Tonight’s blog is going to be about my latest purchase that has now been returned. In the beginning I promised I would tell about my genius findings and my not so genius findings, this is one of those blogs.
In a previous blog “Juice From the Kale Gods” I had given out my special recipe for Kale Juice. I have been using my Ninja Blender to make my juice and separating the pulp and juice with the use of a strainer…a very tightly weaved metal strainer. For quite awhile, I have been battling with purchasing a Juicer, thinking that it would make my juicing chores much easier and would have less clean up and more juice. That theory got destroyed fast.
So I finally broke down and purchased a high end juicer. It cost me $300.00 after I used my 20% off coupon. I like to call myself frugal, my husband might say I am a tightwad…lol… I like frugal. It took me about a year to finally purchase my new toy with hopes of making juice as easily as wiggling my nose. Well I brought my new juicer home, and holy cow, talk about parts. It was easy to assemble though but the majority of the parts had to be hand washed, forever, NO DISWASHER…Strike one.
So I peeled my fruit; pineapple, oranges and washed my spinach/kale, and placed it all in a bowl so it would be ready to feed into the feed tube. The first few pieces I put in was exciting, it mulched up the pineapple pretty fast, juice spilled out into the jug and the pulp went to the catch bin. Hmm, seemed pretty good. So onward we went, by the time I had put in all my ingredients and I looked at was in the jug to drink it made me really question the juicing experience. There was less then 2 cups of juice for ¾ of a full pineapple, 2 large oranges and about 3 cups of spinach/kale… Strike 2.
I figured I would at least get half the amount my Ninja made, seeing I wasn’t adding water to the initial blend. This was not the case. The juice tasted really good, but it was less then 2 cups worth, and a bit tart tasting, seeing there was no water added yet.
So then I thought, may be it is really concentrated and I’ll add water to it and make at least half the amount my ninja would make, and taste the worth of it then. Once again…not the case. A cup of water was too much, and then it just tasted like pineapple water.
With the amount of ingredients I use, plus the water I add to the ninja to mulch it up, which is about 4 cups, I get about 1 ½ – 2 liters worth of juice and about a cup or a bit more of pulp. With the juicer, I had not quite 2 cups of juice, and almost 2 ½ cups of pulp. I would have to make my recipe 4 times in the juicer to get anywhere near what my Ninja makes. I can’t afford that. That is insane. My juice would cost about $56 if I had to use 4 times the amount of ingredients with the Juicer and only yield possibly 7-8 cups of juice, if I add water…Strike Three.
With the Ninja I spend about $14.00 and get 8-10 cups of juice (almost 2 liters); $6/pineapple, $3 for 2 large oranges and $5 for my container of baby spinach/baby kale. With all respect the 2 cups of juice tasted good, but the amount of pulp I was left with, the 6 pieces I had to wash, and the amount of ingredients it would cost to make my regular yield, made me rethink my purchase…fast..
I was really happy that I tried it, but I was just as happy to get my money returned. You will see in the previous blog about the “Juice from the Kale Gods” my method with my Ninja.
So now making a new batch in my Ninja Blender tonight, compared to the tiny batch with the same amount of ingredients last night, tonight my wallet and I, are much happier. I’m sure there are people who really love their juicers and I can understand completely. I thought and still do think, its an amazing tool for making natural juices, but for me, it was just having to use too much fruit and veggies to get the same yield with 1/3 of the product made. My wallet said “Go NINJA!!” lol. I guess what I am saying, is there is an alternative for those who do not want to make that steep of a purchase, you can use your blender and a strainer.
Some may use the argument of a cold press method to hold on to as many nutrients as possible but my ninja is fast and does not heat the juice up and therefore hopefully will not loose valuable vitamins in the process. I then, immediately put it in the fridge to separate for an hour or so into juice and pulp, then I drain the juice through the strainer, and return the juice back to the fridge, and put the pulp in a container to use as “kelp sauce” (like applesauce), but tastes like pineapple. I just used the pulp tonight to make Kale popsicles, I’ll update you on those in the start of my next blog. So everything remains cold in order to maintain as a high vitamin containing juice as possible, it tastes great and the ingredients are amazing for many reasons. One main ingredient has and is being researched and proven to help fight cancer from forming and or decreasing cancer cells, helping the body to fight breast, colon, bladder, ovarian, and prostate cancer…Kale. Bring on the Juice!
I’ll go into the benefits of each ingredient now.
First KALE….my favourite.
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Sorry, this is where I had to go to bed last night. I was too tired to keep going and afraid I would get a migraine in the morning, which I did…bummer… so the rest is done today. I only put my kale pops in the freezer this morning so I will have to update you on them next blog, but I do have pictures of them being prepared.
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Okay lets get back to it.
KALE
Kale if full of antioxidants, flavonoids and anti-inflammatory nutrients that gives it such a high rating on the nutrient dense scale which in turn makes it a great cholesterol reducer, lowering the risk percentage of cancer growth, detoxifying the body, and anti-inflammatory benefits for reducing chronic pain and inflammation.
In order to get the best benefit from kale you will want to incorporate it into your daily diet at least 3-5 times a week. The fiber intake which kale provides helps the body to excrete toxins in a more routinely manner. The best way to get the most of the fiber from kale, is to gently steam it. This helps the fiber components to attach to bile acids easier, which will increase the amount of toxins excreted from your digestive track. This simple act will help in reducing cholesterol and detoxifying the body all in the same time.
Any form of kale is beneficial, in your salads, soups, sandwiches, juices, sauces, any way at all to achieve maximum intake, will help your body decrease its chances of cancer from its potent packed anti-oxidants and over 40 or more flavonoids. It reduces inflammation in the body and reduces pain in muscles, joints, headaches/migraines due to its high concentration of vitamin B6, B3, B1, magnesium, omega 3 fats, vit K, A, and C and 11 more vitamins and minerals. As you can see a healthy dose of kale, 3-5 times a week, is beneficial for anyone who suffers from heart disease, mental illnesses, headaches/migraines, digestive ailments, IBS, Cancer, stress, anxiety, eye degenerative diseases, respiratory problems COPD and many more. Kale is not just thought to be helpful for all these ailments it has been proven, through many trial and research studies. EAT YOUR GREENS!!
SPINACH
Spinach is packed with 23 vitamins and minerals along with beta- carotene, lutein, and zeaxathin, which are important phytonutrients and carotenoids, and flavonoids that provide a powerful antioxidant defense system. Spinach has been researched to help with eye degenerative diseases and prevention of cataracts, reducing anemia with the production of red blood cells through its iron content, reducing prostate cancer, maintaining immune systems and rebuilding immune deficiencies, reducing inflammation, heart disease, reduces bone density loss, reducing blood pressure and blood vessel damage and helping to reduce oxidative stress in our bodies(when there is an imbalance between free radical cells, cancer forming cells, and antioxidants, bringing oxygen to repair the damaged cells).
There is no doubt about it, Popeye knew what he was eating when he indulged on this high fiber veggie. Spinach is so versatile in many recipes. Don’t let the delicate leaves fool you, they are a high source of nourishment. Many may feel that the leaves are so delicate that they might loose nutrients being transported in those clear plastic packages, but contrary to popular believe, spinach that is kept in darkness actually looses nutrient density and spinach kept in the light, even artificial light, increases it nutrient dense qualities.
However you package it, just make sure you rinse, spin to dry, and feast upon this succulent health food to acquire its flourishing properties.
PINEAPPLE
Pineapple’s claim to fame is being of the Bromeliaceae family, which provides an enzyme called bromelain and is very important to our immune systems and digestive health. Along with its antioxidants, Manganese and vitamin B1 (Known as Thiamin) has given it a powerful punch in reducing eye degenerative diseases, cancer fighting antioxidants and re-strengthens our cell production. B1 is an energy inducer which helps to release more energy to our muscles and body.
Its most powerful ingredient is in its high concentration of Vit C… a powerful immune restoring and boosting vitamin. Pineapple is also being hailed for its role in helping the body to make serotonin, another important chemical we need for brain, heart and liver health. Only needing 1 ½ servings of fruit a day to improve immune, brain, heart, digestive ailments, liver, and production of important chemicals for better transmission from the body to the brain one can see that, increasing your pineapple intake, can be another tasty choice to help our bodies help and repair themselves.
Pineapple can be added to salads, sauces, stir fry’s, bbq meals, breakfasts, lunches, suppers, snacks, juices, etc, etc, etc, and being available year around to most grocery stores while being quite affordable is an easy choice for increasing your fruit intake.
ORANGES
Oranges easily make one of the worlds most popular fruits, packed with vitamin C, fiber, folate, B1, potassium, calcium, copper, and pantothenic acid, and a vast variety of phytonutrients. Oranges healing properties with its concentration of antioxidants goes without saying. It has been shown to arguably reduce high blood pressure levels and cholesterol, reducing heart and stroke disease by reducing plaque build up in the arterial walls, improves immune systems, helping to repair our digestive tracks, reducing inflammation, reducing mouth irritations, reduce free radical damage from cancer cells, has been associated with reducing colon cancer, preventing and helping reduce the onset and helping to restore balance after a cold, flu, and ear infections. Need I say more.
This little ball of juicy goodness goes with breakfast lunch and supper, is great for snacks and natural juices. The best way to drink your juice… is to eat it …so keep that in mind when you are purchasing store bought orange juices, you are paying for an expensive carton of sugar water most times. Stick to the actual orange in order to reap its benefits. Also keep in mind that as great as a vit C supplement is, you will always get more vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, flavonoids and enzymes from the actual fruit. Don’t stop taking vit C but also eat your fruit with it.
I hope I have given you enough reasons to try my Kale Juice Recipe with the information about its ingredients. There are more reasons for each ingredient and I’m sure I have missed several, but one can easily see the reasons for implementing these delicious choices into your regular menu. Spice it up with some blueberries as well, and really pack the antioxidant concentration to those free radicals.
Happy Healing… Enjoy Your Day!!!