One of our girls used to exclaim that as only a 4-year-old can. I’m not sure if she didn’t know how to respond to a gift, she didn’t ask for, or if it really was “just what she always wanted!”.

Well, I have been wanting a juicer for what seems like forever. And while patiently waiting for it to work its way up the gift list, a juice bar conveniently opened just about a mile from our house. It is so exciting to get around, showered, cleaned up and run up there to get a tall glass of freshly squeezed juice. So many options, so many possibilities. On occasion. Because it is pricey. But since I don’t do coffee out and juice is SO healthy for a person, I don’t feel guilty. It is definitely not an everyday treat, but once or twice a week, or if I feel as if I’m coming down with something I might go days in a row. I really like the idea that the nutrients and going directly in to your system, not slowed down by the fiber, as in a smoothie. Though on juice days I do know I have to get my fiber in other ways, but we general know what we’re eating, for the day, before it starts. Fiber is so important to good health and we realize that. But so are the nutrients of fresh vegetables.

Working my way through the very clever menu of the juice bar, I quickly discovered than my “regular” would be the “Beet the Blues”. I am hooked on this one. I think the ingredients in it are just what my body needs, for now. It is high in immunity boosters and gallbladder and liver cleansing ingredients. And I love its sharp, spicy taste. So when hubby surprised me with a juicer I was tickled pink! The farmers’ markets have just opened around here. And since you can go through a lot of ingredients in short order, fresh, organic, local produce is going to make juicing even more affordable.

The one I received is the Breville 800JEXL Juice Fountain Elite 1000-Watt Juice Extractor.

I actually had all the ingredients for my favorite juice on hand, because my usual breakfast would be a smoothie using the same ingredients, minus the carrots and apple and plus a whole lot of cilantro, kale, spinach or whatever other dark leafy green we might have. My plan today is to recreate it in the juice form, I’ve watched them make it often enough…

Beet the Blues, recreated
makes 18 oz
printer friendly version

1 beet
carrots, these were strange sized, weighed about 9 oz, maybe 3 whole regular sized ones
4 stalks of celery, about 8 oz
1 apple, the whole thing
1″ chunk of ginger (or more!)
1/2 lemon, skin and all

Turn the juicer to high and toss everything in to the juicer in the order listed. Taste and see what you think. I needed to add a few more of these strange sized, fresh from the farmers’ market, carrots than are pictured, bringing it up to 9 ounces.

And then came my taste test. I saved a few ounces from yesterday’s juice bar juice to see how close I could come. Besides the off-color of the day old one, and judging from memory more than yesterdays, I was spot on!

I say judging from memory because yesterdays was horrendous tasting! When people say you can save fresh juice for a number of hours or some even say a day? No. Well, you can, you just won’t want to drink it. First off there is a huge difference, in color, as well as taste. I can not believe the nutrition can even be compared. Do not save juice, people! Drink it up!

As for the juicer, it is quieter than my Vitamix blender and a breeze to clean up. I lined the waste bin with a grocery store plastic bag for easy clean up, (I need to start a compost pile) and just rinsed the other parts, as I was sipping. I imagine if you don’t clean it up pretty quickly, you might need to run it through the dishwasher, but I didn’t feel the need.

But the best thing?

I didn’t have to get out of my pjs to get my morning fix!

And as long as I was cleaning veggies, I prepped for two more and ended up with a cleaned out refrigerator drawer.

Do you juice? Any favorite recipes you have to share?

For now, I have “Beet the Blues” and I am raring to go!

Thanks, daughter for my new Tervis tumbler, with the lid for a straw.

It matches perfectly!

P.S.
I’ve had several people email me, not understanding how to nominate a quilt for the Viewer’s Choice award for the Bloggers’ Quilt Festival. You click here, then enter this

https://sewfrench.com/2013/05/16/bloggers-quilt-festival-spring-2013-leave-a-trail-hand-quilted-quilt/

into the box. Add your email address at the bottom to verify, you have only nominated one quilter, that is all that is required for this round! I appreciate everyone who has deemed me worthy! Nominations end Friday.

All the quilts can be viewed from linking off here.

Thanks!