Turmeric Milk

I'm sitting here enjoying a glass of turmeric milk and I thought I should share with you.

I'll preface by saying that my I had been having constant backaches for months. Seriously - so bad I went to the doctor for it and I really don't like going to the doctor because I don't like to take medications.  She said to take Advil.  Well, as you may have read in a previous blog post, I've also been having stomach pains so I decided to pass on the Advil.   I read in Prevention magazine on one of my many plane rides for work last year that turmeric has been proven in studies to be as effective on inflammation as Advil.

Well, I can't swear it is the turmeric, because I've also lost about 25 pounds, but between the two my back pain has subsided substantially.   It has subsided so much that when I started having some back pain a few days ago and it suddenly hit me … I'd gone WEEKS without any pain.  Previously, my pain had almost absorbed into the background of just the way life was, but now it is so much better.

So here's how I been incorporating Turmeric into my life the last month or so ...  I've been taking a Turmeric Supplement every day and I've also been enjoying a delicious glass of Dr. Sanjay Gupta's Turmeric "tea", in the evenings, but I've been tweaking the recipe a bit.

• Instead of the almond milk it calls for, I have been making fresh unsweetened cashew milk. I soak the raw cashews for about 20 minutes and put into the Vita-mix on high for about 30 seconds
• I buy 6 ounces of organic ceylon cinnamon, 3 ounces of turmeric and 1.5 ounces of organic ginger an put them all in a quart sized mason jar and mix it around a bit.  This allows me to have a mix on hand so I can make it easily make it whenever I want without having to get out 3 different spice jars each time
• When I have fresh dates on hand, like this weekend, I substitute the dates for honey because otherwise the dates would probably go bad in the fridge since I am not making a lot of sweet recipes
• I don't heat it into a hot "tea."  Instead, I add the sweetener and mix with the cashews in the Vita-mix and mix it all up on high for about 30 seconds
• Sometimes I add a little ice for a frothy turmeric "smoothie"
• I make about 3-4 servings in the Vita-mix and then I drink a glass and put the remainder in a large glass jar in the refrigerator so to save time for the next couple of nights  

Here's the mixture prior to gently mixing it (cap on and just slowing moving the contents around until mixed.  Prior to mixing it looks a little like sand art, doesn't it?

It makes for a really nice drink and if I want to I can heat it up, but mixing it in the Vita-mix keeps it very smooth and creamy and gives me a way to get some natural Turmeric into my diet.

Hope you'll give it a try- it's actually VERY tasty.

Beet, Carrot, Apple & Ginger

I am just finishing some gorgeous juice that I made this afternoon in my Omega juicer.   It is seriously soooo tasty.  I wasn't sure if it would come out but it came out great and I LOVE the tip from Discount Juicers to use a 4 cup measuring cup and then just set a fine strainer on top of it.  It keeps all the pulp from getting in the juice.  Not that there was a lot of pulp but there was some … more on that later.

Here's what I started with:
2 large organic golden beets + their greens
2 organic Granny Smith apples
2 pounds of organic heirloom carrots
about 2 inches of ginger

I cut them up since the Omega prefers to take the produce in digestible bites, and it needs to be able to fit down the shoot as well.   Here it all is pre-juiced:

The juicer really did a great job delivering really dry pulp - you can see it coming out here.  You can also see how great the strainer and measuring cup arrangement works for juicing and catching froth/pulp.   

Here's what I ended up with

I would love to show it to you in a beautiful wine glass or something, but it's all gone now!! I drank half and shared the rest with my sister.     It was YUM!! Delish.  I'll definitely make it again and now that I have a little experience with the juicer I need to look through juice recipes and see what to make tomorrow.

A note on cleaning the Omega VSJ843- it is pretty easy to clean.  The hardest part really is making sure there are no particles stuck in the juicing screen but they give you a toothbrush type tool to clean inside those and it's really no big deal.   It probably takes 5 minutes of clean up and I'm sure it will be faster once I get the hang of it.    I really love that there are no sharp parts like in centrifugal juicers -  a part of me really wanted to just go with a Breville because it juices so fast, but the pulp is not as dry as a masticating juicer (meaning you are wasting produce and not getting as much juice!), and the blade on those things scare me … I love there are no sharp edges on this juicer to cut myself. I can just relax, enjoy making my juice with safe and easy clean up.  

Kris Carr, Jay Kordich and Juicing

I woke up this morning to a great email from KrisCarr.com. If you don't know about Kris Carr, you should. Seriously, head right on over to her website and check her out … her story will inspire you.

Seriously, she inspired me to make my first juice in my new juicer.  A little more about that in a second ...

I have been having some pain in my stomach area - that's a big part of why about a month ago I decided to cut out solid foods and drink lots of juice. But I didn't have a juicer so I have been buying HPP cold pressed raw juice which has been really tasty and keeping me feeling great and nourished.  I've been having a light dinner each day, starting with soups and now adding in cooked greens and some other veggies.   I've been feeling a lot better, with more energy, less pain and oh yeah, I lost a few pounds too.

By the way, in the bottled juice world, HPP stands for 'high pressure pascalization or processing' - which basically means they use high pressure to keep the juice fresh for a longer shelf life without having to heat it up like is done with pasteurization. Heating the juice causes some of the vital nutrients to be lost. It's essentially cooking the juice.   Opt for HPP for fresh squeezed whenever you can.

Anyway, Kris' email this morning was inspiring. Here is the web page it took me to. Seriously worth your look. I'm planning to print up and laminate this page and keep it by my fridge and juicer.

I just made my first juice in my Omega VSJ843RS. It turned out great. My produce was a little old so it did leave wetter pulp than it should have. My bad. I made the recipe in this video. It's fascinating.

Anyway, it doesn't seem like the tastiest juice out there, but I figure it can't hurt so I'd give it a try. And now that the juicing is done it wasn't so hard, and clean up with the Omega really is pretty simple so I'm looking forward to going to the grocery store and buying some more produce for my next juice concoction.

Some Recipes I want to try

I created this blog to save the links of some recipes I want to try. They are mostly recipes I have seen on Facebook but I wanted them in a format where I could find them later to try them. I'll also post reviews and comments once I do try the recipes. If you have any to share or tweaks that you personally make the recipes I post, I'd love to see them.

The first recipe I'm posting is "Digestive Juice" - for the last month I have been mostly juicing and eating one light meal a day - all veggies. Trying to help my digestion naturally to the extent I can.

http://foodmatters.tv/content/digestion-juice-recipe-and-the-importance-of-gut-health

I'm not sure about the aloe vera … I mean I rub it on my arms for sunburns but I've never eaten it. I have seen it in the grocery stores so perhaps it's worth trying.

This is a healthy "nog" that I made for Christmas eve …

http://kriscarr.com/recipe/for-the-love-of-nog/

It was quite tasty, but I didn't use whole nutmeg as I didn't want to deal with the grater on Christmas eve.