Tasty Juice Recipes

Juicing is all the rage right now. This post is not about the juicing cleanses you are constantly bombarded with, as I am really not a fan of those and do not recommend them to patients. I think they are way too restrictive and ultimately dangerous. In my opinion, they do not provide enough calories to properly function and there are other ways to cleanse that are safer. This post is about how delicious different combinations can be and how juicing in general is very healthy. I like to make big batches on a Sunday and drink them with breakfast throughout the week. I do know that it is recommended to drink them fresh, right after making them, but sometimes that is not feasible! I am going to share some of my favorite combinations.

Immunity Boosting Juice:

5 large carrots

1 orange or 2 small clementines

1 inch hunk of ginger

Green Juice:

2 green apples

2 stalks celery

1 cucumber

Handful of spinach leaves'

1/4 lemon (optional, I make this one both ways)

Energy Juice:

1 banana

1/2 pineapple

Handful of kale

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Metabolism Boosting Juice:

2 apples

1 grapefruit

1/2 lemon

1 jalapeno or a dash of cayenne (whichever you prefer)

Detox Juice:

1 beet

3 large carrots

Handful of kale

Handful of spinach

This is a great time to mention my favorite Juicery in the city, Hi-Vibe Superfood Juicery on Kinzie between Wells and LaSalle. They are amazing, they have so many different options and combinations, not to mention bulletproof coffee (a separate post yet to come), smoothies and juices/products to buy to take home...and most importantly, some of the best 'chocolate' truffles I've ever had! This place is certainly not cheap, but it is amazing. My favorite smoothie is their Maca Blue that contains vanilla cocounut almond milk, blueberries, homemade cashew butter, banana and honey. And the smoothies come with these homemade granola type cookies that are out of this world, I always ask for extra and keep telling them they need to sell them separately! It is to die for! The staff here is also insanely nice and easy to talk to, I harass them almost every weekend! Here is the link to their website.

Healthy Banana Muffins

To go along with my last post about healthy eating, I thought I'd share a healthy, grab-and-go breakfast option. You can make these as jumbo muffins, regular muffins, mini muffins, a loaf or any form your little heart desires! I made them as 6 jumbo muffins, coming in at only 250 calories a piece. If you make them as a loaf, cut into 12 slices or 12 regular muffins, they are only are mere 125 calories each!

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 1/4 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
3 ripe bananas
1/3 cup Applesauce
2 T honey ( can use more if prefer sweeter muffins, up to 1/4 cup)
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 350, spray muffin or loaf pan, set aside. In a small bowl, whisk flour, oats, powder, and soda. Mash banana with egg, Applesauce and honey. Add milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients, mixing until just moist. Do not over mix. For jumbo muffins, bake 20-25 minutes, for regular muffins 15 minutes, loaf 45-55 minutes.

Depending on how much honey you choose to add and what type of milk you ise, calorie counts may be affected. I went with 2 T honey and skim milk for my calculation. Another great idea is to add a scoop of protein powder for added protein for a complete breakfast!

Healthy Holiday Detox

Holidays are a time for food, family and fun! But all of that food, over - indulging, it's a holiday so I'll splurge attitude can leave you feeling anything but happy when they're over. But no fear, I have a solution. One that does not require extreme dieting, calorie restriction and/or a liquid diet. We are going to focus on temporarily reducing our calories slightly and centering around nutrient packed foods.

For women, I recommend aiming between 1200 - 1500 calories daily and for men, 1500 - 1750 calories. The key here though, NOT ALL CALORIES ARE CREATED EQUAL. So we are no focusing solely on numbers, but rather where those calories are coming from. We want nutritious foods, packed with vitamins and minerals...think fruits, veggies, whole grains. Avoid processed foods and added sugars...think chips, pretzels, crackers, muffins, white breads/rice, basically anything found in a package. Cutting out the junk foods will help restore the body.

Sample 1500 calorie day:

Breakfast:

Oatmeal made with 1/2 cup dry oats, 1 cup whole milk, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Add in any fruit you like chopped up or just eat it on the side (apple, banana, strawberries, etc) and sip an 8-oz cup of coffee with 1/4 cup whole milk.

Calorie Total: about 405 (may vary slightly depending on which fruit you choose, I went with a 70 calorie apple for calculations)

Lunch:

Turkey and swiss sandwich on 100% whole wheat bread with 1/2 avocado, tomato, lettuce and whole grain mustard.

Calorie Total: 545

Dinner:

Chicken breast with 1 cup quinoa and sautéed veggies of your choice.

Calorie Total: 500 calories

Grand Total: 1450

If you would like or need to have a snack between lunch and dinner, cut out the slice of cheese on the turkey sandwich and snack on a 1/4 almonds or celery/carrots dipped in 2 tablespoons of hummus. Also, if you are aiming for closer to 1200 calories, cut out the cheese, reduce avocado to 1/4 instead of half and leave the whole milk out of the morning coffee.