5 Top tips for Juicing success

Ok we all know I love a good vegetable juice – a juice per day is pretty non-negotiable in my book!

I have told you why juicing is so good for you, so now I have some top tips to get the most from your juicy experience.

1. Add some oil to your juice

Yup sounds like a bit of a weird one.  Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat soluble and numerous scientific studies show our body absorbs them better when we consume them with a little bit of fat.  So add a tiny dash of high quality extra virgin olive oil to your juice to get maximum absorption (I have a bottle of high quality organic oil which I use solely for juices, it is too good to cook with, so although it might seem expensive initially remember it lasts a looonnnggg time).

2. Drink your juice on an empty stomach

So as discussed before the whole point of juicing is to give your body a nutrient blast.  If you still have your breakfast floating about in your stomach then you are going to absorb less of those vital nutrients you are trying to get to.  So have it first thing in the morning to give yourself an energy blast and absorb the most of those much desired vitamins.  (I drink a large glass of juice first thing in the morning and then have another before lunch and dinner.)

3. Use a milk bag to strain your juice

So believe it or not I don’t actually own a juicer.  I own a high speed blender which I use to blitz my vegetables and then I use a milk bag to remove the fibre.  A high speed blender is a multi purpose tool, you can make smoothies, raw treats and nut milks using it.  Whereas a juicer you can just….well juice.  Using a milk bag rather than a juicer involves a hell of a lot less cleaning, as all of the pulp is in one place rather than up your walls and stuck in various pieces of the machine.  You also get a lot more juice from your veg by using a milk bag rather than your standard juicer.  Winning.

4. Start off fruity, then ditch it!

So nobody is doubting fruit is great for you, but….vegetables are better.  So you want to make your juice as packed full of vegetables as possible but I understand a pure vegetable juice is a pretty daunting thought at the start of your juicing journey.

Start by using 3 apples or pears per litre, then gradually reduce the fruit until you find you are nearly 100% vegetables and it still tastes great to your newly adjusted savoury taste buds!!  A couple of things you can do to make the juice more palatable is by adding some coconut water, as this is naturally sweet,and adding lots of ginger to give it a kick.

5. Match your colours

Don’t know where to start with which fruit and vegetables go together?  It is as simple as keeping the colours together.  Trust me nothing looks more unappealing than a brown juice!!  So keep your greens together for a fresh fruity little number and your reds, oranges and yellows for a sweet earthy juice.  Cucumber is the exception chuck that bad boy in with EVERYTHING!

Hopefully that will give you a good starting point, especially with detox January fast approaching.

Remember you can contact me through my facebook page with any questions or comments.

Delicious Coconut and Almond Chia Seed Porridge

Oh my goodness for once an experiment which went correct!

Yup still thinking of the last failed experiment aren’t you….

I am a huge fan of chia seeds and have them daily. The benefits of chia seeds are numerous and further information on why I am so obsessed is here http://thehealthybluebird.com/2014/06/23/an-introduction-to-the-mighty-chia-seed/

Coconut and Almond Chia Seed Porridge

Serves two
Time to make – 2 minutes plus overnight soaking

1 x can of coconut milk
Half a teaspoon of natural almond flavouring
2 x dessert spoons of chia seeds
Handful of raspberries for serving

This couldn’t actually be easier. Mix the chia seeds with the coconut milk and almond flavouring and leave over night.

Serve with raspberries.

One top tip to make being healthy EASY

The key to good health is preparation and commitment. Not exactly sexy, but if you want to make it you have to do it.

I think smoothies and juices are a great way of getting lots of vitamins and minerals into your system. But bugger chopping the fruit and veg every morning at 5.30am to prepare myself a fresh juice before yoga!

So one thing I do every Sunday is cut up enough fruit and veg for 5 smoothies.

I then sort them into individual smoothies portions and put them into individual sandwich bags.

Then I put them into the freezer. You don’t lose nutrients by freezing fruit and veg so win win as far as I am concerned!

Then when it comes to smoothie time just chuck in the blender with your liquid of choice and you are good to go.

An added bonus is that you end up with less fruit and veg waste.

Refreshing blueberry smoothie

Juices and smoothies are such a great way to get extra fruits and vegetables into you! I am definitely all about the smoothies as I think it’s good to keep the fibre in and more practically I find smoothies involve a hell of a lot less mess!

One thing I would say is try to gradually increase your vegetable to fruit ratio. Although fruit is great for you it can contain a lot of sugar by the time you have blended a few pieces up. Although still better than a chocolate bar so crack on if you fancy a fruity number.

I love this recipe as it is so refreshing because of the cucumber and coconut water and the ginger gives it a nice kick.

BLUEBERRY CUCUMBER REFRESHING SMOOTHIE

Makes 2-3

1 x cucumber
1 x tub of blueberries
1 x green apple
1 x chunk of ginger
2 x sprigs of mint
330ml coconut water

Put in the blender and blitz up until smooth. Add ice if desired.

Enjoy!

Ps I often make enough for a few days worth and put it in the freezer and defrost as needed… Efficient as always.

Why Carbs are NOT the Devil

Firstly I need to qualify this statement (being a lawyer and all) WHOLEGRAIN UNPROCESSED CARBS are not the devil.  However when it comes to the white stuff you can say what you want about those bad boys.

Carbs have had a pretty bad rep recently, with the Atkins, Dukan and Paleo diet banishing carbs from many a dieters plate.  But wholegrain carbs actually have huge health benefits and should play a fundamental part in every healthy blue bird’s diet.   The majority of the nutrients are contained in the germ and outer covering of the grain.  These are removed during the refining process, hence why white carbs have little nutritional benefit.

The Good, the Bad and the Absolutely Gorgeous

All very well, but what the hell are wholegrain carbs…

The Good – Literally ‘whole’ ‘grains’ such as brown rice, millett, quinoa, bulgar wheat (all bar bulgar wheat gluten free).

The Bad – white bread, bagels, pasta, crisps, white rice…these carbs are effectively sugar in disguise.

The Absolutely Gorgeous – VEGETABLES!  Full of healthy carbs with lots of vitamins and minerals thrown in for good measure

So tell us the benefits

Fibre, fibre and more fibre….Fibre is the part of a grain or vegetable that our body cannot digest, but that is actually where the benefit lies.  Fibre moves through the stomach and intestine, cleansing as it goes and, em well, keeps you regular.  A high fibre diet has been linked to a reduction in risk of certain types of cancer, particularly stomach, bowel and colon cancer.

Slowly digested…Wholegrain carbs are complex carbs which means they are slowly released keeping you fuller for longer thereby helping you control your weight. It also has the effect of controlling blood sugar levels which can reduce your chances of diabetes by 35%.

Carbs reduce cravings… Ever tried to cut an entire food group out of your diet?  Sugar cravings will take over your life, it is not pretty (thanks Mr Dukan)!  Adding wholegrain carbs into your diet will prevent this and make you less likely to cave.

Super duper cheap… not a health benefit but a huge advantage none the less

A word of warning

Food labelling standards only require a product to contain 1% wholegrain to make the wholegrain claim.  Also food manufacturers often colour their products with molasses (that is black treacle FYI) to trick consumers into thinking their products are brown and therefore whole grains.  When reading labels look for ‘whole wheat flour’ rather than ‘wheat flour’ (which is actually just good old white flour).

How to eat

Wholegrains are super simple to prepare – just chuck in boiling water as you would rice.

An easy way to introduce them into your diet is to substitute white carbs for wholegrains, ie rice, bread, pastas.  And if in doubt…..just eat more vegetables!!!!

Super simple Almond Milk recipe

Almond milk is a great alternative to dairy and has loads of health benefits – think glowing skin, aided digestion and weight management.

Although you can buy almond milks in most supermarkets they often contain a load of artificial sweeteners and preservatives to keep them fresh.

The good news it is super simple and cheap to make almond milk at home.

You can then use your very own homemade almond milk in your chia seed porridge (Find the recipe here – http://thehealthybluebird.com/2014/06/23/an-introduction-to-the-mighty-chia-seed/)

Here’s how to make it:

Ingredients
200g almonds (or why not go wild and try hazelnuts or cashews)
5 dates
1 Litre of water

Equipment:
Blender
Milk bag

1. Soak almonds for 2 hours (Note I am fully aware the picture is of hazelnuts!)

2. Put all ingredients in blender until fairly smooth

3. Put liquid through milk bag, squeezing the milk through (feel free to pretend you are milking a cow, it is great fun)

Em….that is it!

In case you are wondering where to get a milk bag from, you can get them from here: