Exploring Juicing

 Ok, so after doing a lot of reading on the web about juicing, juice fasts and juicers, I had discovered that juicers are not all the same.  There are basically five types, if you are interested – if not, skip past all that info and just go to what I bought LOL

Juicer Types

Masticating Juicers / Single Gear / Single Auger Juicers use a single gear or auger that literally chews fruit and vegetable fibers and breaks up the plant cells, resulting in more fiber, enzymes, vitamins and trace minerals. Masticating juicers are generally more efficient than Centrifugal juicers because they can extract more juice from the same amount of food (i.e. the pulp comes out drier). Masticating juicers are very capable at juicing virtually any fruit and vegetable, and single gear juicers will also extract juice from leaves and grasses, like wheatgrass, spinach, lettuce, parsley, and other leafy greens and herbs.  (Note: the Champion Juicers are the exception and do not juice wheatgrass or greens very well). Another benefit of masticating juicers is that they operate at slower speeds (RPMs) than centrifugal juicers, resulting in less foam and heat, which means more nutrition in your glass. The low speed also increases the shelf life of the juicer so that you can generally store your juicer for a few days. Masticating juicers are also more versatile than centrifugal juicers because, in addition to extracting juices, the these juicers also homogenize foods to make baby foods, pates, sauces, nut butters, banana ice creams and fruit sorbets. Some of these juicers can even extrude pasta and make bread sticks and rice cakes!

Upright Masticating Juicers are a revolutionary new patented design juicer with all of the high yield, low speed qualities of a standard Single Auger Masticating Juicer but in a space saving, upright design. With these juicers, the juice is first extracted through a crushing stage and, before the pulp is ejected, it is then squeezed during a second pressing stage; resulting in more juice, and extremely dry pulp. The low RPMs of these juicers ensure high yield and low waste. Upright Masticating juicers are very capable at juicing virtually any fruit and vegetable, and single gear juicers will also extract juice from leaves and grasses, like wheatgrass, spinach, lettuce, parsley, and other leafy greens and herbs.

Twin-Gear (Triturating) Juicers are the most expensive type of juicers, but they offer the most benefits. Twin gear juicers turn at even slower speeds (RPMs), resulting in even less oxidation from foam and less destruction of nutrients from heat. The low speeds also decrease the aeration and oxidation of the juicer, meaning you can refrigerate and store your juice for a few days. Twin gear juicers are the most efficient type of juicer available and can extract higher yields of juice from fruits, vegetables, wheatgrass, pine needles, spinach, and other greens and herbs. The pulp that comes out of twin gear juicers is the driest of all the types of juicers. These juicers extract as much juice from wheatgrass as the wheatgrass-only type of juicers. Twin gear juicers operate by pressing food between two interlocking roller gears. This juicing process yields a larger volume of juice. The high pressure squeezing force of the twin gears breaks open tough cell walls and releases more enzymes, vitamins and trace minerals. Twin gear juicers do more than just extract juice, they homogenize to make baby foods, nut butters, fruit sorbets and many have optional or included attachments for making pasta, bread sticks, and rice cakes.

Centrifugal Juicers are the most popular and generally the most affordable type of juicer. In fact, most juicers available in department stores are centrifugal juice machines, but beware of machines with warranties of less than one year. Centrifugal juicers are great at juicing most any fruit or vegetable and get the job done very easily and quickly. However, centrifugal juicers have a more difficult time effectively extracting high yields of juice from grassed and leafy foods like wheatgrass, spinach, lettuce, parsley and other greens and herbs. Centrifugal juicers will extract some juice from these greens, but far less than single or twin gear juicers. Some Centrifugal juicers are available with large feeding chutes that allow whole foods to be juiced without the need to cut and prepare food into smaller pieces. Most, centrifugal juicers, however have oval shaped feeding chutes that are large enough for a half or at least a quarter of an apple. Centrifugal type juicers first grate the fruit or vegetable into a pulp, and then uses centrifugal force to push the pulp against a strainer screen by spinning it at a very high RPM. The advantages of centrifugal juicers are the speed at which a juicing job can be done, especially when juicing with a wide mouth juicer. There are several disadvantages as well. As mentioned above, centrifugal juicers are not effective grass and leaf juicers. Additionally, the pulp generated by a centrifugal juicer is still relatively wet, meaning that some juice goes to waste. Single gear juicers and twin gear juicers have higher yields (drier pulp) than centrifugal juicers. Another disadvantage is the shelf life of the juice from a centrifugal juicer. Because of the high speed required to extract juice, the juice gets aerated, or in other words a great deal of oxygen is dissolved into the juice. The oxygen bubbles in the juice causes the juice to oxidize (spoil) quickly. As a result, the juice from a centrifugal juicer should be consumed right away and can't be effectively stored for any length of time without loss of nutritional value. If you wish to store juice, consider a low speed juicer like a single or twin gear juicer.

Wheatgrass Juicers are made exclusively for extracting the juice from wheatgrass and other leafy greens, as well as some soft fruits like grapes. Wheatgrass juicers are not made for extracting juice from vegetables and most fruits. Wheatgrass juicers are available in both electric and manual models. (Note: all of the masticating (except Champion) and twin gear juicers are capable of extracting juice from wheatgrass)

 

I couldn’t wait for the Breville juicer (which is a centrifugal juicer) to arrive on Wednesday to at least start tasting what is going to be my source of food for the next week or two; so I ran to Target and bought a NutriBullet http://www.nutribullet.com/ ($99) to give a sample juice recipe a try.

Since Target has fresh produce, I also picked up a package of Spring Mix, apples, bananas and blueberries.   The Spring Mix was organic, as I saw on the label later, but that was completely unintentional as I’m not really big on the organic produce as a rule.  I find organic produce to be usually double the price and not as nice or as large as the non-organic, but that’s just my opinion, anyway.

So I went back to the office and used the NutriBullet to whip up in seconds a drink consisting of:

• 2 handfuls of Spring Mix
• 1 cored apple
• 1 peeled banana
• 1 handful of blueberries
• ½ cup of water

It did not look very appetizing but when I tasted it was very pleasantly surprised!!  

 It actually tasted really good!  Now this wasn’t a juice per se, because it was everything simply pureed smooth – like a natural smoothie.  When the ingredients are pureed, you get the added component of fiber that you don’t get from an extracted juice.  

In any case, the fact that it tasted really good gave me a LOT of hope that this is definitely an endeavor that can be undertaken.

I left the NutriBullet at the office to use there since it really is only made to make enough for one person at a time.

On my way home, I stopped at Walmart and picked up a Ninja Pulse Blender (on sale for $89) so I could try the same recipe I made at the office at home - with the addition of pineapple and pear (which was the actual recipe I had earlier, but I forgot to get the pear and pineapple).

Once home, at dinner time, I used the Ninja to make a drink using:

• 1 container of Spring Mix
• 1 pineapple, cored and cut into chunks
• 2 cored apples, skin on
• 2 cored pears, skin on
• 2 peeled bananas
• 2 handfuls of blueberries
• ½ cup of water

Again – it did not look great and it actually came out a little more like thick pea soup because of the small amount of water but it did, once again, taste good. 

Ed liked the chunky stone-ground texture because he felt like it was more substantial. The pineapple made it a bit too sweet, believe it or not but I had about 3 cups of it.

I’d also bought a large Mexican papaya at the store since I love papaya and decided that I’d make a pure papaya smoothie to sip on as I worked at the computer.

I cut up the peeled, seeded papaya and whizzed it in the Ninja – it was not smooth like the yummy papaya smoothies I usually get at 30^th St. Station (you know, the amazingly delicious ones with papaya, yogurt and probably gallons of sugar syrup) so I decided to add some whole milk and blended it until it was smooth and creamy.  It looked delicious – but wasn’t as good as the earlier mixtures.  It was definitely smooth, creamy, had a great milkshake-like mouth feel but it had a slightly astringent aftertaste.  Clearly why my favorite smoothie place loaded their pureed papaya up with yogurt and sugar syrup – it needed it!

However, as I had made a quart of it – I sipped it all down over 2 hours as I worked at the computer – as it was.  I got used to it and it wasn’t so bad in all honesty.

I got a good night’s sleep – went to bed feeling VERY full, but not uncomfortably full like if I had a dozen pierogies or anything like that.

It is now 12:45 in the afternoon and I am STILL not hungry LOL – I think that the addition of the fiber and pulp in last night’s mixtures really helped to make me and keep me feeling full.  So that little tidbit is definitely a ‘note to self’ about juicing.  If I’m feeling hungry, I’ll opt for a fiber and pulp full juice as opposed to a pure extracted liquid juice.

I have my Breville juicer now (a day early - yay!) so tonight I am going to try the classic ‘Green Machine’ recipe.

Tonight's Juice Recipe:

Mean Green Juice (original)

This is the official recipe used by Joe Cross and Phil Staples according to the Reboot Program.

• 6 Kale Leaves
• 1 Cucumber
• 4 Celery Stalks
• 2 Green Apples
• 1/2 Lemon
• 1 piece of ginger

Stay tuned!! 

Rebooting My Life

Over the weekend, I saw two movies back to back that really moved me, and as anyone who knows me knows, when I am moved - I generally 'do' something LOL.

First, the movies were:

1.  Hungry for Change http://www.hungryforchange.tv/

'Hungry for Change' is a film that every American adult and their children should watch to gain a better understanding of the horrific effects our current American diet has on our health. “Hungry for Change” does an excellent job in educating the viewer on the atrocity our food manufacturers are inflicting on our health. 

In the film, there was a brief mention of Joe Cross, a man who was 310 lbs and sick from his bad diet.  By changing his diet, he literally changed his health.  Joe Cross is the subject of the second film I watched, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.

2.  Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead   http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/

This is an inspiring film that chronicles Joe Cross' personal mission to regain his health. With doctors and conventional medicines unable to help long-term, Joe turns to the only option left, the body's ability to heal itself. He trades in the junk food and hits the road with juicer and generator in tow, vowing only to drink fresh fruit and vegetable juice for the next 60 days. Across 3,000 miles Joe has one goal in mind: To get off his pills and achieve a balanced lifestyle. 

You can watch this movie for free on Hulu or a number of other sources (DVD, iTunes, Amazon, Netflix etc.)

I have successfully lost weight with Weight Watchers and if I could just get motivated to do a bit of exercise, I would drop the 15-20 lbs in no time.  I know this, but I'm not particularly motivated to exercise and I think it's also partly because my energy levels are not as high as they could be.

The 'secret' to Joe's success was that he actually went on a juice fast where he only drank a freshly blended, nutritious fruit and vegetable juice to cleanse and 'reboot' his system to allow his body to start with a clean slate of sorts.  Of course, while Joe's journey and story are amazing - my goal is different than his.  What struck me was how this juice was effective in resetting the body so that you could start on a better path to health.

One woman in the movie did the juice fast for 7 days and ended up with no more migraines, a boost in energy and now has incorporated juicing into her life and seems to be happier and healthier for it.  As I was watching it, I thought that this may be something that my sister and others in my life could do to get their systems back on track so that they could get back on point and feel like themselves again.  

Now - to be perfectly honest, I am not fat, sick or nearly dead -  but I would like to lose about 15-20 lbs and have my flat stomach back that I had for the majority of my 48 - almost 49 years. 

I am going to try this 'reboot' based on the truths I know about myself:

1.  I am not a good dieter - Weight Watchers is great but I don't want to live my life counting points and doing the WW math everyday for food I'm eating and activity I'm not doing.

2.  I hate mandated exercise.  I am fine being active and doing things in my day-to-day.  I enjoy riding my bike but to go to the gym or ride my bike in circles by myself - it's not happening because it isn't how I am built.  So I need to find a riding partner to get on my bike and plan rides which are fun.

3.  I generally like juices, fruits and vegetables.  
 

I feel like I need to give it a try to see how it goes - my goal is to try it for 7 days and see how it goes.  I am nervous, because for me, the juice is going to have to taste good for me to use it as my sole form of food for 7 days.  Juice and water - no coffee, tea, Magner's cider - nada.
My biggest challenge will be drinking just the green juice but I can set a goal and stick to it from sheer stubborness so I should be able to get past this green juice. 

I am planning to start this on this Friday, so that the first three days of this will be over the weekend so that no one else will have to suffer with me LOL.

I ordered my Breville JE98XL Juice Fountain Plus 850-Watt Juice Extractor from Amazon last night and it will get here Wednesday.

I also ordered the kindle eBook "Your Comprehensive Green Juicing Guide –PLUS- The Only 10 Recipes You Will Ever Need" by Farnoosh Brock to get me started as well as the four recipes below:

Mean Green Juice (original)

This is the official recipe used by Joe Cross and Phil Staples according to the Reboot Program developed by Joe Cross.

6 Kale Leaves
1 Cucumber
4 Celery Stalks
2 Green Apples
1/2 Lemon
1 piece of ginger

Mean Green Juice #2

handful spinach
3 stalks of kale
2 golden delicious apples
small handful parsley
1 lemon
1 cucumber

Mean Green Juice #3

2 stalks celery
1/2 cucumber
1/2 apple
1/2 lemon
small piece ginger
1/2 green chard leaf
bunch cilantro
5 kale leaves
handful spinach

Mean Green Juice #4

1/2 pear
1/2 green apple
handful spinach
handful parsley
2 celery stalks
1/2 cucumber
small piece ginger
slice of papaya

NOTES FOR MAKING JUICE

• peel or slice off lemon rind leaving some of the white pith
• to juice small leaves such as parsley and cilantro, roll them up into a ball to compact the leaves
• wash all vegetables and fruits before making juice
• buy organic if possible

I will be blogging my progress so - stay tuned!!

Hayashi Rice (ハヤシライス)

I haven't posted to my blog in ages, I know but as I sit listening to Sandy howl outside, I thought I would type out a recipe or two...like Hayashi Rice

Hayashi Rice is one of those classic Japanese comfort foods that most people get from a packaged Hayashi Rice Roux - works exactly like the Japanese Curry Roux.

S&B Hayashi Rice Sauce Roux - it is yummy too!

Hayashi Rice usually contains beef,onions, and button mushrooms, in a thick demi-glace nuanced sauce which often contains red wine and tomato sauce. This sauce is served atop or alongside steamed rice. The sauce is sometimes topped with a drizzle of fresh cream. It resembles Japanese curry and usually appears on menus alongside curry.

One popular theory about the name suggest that it was named after it's inventor Mr Hayashi, the first president of Maruzen Food, which operated an early Yoshoku restaurant and still has Hayashi Rice on the menu today.

Hayashi Rice's origins are a bit murky if you try to research it, but to me, it is almost a perfect Japanese version of  French Boeuf Bourguignon or Beef Burgundy.  Whatever the case, it is delicious and one of my favorites.

It isn't difficult to make at home and while the roux cubes are perfectly fine, I think that once you make Hayashi Rice at home, you'll see how easy and yummy it is.

I often just make it with beef, onions and mushroom - but you can certainly (like curry) add potatoes, carrots and peas if you like...

Hayashi Rice (ハヤシライス)

6-8 servings

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound well marbled beef chuck cut into 3/4″ pieces* (see note below)
3 onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
3 small cloves garlic minced
2 cups red wine like a burgundy or the red cooking wine from the grocer’s
1 cup beef stock
1 cup chicken stock  (trust me, it makes a difference)

1 bay leaf
2 cloves
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon Bulldog or tonkatsu sauce
1 packet of Swanson Beef Flavor Boost packet (or 2 tablespoons demi-glace)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sweet paprika

8 ounces baby bella or button mushrooms, sliced or whole as you prefer

Thickening Roux:

3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1.  Heat a large pot or dutch oven over medium high heat until hot, then add the oil.

2.  Generously salt and pepper the beef, then add it to the hot oil.

3.  Fry undisturbed for a few minutes or until the beef has a golden brown crust on one side, then flip the beef and fry until browned on the second side.

4.  The browned crust is where the flavor is at, so the more crust the better.

5.  Transfer the beef to a large bowl and set aside.

6.  Add some more oil if needed, then add the onions and cover with a lid and cook over medium low heat for 10 minutes.

7.  Remove the lid, then continue to cook the onions, stirring frequently until it’s about 1/6 of the original volume, and is brown and glossy. This can take 30 minutes to an hour.

8.  Return the beef and any accumulated juices to the pot along with the garlic, mushrooms, wine, stock, bay leaf, cloves, tomato paste, tonkatsu sauce, beef flavor boost, soy sauce, and paprika.

9.  Partially cover with a lid and cook for 1-2 hours or until the beef is very tender.

Make the Thickening Roux:

1.  While the beef is cooking, heat the butter and flour in a small saucepan over medium high heat.

2.  Stir continuously until the butter is melted, then stop stirring until the mixture starts taking on a color.

3.  Continue cooking and stirring at regular intervals until the roux has reached a caramel brown color.

4.  Remove from the heat.

Thicken the Sauce:

1.  When the beef is tender, turn the heat down to low, add the roux a spoonful at a time and stir vigorously to keep it from clumping.  (I usually add it via a fine wire mesh strainer just like when you make miso soup)

 2.  The hayashi rice should start getting thick pretty quickly (you might not need all the roux).

3.  Stop when you’re happy with the thickness.

Serve with hot white rice.

************************************************

* NOTE:  It is a bit extravagant, but I do often make this with a whole beef tenderloin cut up into cubes and it's delicious.  If you do use beef tenderloin, there are two differences:

1.  Do not brown the beef as much as you would the chuck - just sear it well on both sides and then remove to the bowl.  It will not be done by any means - very rare.

2.  After you brown the beef - proceed with the entire recipe as written but DO NOT ADD the beef in step # 8, just the accumulated juices to the pot.  The beef gets added during the last 10 minutes of cooking, before the sauce is thickened.

~ Many Kids love Hayashi Rice ~