Like many people, I bought a juicer a few years ago after watching the movie, “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead,” starring Australia-born Joe Cross. If you haven’t seen the movie, I highly recommend it. (You can get it on iTunes or Amazon.)
I was enamored with juicing and its positive effects on our health. Of course, I started out with great intentions for my juicer. However, juicing is a hassle and there are many things that didn’t work for me:
- You have to buy LOTS and LOTS of fresh fruits and vegetables (organic vegetables for me, thank you).
- I would make a large pitcher of green juice, and it would take me many days to drink it all. I think it lost its potency after the first day.
- It just didn’t feel right throwing away all the pulp from the veggies but that’s what I had to do.
- Cleaning up was the biggest hassle. My Breville juicer was the top of the line, but it took me longer to scrub every piece and part of the juicer than it took me to make my green drink.
So, my juicer was just staring at me every morning from my kitchen counter, and soon it was gathering dust. Eventually, I gave it to a friend.
But I still long for the benefits of juicing.
Then I went to Costco one day with my friend Lilliana. She pointed out to me this amazing gadget called a Blendtec® blender. I watched the demo person pour into the blender some coconut water, add a few leaves of kale and then chunks of frozen fruit, and in 30 seconds, she handed out samples of a refreshing and very healthy drink.
Admittedly, I was highly influenced by Lilliana who said the Blendtec® changed her life. She, too, wanted the health benefits of juicing, but hated the waste of throwing out all that pulp and the messy cleanup as much as I did.
So here is my new summer breakfast routine: 8 ounces coconut water, 2 to 3 cups of kale and/or spinach leaves (although today it was arugula as that was the only green in my fridge), one banana, and four to five chunks of frozen mango (a natural sweetener whose frozen state makes the texture more like a smoothie). Sometimes I add half a cucumber and lemon—skin and all. It may not sound like much, but it is very filling and gives me energy for the entire morning.
My breakfast looks a lot like this Blendtec smoothie. Click for recipe.And the best parts? I don’t have to throw any pulp away, my entire cleanup process is just rinsing the Blendtec under running water, and I’m out the door. No scrubbing!
Talk about the intersection of healthy and convenience! If you’re burned out on juicing, definitely try blending instead.
Karen