Juice Factory

Hi friends! Happy almost-Friday!

It’s another juice-filled day for me, and our kitchen is starting to look like a juice factory!

After each juice I make, I layout the juicer parts on this towel to air-dry until my next juice of the day! I’ve been trying to re-use my glass and straw during the day, too, to cut back on dirty dishes. So far, this system is working great! I just put it away before dinner time, so I can use all my counter space for dinner preparation!

For those of you with juicers, how often to you run your juicer parts through the dishwasher? I typically wash each piece by hand during the week, and give it a good wash through the dishwasher about once a week– usually on the weekend, when I tend to use it less. I’m really careful with my juicer now, because I’ve warped the tamper to my juicer already! I put it on the bottom shelf of my dishwasher, and apparently that was a BAD IDEA. From now on, all my juicer parts are TOP SHELF ONLY– like the directions say.   Sometimes I just choose to learn my lesson the hard way…

Today’s juice was REALLY tasty:

All organic: head of Romaine, 6 stalks of “dino” kale, 1/2 pound carrots, 1/4 Fuji apple, 1/2 lemon, 1 stalk celery. I could still taste that darn celery, but I think I can handle one-stalk-per-juice for now. Maybe the taste will grow on me eventually!

You’ll also notice, I’ve been trying to use lots of organic produce lately. I am on an email-list from the Environmental Working Group, and they recently released their latest Shopping Guide for produce– highlighting the “Dirty Dozen” and the “Clean 15.”

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I remember hearing that you should buy fruits and veggies organically if you plan on eating the skin (such as apples and berries), but sometimes I forget to think about veggies like kale and celery! I’m so glad I saw this list before I went shopping the other day– I picked up organic kale AND celery this time! And, I know I’m lucky to live in Southern California– where organic produce is abundant and affordable! I still appreciate the “Clean 15″ list, though, so we know where we can save our money and buy conventional produce! The only thing I disagree with on the “Clean 15″ list is the corn– I’ve read that non-organic corn is commonly genetically modified, and that is very unappealing to me! I realize that this list is only taking pesticides into account, but I still look for organic corn when I can, to avoid genetically modified produce! And raw corn is SO tasty– it’s sweet and crunchy!

I plan on having another juice before my hour-long run this afternoon, and then, depending on my energy levels, I may do another Physique 57 workout. I want to have nice and fresh legs for Saturday’s LONG RUN (*gulp*), so I think today’s my last day to squeeze in one more leg-workout before then! Maybe I’ll do the 30-minute Express DVD, which in my opinion, is just as hard as the 57-minute Full Body DVD! Seriously! I think she actually works your legs HARDER, because it’s shorter!

I’m off to make another juice, then it’s off to run! I’m still debating on whether to run inside or outside… the weather is PERFECT outside, but I really HATE stopping at traffic lights at every block! The treadmill can get monotonous, but at least I have control over my pace and walking breaks! Decisions, decisions….

Something to Read: Understanding Toxic Hunger <–I think this explains why I’m not hungry from juicing during the day!

Related posts:

1. Festive juice
2. The Rose Cleanse
3. Day 2 Recap
4. An Eye Opener
5. Long run, cut short