JUICED UP!!

I’ve mentioned before that I typically do a cleanse twice a year. Whether mental or physical, it does help reset my mind into healthy living after I feel like I’ve fallen off the wagon a bit.  All of my previous cleanses have been of the supplement form which means…um…”elimination” of toxins.  But lately I have been reading a lot about prepackaged juice cleanses on blogs and even on some Living Social type deals. A few that I have looked into include the Blue Print Cleanse the GlowCleanse  and another by Ritual Wellness.  

Each company offers a three day juice cleanse (as well as longer cleanses) that provides you with 6 juices a day shipped to your door, raw and refrigerated, for a mere $300+.  I’m used to maybe 20 bucks a cleanse; so that price made me…um… “elimination” my pants a bit! :)

Thanks to good ol’ Google I found some fellow bloggers who hacked the prepackaged cleanses and provided recipes for the six juices. I borrowed a juicer from a coworker (you can use a blender, see directions*) and below is my take on the cleanse adapted from Organic Beauty Talk and Home Fitness Manual.

 The cleanse includes the following juices for three days: Green Juice, P.A.M., Green Juice, Spicy Lemonade, C.A.R and Cashew Milk.  Below you will find the recipe for each juice in addition to my thoughts on taste etc. for each juice. At the end of the post I also tried to provide a shopping list based on what I bought, used and didn’t use.

Notes :

-Get organized- lay everything out and place with same juice items

-Wash everything and let drain/dry

-Put away items in bowls/strainers that won’t be used until the next day as you go.

-The first day is the most overwhelming; it’s a breeze day 2 and 3

GREEN JUICE

Tastes ok, a bit lemony, thought it would be more apple like, but not bad at all.

Hubs finished leftovers, said “not bad”; Ella said, “it’s not horrible” :)

▪       5 Ribs of Celery

▪       1 Cucumber

▪       2 Large Green Apples

▪       3 Kale leafs

▪       1 Ounce of Lemon juice or One Lemon

▪       1 Handful of Parsley

▪       3 Romaine leafs

▪       1 Handful of Spinach

P.A.M.

Delicious! Very tasty, gulped it down, even weird foam stuff!

▪       A Third of a Peeled Pineapple

▪       2 Large Green Apples

▪       4-5 Leaves of Mint

*Green Juice Again

Spicy Lemonade

Taste like the name, not bad. Very similar to “Master Cleanse”.

▪       14 ounces of Cold Filtered Water

▪       3-4 Lemons

▪       A few Dashes of Cayenne Pepper

▪       1 Tablespoon of Agave Nectar

C.A.R.

This was the hardest for me, not because of the taste, but because of the beet smell. I don’t like beets so the smell was such a turn off although it tasted more like ginger apple juice.

▪       1 Green Apple

▪       2 Beet (with the greens left on)

▪       3 Large Carrots

▪       1 and 1/2 Tablespoon of Ginger (I used raw and peeled a walnut and half sized piece)

▪       A 1/2 ounce of Lemon Juice or Half a Lemon

CASHEW MILK

This was very good and almost like a dessert! ( a dessert for someone who has been drinking juice all day that is!) Smooth and I saved this for my before bed snack.

▪       4-5 ounces of Raw Cashews (soak in water for 8 hours prior)

▪       16 ounces of Filtered water

▪       1 Tablespoon of Agave Nectar

▪       1 teaspoon of Cinnamon (ground)

1 two-inch piece of Vanilla Bean (or 1 teaspoon of extract)

(For this one, I cheated and took the advice of one blogger and substituted the raw cashews and water for almond milk. Had I known the powers of the juicer prior to the process, I would have gone ahead and juiced the cashews also.)

Shopping List

2 large bunches of celery

6 large cucumbers

21 large green apples
18 Kale leaves

20 large lemons

2 bunches Romaine

6 handfuls of parsley

6 handfuls of spinach

1 pineapple

1 bunch mint

6 beets

9 large carrots

 Spices/other

Cayenne pepper

Agave Nectar

Cinnamon

Vanilla extract or 2 vanilla beans

1 Half gallon unsweetened almond milk

Blender Directions

Make sure you stain all mixtures with a cheesecloth etc. No Pulp! The idea of juicing is to give your body a break in the “breaking down” process so you only want the juice.

Verdict

Throughout the cleanse, I felt very energetic and full; never hungry.  I did want to eat because others around me were “chewing” but I wasn’t starving or hungry, just the act of eating and not drinking my meal was the only part I missed. For an over all cleanse experience, I really liked it and compared to the cost ($60) I was really happy.  I feel revamped, energized and a bit slimmer. I also felt it was overall a lot gentler on my system than the supplemental cleanses I have done in the past. Note however, I was at home for the three days of the cleanse. I made each juice as I was ready to drink it (one juice about every 2-3 hours). This would not be a convenient cleanse for a work day or a day you needed to be out and about. I'm still not convinced that I couldn't make everything prior and store in mason jars until I was ready to drink them. Some strict "juicers" feel the juice looses it's nutrients if stored and not consumed immediately although the mail order juices are pre-made and delivered all at once.

As far as juicing in general, I am really fascinated by the juicer, it is amazing how much juice can come out of something that I never thought of as juicy  (i.e. spinach or kale). I would love to juice apples and cucumbers all the time rather than eating them, as it really was delicious. On the flip side, I was not fascinated by the work involved. There really isn’t much prep to juicing other than washing the fruits and vegies; but cleaning up the machine after every juice was a bit much. Space was also an issue for me; for three days it wasn’t bad, but the juicer was quite cumbersome and it would not be a “countertop” appliance in my smaller size kitchen, so I can’t see myself being a regular juicer.

So overall, if you are considering a juice cleanse, I would recommend this homemade version rather than the splurge of home delivery. It really was pretty easy, tasty and inexpensive.  I could write multiple posts about the cleanse so please let me know if you have questions!!

Buzz!!