For the past couple weeks I have ventured into the RAW-foodie lovin' world of JUICING! - Green Juice specifically. I always feels so good after I down a Naked Juice while I'm out and about, but at almost $4 a pop, it's about time I learn to blend my own veggies! While I love smoothies and blend berries with vanilla yogurt on occasion, those calories still add up. I have had my eye on that shiny Breville Juice extractor for some time now but after a little Googling, I realized I could get virtually the same results with my little ol' $30 blender! Well, I got a discount on it...so I guess it's really about a $75-$99 blender...but still! It's no Vita Mix, that's for sure. I started by just throwing some organic spinach, organic carrots, and bottled H20 in the blender and then drinking it - BAD MOVE. I almost threw up on myself and was nauseous all night. It tasted like GRASS. After some more Googling, I found out that if I added an apple it would sweeten it up a bit and if I strained it through some sort of mesh it would save me from those gag inducing chunks. I saw a video of a guy on YouTube straining his Green Juice with a paint strainer he got from Home Depot. After a trip to my local Lowes, I was the proud owner of a .75 mesh paint strainer and ready to go. I put a handful of organic spinach, two cut up organic carrots, one organic apple, and filled my blender about 1/3 - 1/2 full of bottled water...blended away...strained it (sqeezing every last drop through the mesh), and it was PERFECT! Filling, healthy, low-cal and refreshing! I've been adding some Acai nectar to the final product for an antioxidant punch and I love it! There are all sorts of fruit veggie combos you can do but, being a creature of habit, I like this somewhat basic mix, so I'm stickin' to it.
Here ya go! My GREEN JUICE routine:
I've got my ingrediants ready...Here we go!!
Blend...Blend...Blend...
It looks a bit like babyfood, I know...but just wait.
Place the mesh strainy thingy over the top of your blender before you pour into a bowl.
Veggie juice seeping out...YUM!
In goes the Acai...
Voila! GREEN JUICE! Perfect, post workout!
Now to clean up... :/
1. Tackle the New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe. I'm going to follow the recipe exactly and see if they live up to the hype. I love the idea of sprinkling sea salt on top! Williams Sonoma has these little Sea Salt Caramels around the holidays which first introduced me to the idea of using sea salt with sweets and the result was amazing....soo yummy...the salt really did enhance the flavor and I can't wait to see if it does the same for the NYT cookies. 
2. After scouring the Internet, I think I found a good contender to fulfill my craving for New York style Black & White cookies. I had one when we went to Manhattan for Christmas and I immediately wanted to find a recipe to match the fluffy, sweet, cakiness of this cookie. I love finding the perfect recipe for classic treats and I'm hoping this cookie will take me back to the magic that is New York City. The reviews of this recipe along with the photo of the finished product is what sold me - what a puffy cookie! Yay... Hope it lives up to my expectations :)
If you have ever lived near or visited Westwood, CA (aka UCLA) and not been to Diddy Riese cookies - you have not been there. That is one of the only places I have ever been where people wait in line a half hour for something that costs .35 and don't complain once. You can smell the place from a block away and, if for some reason your nose is broken, the line around the corner tells you something special is inside. I would push small children out of the way for one of their white chocolate chip cookies - delish! Definitely my fav cookie shop west of the Rockies! Did I mention they also have ice cream which you can morph into your cookie for a monster ice cream sandwich like the ones above? Um, yeah.
