The Juice Fast is off! Sooo usually I feel great when I do a juice day. By yesterday evening I wasn’t “feeling it”. I left my place late and had almost run into town to meet up with a friend and go to the farmer’s market. Delighted to be able to stock up on leaves for juicing and a strange craving for plums! I had a carrot beetroot and ginger juice while there and was treated to a chemex drip coffee! By the time I was home in the evening I was feeling a bit off, not filled with energy and joi d’vivre. I thought the Evening Juice here would be the pick me up. It lasted for a bit, but my tummy felt gurgly I started to feel bit headachy. This is not how I would usually feel on juice. The quick delivery of energy and nutrients normally keeps me satisfied. I had made sure to stay hydrated, I put celery in my juice for salts. So I had a mug of miso soup, a half an hour later I decided my body was trying to tell me something and I should listen to it. So I had some peanut butter before going to bed and decided I would see how I was this morning.

In the past when doing juice days I would wake up feeling energised, clear headed and a little hungry. I would have water and a giant juice with fruit in it. I woke up with a crampy tummy and generally feeling unwell. So juice fast is off. It is disappointing to not be able to see something through that you have planned for. I am doing this for my health, to support my body. I may have an idea in my head but my body was not on board with it. If I am coming down with something and I need to be nourished with solid nutritious foods that is what I will have. I am still strictly off gluten and sugar, which is a good idea anyway. Sugar feeds bad bacteria, gluten doesn’t suit me very well. I think it makes my period pains worse too!

I am currently sipping a green juice and I will share last nights and todays juice recipes with you now!

evening veg juice the before shot

Evening Veg Juice

• Six rainbow chard leaves
• 6inchs/ 15cms cucumber
• Two small white cabbage leaves
• A stalk of celery
• One endive
• A beetroot
• An inch in diameter bundle of wheatgrass
• Three coriander stems and leaves
• A small nub of turmeric- size of top of your baby finger
• A thin slice of organic ginger
• Optional: Two double shots of water kefir

This has a light sweetness due to the beetroot and wheatgrass. Overall it is pretty savoury though. Take it easy on the cabbage if you are new to juicing. It is pretty strong stuff. In past I have done up to four leaves of red cabbage in juices. Since I was feeling a bit delicate I just did two. It is very good for you if it suits, rich in l-glutamine which can be good for the gut.

Evening juice the after shot

I had my Not so smooth energy smoothie for breakfast, made with frozen berries. Yummy. I had a green juice this afternoon, fruity and lemony, it is pretty good, if I don’t say so myself! 😉

Green as Irish grass!

Green lemony Juice

• An inch in diameter bundle of wheatgrass
• Three big green chard leaves and stalks
• A sprig of coriander stem and leaves
• An unwaxed green pear
• An unwaxed apple
• An unwaxed very big lemon- which was pretty green!
• A slice of turmeric the size of the tip of my baby finger
• A slice of ginger the same size

Tasty, lemony, sweet and sour bright green juice.

The weather is dependably changeably here. The rain is a bit disappointing after a week of glorious sun. But you can see the blue is trying to come out again.

Rain

Hope all is well with you guys. I’m off to have an avocado salad for dinner! Xs Aissa

I am doing a vegetable juice fast today. It is all about providing my body with easy assessable nutrients and removing processed foods. With hectic stress-y bits going on recently I have ended up making the odd unhealthy choice food wise. I want to give my digestion a rest but not go without important vitamins and minerals. By juicing with a cold press masticating juicer the nutrients are preserved. When the fibre is removed your body easily absorbs the liquid form. I am going to do veg juices today and maybe add some fruit juice in tomorrow.

If you have not fasted before maybe don’t yet! Do a day where you just eat vegetables- but like tons of vegetables! See how you feel doing that. If you have blood sugar issues or underlying medical conditions has a chat with your natural or medical practitioner first.

That all sounds wonderful- but I am also a caffeine addict! Though it goes against all that is healthy and SOOO not part of the juicin’ rules I had coffee this morning!! Organic ,direct trade coffee, and I made a fatty coffee. I put a spoon of organic coconut oil (rich in MCTs medium chain tri-gylcerides) poured my coffee on top and added some organic cinnamon. I waited an hour before doing my juice as I did not want the bold coffee mixing with the good veg juice! The only time I do not have coffee is when I am sick, it is actually one of the first signs that I am not well but ….. I will try very hard to have no coffee tomorrow…dun dun dun. If my relationship with my partner seems in danger I will use that to justify my addiction and have a coffee 😉

Organic Veggie Splender

SO here is this morning’s Super Charged Veg Juice

• Three stalks of rainbow Chard- called Chard Bright Lights- love that
• Two stalks of young Pak choi
• One stalk of GIANT Celery
• 6inch/15cm of Cucumber
• One pretty Red Pepper
• One Beetroot
• Four stalks of Coriander
• An inch/2.5cm diameter slice of organic Ginger*
• Half inch/ 1.5cm piece of Turmeric
• Optional: Shot of water kefir- for the good bacteria and yeasts

*organic ginger as non organic can have been irradiated!

Super Charged Veg Juice- super tasty too!

No fruit but still lovely and sweet because of the beetroot and red pepper. Red peppers can have up to thirteen times the vitamin C as an orange! It delivers B vitamins, tons of vitamin C, potassium, vitamin K, nitric oxide. It from the green energising chlorophyll and the fantabulous superoxide dismutase from the nutrient packed wheatgrass. Coriander is great for the digestion and there is some evidence to say it helps your body get rid of heavy metals. That is to say vegetables are good for you!!!

Will keep you guys updated. Think this juice is one of my favourites so far, hope you try it out! Xs Aissa

I am lucky I work in a shop that sells lovely organic veggies. There is also a few wonderful organic farmer’s markets in Dublin. I am going through a phase of being struck by the beauty of fruit, veg and flowers. We have long winters here in Ireland and maybe I am just appreciating the green and growing things of summer! Perhaps my inner hippy is fighting its way up through my cynical crust. 😉

A friend shared this great link and I have been passing it on as it’s very informative.

Do You Know What Your Favorite Foods Look Like While Growing?

Yesterday I was at the farmer’s market and I was given this beautiful garlic flower! I had some of the little buds in a salad last night. Delicious garlic chive like taste. Intense and sweet.

Beautiful garlic flower

On friday at work I had to buy this beetroot, because it was so alive looking! Full of antioxidants and even helps lower blood pressure. It is part of the juice recipe below.

Brilliant Beetroot

Magic MIx

The inspiration for this was – I have theses organic things I will juice them. A “Magic Mix Juice!”

• One unwaxed green pear
• One unwaxed lemon
• One brilliant beetroot
• One big slice of turmeric- prob the size of the top of your thumb
• A slice of organic ginger- half the size of the turmeric*
• Three big stalks of mint
• Four stalks of parsley
• Bunch of wheatgrass- 2inch in diameter
• Optional: Two double shots of water kefir

*organic ginger as non organic can have been irradiated!!!

I put my herbs and wheatgrass into the masticating juicer first. Reason being I find leafy bits some times get stuck. The rest will push the important wheatgrass through.

For some reason this was very lemony. Think I got a intensely lemony lemon. A ristretto lemon?

Antioxidant anti-inflammorty digestive juice!

Love the red tone from the beetroot, love the good bacteria from the water kefir! Xs Aissa