Should we talk about some totally random and unimportant things?
Excellent. I thought so too! 🙂
*****
*FOR STARTERS: Do you have a juicer? Do you like it? Do you want to recommend it to me? Here is some backstory that you might find useful: I am actually not really a “juice person.” I don’t mean to get into a huge polarizing debate about whether juicing is the NEXT! BEST! THING! FOR YOUR HEALTH! or whether it’s COMPLETE! HOGWASH! AND PAVING THE WAY FOR DIABETES! (These seem to be the two major camps that many people fall into with respect to juicing) but I am tip toeing around the idea of getting a juicer.
It is not because I want to cure any health problems, or because I want to pave the way for diabetes by drinking all that fiberless sugar — I mostly want to buy a juicer because Garrett + I REALLY REALLY REALLY like the kale, cucumber, celery + pineapple juice they sell at Whole Foods and it is SIX DOLLARS PER BOTTLE which happens to be the exact price of HIGHWAY ROBBERY. Did you know? So it occurred to me the other day that based on the number of bottles we have purchased in the last two months, we frankly could have already have bought a Centrifugal juicer. Now it’s just economics, ya know. 🙂 Why not get my own juicer?
Like I said though, I’m not really that into juicing and I don’t plan to do it everyday or anything, and I’m not really dying to spend hundreds of dollars (uh, at least on an appliance, I guess. Since I’ve probably already spent that in juice. DAMN. Maybe I am willing to spend hundreds of dollars. Feel free to try and convince me.) Anyway, juicer education/recommendations: I am inviting them!
*So while we are talking recommendations — can we talk about salads? (Spinach and Taco Salads are always in the rotation over here, duh.) And lately ALL I WANT TO EAT is salad, but I’m getting a little bored with the salads I’m making. It’s the same romaine, cucumber, tomato, pepper, avocado mix and I just switch up the dressing/protein and ohmylord I am falling asleep just thinking about it. I need some motivation to go out and buy radishes or something, you know? I want to hear about the BEST! SALAD! EVER! Help me get out of my rut, would ya?
*I read the other day that Kurt Cobain has been dead for 20 years. And then I went searching for my AARP card because, WHAT?
*Internet, I feel like you have been holding out on me because none of you ever mentioned Tuna Melts My Heart. Now all I do all day is refresh my Instagram feed hoping for a Tuna update.
*It’s almost the end of April and if you’ve been around this blog for a while you know I generally get the itch to change my hair in spring and in fall. YEP, THAT IS ME SCRATCHING. But surprisingly I have zero desire to cut it short. My last haircut was just…well, it was too short for my life. The gym was a pain, styling it was a pain, everything was a pain and so now I’m in that phase of growing it out where it is just barely long enough to get in a ponytail (YAY!) but doing nothing at all interesting. WOE IS ME. Maybe I need to bust out my curling iron or rock a little braid action or something. Why is hair so complicated?
*I think we are going to go Maui around Christmas/New Year’s and now all of a sudden I would like to drink ALL the mai tais. Anyway, it has made me think about traveling and souvenirs and I got to talking with friends recently about what constitutes a souvenir as you get older. How do YOU commemorate a trip? I have friends who always buy a nice handbag or pair of sunglasses on a vacation (so they have the memory, but also something practical they’ll use.) I have friends who make awesome videos/scrapbooks/photobooks. I have friends who collect sand and do other pinterest-y things. What do YOU do? I always like hearing these kinds of creative ideas.
*I bought a workout dvd. I don’t even know the last time I bought a workout dvd, mostly because I hate working out alone and in my living room. But it was $6 on amazon and when I bought it I was having a hard time juggling evening workouts and it was Bob Harper and he CrossFits so I thought it might be CrossFit-esque and well…it isn’t necessarily. But it’s still kind of enjoyable. So if you are looking for a workout dvd, I recommend!
*So hey, do you ever feel like you are being watched? 🙂 HEH
*****
Happy Hump Day, y’all!
Love your random post. 🙂
I wish I could just give you my Jack LaLanne juicer. I thought it was the bees knees for about 2 weeks. Then I realized I was spending an inordinate amount on fruits and veggies. I could see fresh juice for kids maybe being fun, but I’m not a big fan after learning more about health.
Speaking of being old, Friends has been off air for 10 years this year. Time to start bluing my hair, I guess.
And you got me for salads. My eating has been so boring lately. Go “against the rules” and throw some fancy cheese on or something. That might spice it up. 😉
Arby’s used to have what they called Martha’s Vineyard salad I fell in love with so much I bought a bunch to take to a potluck where it was a huge hit. It had a bed of greens on which there were chopped apples, walnuts and chicken with a raspberry dressing.
When we were traveling in Europe I bought scarves as souvenirs. They pack nicely and helped change my look. Every time I wear the velvet one I am transported to St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
That sounds DELIGHTFUL! Thank you!
I try to get a tattoo when we go to memorable places – Europe, etc. We also have a memory christmas tree full of ornaments from everywehre we traveled. It is fun to decorate every year and remember each destination.
I’m not sure if this is an Aussie thing, but we love our Breville juicer. Our standby is greens (kale, swiss chard, spinach) with cucumber, green apple and lemon. Yum. I also recently got a Kenmore food processor which has a centrifugal juicer included. I LOVE MY FOOD PROCESSOR!
Food processors FOREVER! Could not survive without mine! 🙂
I too have loved the fresh veggie juices I’ve tasted and tried to recreate them myself using two different juicers belonging to two different sharing-minded roommates, but both times the machines have seemed reluctant to go along with my experiments, even though I alternated each challenging carrot chunk or kale stem with a nice juicy apple wedge. So, given the fact that these were people who–like me–chose as adults to live with roommates, and although I don’t remember the brands, I’d have to conclude that the cheaper juicers are not worth considering, and I second your instinct to consider purchasing an “investment” juicer.
Despite all the wordiness, I’m actually commenting to let you know that de-juiced veggies work great in omelets, stir-fries, and chopped salads, so if you don’t have a compost pile and feel bad chucking all that veggie matter, there are other (tasty, fiberful) options!
Hmmm…clearly I need to keep researching. Thanks!
Hey, I have an AARP card! No, really. We had taco salad last night, so good. I’ve been loving a big veggie salad topped with Wild Planet tuna, mayo and lots of olives. Not really exotic, but it’s not quite spring here in Vermont.
This may sound really fuddy duddy (or really minimalist), but the last few vacations I’ve brought home cloth napkins (Paris) and linen dish towels (Ireland). Useful, decorative and easy to tuck in the carry on. I just don’t need any more “dust me” souvenirs.
I don’t like the “dust me” type souvenirs either, so I love this suggestion!
I have made this salad a million times in the past few months. It is really, really delicious.
http://ohsheglows.com/2013/11/25/the-best-shredded-kale-salad/
YUM, thank you!
We usually bring back food related souvenirs, then we have friends/family over and tell all about our trip. For example, this past summer we did a road trip through the south and brought back BBQ sauces, rib rub, a regional drink we became obsessed with, etc. Then we had people over for ribs and showed off our pictures. We’ve also started doing something fun and big that we don’t normally get to do at home. Like we were just down in L.A. And went to a Dodgers game. We don’t have a professional baseball team here in Portland, so we bought really good seats, ate hot dogs, drank beer. It’s not something we can do at home so it was a fun experience. Or we’ll get tickets to a concert. More fun than a tshirt:)
Nice summary of the juice debate! No recommendations I’m afraid – I’m too lazy and just buy bottled.
I do have some salad ideas for you though. Your standard salad sounds similar to mine so you might like some of the ones I rounded up recently: http://joannashock.com/more-fruit-and-veg-bring-it-on-for-the-lazy-cook/
Great post! Thanks so much.
Similar to your infatuation with Tuna the dog, check out Harlow and Sage. The pictures of these two adorable dogs are amazing and it makes me smile every day. http://instagram.com/harlowandsage#
Love it! Thanks!
Gurl, if you like Tuna, you need to just follow Manny the Frenchie IMMEDIATELY. CUTENESS OVERLOAD!
I have an omega juicer big splurge and I’m glad I got it. I go through times where I use it a lot then take a break. I love to juice oranges and grapefruit to add a splash to my pelligrino as well as green juices.
My favorite salad is a simple wedge with some diced tomato, green onion, bacon ( of course!) and a paleo ranch dressing. But, when pears are in season I can eat any salad as long as pears and a few walnuts are added!
We get a Christmas ornament (with the city name) whenever we travel. I figure if we bought something more everyday, we would forget about it, but breaking our ornaments out every year, we always talk about our trips. And we can’t wait to tell our future kids about them and then have them help us pick out ornaments whenever we do family trips.
On the juicing topic… I used be totally anti-juicing but have since, like you, started thinking about it. Since my lovely husband bought me a Vitamix even though he loathes extraneous kitchen appliances, I thought I’d investigate blending first, before broaching the whole “juicer” thing. The man has resisted me getting a food processor, so a juicer would be a stretch!
You really CAN make yummy, drinkable juice in a high speed blender. I let mine go a loooong time, to the point where it starts to get a bit warm (I just pour it over ice afterwards). I found great recipes on a site called Blender Babes. My fave so far is: http://www.blenderbabes.com/lifestyle-diet/dairy-free/giadas-rise-and-shine-green-juice/. I sub a cucumber in for the carrots, use granny smith apples and the resulting green color is so bright and cheery – I don’t know why this makes a difference for me, but it does! I also like the bright orange ones with carrots, oranges and/or cantelope, etc. I’m not a big fan of the murky colored ones 🙂 I recommend trying this first with your blender before investing in a juicer. I think the consistency is totally fine and not gritty at all. I was really surprised. You can use a nut bag to strain it further, if you want, but I don’t bother. I actually love the idea of keeping all the fiber in there. It makes them really filling, too. They’ve been great for appetite regulation for me. And rinsing out a blender is way lower maintenance then cleaning a juicer, from what I hear. I hope this helps!
I have an omega juicer (stand up). chose it because it takes up less space and it juices stuff by smashing it all up and juices greens better than the juicers that use blades (Jack Lalane, i had that too and it wasted so much of the veggies and fruit). plus it creates less heat meaning less nutrients are destroyed. NERD ALERT! 😉
I really like mine, but too use it a lot and then have long breaks between. Cleaning is not hard, but time consuming if you want to clean it good, about 10 minutes each time for me. Got mine at Bed bath and beyond, about $300.
I have two friends who just got Vitamixes ($300-$500) and they love it. they say super easy and fast to clean. they make smoothies and not juices. i think it would be nice to keep that fiber, but i just prefer the juice texture much better, so much so that i strain the juice from my juicer before drinking. i personally wouldn’t blend stuff down so much that it was juice-like because the heat would probably negate all the vitamins you are trying to get by juicing at home, but that is just my choice, you will choose for yourself what works best for you 🙂
if you hate cleaning things with parts, i would go for vitamix (i would like to have both, but I cant afford a vitamix yet) if you prefer the juice texture, go for a juicer that ‘masticates’, as the ones with blades just dont work well enough especially if you’d like to juice greens like kale and lettuce.
Geez this is WAY too long, but I just want to say that I found your blog just this week and am loving reading your story. Your writing is fun and i am getting so much out of your past posts. Thank you for sharing your experiences! 🙂
I’m commenting on the juicing a little late, but I would recommend a Nutribullet if you are interested in any form of juicing. It just pulverizes the fruits/veggies, so there’s nothing wasted. I use mine for drinks, but also for making salsa, etc.
The Jack LaLane Juicer I’ve had for over 10 years does a pretty good job and won’t break the bank. All of the pieces, while not a joy to clean, go right into the dishwasher, Yay! I have never gotten any replacement pieces for it and it’s still working like it did new. We don’t use it every week (although I used it daily for about 6 months once) but if I see that my son isn’t eating his veggies or fruit then I make some juice and he loves it. (He’s 16) Every now and then I think I need a veggie boost and don’t feel like prepping and cooking so out comes the juicer.
I started traveling a ton in my 20s and realized I was bringing home so much random crap each time. I also got into craft beers around then and started going to local breweries every time I went to a new city/country. So…now I purchase a pint glass from every brewery I visit (not cheesy city glasses, but pint glasses from the actual brewery). I’ve gotten so many now (40+) that now they are my everyday drinking glasses. Nice, clean-line glasses perfect for every beverage.
Guests seem to get a kick out of glasses from places as far as Namibia or Thailand and as close as San Diego (I live in LA). And it makes for a good start to story time! I just got back from Costa Rica two days ago and the only souvenir I brought back was a pint glass from Witches Rock Brewery!
Also, I should have mentioned, I know beer isn’t paleo (obviously) but it’s still a fun indulgence for me on vacation. Sometimes I get wine glasses if I’m in a wine-based location, so you could do that instead!