Whole Foods or No Foods?

Seeing as there is no Farmers Market open on friday we hit Whole Foods for our sweet tooth fix.

(no artificial sweeteners necessary)

Total Whole Foods Damage...$32.00
What did we get for our hard earned cash?
1 watermelon
7 Persian cucumbers
1 bag oranges(4 pounds)
1 bag green apples(3 pounds)
1 pineapple
All things organically considered...not bad. We threw in 10 strawberries & 2 yellow nectarines from our last Farmers Market run, to really hit the spot.

Total juice yield was a whopping 18 cups/144 ounces of delicious organic sweetness. Not to be confused with the image below...

Same cost, sure it tastes good, only a fraction of the nutritional value. Simple as that.

At $00.22 an ounce I laugh at people who say, "I really like juicing but it is just way too expensive to do all the time.." & respond, "I guess nothing is quite as cheap as watered down beer & a hot dog so you got me there."(I still love a good BBQ when there is something to celebrate)

At the end you are left with this pulp which might yield an additional cup, if pressed through a strainer. If you are fortunate enough to own a Norwalk Juicer it can save you between $400 & $500 dollars a year, juicing 5 times per week. Cost effective considering that it is built to last decades.

JUICE ON!

3 Documentaries for August

ADVENTURE

 Food for the soul. A little life adventure goes a long way. 

FOOD

 It simply works. No gimmicks. No hidden agenda. Just self respect.

KNOWLEDGE

Time to make peace with what our government is feeding us.

What's in your refrigerator right now?

Go open up, take a good look & ask yourself what your priorities are..

Some thought about your food:

If your spending more money on your car than your are on quality food then the joke is on you. Most people are lucky if they get 10 years out of their car. When you're looking & feeling as beat up as that old car you can't pick a new one up off the lot. 

For those of you who are too lazy to care & prefer to eat out I have a question..how much do you trust the people making your food? Are they profit motivated or health motivated? Do you trust them to take care of your family the way you can if you tried? Are their morals & choices the same morals & choices you want to instill into the people you care about the most? Every decision they make effects your quality of life. Maybe I'm being ridiculous, ignorance is bliss. Keep eating whatever is put in front of your face, I'm sure it will all work out in the end. I'm sure a choice based on a brief summary is an educated decision. 

Every time you buy something you are casting a vote. The ripples of our votes effect what will be available to us & our children. It's hard to vote for something that no longer exists. Every time you make it out to your local Farmer's Market you are voting to ensure the availability of fresh, locally grown, nutrient rich food. Not to be unreasonable, we still get a few things from either Whole Foods(overpriced) or Trader Joe's(reasonable). But, consider how far most of that food has had to travel(nutritionally depleted) & the unnecessary environmental cost(another issue for another day).The only excuse is the illusion of convenience.

WENT THERE FOR REDWOODS..FOUND THIS FIRST.

BIG SUR CALIFORNIA

MARKER 45.64

Nothin like a little cave free climb to start your morning in BIG SUR

Hawaiian SUPERFOOD

If there is a food on this planet that can go toe to toe, pound for pound, it has yet to be discovered.

Hawaiian Spirulina has more iron than spinach, more calcium than whole milk, more protein than tofu & more beta carotene than carrots.

Stop wasting your money on hard to digest protein powders comprised of fillers & additives.

This pure blue-green algae is found in warm alkaline waters around the world.

The cellular structure of the algae makes it the most easily digestible high quality protein on the planet.

The protein is complete. It contains all eight essential amino acids.

Spirulina contains about 70% protein, vitamin C, vitamin E, beta carotene, B vitamins and chlorophyll. It also has plenty of essential fatty acids, antioxidants B vitamins and minerals like calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, zinc & potassium.

I'll conclude this brief intro with a few health benefits associated with Spirulina:

improves T-cell & Thymus function to kill bacterial infections

anti-aging properties

helps diminish allergies such as hay fever

shown to help fight AIDS virus

helps protect the liver from toxins
helps reduce blood pressure and cholesterol
strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects
helps boost the immune system

increased energy levels

safe for pregnant and nursing mothers

Do some research!! The list goes on and on...

Personally I have benefited from the anti-inflammatory, elevated energy & high quality amino acids that aid in quick recoveries.

Life Juice

Say hello to good health & fewer trips to the doctors office.

 If you can manage to eat all of that on a daily bases and squeeze in your macronutrients...my hat is off to you. That being said, juicing will provide a much higher absorption rate & significantly less degradation of nutrients in your stomach.

 The Norwalk Juicer is ideal, you get what you pay for. The quality and efficiency will pay for itself in time. Not having the best juicer in the world is not an excuse! Get the best that you can from what you've got.

 Black kale, red chard & a half a carrot seems like a lot to put through at once but the key to gettin your leafy greens through a juicer is the ratio. I find that by wrapping my carrots, cucumbers & fruits with my leafy greens does a much better job. When producing juices with a high leafy green ratio I brake it up into phases, cleaning out the build up before my motor begins to overheat. A minute or two of effort will save you hours.

Air seal & refrigerate, anything your not drinking on the spot, immediately. Oxidation is your micronutrients worst enemy.  

What should you expect from:
7 celery stalks
7 large carrots
2 tomatoes
5 yellow chard stalks
11 red chard stalks
2 yellow beats (sweeter than red beats)
1 bundle black kale (the best SUPER FOOD that I hate to eat)
1 1/2 bundle spinach
1 bundle parsley
2 Japanese broccoli
7 cucumbers
5 green squash
10 strawberries & 1 bundle of cilantro?

96 ounces! also known as 12 cups or 3 quarts.

What does this cost to produce?

$27.50! at your Agoura Farmer's Market, open Sunday mornings (get there before 1). You can find it in the parking lot by Agoura Deli, on Kanan.

Contender (if you can call it that): NAKED JUICE "GREEN MACHINE"

To put this in perspective NAKED JUICE would cost you $25-$30 bucks (depending on the container sizes & store) for that same 96 ounces. Avoid the illusion & save us the wasted plastic while your at it.
Replace that "hint of pineapple" with half a pineapple(personally i eat the other half on the spot), toss in a bushel of green apples & as many oranges as your heart desires...then you've got somethin worth spending your hard earned cash on.

Personally I love a good pasture raised piece of meat or freshly caught side of fish, but that doesn't stop me from going a step further and getting superior amino acids from that same juice that is providing my micronutrients...