Juicing and I have had an on-again-off-again relationship for about 5 years.

I bought my first juicer before juicing went mainstream – well may be it’s still not as mainstream as say, the gluten-free industry is today, but I think it’s safe to say that the juicing industry is definitely gaining traction. Now, I’m not saying this to brag at all. My health coach that I worked with after my diagnosis had mentioned the benefits to me one day (which I will get to shortly) during a session so I bought a relatively cheap juicer and gave it a try. I found the clean up exhausting and annoying so juicing didn’t exactly become a daily activity.

A few years later I moved to Asheville. Two local grocery stores had juice bars. Prices were reasonable and the options were endless. Stop in to pick up juice after the gym, on the way to work, or sip it while grocery shopping? Yes. Please. No clean up involved. Now that I could do. And I did. Happily. About three times a week. I felt good.

Since moving to Cincinnati, I admit that juicing and I called it quits again. The juice bar at Whole Foods is hardly impressive. I didn’t want to juice at home so I started drinking green smoothies every day to compensate. It felt good, but it’s been 7 months and there is something about fresh vegetable juice that I can’t find in a green smoothie.

It was time to make a change. I need to juice. I know I do.

Now I have a juicer that I enjoy. It doesn’t take up a lot of counter space, is super easy to clean and the price is reasonable. If you’re interested – I’m talking about the Breville Compact Juicer for about $100. In the interest of transparency – I’m not getting any rewards for mentioning this juicer to you all – I just like it. It works for me. That’s all.

So juicing and I are back on again. I hope for the long haul because it sure does make me feel pretty great.

Freshly made vegetable juice, not the prepackaged stuff, is the easiest way for your body to absorb the highest quality nutrients. It’s a straight shot of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, protein and oxygen. I drink it on an empty stomach and then follow it up with a meal about 30 minutes later. It gives my digestive system a little break, which it needs sometimes. Now it can focus on other things like cell repair and recovery.

I like to use cucumbers or celery as a base and go from there. I always add dark leafy greens and the rest depends on what I have and what is in season. I usually throw in a small apple or pear as well, but the majority of the juice comes from vegetables.

I find that clean-up is easiest if I do it immediately, before the leftover pulp dries. All I have to do is run each part under warm water to rinse everything off and put it aside to dry. The whole process from start to finish takes less than 10 minutes. Not too bad at all, I think. And my body feels so grateful!

Do you juice? What are your favorite juicing recipes?

Eating well doesn’t need to involve lots of ingredients or take lots of time to prepare. In fact, it shouldn’t. A clean diet means eating clean food so the fewer ingredients, the better. The closer the food is to its natural state, the healthier it is. So when I’m planning my meals, sticking to the basics is not only the easiest, but it’s also the most efficient.

This isn’t the first time I’ve talked about keeping meals simple and sticking to real food. The skeleton can stay the same, and you can switch up the ingredients depending on the season and your mood. Grains, greens, veggies, protein and sauce – easy, right? I actually skipped the grains in the picture above because I was craving something a little lighter for lunch. On a bed of steamed red kale, I added lightly steamed broccoli, cauliflower, portobello mushrooms, and green beans and topped it with a lemon tahini miso dressing. Adding sunflower seeds and walnuts or almonds would have been a great addition, but I didn’t think of it until I finished my meal!

Blame it on my Mediterranean roots, but tahini is one of my favorite flavors to use in sauces and dressings. This lemon tahini miso dressing tastes great on just about anything! If you leave out the water, then you’ll have a great spread for sandwiches and wraps.

Ingredients:

Juice from 1 lemon

½ teaspoon minced ginger

1 teaspoon miso

3 tablespoons tahini

¼ teaspoon onion powder

1/3 cup water

Directions:

Combine ingredients in bowl and use immersion blender to blend ingredients until smooth. If you don’t have an immersion blender then a food processor or regular blender will work just as well.

You have heard me say this before, and I promise you will hear me say it again – I love sweet foods. I really do. I hear comments all the time from people feeling stressed and anxious by the war on their sweet tooth or whatever it is they crave, that never seems to end.  The way I see it – cravings are just our body’s way of trying to tell us something. Our bodies work hard to maintain homeostasis 24/7 doing all sorts of crazy things, like maintaining body temperature and controlling muscle movements in our digestive system to make sure we are constantly in a state of balance. That’s a pretty tough job! So why should the foods we crave mean anything different? We just have to listen!

Instead of chowing down on candy bars and chocolate to satisfy my cravings, I incorporate naturally sweet foods into my diet on a regular basis. This way my body gets what it needs without the harmful effects of sugar like suppression of the immune system, varicose veins, and weight gain. And you know what? I don’t really crave the high-sugar and high-processed sweets that you typically find in a movie theater or the checkout counter of your local convenience store. They just don’t “talk to me” the way they used to years ago.

So next time you feel like having something sweet try red quinoa. It’s a whole-grain so it will be absorbed into your bloodstream slowly, keeping your mood and energy leveled, but sweeter than regular quinoa to satisfy the sweet craving. For more information about the benefits of whole-grains check out my post on why we need carbs. 

I added local veggies and sesame seeds to the cooked quinoa. Check out the recipe below. 

Ingredients

1 cup red quinoa, cooked

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1/4 cup shredded carrots

1/4 cup peppers, chopped

1/2 cup dark leafy greens (I used swiss chard)

Directions

To cook the quinoa I like to use a rice cooker. It’s so easy – all you have to do is rinse the quinoa, add water (1 part quinoa to 2 parts water), hit the “cook” button and that’s it! It turns itself off once cooked.

If you use the stove – rinse your grains to remove the bitter coating, saponin. Quinoa is usually rinsed before it’s packaged, but it can’t hurt to rinse it again. Combine 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups of water in a saucepan, cover with lid and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and continue to cook until the water has been absorbed – approximately 15 minutes. Remove from heat.

Roast sesame seeds – place in dry saucepan and apply heat. Once they start popping, they are done. Keep your eye on these guys so they don’t burn.

Water saute veggies

Combine quinoa, sesame seeds and veggies

So next time you have a craving don’t panic and grab the first edible item in site! Listen to your body and see what it really wants.

May be it’s just me, but when I see a recipe that calls for a food processor or any other gadget with more than 2 or 3 parts I tend to turn the page, close the window or delete the email. The thought of the extra clean-up for the blades and who knows what else is exhausting and I can’t justify excess cleaning.  What can I say? I pride myself on being an efficient and practical person, and unnecessary suds is just not my thing. If it’s yours… please invite me over to dinner sometime so I can taste the recipes I have passed on creating myself over the years. That being said, there are a few “gadgets” that I think every person should have in the kitchen. These are easy to clean, allow for multitasking and speed up the cooking process. Like I said earlier, I appreciate efficiency and the ability to multitask, and my recommendations below do just that. What can I say? I used to be a corporate girl…

First – a rice cooker.

If you’ve ever cooked rice on a stove, then it is likely that you’ve probably burned rice at some point on the stove. An electric rice cooker cooks rice (duh), but it is impossible to burn! This awesome gadget controls the temperature and timing of the rice and turns itself off once the rice is cooked! How great is that! It even keeps it warm for you until you are ready to eat. Added bonus – now you’re free to focus on the rest of the meal, take care of the kids or anything else without having to run back to the stove every few minutes to check on the rice. All you have to do to get things started is pour the desired amount of rice into the rice cooker and fill with water. The instructions come with the rice cooker, but general rule of thumb is 2 parts water to 1 part rice. They come in all sizes so you can buy a larger one if you eat a lot of rice or feed a lot of people, or a smaller size if you don’t eat a lot of rice or don’t feed a lot of people. Hit the switch (don’t forget to plug it in first) and let the magic begin. The setting will automatically go from “cook” to “warm” once the rice is fully cooked. Before you begin be sure to rinse your rice with water. I also recommend soaking it for a few hours (or even overnight) to help break down the starches prior to cooking which will be a lot easier on your digestive system. Don’t be alarmed by the white film on top of the water – that’s the starch! Just drain and rinse and you are ready to get cookin’.

Second – a manual chopper

Peppers, onions, herbs, you name it – this awesome hand-held gadget can chop it! And just like the pro’s! And just as fast (have you picked up on my efficiency theme yet?)! All you have to do is put chunks of the food item on the cutting board (or the enclosed blade covering), place the hand-held chopper over it, press the knob and the blades do the rest! Chopping is even and effortless! Who knew this was possible without going to culinary school?

Third – a slow cooker / crockpot

Similar to the rice cooker, but used for vegetables, meats and beans. It cooks food with a moist, low and steady heat.  You can put an entire meal into the slow cooker before you leave for work in the morning and come home to a hot and fully cooked dinner waiting for you in the evening. How easy (and efficient) is that? I use mine most often to cook beans. All I have to do is rinse the beans, put them into the ceramic container, fill with water  (3 parts water to 1 part beans), put on the lid, turn the switch and check on them a few hours later. For added flavor I like to add chopped onions, some seasonings like pepper and seaweed for some extra nutrients.

Fourth – a hand blender / immersion blender

Blend soups in the same pot you cooked in and make fresh fruit smoothies in a glass or beaker – no blender necessary. This magic wand saves time cooking and cleaning! The long wand can get to the bottom of even your biggest batch of soup. Have a bowl now and freeze some for later. Some of the fancier ones come with other attachments for whisking and chopping, which are just as easy to use and clean – it all depends on your needs.

All of these gadgets range in price, so you need to find what best suits your needs and budget. I hope you have found these suggestions to be useful so that when it comes time to declutter your kitchen, or create your wedding registry – I hope you will remember that all you really need are four simple and efficient kitchen gadgets.