Yes, I know I'm behind here, just now getting my first Juicer and all but I was really thinking - that sounds like a lot of work! So I held off even though it sounded delicious and healthy. I had to have a bigger reason to invest such a sum in another machine that takes up room on my counter. Or, gets used for a month, then goes under the counter which means using it only a few times a year. You know, like the waffle iron you forget you own because it's tucked away so deep in the cabinet you don't even know it's there until you're cleaning the cabinets to make room for yet another electrical machine that is suppose to be so cool/save you time/blah blah and then you spot it!?
Well, after talking to a lot of friends, reading articles and soforth, I decided on a Omega VERT juicer. My hope was that, even though it's pricey, it would really be a long lasting machine and deliver some amazing juice and preserve precious enzymes with it's masticating style vs. the super powerful/fast juicers I've seen at Costco being demonstrated.
DAY 1:
Took the juicer out of the box and cleaned all the parts in soapy water. Then I put the machine together in about 4 minutes (a child could do it really, they had nice instructions).
With my 10 yr old daughter anxiously waiting to push some fruit into the ventricle, we got started. I thought we should start simple:
Strawberries, banana and apples - delicious! no sugar needed, then a few minutes later we made
Carrots and Orange (peeled the orange first) - very nice!
My first impressions of my new Omega:
Easy to assemble. It was fairly quiet- surprisingly. Fruit went down easily, no need for real pushing down with the plunger at all. The pulp was really compacted/dry, making me beleive that I was getting all I could out of my fruit. There was just a little foam, not bad. I liked the size of the containers to hold the juice/pulp, very generous, holds 2 cups of juice. The machine was solid, no movement on the counter at all, which I love!
DAY 2:
Oh, so, I forgot to mention on Day 1 what my thoughts were on a very important issue: CLEAN UP!
The Clean up was almost effortless; though I did make sure to do it right away (as I'm sure it's messy if you let the fruit/veg's sit in the juicer for a while/would get sticky and ugly). Truly, it took me 5 minutes, I laid it all out to air-dry as the directions say to hand wash (no dishwasher). The little "brush" that came with it was the cat's meow for cleaning the screen and spouts.
We made several juices today.
Strawberry, banana, carrot & apple - good, my 10 year old loved it.
Cucumber, 1/4 lemon (no rind), kale, apple and orange - very nice/refreshing
Then my hubby made his own concoction: Collard Greens and carrots - he says it was good/I didn't try it: I was skeptical about the taste, sounded bitter to me....- it looked very very green.
DAY 3:
I'm still very pleased with our results!
I am hosting a RAW class later this month where Joline Wondergem (Certified Raw Chef!) is coming to demonstrate and make some fun things with us. I'll hopefully learn a lot more from her experience with
juicing and she's sure to have some tips for me then!
Today, we made this juice:
Kale, cucumber, ginger, 1/2 apple, 1/2 lemon, wheat grass - DELICIOUS and refreshing - I love this in the am!
Here is a tip from my friend Joline who says -even though she is not a coffee drinker herself, she understands that some (like me) can't seem to give it up completely, so just be sure to hit your senses with something HEALTHY in the am before you drink a cup and at least you've started you morning off on a healthy note!! So, drink your juice, then have your coffee-works for me!
DAY 4/5:
Juicing starts our days again:
My daughter is still loving the fruit juicing (I sneak a few cucumbers in there).
My husband and I continue to try out a few other things. I think that at this point, it isn't going to be a "recipe" that we follow, but more of a "what do we have in the frig that is fresh?" kind of juicing!
I notice that his recently purchased collard greens are getting a little, let's say, dark green/wilty looking (maybe the frig was too cold in one area in the crisper?). So, he used those up with some cucumbers, and added apple, ginger and oranges. He liked it.
Me, on the other hand, I went for Kale, wheat grass, lemon, carrots, cucumber and ginger- I like what ginger adds to the juice! Yesterday I added a little mint to a fruit juice and I really liked that too, so I must remember the herbs, etc. going forward, especially this summer when I have plenty in my own garden! Hmmmm.....Tarragon, Rosemary, parsley- would be nice with some Tomato juice, maybe some celery!
TWO WEEKS LATER:
So, I guess it's been about two weeks now!
We're juicing each morning and I've really found that it's a nice breakfast and I don't get hungry until about 11am, and then I pop a few peanuts or almonds and hold off till lunchtime. It's a great am energizer! I feel it really gets me going!
I still have a cup of coffee after my juice, but at least I'm waking up my system with a healthy choice first!!
P.S. I think I've got my husband convinced that we should still consider cooking veggies we really like (asparagus, etc.) instead of trying to juice everything! haha Also, here's a tip: juicing a avocado isn't really the best choice- just EAT IT! I love it with a little EVOO and salt!
WHEAT GRASS JUICING- WHY?
With my 10 yr old daughter anxiously waiting to push some fruit into the ventricle, we got started. I thought we should start simple:
Strawberries, banana and apples - delicious! no sugar needed, then a few minutes later we made
Carrots and Orange (peeled the orange first) - very nice!
My first impressions of my new Omega:
Easy to assemble. It was fairly quiet- surprisingly. Fruit went down easily, no need for real pushing down with the plunger at all. The pulp was really compacted/dry, making me beleive that I was getting all I could out of my fruit. There was just a little foam, not bad. I liked the size of the containers to hold the juice/pulp, very generous, holds 2 cups of juice. The machine was solid, no movement on the counter at all, which I love!
DAY 2:
Oh, so, I forgot to mention on Day 1 what my thoughts were on a very important issue: CLEAN UP!
The Clean up was almost effortless; though I did make sure to do it right away (as I'm sure it's messy if you let the fruit/veg's sit in the juicer for a while/would get sticky and ugly). Truly, it took me 5 minutes, I laid it all out to air-dry as the directions say to hand wash (no dishwasher). The little "brush" that came with it was the cat's meow for cleaning the screen and spouts.
We made several juices today.
Strawberry, banana, carrot & apple - good, my 10 year old loved it.
Cucumber, 1/4 lemon (no rind), kale, apple and orange - very nice/refreshing
Then my hubby made his own concoction: Collard Greens and carrots - he says it was good/I didn't try it: I was skeptical about the taste, sounded bitter to me....- it looked very very green.
DAY 3:
I'm still very pleased with our results!
I am hosting a RAW class later this month where Joline Wondergem (Certified Raw Chef!) is coming to demonstrate and make some fun things with us. I'll hopefully learn a lot more from her experience with
juicing and she's sure to have some tips for me then!
Today, we made this juice:
Kale, cucumber, ginger, 1/2 apple, 1/2 lemon, wheat grass - DELICIOUS and refreshing - I love this in the am!
Here is a tip from my friend Joline who says -even though she is not a coffee drinker herself, she understands that some (like me) can't seem to give it up completely, so just be sure to hit your senses with something HEALTHY in the am before you drink a cup and at least you've started you morning off on a healthy note!! So, drink your juice, then have your coffee-works for me!
DAY 4/5:
Juicing starts our days again:
My daughter is still loving the fruit juicing (I sneak a few cucumbers in there).
My husband and I continue to try out a few other things. I think that at this point, it isn't going to be a "recipe" that we follow, but more of a "what do we have in the frig that is fresh?" kind of juicing!
I notice that his recently purchased collard greens are getting a little, let's say, dark green/wilty looking (maybe the frig was too cold in one area in the crisper?). So, he used those up with some cucumbers, and added apple, ginger and oranges. He liked it.
Me, on the other hand, I went for Kale, wheat grass, lemon, carrots, cucumber and ginger- I like what ginger adds to the juice! Yesterday I added a little mint to a fruit juice and I really liked that too, so I must remember the herbs, etc. going forward, especially this summer when I have plenty in my own garden! Hmmmm.....Tarragon, Rosemary, parsley- would be nice with some Tomato juice, maybe some celery!
TWO WEEKS LATER:
So, I guess it's been about two weeks now!
We're juicing each morning and I've really found that it's a nice breakfast and I don't get hungry until about 11am, and then I pop a few peanuts or almonds and hold off till lunchtime. It's a great am energizer! I feel it really gets me going!
I still have a cup of coffee after my juice, but at least I'm waking up my system with a healthy choice first!!
P.S. I think I've got my husband convinced that we should still consider cooking veggies we really like (asparagus, etc.) instead of trying to juice everything! haha Also, here's a tip: juicing a avocado isn't really the best choice- just EAT IT! I love it with a little EVOO and salt!
WHEAT GRASS JUICING- WHY?
You know, when I was a customer at Jamba Juice I used to ask
them to "add stuff" to my juices. I believed these add-ins were good
for me but if hard-pressed, I'm sure I couldn't come up with a accurate
response as to why, exactly.
Here is the WHY
One ounce of wheatgrass juice contains the vitamins and minerals that some say is equal to 1 kg of organic veggies
Wheat grass juice is very high in magnesium, potassium, and calcium
Wheat grass helps with constipation
Wheatgrass juice is about 70% chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is said to
oxygenate the blood and organ tissue, impeding the growth of harmful
bacteria in the digestive tract. It is said to neutralize toxins and
help to purify the liver. Here is one of the most informative sites I've
found on the topic of Chlorophyll (the oxygenating of blood via
Chlorophyll is a controversial topic on line): http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=52. Here is another site from OSU that is quite informative in relation to Chlorophyll: http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/phytochemicals/chlorophylls/.
For me, it seems that at a bare minimum, wheat grass juice is good
source of Iron and Vitamin C! That's enough reason for me to keep
adding to my juicing regeme!
Here is the WHY
MONTH's LATER:
Still enjoying the juicer! I'd say that overall, this was a great investment. We make some amazing Orange Juice and Grapefruit juice for guests who aren't keen to the whole veggie juice thing and we use it regularly. I must admit that this juicer is a little bit of a challenge when it comes to cleaning, as you have to clean it within a 1/2 hr or so after use otherwise the food gets stuck in the sieve like spaces and is much more difficult to clean. I recommend it above other juicers I've seen however to my friends. I like how much I can juice at once without having to dump out the containers.
A YEAR LATER:
I highly recommend this juicer as it has really made a impact on our families goal to bump up the veggie intake! Juicing is so refreshing, especially in the warmer months and I'm so looking forward to garden fresh tomato juice again this summer! I did learn one valuable lesson about this juicer. We have had it about one year and a few months ago, I had to replace a part (juicing screen) which cost me about $60.00. I had been occasionally putting a a few lemon slices into my juicing blends and I thought the juicer was handling it pretty well.......until the other day while doing it, I hear a crack and the juicer stops. Sure enough, it was the rind on the lemon stuck which caused the crack in the part. It wouldn't work at all after that. I was cutting corners and I paid the price. The replacement parts are expensive on the Omegas, so be careful and follow the directions; always!
We alternate juicing and smoothies so we use the juicer about 1/2 of the time and our BlendTec the other half of the time and really enjoy them both equally but for different reasons. We got our hands on a refurb BlendTec about 6 months ago and have really appreciated the smooth texture of a smoothie and the ability to make soup in 60 seconds.
Happy Juicing and Happy Blending!
A YEAR LATER:
I highly recommend this juicer as it has really made a impact on our families goal to bump up the veggie intake! Juicing is so refreshing, especially in the warmer months and I'm so looking forward to garden fresh tomato juice again this summer! I did learn one valuable lesson about this juicer. We have had it about one year and a few months ago, I had to replace a part (juicing screen) which cost me about $60.00. I had been occasionally putting a a few lemon slices into my juicing blends and I thought the juicer was handling it pretty well.......until the other day while doing it, I hear a crack and the juicer stops. Sure enough, it was the rind on the lemon stuck which caused the crack in the part. It wouldn't work at all after that. I was cutting corners and I paid the price. The replacement parts are expensive on the Omegas, so be careful and follow the directions; always!
We alternate juicing and smoothies so we use the juicer about 1/2 of the time and our BlendTec the other half of the time and really enjoy them both equally but for different reasons. We got our hands on a refurb BlendTec about 6 months ago and have really appreciated the smooth texture of a smoothie and the ability to make soup in 60 seconds.
Happy Juicing and Happy Blending!
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