I think I'm done with food trials. - Page 5

[ellasmama2007]

i suddenly desire a tall glass of green smoothie

[WuWei]

Here is the one I bought for $16 (retail $90) at the consignment store: http://shop.ebay.com/items/__jack-la..._sopZ15QQ_scZ1

It does great with heavy greens, beets, carrots, apples, etc. I don't think anyone needs a $100-400 juicer, lol.

My friend purchased hers on Craig's list for ~$30: (these are just this weeks postings!)
http://maine.craigslist.org/hsh/1036363758.html
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/hsh/1036428093.html
http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/hsh/1036022865.html
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/hsh/1036105826.html
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/hsh/1036060210.html
http://ottawa.en.craigslist.ca/hsh/1021847894.html
http://montana.craigslist.org/hsh/1036481457.html
http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/hsh/1028229572.html

Here is a discussion of juicers on "Gone Raw": http://goneraw.com/forum/jack-lalannes-juicerany-good

Any standard blender will do with baby greens.


Pat

[FireWithin]

Originally Posted by changingseasons

What do you call turnips then?

Hmmmmm. Either purple topped turnips or white turnips.

[Panserbjorne]

I will disagree on the juicer front. There is a big difference in quality when you use an auger style vs a centrifugal juicer. I have been known to live on green juice and usually on average juice twice a day. The masticating auger style extracts far more juice at a much slower rate preventing oxidation. I have both and the centrifugal juicers are better are fruit....but I don't recommend that anyone juice fruit!

[WuWei]

Originally Posted by Panserbjørne

I will disagree on the juicer front. There is a big difference in quality when you use an auger style vs a centrifugal juicer. I have been known to live on green juice and usually on average juice twice a day. The masticating auger style extracts far more juice at a much slower rate preventing oxidation. I have both and the centrifugal juicers are better are fruit....but I don't recommend that anyone juice fruit!

More info please, I didn't quite follow all the augers and centrifugal recommendations. What is an auguer?

And don't weird me out about oxidation!! And what is wrong with juicing a fruit??? HELP!

Pat

[Panserbjorne]

LOL! An auger is like a drill bit. The way it works is by slowly grinding the pulp so that the juice is extracted. Masticating is simply describing how the auger mashes the pulp. SO imagine a large drill bit turning verrrrry slowly in close proximity to a plate so that the food is crushed against the plate and with each turn of the bit it is pushed further through. They tend to operate at a much lower RPM than centrifugal juicers.

Centrifugal juicers in stark contrast operate by driving the food into a central basket which whips around fast enough to throw the juice out while retaining the pulp into the center (unless you have a model that also will eject the pulp.) Because it spins so fast the juice is exposed to a ton of air which creates oxidation and renders it less nutritious and therapeutic.

You get way more nutrition and a higher yield from food juiced in a masticating/auger style than a centrifugal juicer. If I'm buying organic produce I want the most for my money!

I dont' think it's *bad* to juice fruit....it's just a lot of sugar for me. I tend to focus on greens. My green lemonade kicks some serious arse. It barely tastes green and my kids adore it!

There are times when it's fine to juice fruit, I just wouldn't buy a juicer to simply do fruit...if that makes sense. I go for the biggest bang for my buck nutrient wise-and that's veggies.

Back in the day I couldn't handle green smoothies as well as juices. I don't know if you were around for this but I did a green smoothie feast. I felt great, but my bowel function was WAY off. I switched over to juicing my greens instead(per uccomama's suggestion) and removing the fiber made all the difference. I also saw a huge increase in my ability to train. For damaged guts *if* you have issues with smoothies go for the juice!

I also juice an entire bunch of celery and a huge bunch of parsley and throw it in as the base to our smoothies. My kids love it! Then I juice keep going and juice about 1.5 quarts for dh and I to split. I end with an entire lemon and then leave the juicer for about 3 hours until I juice again. After that session I clean it out. The lemon clears it out enough and has "cleansing" properties as well and I feel fine doing this. Not so much in the summer...but for now it's great!

[Panserbjorne]

I don't know if that was helpful or not! To sum up:

There are generally three types of juicers: centrifugal, masticating and triturating (same as masticating but with two augers.)

A GOOD centrifugal juicer will extract a good amount of juice. A bad one will leave alot of wet pulp. It does so at a very high speed and you do lose nutrients. However they can be had much cheaper. They are a good bet if you are trying to see if you like juicing.

A masticating auger style preserves more nutrients, though it is harder to use and much slower. It is also pricier (around $200) This (IMHO) is the easiest to clean. I find that the pulp is drier than a centrifugal juicer, but not everyone reports the same.

A triturating juicer is the gold standard for juicing afficianados, it is slower and a bit more difficult to use but you get an even more well preserved juice. It generally runs around $400-500. It is pretty easy to clean as well.

[changingseasons]

hmmm... maybe I will have to rethink my hatred for juicers. I had a cheap-ish (Oster I think) centriugal juicer a few years back, and I HATED it. It was such a pita to clean. If you didn't clean the basket *immediately* the pulp would dry on and never come off. So I would spend 20 minutes scrubbing it out and disposing of the massive amount of pulp while my juice sat there losing nutrients.

I will go save a CraigsList search right now.

ETA: o.m.g. there are a lot of juicers on my local craigslist... any favorite brands that I should be on the lookout for?

[FireWithin]

Originally Posted by changingseasons

hmmm... maybe I will have to rethink my hatred for juicers. I had a cheap-ish (Oster I think) centriugal juicer a few years back, and I HATED it. It was such a pita to clean. If you didn't clean the basket *immediately* the pulp would dry on and never come off. So I would spend 20 minutes scrubbing it out and disposing of the massive amount of pulp while my juice sat there losing nutrients.

I will go save a CraigsList search right now.

ETA: o.m.g. there are a lot of juicers on my local craigslist... any favorite brands that I should be on the lookout for?

We got a Champion juicer recently from craigs list. I think juicers are a specialized product that often get stuck in the back of the closet, so they are often available for resale. I am having problems with using it for greens, but otherwise I love it. Super easy to clean.

[changingseasons]

Easy to clean huh? Thanks- I will definitely remember that one!

I just had my green juice. It was really good at first- I used frozen blueberries, so it was very smoothie-like. But then it melted (took it with me on our walk in the sunshine), and then it was a little like liquid salad. But overall, not too bad. I used a huge handful of kale (I should clarify- I have REALLY big hands, so it was a cup or two easy), about 3/4 cup of blueberries, couple tablespoons of honey, and no idea how much water.

[Panserbjorne]

mine is super easy to clean. the only screen is about 1X2 inches!

If you can add banana (can't recall what your limitations are) you will have a much better experience with the greens! The banana acts as a neutralizer. It also sweetens it a bit. I have several "favorite" green smoothies I've posted around here. Almost all include banana!

[springmum]

wow - I'm suddenly interested in juicing some banana, chard and beet greens - on my list of things to do later this week!

[Panserbjorne]

before a massive mess is made, you cannot juice a banana! You can blend it and use it in a smoothie, but you cannot extract juice via a juicer.

FYI for anyone interested if you peel, slice and freeze a banana you can make soft serve ice cream. Add some strawberries and you get strawberry soft serve. Add some pecans and honey and you have a butter pecan. Strawberry and walnut and you get very close to a banana split tasting thing.

You just whip the frozen banana in a blender (with some water if needed) and it will turn grainy. Blend past that and it turns extra creamy and wonderful. You can use it as a base and make any modifications you like!

[WuWei]

Originally Posted by changingseasons

Easy to clean huh? Thanks- I will definitely remember that one!

MUST CLEAN IT IMMEDIATELY. I finally convinced myself after the 30 minute scrub you described. I rinse, and drink at the same time. But, I ALWAYS rinse all the parts IMMEDIATELY after using...


Pat

[ellasmama2007]

Originally Posted by Panserbjørne

before a massive mess is made, you cannot juice a banana! You can blend it and use it in a smoothie, but you cannot extract juice via a juicer.

FYI for anyone interested if you peel, slice and freeze a banana you can make soft serve ice cream. Add some strawberries and you get strawberry soft serve. Add some pecans and honey and you have a butter pecan. Strawberry and walnut and you get very close to a banana split tasting thing.

You just whip the frozen banana in a blender (with some water if needed) and it will turn grainy. Blend past that and it turns extra creamy and wonderful. You can use it as a base and make any modifications you like!

omg, yummy!!!:
i cant do lemons, but i would still like to know your arse-kicking lemonade recipe.
so if im only using a regular ole blender, its still better than just chewing right?

[Panserbjorne]

Originally Posted by ellasmama2007

so if im only using a regular ole blender, its still better than just chewing right?

for which? I'm lost! The ice cream?

lemonade:
entire bunch celery
entire bunch collards (chard, parsley, beet greens etc.)
one english cucumber
3-4 carrots
one organic lemon
(an apple for more sweetness if you like)

Enjoy!

[momofmine]

Here's a thread I saved with great smoothie suggestions, and some recipes from PB and others:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=999781

[changingseasons]

Ok, I think I need a little pep talk.

DD's face is starting to flare... and she's been having her food-induced tantrums the last couple days. Flares always make me want to give up ever trying a new food and go back to my 8 food diet... So at the moment, I'm trying to convince myself that the extra variety of nutrients that we're getting will outweigh any mild symptoms that DD has.

I'm really baffled though. I can understand reacting to the sweet potato; we've had that somewhat recently. But garlic- I haven't had in probably a year. Rutabaga- I have never had. Kale- I've never had. How would she even react to any of those things with ONE exposure? It doesn't follow any of the rules of food allergies.

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by changingseasons

I'm really baffled though. I can understand reacting to the sweet potato; we've had that somewhat recently. But garlic- I haven't had in probably a year. Rutabaga- I have never had. Kale- I've never had. How would she even react to any of those things with ONE exposure? It doesn't follow any of the rules of food allergies.

Perhaps not the rules of food allergies, but the rules of food chemicals?

[momofmine]

I'm sorry cs, I don't think I have any great advice, other than to possibly not give up your new food revolution, but maybe just cut it back to one new food a week instead of every day. Like try eating one new food, then go back to your 8 safe foods for 4-5 days, then try one new food the next day, back to the 8 safe foods fr 4-5 days again, etc.

There must be something else that would be healing to her that just hasn't been figured out yet, something that will allow her to tolerate more foods.