Back to juicing. Needless to say, I am no longer juice fasting. I got to around day four and simply admitted that I just want dinner. Juicing throughout the day wasn’t such a challenge, in fact, I really enjoyed the simplicity of preparing the juice at the beginning of the day and having all my meals and snacks ready when I needed them. Feeding the family was and still is my greatest challenge. I like to spend time with them around the dinner table, and with just juice for dinner in the face of their meals, sitting there felt like sheer hell. Overall, juicing has more appeal to me now from this experience and I can envision including a fresh juice into my daily routine.
I had the pleasure of spending the weekend in the country and got to play around with my Dad’s juicer. He’s got one of those fabulous Breville Juice Fountains. I could put an entire cucumber through the chute with no chopping. Whole carrots, beets, radishes, no fuss! It took minutes to juice for an entire day, versus the hour or more it takes with my own juicer. However, before I start sounding like a cheesy infomercial, I’ve gotta say, it’s got some pitfalls. The Breville is a centrifugal juicer and isn’t great with leafy greens, which is the base of most of my juices. Cleanup is pretty simple, but the enthusiasm of quick and easy juicing faded when I saw that the pulp is still a tad wet and, well, juicy. I feel a little guilty letting those valuable nutrients go to waste. Now, I can see that if I included this in my arsenal of power tools, I’d probably juice more frequently. I’ve just got to decide if I want to give up the cupboard space for another toy. In the meantime, Dad’s offered me his to continue my test drive. So generous.
Thanks, Dad.
PS: This isn’t a sponsored post. I haven’t gotten enough readers, yet, to make me interesting to Breville, I’m sure. However, some day… if I am sponsored, I promise I’ll let you know.
I SO relate to this post! I’ve often done special vitamin/enzyme shakes for myself for breakfast or in the afternoon, but being the main meal preparer for kids who have serious caloric requirements gets downright discouraging–not because I resent my family for enjoying different food than I do, but because it’s HARD to serve up foods that seem to power them but make me TIRED! This morning I made them homemade pancakes with homemade raspberry syrup. They were so happy it was ridiculous. And I passed on the meal, as I often do, because I knew the carbs would make me want to go right back to bed. I’d love your suggestions about navigating this challenge . . .
My husband and I are looking into the Breville Juice Fountain. We don’t know anyone personally who has one, what is your final assessment?!?
I wouldn’t buy one. However, I like to juice a lot of leafy greens, so a centrifugal style juicer just doesn’t cut it. For my dad who likes to juice apples, carrots and an occasional beet, it’s perfect. The Breville is also super fast, and you won’t have to spend much time cutting up your fruits and veggies. So, if fast and convenient juicing will make you juice more often, get the Breville. If you’ve got the extra time, and hate to see juicy pulp go to waste, hold out for something else. My SIL just got a Kuvings masticating juicer that I’ve been test driving while on vacation, and I’ve got to say, it’s pretty impressive. I’m gearing up to do a post on that one. It goes for $200-350 which seems like a good price point for the quality of juice it produces. Although, the veggies definitely need to be chopped and cleanup was a little tedious.
Hope this helps. Whatever you decide, you’ll make it work. Juicing is so healthful and it’s been fun to get creative with the recipes.