Big Fall Juice Clean 2014- Day 1

The Natural Energizer

This is juice number two (2) and three (3) on Monday (Day 1) on the 5lbs in 5 Days Juice Plan by Jason Vale.

"Creamy, sweet and mellow pineapple juice is the perfect balance to the mineral rich juice from the cucumber, spinach, sugar snap peas and zucchini. This juice is then taken to the next level by adding a hint of fennel and a dash of zesty lime". 

I've done Jason's full 5 Day Juice plane twice this year, and then try to follow it throughout various weeks for breakfast and lunch only. Sometimes I can't always find fennel, but when I have it and add it to this, I think it gives this juice an amazing subtle hint of freshness which really brings this up to the next level!

"Not only is this juice creamy and delicious, but unlike the array of artificial energizer drinks (that ultimately rob your body of nutrients, cause stress to your vital organs and send you on a roller coaster of refined sugar energy highs and lows) this juice will energize you the natural way – say “high” to nature"! ~Jason Vale

Ingredients:
1/4 pineapple

1 large handful of spinach

1/4 cucumber

1/2 zucchini

1 inch chunk of fennel

15 sugar snap peas

1/2 organic lime (with the skin on)

How to create
Simply Juice all the ingredients. I make a double batch of this recipe in the morning, and then pour into two (2) mason jars. Then fill with ice so the juice reaches the top. Place the lid on, fasten tightly and you are good to go! I usually drink mine around 12 noon and 3 o'clock. This will definitely brighten up you day with a burst of green energy!

Spinach & Broccoli White Pizza

I went a little nuts with the pizza dough recipe from Vegan Pizza, which meant Pizza Night twice in one week!  What you see below is actually two batches of the whole wheat version of Julie's dough, where I used 2 cups whole wheat flour and 1 cup unbleached white.  The rest of the recipe is exactly as written in the link above.

The inspiration for this particular pizza came from the leftovers that happened to be in my fridge at the time: One (1) container of Olivia's Organic Baby Spinach, and two (2) small broccoli crowns leftover from when I made Broccoli Mac and Cheese Casserole the night before. AND...for some extra cheesy goodness, I had already sliced open my free sample of Mozzarella Teese from Vida Vegan Con to use on The Rocket Pizza earlier in the week, so I had a good 3/4 of it left!  

I decided on a White Pizza: home made crust topped with a creamy garlic Alfredo base, then topped with lightly sauteed baby spinach, blanched broccoli, and lots of garlic, then finished with some strategically placed mozzarella slices.

Before I began, I preheated a pizza stone in a 500 degree oven. My pizza stone is the large round one from Pampered Chef, and it's best to let it preheat for a good thirty minutes.

For the sauce, I decided to tweak Julie's Smoky White Cheese Sauce recipe a bit, to stand in for the Alfredo on the pizza.  Basically, I omitted the "smoke" and added in 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning.

Cheesy Alfredo Pizza Sauce (adapted from Julie Hasson's Smoky White Cheese Sauce)

1 cup almond milk, unsweetened

1 cup water

1/2 cup raw, unsalted cashews

1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes

2 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp tahini

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp Italian Seasoning

• In a blender, combine all the ingredients and blend well, until no bits of nuts remain.  Sauce should be very smooth.
• Add blended mixture to a sauce pan, and bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking the whole while.
• Lower heat and continue to cook for another 10 minutes, or until it starts to thicken. Be careful not to burn.  The sauce with thicken more as it cools.

I set the sauce aside to cool while I cooked my greens and rolled out my dough. I quickly blanched my fresh broccoli florets in the microwave covered with a damp paper towel with 2 TBSP of water for about 3-4 minutes. I then sauteed the baby spinach in 1 TBSP of olive oil, 3 cloves minced garlic, and 1 tsp crushed red pepper (pepper can be omitted of your tongue can't take the heat). As the spinach wilted, I added the blanched broccoli to the pan, tossed everything together with salt and pepper to taste, then set aside to cool a bit.

The unbaked pizza

I had enough dough, sauce and toppings for two pizzas. I usually roll my dough out onto parchment paper on top of my cutting board, so I can quickly transfer the pizza and parchment right onto my preheated pizza stone without loosing too much heat from the oven. Once the dough was rolled out, about 1/4" thick, I used about 3/4 cup of sauce on each pizza, then topped each one with half of my garlicky spinach and broccoli. I then sprinkled a bit of nutritional yeast, and placed around 6-8 slices of Mozzarella Teese over top.  Finally, I baked each one in the oven for 11-12 minutes, or until cheese is melted and crust is golden.

So the next time you are craving something garlicky and green, why don't you give this delicious pizza pie a try ^_^

Blueberry Banana Green Smoothie (with a shot of Chia)

This week, organic blueberries were on sale, so I took full advantage and bought two pints. My plan to make blueberry buckwheat pancakes with some of them never came to pass, so I made up some luscious fruit smoothies for breakfast instead.

Here we have:

2 cups unsweetened almond milk

1 large banana, frozen

3/4 cup organic blueberries

1 1/2 cups baby spinach

1 package of chia shots*, from my Vida Vega Con swag bag!

*ice cubes, if you like it extra cold

*What's nice about chia seeds is that they pack all the omega 3s, fiber and protein of flax seeds, but they do NOT have to be fully ground in order to digest or reap the nutritional benefits. So these cute little packs are great for on the go to add into yogurt or salads, too.

Add ingredients to your blender and blend until smooth and creamy. This makes a fantastic breakfast on the go. And, considering the blueberries have now doubled in price, this was a nice treat while it lasted! ^_^

Juicing Romaine? Another Green Juice - Based on the Ritual Cleanse

Yet, another Green Juice - based loosely on the Ritual Cleanse

I think of all the juices I make, GREEN juice has to be one of my favorites.  I've been researching tons of Green Juice variations, as well as copy-cat "cleanse" recipes online (Ritual Cleanse, Blueprint Cleanse), and many of the green juices I come across contain Romaine lettuce.

Now, up until this point in our juicing journey, I was going SUPER-green by using KALE as my leafy green of choice.  I never in a million years thought to juice Romaine lettuce.  To me, Romaine is SALAD.  I can eat that plain, in a bowl, any day. Why would I squeeze all the liquid out of its leaves?

But there it is: Romaine is in almost EVERY green juice I see.  So today, I decided to finally add some in to ours.

Ritual Cleanse Green Juice -Variation #1
6 romaine lettuce leaves
4 kale leaves
2 celery stalks
1 large cucumber
3 pineapple spears
1" piece of ginger
juice of 1/2 lemon

Now, I love me some kale, and there's been some mighty fine Tuscan Kale on sale at the Colt State Park Farmer's Market this Summer.  But, I have to say, the Romaine lettuce added something really mild, crisp, and fresh to this juice.  It was delicious! And, as an added bonus, it adds even more gorgeous, green color, and MORE liquid to the juice. (Which is good because I've been blowing through celery and cucumbers like nobody's business since we got the juicer)!

So, what exactly is it about dark green leafy lettuces like Romaine that make them nutritional powerhouses? 

Well, for one, the greener the leaf, the stronger the nutritional profile.  Sorry Iceberg, you just do not stack up here.  For juicing, be sure to go for the nice, dark green, outer leaves.  Lettuce juice, I've discovered, is a rich source of vitamin A, K, E, C, and folate, while also being high in the minerals silicon, manganese, calcium, magnesium and chromium.

Every time I juice a new ingredient, I always like to read up on what makes that particular fruit or vegetable so nutritious.  

Here we have some fun facts from Juicing for Health.com:

Health properties of lettuce juice:
Anti-anemic:  Lettuce contains a relatively high amount of chlorophyll and iron, which are essential for the synthesis of hemoglobin in blood red cells.
Anti-oxidant:  Lettuce is rich in anti-oxidants, especially beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin E.  These substances help cleanse the body from toxins, prevent the damage caused by free-radicals, prevent premature aging and lower the risk of chronic diseases and cancer.
Bone health: There is evidence that lettuce has a protective effect on bone health, due to its high content in vitamin K which is required for the synthesis of osteocalcin, a bone protein which helps strengthen bone tissue.  This bone protective action is particularly effective in preventing osteoporosis-related fractures in post-menopausal women and older adults.  Lettuce is a good source of calcium and phosphorous, as well, which play a key role in bone structure and health.
Constipation:  Thanks to its high fiber content, lettuce and its juice can help stimulate the function and motility of the intestinal tract, relieve constipation and cleanse the colon.
Cough:  Lettuce juice contains anti-cough agents, which can help relieve irritable cough, as well as the symptoms of asthma and bronchitis.
Hydration:  Lettuce juice is an excellent source of hydration at the cellular level. They are refreshing, thirst-quenching and help rehydrates our cells and releasing toxins and harmful fats from our congested cells.
Purifying:  The purifying effect of lettuce is the result of the combined actions of anti-oxidants (which help neutralize harmful substances accumulate in the body), potassium (which promotes diuresis, thereby helping eliminate toxins from the body) and fiber (which helps cleanse the colon).
Sedation:  Lettuce latex has been used for centuries by physicians as a substitute for opium, due to its natural sedative and painkilling properties. Today its medicinal use is limited to treat sleep disorders, nervous excitability, anxiety and restlessness, especially in children and elderly persons.  Drink a glass of lettuce and celery juice an hour before bedtime to have a restful night’s sleep.  Also helpful whenever you feel anxious or nervous, to keep yourself calm and relaxed.

Not too shabby for one of the most common leafy green vegetables.  I almost always have Romaine lettuce on hand.  Throwing 3 or 4 leaves into our green juice will really stretch the life of our produce, and boost the vitamins and nutrients in the final juice as well ^_^

Super Green: Just like Kermit

This new juicer has really got me hooked!  Today's gorgeously GREEN selection is:

1 Cucumber
1 Celery stalk
4 Kale leaves
1 1/2 cup pineapple chunks
1/2 lemon, peeled
1/2" piece of ginger

No need to peel.  I only do if the cucumber has wax, or if it is not organic.  Then, juice away.  This stuff is fantastic, so bright and fresh from the lemon and ginger.

A little background here:

My better-half is not only NOT vegan, but a die-hard carnivore. (A very vegan friendly carnivore, but a meat-eater, nonetheless).  This fact makes for interesting meal-times, BUT my vegan cooking has managed to win her over.

However, there are some ingredients that she won't touch.  My aversion to cow's milk and a hunk of steak is the equivalent of her hatred of LEAFY GREENS.  Now, all hard-hitting vegans with any nutritional sense at all know that kale, swiss chard, spinach, and collard greens are regarded as nutritional goddesses in the plant-based world.  But, my dear L will not touch them.  Whole, raw, cooked, or OVER-cooked (not by me, mind you) she runs from greens like they were a steaming bowl of toxic waste.

This makes me sad, as I do love me a big plate of sautéed greens, but just as she does not bring meat and dairy in our home for me to cook, so do I choose NOT to base a whole meal around dark, leafy greens.  That's just not fair... (I wait 'til she's somewhere else for dinner, and then go crazy)!

So, a while back, we watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead on Netlfix.  We are truly documentary gluttons, and can crank through 4 or 5 in one sitting if the mood strikes.  This particular story struck a chord in L, and she toyed with the idea of possibly wanting to try a juice fast, or at least add raw juice into our diets.  But juicers are expensive, and noisy, and messy, and I needed another appliance like I needed a hole in the head.  Plus with L's intense hatred of leafy greens, I though the whole juice fast idea would go down in flames with her first sip of a freshly pressed curly kale leaf.

Fast forward to the week of July 4th, 2012.  Provincetown Vacation - one whole week of fun and sun!

There is the most fantastic organic market in town:  141 Bradford Natural Market which is a vegan's dream come true.  It's a tad on the pricey side, but when you rent a beach house for the week, and bring in all your own food, it's nice to know there is a place where you can run in, and pick up hummus, freshly baked bread, soy coffee creamer, kombucha or even Daiya cheese, if you want!

They also have a RAW JUICE BAR.

We wandered in the there on day 2 of our vacation, just to check the place out.  L found herself in line at the juice bar, and ordered herself up a big, tall glass of GREEN juice: kale, cucumber, apple, lemon and ginger, to be exact.  With her hatred of all things green, I thought to myself "why on Earth..."?? So, I waited with baited breath at her reaction to her first sip...

Well, she thought it was FANTASTIC, and I, well let's just say, I was thrilled. And, it was there I knew, that juicing was in our future ^_^

St. Patrick's Day Birthday Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  Buttercream Frosting from Joy of Vegan Baking, (mainly because I only had 2 cups of powdered sugar on hand, and that is exactly what Colleen's recipe called for).

A note on why these came to be:  My parents' birthdays are both in March.  My dad, Patrick, was born the day before St. Patrick's Day, and my mom, 100% Italian, was born on the day itself.  True irony...

I was lucky enough to find my green sanding sugar from Williams Sonoma burried in a box, so I didn't have to buy the pathetic-looking-excuse for green that Whole Foods had!  It looked more like transparent moss, than green. 

Here is what the Williams Sonoma sugar looks like, beautiful and sparkley!

And then, there are THESE:

I'm not sure how I feel about the green sillicone baking cups: the cupcakes took a good six minutes longer than usual, which does not make me happy...  But, they sure look cute! ^_^