A Return -- And Some Juice

I've taken a really long time away from this blog. Not really intentional, but I let other things happen instead. If you've been checking for updates, I'm sorry there haven't been any. The biggest reason for the time away is I have been in a total food rut. I believe that through the second half of the Fall semester and the entire Spring semester, I ate exactly the same thing for breakfast and lunch. And I all too often felt like frozen peas and a can of tuna fish were perfectly acceptable for dinner. Acceptable, but not blog-worthy.

I've been thinking for the past two weeks that I should get back to blogging here. I am once again changing up how I eat, and I am spending a lot of time on food. I'm searching for recipes and inspiration, I'm menu planning, I'm shopping, I'm preparing, and I'm cooking. And then my sister Carla commented that I should blog my food, and it seemed like a sign.

As I said, I am changing up how I eat. I've lived for an entire year and seven months on my "green diet." I recently saw a nutritionist and she made some suggestions for upping my nutrient intake and making sure my body can absorb everything it needs. Which leads to the question I am frequently asked when I eat with other people: What can you eat?

It's easiest to tackle big categories first: I'm gluten-free and have been for 7 years. I'm mostly vegan -- meaning no meat, no eggs, and no dairy, but every once in a while (when I'm eating out) I will eat fish. I eat any vegetable I want, any fruit I want, any bean I want, and any nut I want.

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One of the big changes for me that my nutritionist recommended was to begin juicing -- at least three times a week. She gave me seven different recipes to start off with. 

There are a lot of reasons to juice. The biggest one is that people say you can get a whole bunch of vegetables in your system that you wouldn't eat otherwise. As I prepared this morning's juice, and shoved an entire romaine lettuce heart into my juicer, I thought, "Yeah, because really, who eats a whole head of romaine? ... Uh, wait. I do. I totally did last night." But I gamely pressed on with my juicing. 

There is also a huge debate about whether juicing or green smoothies are better. Medically-speaking, I have no idea. I'm just doing what was recommended for me. 

I have a Breville Juice Fountain. It works really well and has a lot of parts that you have to clean -- but that is how all juicers are. I got it a couple years ago, at Bed Bath and Beyond, because I always have a coupon for that store. 

Romaine Green Juice

1 Romaine Lettuce Heart

3 leaves Kale

2 giant leaves Red Chard

1 Cucumber

2 Celery Stalks

1/2 Green Apple

I use all-organic produce, especially for juice. Just wash everything and run it through the juicer, then drink up. 

All done! Yum.