Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Taste Explosion!

So far today I've had a pretty busy day.  I'm sure that's true for most everyone.  Since I don't have a job right now I often feel like I have all the time in the world and then I find myself over scheduled and trying to fit everything in.  One thing that is pretty nice about a diet like this is everything is pretty quick and easy.

First there's no cooking!  Second there's very little preparation. Best of all the clean up is pretty simple.

Of course, most of this ease depends upon what sort of juicer you use. I had a Jack LaLanne juicer for a very short time many years ago but I soon sent it back as it kept jamming up and shorting out on me.  I must have been doing something wrong because I know a lot of people love their LaLanne juicers.

After seeing the "Fat,Sick and Nearly Dead" movie my dear hubby, AKA My Sweet Babooh or MSB and I decided to buy the fancy Brevelle Juicer featured in the movie. Ha!  Apparently Joe's influence caused a run on Brevelle Juicers. We couldn't find any available on any internet site!  We finally tracked one down at the local Bloomingdales and grabbed it!

I cannot praise this juicer highly enough!  Our's is stainless steel so there's no concern about staining the parts with the intense juice you are making.  The clean up is simply a breeze.  Since fiber is so sticky it is vital to clean up the juicer after every juicing "event" but there's not much to it.

So - that's my commercial for the day.  Since today has been so busy we'll just get right to the juicing.

Here's today's plan from the Reboot website.  I encourage you to register and take advantage of all the resources at this website.  There are 100s of juice recipes to try there and advice from Registered dietitions if you have questions or special needs.









First on the hit parade is our Breakfast juice.  Calling this Purple Power  just doesn't seem to do it justice.  It is purple and then some!  There are a ton of purple grapes in here and it is amazingly delicious!  It clearly deserves an A but it is really too much - well it was for me.  These recipes all make a lot of juice and I simply couldn't finish all the juice that this recipe makes.  I found out many years ago that I don't do well with sweet juices or smoothies since I get a real sugar rush.  Of course, the rush feels fantastic but I then get horribly hypoglycemic about 30 minutes later and have a crash landing!  As I was drinking this sweet, fruity juice I could feel that sugar rush coming on and I just had to stop drinking.  So, if you have someone to share with I think it is a real winner and looks simply gorgeous in all its purple glory.

Next up is our mid-morning snack called Green Lemonade. This is a nice, refreshing drink that if you examine the ingredients it is nearly identical to yesterday's Mean Green juice. Only difference is an extra apple and some ginger so that today's offering does taste more lemony.  I think the best part about this plan is realizing that you can throw a lot of different produce into your juicer and it will usually taste pretty good.  Getting a handle on whether you like more citrus - so add a lemon, or prefer it a bit sweeter - throw in an extra apple can make the difference between tolerating your juice and really enjoying it. Personally, I enjoyed both drinks and will give today's the same B+ that yesterday's Mean Green received.

Moving on to our Lunch! I will confess that I had a lunch date with an old friend and did not go all uber liquid diet on her and make her watch me sip my juice. We went to an Asian restaurant and I had some miso soup. So - I didn't have a raw diet but it was still pretty liquid. That said I came home and whipped up the lunch and snack juices since I was a bit hungry after just having a small bowl of soup.

Now here's an interesting aside.  Why is it that a glass of juice satisfies my hunger for several hours but a similar amount of soup containing just miso (soy) leaves me hungry 45 minutes later?  I'm thinking it must be the enormous amount of nutrients these juices contain.  I've always thought it was amazing and frankly strange that just drinking five good sized glasses of juice I'm really not hungry despite not ingesting many calories.  I think it must be the nutrients in the juice.

Ok - so now on to our lunch juice called V 28.  I don't know what the 28 is but I will say there's virtually nothing in this juice that I like to eat on its own or camouflaged in a salad.  I'm not a fan of jalapenos and I simply loathe radishes.  Yes - loathe them.  They go in the same category for me as blue cheese.  Ack!
But - as your faithful scribe and guinea pig I felt obligated to make this recipe and let you know what I think, albeit only a half serving.  Indeed, this is one savory tasting juice. Savory with a capital S is still an understatement. There is a bite to it and some zing. I could see where some people would really enjoy something like this. I would not be one of those people. So, if you like somewhat spicy, hearty tasting juice I would recommend this. It might be more palatable if it was warmed up like a soup. Let me know if one of you tries this idea and finds it to your liking. I think I'm going to have to give this a D


For our afternoon snack we have a juice named Spinach Fennel Cucumber  I found this juice to be a welcome, refreshing drink. The thing that makes this juice different from the others is the fennel bulb addition. I must warn you to not go overboard on the fennel though. Previously I made a juice that called for a portion of fennel and I figured I'd throw the whole thing in. Whoa! Huge mistake! When it comes to Fennel it's like the old Brylcreme commercials  - "A little dab'll do ya!" Children - go ask your parents.   Anyway - suffice it to say do not overdo it on the fennel or you'll probably throw the entire pitcher of juice out just like I did.

Since this juice was so light, refreshing and enjoyable it deserves an A  No doubt my pleasure in this concoction is due to lingering V 28 dismay - such is life.

For our dinner we have a juice called Bountiful Brassica  where there got this name? I do not know. This is another savory style juice that makes me scratch my head wondering why someone thought cabbage juice would be a good idea. Surprisingly, this is not bad. Obviously the cabbage, kale and broccoli jack the nutrient content of this juice threw the roof. The lemon and ginger root give this juice a fresh "zing" so that it is very drinkable. I think this juice definitely deserves at least a B+. You might give it a strong A.

So, with the entries from today's juices we have the following tally.

Recipes
Name Category Diet Day Page number Rating
Carrot Apple Ginger Juice Reboot one NA A++
Mean Green Juice Reboot one NA B+
Gazpacho Juice Reboot one NA
Citrus Inspired Green Juice Juice Reboot one NA B
Sunset Blend Juice Reboot one NA
Purple Power Juice Reboot two NA A
Green Lemonade Juice Reboot two NA B+
V 28 Juice Reboot two NA D
Spinach Fennel Cucmber Juice Reboot two NA A
Bountiful Brassica Juice Reboot two NA B+

Tomorrow is our last day of the Reboot Three Day Weekend Plan.  On Thursday we'll be switching gears and following Ani's 15 Day Fat Blast.  I'll have to find some time to review the next days of recipes and go do some more shopping.

Let me know if you've tried any of these recipes, what you've thought and if you've got some ideas for how to make V28 palatable.  I'd also love to hear if you've found some items on the Reboot website that you thought were interesting and worth trying.

Thanks for reading!


3 comments:

  1. Inspired by your adventurous nature (and the fact that you have done all the homework, I just need to follow along), I decided to try the 3-day reboot. Put together my lengthy grocery list and drove the 35 miles to town...oops, forgot the list. Actually did better than I expected....purchased all but 2 items I can probably get locally.

    When I got home I read the Reboot site, “ set up your juicer the night before”. No problem, found the box with the Jack LaLanne juicer in it and put it on the counter for the this morning. Beautiful breezy (thanks to Isaac) morning requiring a long walk with my many dogs....looking forward to the apple, ginger, carrot concoction that got an A+ from you. Assembled and washed the ingredients, opened juicer box...oh no!! Jack was missing a part! It must be in the pantry somewhere. Opportunity knocks! A chance to clean the pantry...two hours later, clean pantry, no Jack.

    All is not lost, I have a 30 year old Champion juicer that still works. Managed to pull it out of the lower cabinet without the use of a front end loader. If you ever had one of these dinosaurs you know what I mean. These juicers have many parts and require assembly at each use. Seems I remember that I am supposed to use Crisco as a lubricant to attach the cutter part to the rod assembly. I don’t keep Crisco in the house...what to do...it came down to olive oil or K-Y jelly. I chose the former....may not have been the right choice. Let the juicing begin!! By this time I am salivating, just saying, “if I don’t get to this juice pretty soon, all is lost and I will devour the entire contents of the refrigerator”. But I know I have to clean the Champion before enjoying the fruit of my labor. Apparently, the liquid nature of the olive oil caused some sort of suction that made pulling the cutter assembly off the rod almost impossible....picture me sitting on my counter with my feet pushing on the Champion motor while pulling on the cutter. No, don’t picture that...there is no way this 60 year old can hop up on the counter. FINALLY, patience and a few choice words worked and my juicer is cleaned and ready for the next event.

    It is now 1 pm....I just finished the Carrot Apple Ginger Breakfast Juice and you are quite right...very good. I figure, if all goes well, I need to drink again at 3pm, 5pm, 7pm and 9pm. Guess I need to start now.

    Also, I need a new juicer......

    Thanks, Ann, for inspiring me...I will check in again if I ever find the time.

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  3. I'm not currently updating this blog. Thanks for your interest though!

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