one for road trips. Have you seen Fat Sick and Nearly Dead yet? He has a juicer in his car!!!! Way cool!
So today, Friday the 13th (insert scary music here) is day one of my juice fast. Mind you I only planned on doing the fast for one day, maybe even two, just to get the feel for it. I have never fasted before, and being the chef of the house, I think I already know what my challenge is going to be when I get into doing 10, 20, 30, and 60 day juice fasts... FOOD! As in what I cook for everyone else... for instance, here is a snap of tonights feast for the family!
Roasted squash with a basmati rice stuffing. Now I did tweet that the recipe for this stuffing would be on todays blog so here it is. I do not have exact quantities for the ingredients, I rarely measure anything and go by the feel and look of it all, unless baking, that's more science than aesthetics!
So, what is in that stuffing you ask, and here is the answer:
~sauteed onions and garlic
~whole rolled oats
~uncooked basmati rice
~crumbled and soaked black fungus
~diced button mushrooms
~crumbled soft tofu
~sultanas
~cranberries
~green pepper
~black pepper
~brown sugar
I packed the stuffing in tight, and baked them uncovered at 350F for 2 hours. It was rather funny as I was the only one on the main floor of the house, in the kitchen working on my computer. I could hear the humidifier in the piano room, the trickle of the fish tank and the love birds nattering at each other, and something else. A high pitched squeal type hissing sound, I wondered what on earth had gotten into my kitchen and was hurt or trapped or ..... then I realized the sound was coming from the area by the stove, opened the oven door and lo and behold dinner was singing! I considered video taping it, just to capture the sound it was making, but by the time I had formulated the idea, and decided to do it, the sound had stopped.
It smells better than it looks, and according to the family, tastes better than it smells. Which is more than I can say for durian by the way, get to that in a minute. So here is the only real potential nemesis to my fasting, my own vegan kitchen creations...but I love to cook, and if I can over come the temptations I make, then I think I have it made. This will take some doing, but I am game for it.
Ok, back to that durian... for those that do not know what a durian is, it is a fruit, a very large one at that... here take a look!
So, what is in that stuffing you ask, and here is the answer:
~sauteed onions and garlic
~whole rolled oats
~uncooked basmati rice
~crumbled and soaked black fungus
~diced button mushrooms
~crumbled soft tofu
~sultanas
~cranberries
~green pepper
~black pepper
~brown sugar
I packed the stuffing in tight, and baked them uncovered at 350F for 2 hours. It was rather funny as I was the only one on the main floor of the house, in the kitchen working on my computer. I could hear the humidifier in the piano room, the trickle of the fish tank and the love birds nattering at each other, and something else. A high pitched squeal type hissing sound, I wondered what on earth had gotten into my kitchen and was hurt or trapped or ..... then I realized the sound was coming from the area by the stove, opened the oven door and lo and behold dinner was singing! I considered video taping it, just to capture the sound it was making, but by the time I had formulated the idea, and decided to do it, the sound had stopped.
It smells better than it looks, and according to the family, tastes better than it smells. Which is more than I can say for durian by the way, get to that in a minute. So here is the only real potential nemesis to my fasting, my own vegan kitchen creations...but I love to cook, and if I can over come the temptations I make, then I think I have it made. This will take some doing, but I am game for it.
Ok, back to that durian... for those that do not know what a durian is, it is a fruit, a very large one at that... here take a look!
Now I can get these frozen whole at the local chinese markets, but I have not seen them fresh. I had read about these stinky fruits, and believe you me, they REAK! Seriously, it's like a cross between rotting onions and sweaty feet with some garlic tossed in for good measure. However, the flavour is entirely different, it's like a hybridization of pineapple and onion. Rather weird. Personally, I could not get past the texture. I am pretty sure that when it's not been frozen it is not quite so, umm, slimy... I can't handle slime! A Ghostbuster I am not, especially when it comes to eating. I think I can manage to pull off some rather intriguing desserts with it though because of it's consistency and sweetness... it will be something to fiddle with that is for sure. If you want to read up a bit on this exotic fruit, here is the wiki link.
Well, time for a drink and relax for the rest of the night.
Love , Light and Laughter!
Well, time for a drink and relax for the rest of the night.
Love , Light and Laughter!
RSS Feed