neverhomemaker: juicing

Showing posts with label juicing. Show all posts

Beet + Carrot Juice: A Better Balance

>> Wednesday, February 5, 2014

A lot of our juicing experience so far has been dictated trial and error. We toss in what we have in the fridge and just hope it will taste good. Often, this method works out just fine. I mean, taste is definitely a huge part of juicing, but I guess we let the health benefits overshadow at times.

I've been trying to use less and less fruit in our juices, too. For example, I squeezed together this blend of some sweeter vegetables -- with only a couple fruits -- to make strides toward lower sugar, higher nutrient content.

(I added half a lemon, too, for some bright flavor.)

BEET + CARROT JUICE

3 large carrots
2 large beets
2 Granny Smith apples
1 inch (or so) ginger
1/2 to whole lemon, with rind
Filtered water

// HOW TO:

Wash all fruits and vegetables. Run all ingredients through your juicer. Then fill juice container to top with filtered water -- or to taste. The water in this recipe is to thin out the juice so it isn't quite as intense, better balanced. Mix (stir in the froth -- don't separate!) and serve immediately.

The magenta beets totally take over the color. No surprises there!

I'm hoping to write a recap of how we're approaching our juicing in the next week or so. We definitely aren't making it every day or even every week. The early weeks in January, we were excited and went a little overboard, but I think we're striking a better balance, especially where the budget is concerned!

Want more juice recipes?

I'd love to make an entirely veggie blend, any palatable suggestions?

And don't miss our 90 healthiest recipes of 2013! Lots of delicious, wholesome foods for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and beyond. Includes both vegan and vegetarian recipes to please the entire family -- even toddlers!

Like what you just read? Browse more of our posts + recipes on Pinterest. You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!

Purple Cabbage Garlic Knots

>> Friday, January 10, 2014

Without planning to, I've set a new goal for myself. I'd like to create pizza dough in all colors of the rainbow, naturally. As you already know from the millions of recipes, our favorite dinners involve either pizza or garlic knots, so we've made an effort over the years to find a way to make it a healthier option. Using purees has really transformed this process.

So far, we have:

RED with Beet Pizza Dough.
ORANGE, obviously, with my favorite Pumpkin Garlic Knots.
We could count our Chickpea Crust as YELLOW -- but I'll work on that one.
GREEN is in the form of delicious Pesto Dough made with homemade pesto.

And now PURPLE!

As I mentioned in yesterday's Curious George Juice post, I actually juiced the cabbage for this recipe instead of pureeing it. However, I'll give the puree option as well -- since it would be more like the other recipes we have on this site (in other words, if you'd like to try a similar dough, but don't have a juicer).

What's different with juicing versus cooking + pureeing is that the flavor is far more intense and concentrated. I'd describe purple cabbage knots as sweet and earthy. What I can't necessarily tell you is the difference with regard to nutrition. Obviously when juiced raw, the cabbage retains most of its nutrients, but loses the fiber. I don't know how much is lost in the baking process, but I am thinking more remains than with pureeing.

As you can imagine, the color is more vibrant, too.

PURPLE CABBAGE GARLIC KNOTS
works equally well as a pizza crust recipe

What you'll need . . .

2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 warm water
1 tablespoon Sugar in the Raw (or sugar)
1 cup cabbage juice (room temperature or warm, not cold)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
3-1/2 cups bread flour

Method . . .

To make our cabbage juice, we set our Breville Juice Fountain on high and juiced quartered purple cabbage until we got 1 cup. Set aside.
Mix the yeast into the 1/2 cup of warm water + the sugar. Let sit until frothy -- proofed -- about 10 minutes.
Mix in the cabbage juice and olive oil until well combined.
Add in the flour a cup or so at a time until you reach 3 cups, then start kneading and add more as needed. You may need more or less flour, depending on a lot of factors. Just knead until you form a smooth, elastic ball that isn't sticky . . . but not dry either!
Cover with plastic wrap or a wet tea towel + let rise for at least 2 hours in a warm place.

My prettiest knots to date!

// PUREE ALTERNATIVE

If you'd rather use puree, just steam cabbage and puree in a food processor until smooth. You can experiment with using just a 1/2 cup puree . . . up to a full cup for the juice in the recipe above. Adjust your water content accordingly until you reach the same smooth, elastic round. All else should be the same.

// COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

For knots: Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F, preferably with a pizza stone inside. Divide dough into two large balls and save one for another day. Divide one of these balls up into between 10 and 16 knots, depending on size preference. Roll and knot your dough and then bake for up to 12-15 minutes. Top with a mixture of olive oil, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese (or nutritional yeast for a non-dairy option).
For pizza: Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F, preferably with a pizza stone inside. Divide dough into two large balls and save one for another day. Spin or otherwise stretch your dough into a crust that will fit on your stone. Then bake for a few minutes before taking out of the oven + topping with your favorites. Bake for another 12-15 minutes.

Happy Friday!

Have you tried any of our colorful pizza dough recipes? Which one is your favorite? And do you have a suggestion for BLUE?! My mind briefly wandered over to a sweet blueberry recipe, which I might just have to try, but I'm not sure about that.

And don't miss our 90 healthiest recipes of 2013! Lots of delicious, wholesome foods for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and beyond. Includes both vegan and vegetarian recipes to please the entire family -- even toddlers!

Like what you just read? Browse more of our posts + recipes on Pinterest. You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!

Curious George Juice

>> Thursday, January 9, 2014

I'm a fruits + veggies artist now.

Portrait of Stephen in carrots, romaine, cabbage, apples, and lemons.

Mix this up to make a colorful beverage that serves 2-4.

This combination was inspired by a Curious George episode I watched with Ada. George becomes interested in a local juicer's recipes and decides to create his own. One of his mixes is a huge hit. His special ingredient? Cabbage! And it's really quite delicious and beautiful, isn't it?

Now, the baby carrots aren't a usual staple in our house, but we had a huge bag leftover from the holidays/entertaining . . . so, no better way to use them up, right? (Oh, and if you've seen some nasty news about baby carrots, I found this post that puts a lot of that misinformation to rest, at least with regard to the organic varieties.)

As you can probably tell from my recent explosion of juice posts, the whole process/drink is addicting. I'd say we drink homemade juice every three days or so. We try to keep it as veggie-heavy as possible to cut down on excess calories and sugar. A little lemon zest or ginger can go a long way toward brightening the flavor of vegetables. And beets, for example, have their own natural sweetness, all while boasting high levels of potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, vitamins A, B & C, beta-carotene, beta-cyanine, and folic acid.

Anyway, purple cabbage.

George is such a clever little monkey.

I might just have to try out his actual recipe from this episode!

I'll be back tomorrow with an earthy garlic knots/pizza crust recipe featuring pure cabbage juice. This one is a KEEPER, you guys! We're in love with it -- plus, it's PURPLE!

One-Bowl Juice Pulp Bread // Muffins Recipe

>> Sunday, January 5, 2014

As with any new toy, the juicer has certainly consumed my attention this past week. And I'm already learning so much about certain fruits and veggies. Likes and dislikes. Opportunities to save and interesting flavor combinations. So far, I really like apples, romaine lettuce, carrots, and lemons + limes. They are all tasty, easy to clean, and yield a lot of juice.

The kale in this photo, on the other hand, probably gave up 2 drops of juice total . . . and mostly just ran through the machine into the pulp drawer. I don't think, necessarily, all kale in general is like this -- but ours was particularly dry.

Live an learn.

But I figured this folly was an opportunity to experiment with using pulp in fun ways. So, I made bread! And, then again today, I made this same bread recipe -- doubled it -- and baked muffins. The pulp gives baked goods flavor, any residual nutrients, and lots of fiber. This mix includes beets, carrots, oranges, limes, and celery.

(PS: Don't have juice pulp? Sub in shredded carrots, apples, or other fruits/veggies 1:1 ratio!)

(Also: I promise not all recipes going forward will involve juicing. But some will. I'm hooked!)

JUICE PULP BREAD/MUFFINS
(makes 2 loaves or 24 muffins -- use any pulp)

What you'll need . . .

3 cups white-whole wheat flour
1/4 cup flax meal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
Heaping teaspoon ground cinnamon (or other spice)
2 cups (fluffed, not packed) fruit/veggie pulp
1/2 cup olive or canola oil
1/2 to 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or other milk, even water)
1/2 to 3/4 cup maple syrup (depending on sweetness desired)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method . . .

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. If you've baking bread, lightly grease your bread pans; muffins grease muffin tins.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, flax meal, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon together. Then mix in the pulp and follow with the oil, almond milk, and maple syrup.
Mix until just combined. Batter should be like normal quick bread or muffin batter, so if it is too thick, add more liquid -- milk.
Then divide into half for bread or portion out into individual muffin tins.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes for bread or 20 to 25 minutes for standard muffins.
Repeat with rest of batter -- bread is done when set in middle and lightly golden brown.
Let cool before serving or storing in your refrigerator (or freezing!).

We made our bath of muffins this morning, and I'm happy to report that we have a great centerpiece for our breakfasts this week. Ada loves this bread. It's sweet without being overly so. The pulp really just injects it with flavor. Oh, and it goes great with . . . juice. So, more pulp.

What to do next?

Have you tried/made pulp bread, crackers, or other baked goods?

Twenty Fourteen

>> Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Happy 2014, everyone! I hope you're all recovering from your late nights and fun parties (which I enjoyed following on Instagram). I sure am recovering -- but mostly from this nasty cold. Now I have no voice! Anyway, to speed up my healing process, today we went out and did perhaps the most stereotypical thing health conscious people do on January 1st.

Today we bought . . . a juicer.

It's not a purchase we take lightly, though. I've been grinding and squeezing juices in various ways for years. But after spending some time with juice fanatics over the holiday, we decided that 2014 is the year of juice for us. At least, we'd like to make a more regular habit of it.

We've been looking at juicers for years and had some good recommendations from family + friends. We decided on the Breville Juice Fountain (850 watt). It grinds whole fruits and veggies, features two speeds, and is overall a sturdy, reliable machine. It was even the juicer featured in Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.

So far, sooo good.

For our first juice, I followed the recipe for Kris Carr's "Immune Booster" (all the ingredients above, juiced) from her amazing Crazy Sexy Kitchen cookbook, which I received as a gift for Christmas last year. I've been wanting to make all those juice recipes, but my blend and strain method wasn't cutting it for ingredients like beets (did you know beets are great for runners? here's why!).

So, in short, this bright green mix was delicious. I don't feel magically better and, sadly, my voice is still absent. I don't see any big detox-juice fasts in my future, but it was a nice addition to my daily eats. Stephen and I have decided to approach this juicing thing pretty casually.

Here's what I mean:

We're looking at the machine as a way to use up leftover produce instead of buying it in bulk for the purpose of juicing.
We're aiming to juice a couple times a week versus every single day.
We're so excited for the upcoming CSA season for lots of fresh, organic ingredients.
We like watering it down to feel like we're drinking more!
We want to use the pulp. Any ideas? What you see above is in our refrigerator waiting for a home. I was thinking muffins?

I'll be back with some more (re)new year stuff tomorrow. Until then -- how was your holiday?

Any big goals or resolutions for this year?

Like what you just read? Browse more of our posts + recipes on Pinterest. You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!