Day 25 - Spinach Anyone??

Here is my refrigerator filled with 2 bags of 3lbs each of spinach, a 25 lb bag of carrots and other various vegetables and fruits.  I must be out of my mind...yep!!,,but this will all be gone in about a week.  Not bad though when you consider there is no meat and I purchased enough for two weeks under $100. Is this what it's called "GOING GREEN"?.

I have not been blogging for the last two days except posting a recipe.  I had so many things to do that I needed to focus on them since I had a long weekend.  It is no wonder that I have stayed the same in weight since Friday morning.  My daughter and I went to Orlando for the a fundraiser for a little girl named "Izzy" who has leukemia and there was alot of snackie foods. White chocolate covered strawberry. I could not resist, but I must admit, it did not taste the way I remember.  My taste buds are changing and that is really on the plus side.  Plus I did not juice except for breakfast which makes it a little hard.  I woke up late this morning since it is my day off and can do that..LOL!!.  I rarely sleep in so this was a treat.  BUT, now to business!!

I had a nice large class of apple juice this morning made from golden delicious apples this time.

Here is the recipe for the lunch and dinner I just juiced

3-4 large handful of fresh spinach
2 cucumbers
1 bunch parsley
12 carrots

Wash the spinach, carrots, parley and cucumber if they are not organic.  Then juice all together..ENJOY!!  It has a sweet taste because of the carrots.

I posted about the Health Benefits of Spinach and nutritional value here.  Although I eat my spinach mostly raw in a salad, now I am using them for juicing.  If you are more into cooking spinach, here is a suggestion.

The Healthiest Way of Cooking Spinach
Spinach is only one of three vegetables we recommend boiling to free up acids and allow them to leach into the boiling water; this brings out a sweeter taste from the spinach. Discard the boiling water after cooking; do not drink it or use it for stock because of its acid content.

Use a large pot (3 quart) with lots of water and bring to a rapid boil. Add spinach to the boiling water and boil for 1 minute. Begin timing as soon as you place the spinach in the pot if you are using 1 pound or less of spinach. If you are cooking larger quantities of spinach bring the water back to a boil before beginning timing the 1 minute. Do not cover the pot when cooking spinach. Leaving the pot uncovered helps to release more of the acids with the rising steam. Research has shown that the boiling of spinach in large amounts of water helps decrease the oxalic acid content by as much as 50%.
Remove spinach from pot, press out liquid with a fork, place in a bowl, toss with our Mediterranean Dressing, and top with your favorite optional ingredients.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog.  Let me know what your favorite juicing is or even your favorite recipe that you would like for me to post.  Have a wonderful Labor Day everyone!!

Day 20 - Believe It or Not This Is Really Fun!

What do I mean by the title today.  Well, this is my 20th day on my Fresh Start Journey juice detox/diet.  My last blog was on Saturday.  Sunday and Monday I was totally busy but kept to my diet.  I juiced only in the morning by having apple juice and apple/orange juice.  Even though I did not blog and did not juice the rest of the day, I made sure that if I reached for anything I wanted to eat, I would have vegetables already made up to snack.  Sunday after church, we went out to eat and I had a vegetable platter.  I kept off the egg and jack cheese..yummy!!..but my stomach and my acid reflex would not have liked it much and neither would my diet.

I lost 1 lbs so in total I lost 17 lbs in 20 days.  I am finding out that the weight comes off slower when you eat solid foods than when you juice.  Today I started off with a green apple juice and made this delicious vegetable juice for lunch and dinner.    

Tomato Lettuce Cucumber Detox Juicer Recipe

3 large, ripe tomatoes

6 leaves leafy lettuce (I prefer romaine or kale)

Cucumber (about a 2-inch piece)

Handful of fresh cilantro or parsley

Small wedge of lemon or lime

Juice all ingredients

This combination of vegetables and fruits is so very delicious with just a twist of lemon added.

Cucumber is a fruit that came from the same family as pumpkin, zucchini and other squashes. It has a dark green rind and white succulent flesh. There are 2 types of cucumbers the pickling varieties and the slicing varieties. The pickling variety is relatively small (2 - 4 inches long).

Health benefits of Cucumber

• 
  Very low in calories; provides just 15 calories per 100 g. Contains no saturated fats or cholesterol. Cucumber peel is a good source of dietary fiber that helps reduce constipation and offers some protection against colon cancers.
• It is a very good source of potassium, an important intra-cellular electrolyte. Potassium is a heart friendly electrolyte; helps reduce blood pressure and heart rates by countering effects of sodium.
• It contains unique anti-oxidants in good ratios such as ß-carotene and a-carotene, vitamin-C, vitamin-A, zea-xanthin and lutein. These compounds help act as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that play a role in aging and various disease process.
• Cucumbers have mild diuretic property probably due to their high water content, which helps in checking weight gain and high blood pressure.
• Cucumbers surprisingly have high amount of vitamin K, provides about 17 mcg of this vitamin per 100 g. Vitamin-K has been found to have potential role in bone strength by promoting osteotrophic (bone mass building) activity. It also has established role in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease patients by limiting neuronal damage in their brain.
  
  Thanks for stopping by to read my blog.  Have a blessed day!!