Lessons Learned: Juicing/Rebooting Guide Pt 2 Tips and Tricks

Without further ado - the second of my Juicing/Rebooting posts to share the lessons we've learned:

Alright so you sat down, did some calculating and planning and now you're all set and ready to juice; right? Wrong!

The first and most crucial of all next steps is: To buy a juicer!

There are so many on the market and I will be the first to admit I did no research on the one we bought. I left that to my technophile Logician. We ended up getting one similar to the one Joe Cross used in Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. I know this documentary and website are mentioned eighty four billion times on this blog, I promise one day that will all stop.

So we got a Breville Juicer and ended up getting the Juice Fountain Plus from a department store near us and were able to start juicing right away. The only thing we're sad about with our juicer is it's lack of ability to juice grasses (Wheat, Barley, etc).

I won't go into a long post about the types of juicer but keep in mind that you will be using soft fruits and veggies as well as tough ones. Keeping the pulp or using puree is up to you, but even our juicer lets us collect the pulp should we wish to keep it.

So I've got a juicer, now what?

Good question. So now you have to decide what fruits and vegetables you are going to juice. There are many websites online with recipes, boards on pinterest, books from the library, and recipes on the Reboot site. But even those can get a little tedious at time.

So here are some tips/tricks we found on our juicing journey:

• Organic vs Conventional - I will be the first to admit that even a few months ago I really didn't see the difference. I worked in two different grocery stores, both of which sold many Organic varieties but did not yet understand just how much better Organic and/or Locally grown items are. When we began our first Reboot we bought bags of pre-sliced, conventional Kale and found that it barely provided any juice at all. We switched to actual Kale leaves, but did not get the best juicing results until we switched to Locally or Organically grown (usually our Local is also Organic). Then came cucumbers. Our farmer's nearby are some sort of magicians - we used one medium sized cucumber and got almost 16 ounces of juice! That's almost a whole serving!! Sadly cucumber season is over for us for now, so if we have to buy them at the grocery we choose organically grown. We have found that really all Organically/Locally grown items seem to be better than conventional but especially: Cucumbers, Carrots, Greens, Mushrooms, Apples, Pears, Lemons, Limes, really any citrus, tomatoes, and ginger.

• Strong Flavors - I cannot stress this enough to people new to juicing. This was the very first lesson we learned the hard way. Beets, Garlic, Ginger, and Onion are super strong! A little goes a long, long way! The only time that isn't entirely true is with Ginger. Depending on your other flavors it can get overpowered, but the others will stand up and and dominate if you are not careful. We found that for two sixteen to twenty ounce servings of juice (which we made at one time) a ping pong ball sized beet was just small enough to not overpower. Logician says no small amount of onion is tolerable, same with garlic - but I have found one small clove of garlic for two juices, or about 1/8th or less of a small (tennis ball sized) onion seems to be okay.

• Peeling - ALWAYS PEEL CITRUS! Another lesson I cannot stress enough. You do not have to peel all of the pith off, but do peel the rinds. Logician loves to put citrus rinds down the garbage disposal to freshen up the kitchen (make sure you see the bit about flies for more on this). You could also save them to make zest for cooking or garnishing.

• Variety - During our first Reboot we tried to expand our recipes by creating some of our own. However we got too focused on making enough juice that we didn't put in enough nutrients. This time we did two things to help combat this problem. The first was that whenever we invented a juice we tried to have at least four different colored items and at least one type of leafy green. Most lettuces, spinach, and kale do not seem to have very strong flavors but provide a lot of nutrient value. The second way we did this was to use a green "Super Foods" powder. We tried to do this sparingly, but when we were in a hurry it was a good way to give ourselves some nutrients.

• What Speed do I use? This is a very good question, most juicers come with a manual that explains most of that. We have found the ginger is best juiced wrapped in leafy greens; soft skinned cucumbers (or peeled), tomatoes, grapes, greens, etc are best juiced on low; you can juice a banana with some success if you place it with a harder veggie (Logician used carrots); and lastly do the greens in between other veggies for maximum juicing.

• Go slow! Putting too much in the juicer at once tends to flick bits all over.

• Flies - we have had an overwhelming influx of little flies that seem to enjoy annoying us when we juice. There is nothing like having a clean house that suddenly seems overwhelmed by the little buggers. We tend to use a varied approach that still doesn't seem to eliminate the entire problem but helps keep it down.

1. Pour boiling water down the drain at least once a day
2. Keep fruit fresh, covered if needed, and away from the sink.
3. Place fly traps such as fly paper near the drain.
4. If you have a garbage disposal: once a month (or more frequently) place a large quantity of ice into the disposal side of the sink. Turn the water on to a steady, but light stream. Add a small amount of dish soap and push the ice into the disposal. Likely some greyish muck will eventually rise into the sink, let the disposal continue to run until all the water clears.
5. Bag up all pulp and trimmings that you're not keeping or place it in an airtight composting container.
6. Promptly remove the garbage when it is full.

• Above all else have fun with your recipes. See what's in season and local. Our bodied do best when we are eating in line with the area we're living in. If you tend to live in a colder region, tropical fruits might not be best for your body. Especially in the dead of winter. By following the seasons and doing what you can to support your local agricultural community you can help bring your body back in line with nature.

• Stay hydrated! This is a very, very, very important step. The Reboot site recommends a certain amount of water, but find what keeps you feeling your best. For me it's at least 1.5 L of water a day, but I am best when I have 3L or more. Logician tends to drink AT LEAST 3L on a good day. Water is good for you - that's not just a myth!

This is what our fridge looked like after our first Rebooting shopping trip. As you can see it has some of the bad things we've now cut out (soda), and things we have now changed (conventional store bought eggs).

• It's a good idea shop ahead but don't shop too far in advance or else you'll end up tossing out far more than you use. It seems to work for us if we shop for about 2.5 to 3 days at a time. Especially when Rebooting. We sit down, drink our morning juice and plot out several days worth of juices/meals. Then we leave room for one or two "Make it up" juices to use up whatever we have left. This seems to keep our fridge full of goodness without causing waste.

So now you've got some tricks, tips, and lessons to use! The only thing left to do is starting adding delicious fresh juices to your diet and enjoy!