MACKENZIE'S MAGIC POTION Fresh Juice

My daughter decided she wanted to throw a bunch of citrus fruit in the juicer to see what happens.  She, supprisingly, added fruits that she won't normally eat.  This recipe makes a lot. 

2 blood oranges, zested
2 navel oranges, zested
2 lemons
2 limes
2 granny smith apples
2 red delicious apples

Juice all the fruit.  Serve as is.

For a lemonade-type drink, add 2-3 cups of water (depends on your taste) and about 2 tablespoons of agave syrup.  Stir well and refrigerate for 2 hours.

ORANGE CRUSH Fresh Juice

1 orange, zest removed
1" thich slice of pineapple
1/2 of a mango
**sparkeling water (optional)

A quick round with a veggie peeler will tkae care of the orange zest.  No need to peel off the skin from the pineapple and mango.  Just make sure the skins are clean.  Just cut and juice!

** If you choose to put in sparkling water, do it at the very end to top off your glass.

Raw Vegan Fruit Tart

I made this yummy treat for a family gathering and I was surprised at how well it went over.  I come from a very Italian family and everything is fried and cooked to death.  And heaven forbid it if you don't have meat and pasta on the table.  I made this tart look so pretty that everyone wanted to try it.

CRUST
12-15 medjol dates pitted and diced
2 &1/2 - 3 cups of raw sliced almonds

Place dates and almonds in the food processor and process until well combined.  Press into a 9" glass pie plate.

FILLING
3 ripe mangoes peeled and pitted

Place mangoes in the blender with the kelp or moss and blend well.  Pour onto crust.

TOPPING
Kiwi, various berries, pineapple, peaches, nectarines, or any other fruit that you desire.

Slice and arrange fruit on top of filling.  Chill for about an hour before serving.

PINKALICIOUS Succo-Frullato

 SUCCO-FRULLATO.  It is the combination of succo which means juice in Italian and frullato which means smoothie in Italian.  It will encompass anything I make that uses both the juicer and blender.  Yes, I can buy bottled juice but I don't because I have no idea where it's coming from.  I'd rather take the extra few minutes and use both machines.  And lets be honest....I just rinse everythig in scalding hot water right away.  I throw stuff in the dishwasher maybe once every other week.

1 apple
2 blood oragnges, zest removed
3 stalks of celery

Juice all of these in your juicer then pour into the blender.  Add to it 1 banana and 6 strawberries.  Blend well!

Flax Milk Is Here!

So wandering the Nature's Market in my local grocery store (Wegmans) I stumbled upon flax milk.  Of course I had to try it.  If you like almomd milk even a little bit, you'll love this!  It's a lot milder than almond milk and not as heavy.  It works well in smoothies, coffee (no separating!), cereal, pancakes & waffles, any recipe that calls for milk, and just in a glass by itself.  It has calcium, omegas, vitamins A, D, & B12.  There is NO cholesterol, NO saturated fat, NO trans fats, and flax is NOT GMO! 

The brand I tried is Good Karma.  I like the brand because, as you can see below, the company supports Sustainable Agriculture.  Listed are a few other tasty things about Good Karma's flax milk.  I'm sure there are other brands, but this is the one my grocer carries.

Ingredients:All Natural Flaxmilk (Filtered Water, Cold Pressed Flax Oil, Evaporated Cane Juice, Tricalcium Phosphate, Vanilla Extract, Canola Lecithin, Sea Salt, Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum, Carrageenan, Natural Flavor, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D2, Vitamin B12.

Benefits:Natural, Lactose Free, Gluten Free, Non Dairy, Trans Fat Free, Soy Free, Allergen Free, Vegan, Supports Green Farming, Omega-3s

Fun Facts:Good Karma Products Promote a Healthy Lifestyle while supporting Sustainable Agriculture.

Here's the link to Good Karma if youwant to read more about their flax milk and more about the company.  http://www.goodkarmafoods.com/flax-milk-original

PANGAPPLE Fresh Juice

I tried to come up with a name to encompass the 3 fruits I used to make this delish juice.

1 pear
1 mango
1/4 of a pineapple

Put fruits through the juicer.  You don't have to peel the skins off the pineapple or mango if you don't want but make sure you cut the mango away from the pit.

Fruit Prep

People ask me how I prep my fruit for smoothies.  I try to do as much prep as possible when I get my fruit so when it's time to make a smoothie, its quick and easy.  I shop at our local public market every Saturday.  I buy as much of my produce there as I can.  It's cheaper and most of it is local to the area and/or state.  I freeze most of it, much to my husband's dismay.  My freezer is jam packed! 

Below is listed how I prep my fruit for smoothies.  Some of it, like citrus, I leave on the counter.  Any fruit I use for the juicer, I keep fresh on my counter.  I usually go through it pretty quick but if something starts to get soft, then into the freezer it will go. 

Make sure you wash all of your produce well.  There are several products you can buy such as Veggie Wash, Vermont Soap Organics, Biokleen or you can make your own.  I typically use Veggie Wash but if I don't have any then I use fresh lemons.  I just throw one in my juicer and them pour the juice into a sink filled with cold water.  You can also use distilled or apple cider vinegar.  Use about 1/4 of a cup in a sinkful of cold water.  I soak my produce for about 10 minutes then rinse and dry.  The only produce I don't soak are berries.  They are too delicate.  I just rinse them briefly.

BERRIES
This includes blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries, boysenberries, cranberries, and grapes.

Gently rinse your berries.  Use the pointed end of a veggie peeler to pluck out the green part of the strawberries and cut them in half.  All others, including grapes you can leave whole. Lay your berries flat on a cookie sheet and freeze.  Once they are frozen, put them in bags quickly and refreeze util needed.  Grapes, cranberries and gooseberries can be put directly into a bag and frozen. 

You can store your berries by kind or you can make a mix of several kinds.

POMAGRANATES
Remove the seeds from the fruit and store them in the freezer.  These will not work in your juicer so save them for the blender.

CHERRIES
De-stone them and bag them and freeze them.  If you don't have a cherry stoner, invest in one.

APPLES & PEARS, PEACHES & NECTARINES
Leave the skins on your apples, pears, peaches, & nectarines!  There is a lot of nutrients in those thin skins!  Chop them into 1" cubes and take the seeds out.  Lay on a cookie sheet in a single layer and freeze.  Store in freezer bags and store in the freezer.

BANANAS
Peel bananas and cut into 1" chunks.  Place on a cookie sheet in a single layer and freeze.  Store in freezer bags.

MANGOS, PAPAYA, PINEAPPLE, MELONS
Peel skins off, cut into 1" chunks, layer on cookie sheets and freeze.  Store in freezer bags.  A note on the papayas, you can eat the seeds!  Store them separately in the freezer.  Add some to your smoothies for a burst of protien.

CITRUS
I keep all my citrus on the counter.  Use a carrot peeler to gently peel the zest off of your citrus.  The white pithy part has a lot of vitamins in it so leave it on.  (Juicer note....you don't have to peel the zest off of lemons and limes when you juice them.)

SHAWN'S SAVIOR Smoothie

This smoothie recipe was shared by my friend Shawn who is a stay-at-home-dad.  With 2 little ones and a couple of dogs in the mix he needs all the energy he can get!  Thanks Shawn!

1 orange, zest removed
1 handful of grapes
1small apple cored but unpeeled
3-5 small carrots chopped
1handful of spinach
4 or 5 strawberries
3 peach slices (or use the whole thing if you like)
1handful blueberries
2 handfuls of ice
a little water

If you have a Vitamix or similar, you can put everything in at once, in the order listed.

A New Way To Use Medical Marijuana

Medical marijuana has always been a hot topic.  People who use it for medicinal purposes usually smoke it.  It seems now, that like we see with other vegetation, cooking or heating it ruins the medicinal effects.  Check out this article on juicing marijuana.  Sounds pretty amazing!

http://www.naturalnews.com/035400_juicing_cannabis_remedies.html

GREEN MEENIE Fresh Juice

Talk about a burst of green goodness!  I should have named this GREEN GODDESS!  This juice packs one hell of a chlorophyll punch!  The apple, pear, and lemon combo helps cleanse as well as cut away the bitterness of the greens.  The addition of wild dandelion greens is a great treat or your body during those few weeks in the spring when they start appearing in your front yard.  I don't spray my yard so I know that mine are safe to consume.  Check your local public markets for them too.  Try to avoid the "tame" ones in the supermarkets.  They lose a lot of their natural flavor and nutrients when they are grown deliberately.

1 granny smith apple
1 green pear
1/2 of a lemon, including rind
1 whole unpeeled cucumber
3 stalks of celery
2 stalks of fennel
2 big handfuls of spinach
5 kale leaves
1 small handful of parsely
1 small handful of cilantro
5 green swiss chard leaves
5 romaine lettuce leaves
3-5 good sized fresh, wild dandelion plants, roots too (when in season)
2 frozen wheat grass cubes

Juice the leafy veg first and then everything else except the wheatgrass cubes.  This usually makes enought to fill up 2 pint-sized canning jars or 1 quart jar.  Put one wheatgrass cube in each pint jar or if you are using a quart jar, put them both in there.  Pour the juice over the ice cubes.  Drink immediately or save for later.  If you save it for later, make sure to cap the jar and refrigrate and don't wait too long to drink it!!