Introducing our New Baby. Weighing in at just over 8 Pounds...

Isn't she a beauty??

We've been thinking about it for months, and she was delivered yesterday.  Our very own Omega NC900HDC Juicer.  Woah baby.

It's a bit of an investment because these babies don't come cheap.  Four hundred dollars, to be precise.  Sigh.

But we did a lot of research, and spent several months thinking about it and watching YouTube videos about juicing, and putting aside a little money.  And then took the plunge.

We're hoping that it's a game changer for us in the sense of providing a lot more nutrients.  We eat pretty healthily already, but this will 'up' things considerably if we can use it regularly.

The biggest advantage of a juicer, from my perspective, is that your body takes in the nutrients from far more veggies and fruits than it could possibly consume in a day.  When making a juice out of 4 celery ribs, 7 large kale leaves, a whole cucumber, half a bunch of parsley, fresh ginger, a 1/2 lemon, and two apples, that's more fresh produce than I would sit down to eat at any given meal.  It's packed with nutrients and micro nutrients.  The only thing it's missing is the fibre but when one is eating a diet with sufficient fibre otherwise, it's great.

Since the juicer arrived yesterday afternoon we have made fresh orange juice, divine pure apple juice (that, according to Matthew, tasted like it was cider with cinnamon and brown sugar mixed in), and a potent and fresh-tasting green concoction called The Lean Green Juice.

For me, the taste of the green juice was fine - a little potent, like I said, but basically delicious; the lemon and ginger gave it a summery taste.  Seth and Lizzie didn't care for it, but drank it anyway (I was surprised that Lizzie didn't like it because she loves all things veggie, but she'll get used to it); Matthew loved it, to my shock - in fact, so much so that after he'd finished his cup of it, he reached for mine and scarfed down a quarter of mine!

Yesterday, after I'd made us the orange, and later the apple, juices, I kept the fibrous pulp that was discarded by the juicer - I dumped the pulp into my Vitamix container and popped it into the fridge.  Later, when we were ready for a snack, I blended all of that fibre-y goodness with a banana, some milk, and a tablespoon of jam for a bit of sweetness, hoping for a smoothie that would taste good enough that we use up the pulp.  Sadly, it wasn't all that great tasting and we didn't finish it.  I'm going to try again, though.

Neither Geoff nor I can guarantee that we'll be using the juicer as much as we anticipate using it; it's bit of a risk, given how much money we spent on it...and how much money it would cost to use it on a regular basis.  But we're figuring it's worth the risk.  And now, being part of a food co-op where all of the produce we purchase is organic at a reasonable cost, we figure we can maximize the nutrients we're putting into our bodies...and maybe I'll even be able to lose a little bit of weight in the process!??

The Omega juicers are certainly not the only (or the best) juicers out there.  It's a little bit of a maze, trying to figure out which one would fit the best with what we wanted and not cost a thousand dollars.  After a lot of research, we decided on a masticating, horizontal juicer with a slow-turning auger; the prime benefit being that it works well with both veggies (including the leafy greens) and fruits and maximizes the juice that gets wrung from the pulp (and therefore the nutrients).

Anyway, here's the link to the juicer we bought, in case it's something you are considering:  Omega NC900HDS Juicer

And now I'm set to make my second Lean Green Juice.  Poured over a little ice, it's gonna be a great start to the day for the kids and me.


P.S.  It's mid morning now and we're all a little (too) fascinated with the juicer.  Matthew just made a fresh juice with lemons and strawberries, added water and some sugar and made a the best strawberry lemonade juice I've ever consumed!  Added to the brownies he's in the process of making (your recipe, Auntie L!) and I'd say we're in for a delicious afternoon snack today!  Maybe today's the day I get to sit back, relax, and let Matthew do the cooking and baking...I have lots of veggie chopping to do for dinner...wonder if he'd do that, too??!