Foodie Monday: Juicing and Juicers!

I bought a juicer! I didn’t buy just any juicer. No! I bought a Breville Fountain Plus.

I got hooked on the green smoothie concoctions thanks to Naked. I had seen them before. I’d even bough them for my mother just to see her face when she saw it and then attempted to drink it. I thought anyone who drank green juice had some serious issues. Then, one day, I tasted the Naked’s Green Machine. I didn’t make a face. In fact, I had another sip and then another. A super-sized container of it ended up in my fridge. I kept looking at the ingredient list wondering how I could manage to get all of those fruits and veggies into an 8 ounce glass.

The other day I watched the movie “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.” It is available for free if you are an Amazon Prime member. It is the story of a 400 lb. man who goes on a juice fast for 60 days.

There has been so much hype about juicing lately. As someone who is trying to go 100% vegan, it is sometimes hard to get the daily recommended amounts of vitamins and nutrients. After having some “challenges,” I now take a multivitamin, a vegan omega-3 DHA supplement and a calcium supplement . . . daily.

The movie, “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead,” wasn’t great, but it was inspiring enough for me to want a juicer. I looked up juicers on Amazon. The most popular juicer with the highest rankings was the Breville Compact Fountain for $99.95. The average rating for over 700 people was 4.5 stars out of 5.

When something is so highly rated like that I like to look at the lowest ratings. If multiple people complain about the same problems, then I seriously consider whether or not I wish to make the purchase. The one star ratings had multiple complaints about finding large pieces of fruit in the leftover pulp. That was enough for me to consider another juicer. The lower priced juicers didn’t appeal to me. The more expensive juicers were nice, but I didn’t want to spend much more than $100.

The Breville Fountain Plus was also highly rated. I didn’t see complaints about large chunks of fruit in the pulp AND it came with a cool pitcher. It also had two speeds with a whole fruit chute. The blurb stated that I could drop an apple down the chute WHOLE and get juice in five seconds! The plug even has a convenient hole for your finger so you can easily unplug it!

The retail price was $199.99. amazon.com was selling it for $179.99. I did a Google product search and found Bed, Bath and Beyond had it for $149.99. I tracked down the LAST ONE at a Bed, Bath and Beyond across the Bay. With my 20% off coupon the pre tax price was $119.99! Unfortunately, CA tax took another $10. Once you factor in gas to cross the bridge and a $5 (!) bridge toll, who knows what it cost me. I’d like to think that I only paid $119.99 for it. It makes me feel like I got an amazing deal and . . . I didn’t even have to wait for shipping!

The first green juice I made was green lemonade.

GREEN GINGER LEMONADE

Ingredients:
1 head of romaine lettuce
5 to 6 stalks of kale
2 sweet apples (I love pink ladies!)
1 lemon
1 to 2 inch pieces of fresh ginger

Instructions:
1. Put all ingredients into the juicer.
2. Stir
3. Pour into a glass
4. Drink!

* Variations
– you can substitute out an a basket of strawberries for an apple
– double the lemon and ginger for increased flavor

The first drink was sooooo good that we made another one. This one was based upon what we had in the house. Next time I’d probably add another apple or even a lemon to balance out the bitterness of the celery.

Ingredients:
3 stalks of celery
3 carrots
1 apple (pink lady!)
1 pear (I used a Bartlett pear)
1 basket of strawberries

Instructions:

1. Put all ingredients into the juicer.
2. Pour into a glass
3. Drink!

Juicing is fascinating and delicious. Imagine taking a whole lemon with the peel and putting it in the juicer chute and getting juice? That alone made me giddy. The green ginger lemonade had me bouncy of the walls. I had energy and it was good for me. Fancy that! Tomorrow, I plan on juicing pomegranates and collard greens!