Sweet Sweet Juice

So on Sunday I decided to start off the process of making giant batches of juices in advance.  I think that I chose the wrong kind of juice to get me started.  Green Star is an amazing juicer, very efficient, very easy to clean and very fast, EXCEPT for tomatoes.  So of course I started off with a big batch of tomato juice.  Well, let me tell you.  It was a big process.  The juice was super delicious, I loved it and will make it again.  But it left me nervous/apprehensive about making a big batch of juice again.  

Well, today I gave it another go, and It was amazingly wonderful.  I made nearly two gallons of juice without needing to stop or clear the machine once.  When I washed it, the gears barely had anything on them, and the screen was minimally clogged.  I feel that I easily could have done 3 or more gallons without too much trouble.  So what did I juice?

Watermelon/Cucumber/Lime cocktail

1/2 watermelon 

9 Cucumbers 

2 Limes 

($9, total) Yield: 1 Gallon

Apple/Celery

8 apples (5 granny smith, 4 red delicious)

1/2 large bunch of Celery

($4, total) yield 1/2 gallon

I've tasted both of the juices and they are delicious.  I REALLY like using the cucumber and celery to dilute the sweeter fruit juices.  It manages to mellow out the flavor while adding more nutrients and without getting that watered down flavor you get when you add regular old water.  Yum!

The Calm Before the Storm

Well, I'm back from DC.  It's for sure a big change of pace.  For the past month my days have been so scheduled that I have barely had to think about what comes next or what I want to do with my time, because I haven't had any free.

Now, it's the total opposite—my days are as unstructured as it gets.  I'm going to enjoy the vacation, but I also need to remember that there are things that I need to get done in the next 3.5 weeks.

A few days ago, DF and I saw Food, Inc.  Among other things, it has influenced me to really take organic food more seriously.  Unfortunately, I'm coping with the cost of things.  I'm really going to need to learn better how to eat/drink more raw on a tighter budget.  I do like knowing that my juicer does let me buy a huge amount of produce and juice it all in one day.  Then I can stick things in the freezer and they last me a little longer than they do whole in the fridge, or gas, on the counter.  Reminds me, still have half a watermelon to juice up...

Over the drive back from DC, there was a lot of junk that I ate.  Also, even while I was in DC there was a lot of extremes: lots of juice and smoothies, but also lots of truly SAD food.  Even so, for the first time in my life that I have been away from my scale, I came back and released weight.

Since getting back, I am eating about 90% juice and the other 10% is still raw.  Well, I'm continuing to release weight.  I am about 3 lbs away from officially being overweight, as opposed to obese (according to the Wii fit)