At Home Juicing: Tips and Recipes

I'm a big fan of fresh vegetable juices but I'm not a fan of the high price that's usually associated with them. Matt has also started taking an interest in juicing but as he would be one of the last people to spend $9 on a 16oz juice, he decided it was time to get a juicer of our own. 

I've been the main beneficiary of this new habit as he's taken the lead on first finding recipes, then coming up with his own combinations, shopping, prepping, and cleaning. For the first month or so he'd juice daily, now it's down to several days a week and unfortunately before work I just don't have time to pitch in with the process, but on weekends I can help (and drink more juice!). I also help by providing crucial taste test feedback.

A few things we've learned along the way:

1. Prepare in advance - make a list of ingredients you want to include and prep as many of them as possible the night before. Prepping can take some time so if you're short on time in the morning, this is crucial. Also, put all the veggies, fruits, ginger, etc. that you'll be using in a large ziplock bag or container in your fridge so all you have to do is pull it out in the morning.
2. Be strategic in your shopping - juicing does require a lot of fruits and veggies so checking prices and knowing where you can get the different ingredients at better prices is important. As is planning ahead. Once we accidentally spent $6 on two cucumbers at an organic grocer because it was 8:30 at night and we didn't have time to stop by another shop on our way home from dinner. 
3. Organic is best, except when it's not - when possible, it's good to go organic for greens, veggies, and fruits like apples, which you'll eat the skins of, but conventional oranges are just fine. 
4. It's good to experiment - after you try several recipes found online (like the two below) or in juicing recipe books, you'll quickly learn which tastes you like and which you aren't so fond of. You'll also notice how much juice certain ingredients make, for instance kale and chard typically create more juice than spinach. Texture is also important as carrots are actually pretty creamy and a green-based juices tend to be thinner. Once you know what you like, start mixing and matching ingredients to create your own flavor combinations.
5. Clean right away - juicing is not a clean endeavor but it's even worse if you don't clean up right afterwards. Not only can the remnants stain the machinery, but putting it off won't make it go away magically. 

For now, here are two of our favorite recipes. I'll share more periodically as I expect we'll be juicing quite a lot as the weather warms up.

Fresh Greens

• 2 cups (about 3 oz) of spinach (could also use a mix of greens)
• 2 small green apples
• 1 cucumber
• 6 stalks of celery
• 1 small lemon
• Handful of mint (including stems)
• Handful of parsley (including stems)

The flavor of this one is pretty light and a bit sweet because of the apples. The mint and parsley aren't too strong but they definitely come through. I'd say this would be good as a starter juice and it's quite refreshing.

Sunday Morning Beets

• 2 beets (with outer layer cut off)
• Beet greens from the 2 beets
• 5 medium carrots
• 4 stalks of celery
• 1 navel orange
• 1 small lemon
• Ginger - about the size of a golf ball

While beets can be a bit overwhelming and intimidating, I find this juice to be quite enjoyable. The carrots and orange help to balance the beet flavor and you can add or reduce the amount of ginger based on how much you like it. I'm not a huge ginger fan but it certainly wasn't an overwhelming flavor in this combination.

If you're a fan of juicing, what are your favorite flavors? | Do you have any questions about juicing? | What did you do this weekend?

Easy and Delicious (Vegan) Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Smoothie

After a long and exhausting week I slept in a bit and headed out for my run a bit later than usual Saturday morning. Matt was still out of town on a work trip so I had the morning to myself. I decided to run Cheesman and Washington Parks and thought it would be about 6.5 miles, but I ended up with another eight. It was also a warm morning - hitting the low 60's - so all that was on my mind the last 2 miles was how delicious a cold smoothie would be when I got home.

When we switched to a vegan diet I was worried that my smoothies would suffer because I had always used Greek yogurt and was convinced that without it, they'd just be icey slush. Thankfully, I was wrong. All they need - in my opinion - is frozen banana and almond milk. (tip: cut the banana into pieces, and freeze in an air tight glass container lined with parchment or wax paper so the banana doesn't freeze to the glass)

Low on supplies I was still able to put together one perfectly delicious and satisfying smoothie in a quick minute. Often my smoothies include a long, but healthy, list of ingredients; this has just six:

• 1 small banana (frozen)
• A handful of frozen mango chunks
• 1 tbs all natural smooth peanut butter
• 1 scoop Vega chocolate protein & greens powder
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• 3/4 cup cold water or coconut water (add more as needed for desired consistency)

Packed with nutrients and protein to help muscles recover after a tough workout, it tasted just like a big, cold peanut butter cup. What's not to love about that?

What do you crave during a long run on a hot day? * Have you had a great workout success lately? Share it with us!

Chocolate Protein Power Bites

As much as I did not enjoy getting very little sleep Saturday night - with getting home quite late after a stellar Robert Randolph and the Family Band (if you don't know him, check him out) concert and daylight savings time taking effect - I sure do love the fact that it's still light out well after 6:00pm now. After work runs up the canyon are calling me!

Speaking of running... I am not ashamed to say that I am very happy with how things are going right now and I hope I didn't just jinx myself by saying that. This week I had planned to dial back on my mileage a little bit for an easy week, but I ended up with my highest mileage week so far this year. After weeks of cold, snow, and ice, the sun came out and the mercury rose this weekend. Saturday morning I got in 8.5 sunny miles around Denver followed by a Sunday run of 4.25 miles, part of which was a solid tempo run featuring some very speedy miles. My legs are a bit tired but my spirits are high. 

This week will be an easy week - even with several beautiful days in the forecast!

I'm a big fan of Picky Bars, recently receiving my first Picky Club shipment. They're delicious, easy to grab-and-go, easy to digest, and vegan. But I wanted to try my hand at making something similar, but different. 

And so became these Chocolate Protein Power Bites.

Given my intense - and probably slightly unhealthy - love of chocolate, it had to be a main ingredient in these protein bites.

Chocolate Protein Power Bites Ingredients (makes 12 bites): 

• 1.5 cups Dates - pitted and cut in quarters 
• 1 tbs + 1 tsp Almond Butter 
• 2 tsp Sunflower Seeds
• 1 tsp Chia Seeds
• 1 tsp Hemp Hearts 
• 1 tbs Vega Protein & Greens Chocolate Protein Powder
• 2 tbs Almond Milk
• 1 tbs Dark (or Vegan) Chocolate Chips 
• 1/4 cup Shredded Coconut (or more as needed)

It's a pretty easy process to make this goodness a reality. Put the first seven ingredients in a food processor and mix on low till you have a sticky, well-combined mixture and all the chunky date segments disappear. You'll likely need to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times.

Once it's ready, transfer the mixture into a bowl and fold in the chocolate chips. Divide up the mixture using a tablespoon - these bites are slightly less than, to a full tablespoon. I suggest dividing up all the bites before the next step as the mixture is very sticky.

Roll each bite in the shredded coconut and shape as you go - you can tell they're handmade by the various shapes and sizes - then put them in the fridge till you're ready to enjoy. This batch made 12 Chocolate Protein Power Bites. 

While I don't have the calorie counts for these, I can say that they are both delicious - don't just take my word for it, try them! - and packed with healthy ingredients. The chocolate is an added bonus.

What is your favorite healthy 'treat'? * If you're a runner, how do you decide how many miles to run each day/week? Do you incorporate planned easy weeks?

Tofu Chili for Everyone

For the past six months or so Woody and I have been following a mostly vegan diet. Spurred on by our continuing quest to live healthy and long lives, we've decided that cutting out most animal proteins from our diet is a step we feel comfortable doing as part of our efforts. I haven't talked about it much - if at all - because it's still new for us and we're figuring it out. Beyond this, I'm not planning to turn this into a vegan blog or try and convince everyone to make the switch like we are. While I generally hope that people will work to eat healthy diets (most of the time), what works for each of us is different, and likely changes quite a few times over the course of our lives.

How can I live without cheese?

It's true, giving up cheese and Greek yogurt were, by far the hardest things I've had to cut from my (almost daily) routine, but after a while it just wasn't a big deal anymore. To be perfectly frank, when I say we're following a mostly vegan diet that's because we have made a few exceptions and know that when we eat out a few things might have butter, or a little bit of egg (and we did indulge in burgers at Delmonico's when we were in NYC last fall). But generally we're pretty conscious of what we're eating and don't include meat, dairy or eggs when cooking at home.

With all that said, we've been experimenting with different foods lately to get the nutrition we need. With the cold and snowy weekend we've had, a big pot of chili sounded perfect for Sunday dinner. As Woody said when he finished his last bite, it's nearly the perfect meal - pretty cheap, really easy, and healthy (how I make it, anyway). To change it up a little I decided to add some tofu to the mix. 

Chili is really all about throwing a bunch of ingredients into a pot and letting in simmer for hours. As far as I'm concerned, it's even better the next day. The basics: lots of onion, garlic, and peppers...

Throw these into a pot with tomatoes (I opt for a mix of no salt added diced tomatoes & fire roasted diced), with a combination of black and kidney beans.

Using firm tofu, I drained then pressed it for about an hour to get a good amount of the liquid out. Then I rubbed in a bit of black pepper and chili season on both sides and baked at 400 degrees for just over an hour - flipping half way through. 

Cut into cubes I added it into the pot, added more chili seasoning and a little bit of ketchup and simmered for several hours.

So, all that was:

• Onion
• Garlic
• Bell Peppers (any color will do but a mix is best)
• Diced Tomatoes (no salt added & fire roasted)
• Beans - Kidney and Black
• Firm Tofu
• Black Pepper
• Chili Seasoning
• Ketchup

I don't list quantities because it really depends on how big a pot your using and how many people you want to serve. I often make one pot then add a little more veggies for the second night if it seems like it could use a little bulking up.

The tofu really just added another texture to the chili. As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't have much of a flavor, so it won't overpower the other ingredients, but it does add a lot of protein without many calories. Next time I think I'll try preparing the tofu like a scramble - which should replicate the texture of ground beef. 

When Neil Patrick Harris was just about to take the stage for his Oscars monologue (really, he's the perfect host), I dished up the chili and topped it off with a bit of avocado, because let's face it, everything is better with avocado!

Did you have a favorite Oscar dress or moment? How much snow did you get this weekend? If you make tofu dishes, what's your favorite?