Juicing...

Whenever I've been sick, I tend to go into hyperdrive on doing healthy things for my body until I'm back to 100%.

In my copious amounts of reading on vegetarianism, I stumbled across juicing. The idea is that raw fruits and vegetables are the ideal fuel for our bodies, but we don't get nearly enough in the standard American diet. Juicing is an efficient way to consume a lot of raw fruits and vegetables to deliver all of those wonderful phytonutrients to your cells.

If you want to read more on this, I highly recommend Jay "the Juiceman" Kordich's book, The Power of Juicing. As for me, it was a process to figure out what would actually be practical for a busy wife-mom-marketing diva.

The juicers available in your average mega-mart or department store are usually the centrifugal kind. I tried that when I first got into juicing, but found I never took the time because they were such a pain to clean. Eventually, I invested in a commercial grade juicer by Champion Juicers. The best price for these is on the internet. For ease of cleanup and a motor that won't burn out, I highly recommend it.

I tend to go in phases on juicing, doing it religiously for a few months, then completely falling out of the habit. It is well worth the time because the practice tends to boost energy, but go on a few business trips and work late a few evenings, and it is easy to let the juicer lay dormant on the counter--especially since the juice is best when consumed fresh.

Carrot juice, grapefruit juice and watermelon are favorites for me. You can make the vegetables more palatable by combining them. If you are just getting into it, here are some of my favorite combinations.

1) 1 large beet, two apples, 1 lime, 1 inch of ginger.
2) 5 roma tomatoes, 1 lime, stalk celery, two carrots, (slice jalepeno if brave), a little salt
3) 3 leaves kale, 2 green apples, 1 lime
4) 1 cucumber, 1 lime

I've never been able to get my family into the practice, but when I'm consistent, it makes me feel wonderful. With Bethany having 7am basketball practice, we'll see if I can keep it up.