Jenna Juices, Part 1

Wow! I have had QUITE the Saturday and it’s only 12:45!!!

First things first though, this morning I got up around 5:15 and headed downstairs for some pre-bike fuel—

I’ve been doing a lot of research lately on optimum pre-workout fuel and have read that the best quick source of energy is food that is rich in fructose (fruit sugar) and also incorporates glucose and medium-chain triglycerides (fatty acid), or MCTs. These fatty acids go directly into your blood stream for quick energy and coconut oil is one of the best sources of this! So, this morning my snack was a banana (fructose) with a tbsp of cacao bliss coconut butter (MCTs + fructose rich agave nectar). It was delish, of course, and gave me the energy I needed for my hour bike ride!

During my bike ride, I traveled about 11 1/2 miles (my “tricycle” is soooo slow) and burned 535 calories! And don’t worry, I didn’t hit any innocent runners while I was out although I really wished the whole time I was one of them!! 🙁

I was gone just long enough to really start to get HUNGRY. I should have packed some coconut water or something in my camel bak! Right when I got off my bike, I immediately noshed on some juicy green grapes that somehow managed to miss the camera’s eye and then I felt a lot better. My body needed those simple carbs asap! Next time I will know to bring a sports drink or something like a date (the fruit, not Ryan although that would be fun) with me when I plan to exercise at high intensity for an hour.

After eating about a handful of grapes, I started on breakfast! Was very excited to test out this new product—

Basically, this is just chia seeds with almonds, dehydrated apples and cinnamon mixed in. The instructions on the back said to take two tbsp and mix it with either 1/3 cup water or milk and then let stand for 5 minutes to thicken. I mixed mine with almond milk and nuked it in the micro for 30 seconds to heat it up. While it DID thicken, it didn’t thicken to Jenna-thickness (I love super super thick oatmeal!). So, I transferred the creamy glob to the Vita Mix and blended it with a banana for 10 seconds…..then I topped it with a huge scoop of raw almond butter!

While this concoction tasted ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, it was not that filling for someone that had exercised for an hour. It was very very yummy though….nice and sweet and thick with the banana blended in and I loved the almond and apple bits!

After I ate I took my daily greens (by the way, the 15% coupon code is now working on the site!)—

This time I used the regular green powder (as opposed to the berry flavored) and mixed it with half POM juice and half water.

MUCH EASIER mixing it with the POM juice. I highly recommend trying this if drinking it plain with water ain’t your thang!

Then, I showered up and hit the road with my mom to go to the farmer’s market!!! And oh! what a great time we had…..I think I ate my way through it with all the samples though!

There were little dessert stands…..

With mud pie samples, which I tried…obvi

An amazing pasta stand with every kind of pasta you could ever imagine….

We bought one of the blends and my mom is going to make a gourmet feast with it next week!

Oh, and you can’t forget the cheese stand!!!

I tried a sample of their aged and extra sharp cheddar and it was divine. SO cheap, too! I got some fresh buffalo mozzarella for only $2 and my mom got a big wheel of creamy brie for $2.99!

I started to get SUPER hungry though when we were there and everything was looking soooo good. When I saw the Thai food stand I HAD to get lunch to go!

I mean, seriously. Doesn’t that look AMAZING?! I got a cup of the vegan curry (tons of veggies in a spicy coconut broth) for lunch to take home and a fresh mango-water!

Mango water = Bliss. It was half freshly juiced mango and half ice water and was so refreshing! My mom and I shared this as we walked.

I loved the local honey stand and all th fresh veggies…..I felt like I was back in Paris! Check out these two pictures…first is this morning and second is at my favorite farmer’s market that was right down the street from my apartment in Paris—-

The first thing I think is “DANG I need highlights.” (hahaha) The latter picture was almost two years ago now…….sigh. I miss Europe so much!

We left the market this morning promising we would be back with CASH (we didn’t have cash this morning and had to write checks for everything!) and with empty tummies. Those goat cheese and tomato crepes were calling my name! 😉 On the way home though we took a wrong turn and got incredibly lost…….and I was incredibly hungry.……so out came the curry!

The FLAVOR of the curry was amazing, but it was one of those impulse “I am starving NOW and I need food…don’t care what it is!” moments when I got it. After it cooled, the curry sauce totally soaked into the giant ball of WHITE rice on the bottom of the container and just wasn’t that appealing anymore. I really don’t eat white rice very often anyways ,and eating a big container of it then just wasn’t going to do anything for me. So, I ate all the veggies off the top and had a few bites then didn’t finish it.

And then we FINALLY pulled into the driveway after driving what felt like an eternity and I SCREAMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Breville Elite Fountain Juicer had been dropped at my doorstep!!!!!!

I am seriously one lucky girl. I knew that the company was sending me a model to review on the blog and I was SO EXCITED to receive it!!! I mean, this thing is top of the line and SUPER nice. Naturally, I dropped all my bags of stuff and raced to open the box and assemble it!

I wasted no time and immediately washed all the parts in warm soapy water and then assembled it! It was incredibly easy to put together (I’m telling you this and I can’t put together ANYTHING) and the manual could not have been clearer to understand. I have a full review coming on this product next weekend so you will have to wait til then on all the specific innovations of the Breville, but I did make some of my favorite juice today!

My favorite juice that I always buy at the health food store is a combo of organic beet, apple, celery, ginger and carrot so that is, of course, the first thing I tried!

IT WAS SO EASY! I was in awe! I didn’t have to peel or core anything and everything just went right in the feed tube! LOVE IT! And look how much juice I got!

Which I promptly served on ice—

The taste??

BETTER than the one I buy! And I saved $5! I think it might have been better because I made it myself, but who knows. The juice was slightly sweet, rich and had a kick from the ginger. Freakin’ amazing, I tell you. I served my mom a sample and she readily agreed—

Just look at what was left over from the juice!

All the peels & pulp were very dry, which meant I extracted the most juice possible! Yay! This really only took about three minutes to clean, also. That’s the best part!

Whew! That was a doozy of a post.

Ryan is out of town on business all day but he is coming back this evening and I am making homemade pizza for us with the delicious buffalo mozzarella I picked up at the market! As for right now, I’m off to walk the doggy, head over to the Y to do my shin strengthening exercises, and do some laundry. Then start on the pizza crust!

See you this evening!