When I reviewed Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead I said:
So…add juicer to the list of unitaskers I don’t need but now desperately want. That’s one of the more inconsequential takeaways I had after watching Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, a documentary by a man named Joe Cross.
In a move that should shock absolutely nobody…Lucas and I are the proud owners of a new Cuisinart Juicer.
image source: Amazon
We’d planned on getting a Breville, since Joe Cross (the star of the film) uses and recommends one. But after reading reviews and looking at pricing, we found a killer deal on the Cuisinart and scooped it up.
And, of course, broke it in right away.
Now, there is an entire community of people like me who saw the film, bought a juicer and want to try Joe’s diet (called a Juice Fast or a Reboot). I’m not going that far…now.
Although I do think there are a lot of benefits to juice fasting (which is a terrible phrase, because you get all of the calories and nutrients you need while juicing, and I think the name alone makes people thing that it’s some drastic, low-calorie, dangerous plan), I’m not looking to lose a massive amount of weight, and my body is already pretty detoxed from my standard diet of whole, plant-based foods.
However, Lucas and I are interested in resetting our bodies and giving our systems a break before we go crazy in Europe, so we’re juicing for breakfast and lunch, eating fruits and veggies for snacks, and eating a balanced dinner that may include whole grains and lean (plant) proteins.
So far? I love it. I’ve had a few missteps with the ingredients (ginger is overwhelming, and celery makes the whole thing taste like dirt) but I’m still experimenting. Kristina from SpaBettie.com has an incredible list of juicing recipes and other tips, and that has been a big help.
Pros:
- The juice is so fresh and vibrant, and you can really taste all of the yummy stuff that you jam in there.
- Normally when I give up caffeine, I spend two days detoxing and fighting massive headaches and fatigue — none of that so far (although I was definitely ready for bed on Tuesday night!)
- The juice is portable so I have been able to make a big batch in the morning that lasts me all day
Cons:
- It’s an expensive process — to make three 16-ounce servings, I’m using 3-4 apples, a big bag of carrots, a half a bag of kale, a beet, a lemon (not always those ingredients but about the right amounts)
- It’s a messy process — even though all of the juicer pieces are removable, they still get jammed up with pulp
- Flavors are hit or miss…fruits are no brainers, but since I would like to balance them out with veggies, I’m finding out the hard way that some veggies are more potent than others
It’s definitely a unitasker, and goodness knows, I have plenty of those. But I think this will be a nice addition to our kitchen, especially since it’s one that helps me stay healthy.
About Katy
Awesome purchase! I purposefully have not watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead because I know I’d desperately want a juicer after watching the movie! Unfortunately, a juicer is not in the budget right now, but one day…
Chelsea @ Go Chelsea Go! recently posted..Vacation Review: Azul Fives in Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Check Craigslist — my parents have a Jack LaLanne juicer which they LOVE and I see them on Craigslist all the time.
My go-to fresh juices are green green green green green. I find using cucumber to be instrumental (they have SO much juice in them) and like to mix in celery (not the root though, that still has dirt on it – blech!), apples, lemon, kale, and sometimes carrots, strawberries, and other gonna-go-bad fridge randomness. I keep telling myself I need to get back to juicing — it always makes me feel so energized!
Gretchen @ Honey, I Shrunk the Gretchen! recently posted..The Sweet Life
PS: fabulous photos, Katy!
Gretchen @ Honey, I Shrunk the Gretchen! recently posted..The Sweet Life
I haven’t tried cucumber yet — thanks!
We love juicing and love that documentary! My favorite juice concoction is 2 to 3 large kale leaves, 1 apple, 1 orange, a big bunch of carrots and a lemon, lime or grapefruit. I find that I like just about any juice combination if I put in enough strong sour citrus to counteract the funky taste that some veggie combinations produce!
How much juice do you get out of that combo?
A really large glass full (for one person if you want a good amount of juice). I usually just make enough to fill the particular glass I pick for the day and vary the amount of carrots I put until my glass is full
When I’m making it for me and my husband, I double it.
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I’m reading your replies with interest…so far, I have only juiced apples and pears.
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I’m really curious about beet juice. It’s one vegetable I’ve never tasted juiced.
I bet a carrot-pineapple-beet-ginger juice would be good.
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I used a beet in the red juice you see in the pictures. I love it, but I do think that I should have used half, instead of full. I also juice the beet tops.
Just curious – are you supplementing fiber?
Not supplementing — I have been using the pulp for crackers, so I get some back that way. And since I am eating a balanced dinner, I feel OK. I do take a daily multi-vitamin.
I love new toys! I wonder how pumpkin would taste. Is there even juice in pumpkin? Can’t wait to hear more about your juicing journey!
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Question about clean up of your new juicer. How hard is it? I had the Jack Lalanne juicer for a couple of years. LOVED the juice. Hated dealing with the machine. Took forever to clean and created a huge mess. I finally got rid of it for that reason alone.
It’s honestly not too bad — I put a plastic bag in the pulp catcher, and then just dump the pulp in my compost. The other parts (4 of them) remove really easily and I haven’t had to scrub, just rinse. The filter is the hardest part but still not bad.
As I said in response to your previous juicing post, so far I’ve juiced broccoli, asparagus, pineapple, apple, purple grapes, strawberries, parsley, carrots, beets, oranges, celery, cucumber, ginger, lemons, grapefruit, watercress, spinach, kale, peaches, mango…not all in one batch, but usually three or four veggies and two or three fruits (in one batch). And I agree with you re celery…it’s just not good in juice!
I have found the Omega 8005 to be easy to clean and deal with…
And I saw that someone mentioned fiber…I eat a Gnu bar (http://gnufoods.com/) every day and get half my daily fiber that way.
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Lucas brought home peaches, mangos, melon and papaya, so I’ll be trying that later this week.
Yes, awesome photos. What kind of lens is that?
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I used the nifty fifty — http://katywidrick.com/2011/06/09/my-new-toy/
I bought my juicer off Craigslist for $50 more than 2 years ago, and it has definitely been money well spent. We go through juicing phases, but when I’m in a phase I’ll usually juice for breakfast every morning for at least a month. It does get expensive quickly, but right now I’m lucky to have a garden full of cucumbers and kale, which make things easier and much cheaper. The current go-to combo is 1 cucumber, 2 lemon cucumbers, 1 granny smith apple, 5 leaves of kale, 1 lime, and a 1″ piece of ginger. That makes juice for me and the boy for the morning. I do hate cleaning the juicer, but I love the juice and the way it makes me feel so much that I’ve mostly accepted the annoyance of cleaning.
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great, thank you for the post about juicin’! now i want to see the film even more than i did. LOVE kristina’s juice posts.
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When I was juicing for my son we usually added some parsley, spinach, carrots and apples. Then because Sam was a kidlet I added a little honey. It worked and kept him going when he was playing football
We have the Omega 8005 that another commenter mentioned and it does more things than juice, which is nice…. And clean-up is easy.
As for combinations, you’re right that you pretty much can’t go wrong with fruits. If your mix is heavy on the veggies and you want to add sweetness and a lot of juice, go for a bit of watermelon. It’s a winner! Any citrus will almost always be good also. We can juice the rinds of a lime, but the lemon and orange rinds make it bitter, so peel them first.
I personally prefer juicing fresh (with the stems — washed, of course) spinach. It is very juicy + very healthy and it doesn’t add a bitter taste like kale can.
As for the waste, if you can separate some of your items, you can reuse them. I’ve seen some food bloggers make “raw carrot cake” using the carrot remnants and it looked pretty good!
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Oooh, and watermelon is still pretty cheap right now. Thanks!
Ginger is my favorite ingredient in almost every juice I’ve made. This past summer I bought a used juicer and I love it! I’ve made quiet a few juices that were disgusting, but it’s fun making a healthy juice at home.
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I’ve heard of this movie and have been meaning to watch it. Now I’m intrigued. I would love to spend some time detoxing in a healthy way. Maybe this is it. Thanks for the information! Happy juicing!
just seeing this (linked from current post) and weee! so glad you’re doing this, even one juice a day is awesomely beneficial.
as far as suggestions, hmm… I juice just about everything! (well, no bananas. anything within reason. but I’ll juice and then pour that into a blender with a banana!). I juice fun things:
garlic, bell pepper, onion, tomato and basil – pizza juice!
pineapple is good, use a quarter at a time with things like beet greens, other bitter greens.
I like a ratio of one fruit to 3-4 veggies if using fruit. I like the taste of green, so often it’s all veggie. and I LOVE ginger.
have fun!
I just got done with a failed juice feast (the term I prefer and have seen used) and was definitely overwhelmed! I bought my produce in bulk and had to watch some of it go bad over the course of a week, even though I juiced several times a day. My favorite juice to date was 1 whole bunch of kale, 1 orange, 4 carrots and 1 or 2 cucumbers. I tried to be careful to not juice too many fruits (or too many oranges/beets) since it’s like all sugar. I also had the same experiences with ginger, although my only problem with celery is that the fibers are a bitch to clean up.
Cucumbers are really high volume and were one of my favorite things to juice. Tiny thumb sized pieces of ginger were all I could take, per juice!
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I’ve been making a mix of spinach, carrots, protein powder, mangoes, oranges and pineapple and adding coconut milk (low fat type) for a few months now, and it’s working great for me. I’ve found that when you mix the fruit and veggies together, you still get mostly a fruit taste. And you can make large batches making it a highly portable meal. I’ve got to try working with the ginger root thought. Bet that adds some “BAM” to the mix!