New Juicer.

     Hello! I'm coming to you from my office, where I have just sat down again after getting up to go to the kitchen to make myself a juice in my new juicer. Yes, you read that correctly. I have a new juicer. I did the whole looking it up on my Facebook timeline, to see when it was that I bought my old juicer - a really good one, and it was 2011. That's 15 years, and yes, it's still working. There is nothing wrong with it. I may end up donating it to someone. I replaced it with one literally half its size that does the same thing.

    Kitchen space is premium, you know. You can't have every gadget and/or appliance out on your cabinet. You have to decide which ones are worthy and which ones are not. I don't drink coffee anymore, so the espresso machine and the coffee maker were left behind before I moved to the new house. It was a little hard to give them away, but I did. I found good homes for both of them. The juicer probably won't be any more difficult, to be honest. It's a lovely machine, and if it weren't so bulky and intricate, I'd keep it. Believe me when I say that fifteen years of engineering and technology have come a long way!

    The Hamilton Beach model, big, bulky, white with green trim, and about 7 or 8 different parts, was too big to leave out, and if I wanted to drag it out every day, I'd be bending over and lifting and washing, drying it, and bending back over to put it away again. Then, because it was put away, I'd make up some excuse not to make another juice until the weekend. I didn't want that - I know how horrible I can be. I decided to get a more compact machine, one that will be out on the counter screaming at me to use it.

    I went with the Tuumiist Cold Press Juicer with a 5.3" extra-large feed chute so I can put whole fruits and vegetables in it, and I watch it grind away, stripping all the peels and/or pulp from the liquid goodness that comes out the other side. Very handy-dandy, and quite interesting to observe.  It was $85.47 on Amazon, with taxes and all about $94 I think. Close to that. I decided to celebrate; to treat myself for having been named Employee of the Year at work -- God is simply too good! He deserves the applause. I'll take the juice. (Which is funny, because He made that too.)

    I can't wait to put several orange halves into the machine and watch them churn. I didn't have everything I needed today to make anything special, but I did have carrots, spinach, ginger, and pineapple, so that's what I made! The pineapple wasn't a whole fruit. I did cheat a bit. I have 100% pineapple juice in a carton that I use for my afternoon snack; I used it. When I get the oranges, I'll try to make something really bright and colorful - maybe mix a few raspberries into the thing!

    Why juice instead of just eating the carrots or maybe a spinach salad? The simple answer is you can blend them, whereas when you eat a carrot, you get a carrot. Yes, the fiber is very important. That's why I keep the fiber from the vegetables and fruit I juice, and mix it with a little bran flour, eggs, and a few other ingredients to make muffins that absolutely hit the spot. (I don't do that every time, but I do it enough.)  

    I can soak walnuts overnight, then add them to the juicer to make a really good milk.  I've only done it once, but it was good. I added a little vanilla and cinnamon, and yes, it was a great treat - really good stuff.  I'm thinking of making cookies with the leftover pulp—I can freeze it and decide later. I'm really hoping the juicer will push me to keep my health up, exercise more, eat less, and be more aware of what I put into my body. I need the reminder. 

    One of the recipes that I found online that I know will be a fantastic drink for me is the Detox Green. (hurom.com) A lot of other people call it something else; it's not new or original, but it is a good green detox. It has 4 ingredients: spinach, lemon, cucumber, and ginger. I'd say for me, it's about a cup of spinach, 1/2 a cucumber, 1/4 of a lemon, and just about 1/2 an inch of ginger. If I need to add a little water, I will, or a little pineapple juice. I drink between 4 and 6 ounces in the morning when I remember. 

    Grabbing a juice instead of a candy bar makes a lot more sense to me. Grabbing a carrot or a stick of celery may not happen every time, but I open the fridge and shake up something I juiced earlier, and it's not only better for me, but it's also cold, and it's filling. The calorie intake is way, way lower, and I know I'm helping my old body stay (or get) fit. I need that reminder most every single day -- oh, you know, 5x a day.

    This getting-old stuff is for the birds, I have to be honest. It is not for the faint of heart, and if you don't know what your plan is for your body when it happens, it could be hard to kickstart once the slouch of life has grabbed hold of you. My friends, some of whom have always been healthy and others who have not, all agree that juicing is a great way to get the vitamins, minerals, liquids, and flavors you need. The healthier ones will tell me to save the pulp for another purpose.

    Amazon has a lot of choices for you, as does any Walmart, Target, or home store, probably. Do a little research first to determine what you want. The slower, low-speed (one-speed) 300W cold press is the one I went with because I wanted to watch it churn.  I like the way it fits in the kitchen. It's easy to disassemble and clean, and it's not hard to put back together and use again. I literally just spray it clean with hot water - I don't have to clean out the base because nothing gets into the mechanism, which, by the way, did happen with the older model. I'm telling you, technology and engineering have made a big improvement over the past decade and a half.

Photo Credit: Amazon.com