Recipe: Fennel Apple Juice with Greens & Fresh Lemon – and a Guest Post & Giveaway!

A little rest for the tummy is sometimes nice.

Fresh air impoverishes the doctor.

~ Danish Proverb

Happy Saturday readers!

Today I am excited to share with you a number of things. Firstly, this Saturday, one of my most favorite blogging buds Somer over at Good Clean Food is hosting a super awesome giveaway.

She is also kindly hosting a guest post from yours truly for this very recipe shared here today: a gorgeous, sweet, and truly healthy green juice! Read on to get the goods here, or head straight over there and enter to win a sweet running skirt from Lululemon on Somer’s blog!

Somer and I both share a mutual love of running – and I encourage you to read her story here – her ‘becoming a runner’ story is truly as inspirational as her personality. I’m thrilled to team up with her to share this recipe and celebrate all things healthy – whether it is a healthy diet, or health through physical activity, or just a straight up healthy attitude & mind (the most important thing of all, IMO).

Today’s juice recipe is (true to IPOM form) super simple. Of course, you need to own a juicer for it, but other than that, the ingredients are easy and accessible, and won’t break the bank either.

Sweet fennel and apples team up to offer balance against healthy cancer fighting vegetables like cabbage and kale, and are rounded out with the zing and pop of fresh lemon.

I’ve posted one green juice recipe here on this blog before, but I think I may have just found my new favorite. Now that is a seriously big claim, but if you get a chance to try it, I’ve a feeling it could become yours too!

The Less:

Less chewing and digesting means less work on the system. Less store-bought, packaged juice means less sugar and cooked compounds. Less refined sugar beverages means more low-calorie energy, and less cooking means hopefully more ways to expend it.

The More:

More easily assimilated raw juices means more dynamic raw nutrition. More sweetness and balance means more satisfaction to ward off cravings. More creative ways to juice with more easily found ingredients, means more likelihood you’ll do it over (and over) again.

Fennel Apple Juice with Greens & Fresh Lemon:

• (2) small fennel bulbs, or (1) medium, with stalks removed
  (if the only fennel available is extra-large start with half and adjust to taste)
• (2) medium organic apples
• (1) organic lemon, whole
• (8) leaves kale
• (1/4) medium-sized green cabbage

Clean and process all ingredients into juicer friendly pieces. Make sure to leave the skin on the lemon as this adds to the taste of the final product significantly.

Juice all ingredients and strain if desired (my preferred way to enjoy it), and serve immediately for best nutritional value and taste!

Utilizing kale and cabbage as the veggie base of this juice adds such amazing nutritional benefit, and both are easy to find and easy (and cheap) to grow just about anywhere. Cabbage is one of my most favorite vegetables and keeps all through the winter given proper storage.

Adding sweet fennel offsets any bitterness, and makes this green cocktail absolutely sing!

So whether you are a runner, a walker, a cyclist, or just about any other fantastic version of yourself, this juice is almost guaranteed to make you feel like a million bucks.

It might make you feel almost as good as you’ll look in Somer’s sexy running skirt if you head over there to enter;)

The greatest wealth is health.

~Virgil

Sometimes the body just needs a rest. Just like a good nap on the couch on a lazy Saturday, this juice could provide just the break you need to feel (just a little) more rested and whole. Doesn’t that sound spectacular (I’m thinking of the nap really!)?

• What is your go to physical activity?
• Got a favorite juice to share with us?

We’re on the countdown here to take off (8 sleeps!) and are hard at work packing and tying up details before our big upcoming holiday. I’ll be sipping and slurping this juice this weekend and enjoying (just a little) fresh air.

Wishing you all a wonderful summer weekend!

Yours in Less,

Recipe: Healing Green Tonic & Tummy Smiles

Green juice that will make your tummy smile!

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.

~ William Arthur Ward

Good day dear IPOM readers and friends! Need a little something to pick you up mid-week like I do?

How about a quick little shout-out to a most virtuous glass of nourishing and delicious fresh green juice?

I’ve mentioned before that it is tough for me to throw away the pulp that is left over after extracting fresh juice.

And it’s true, it is hard (for me).

Eating foods is definitely the preferred way for me to ensure there is plenty of nutrition being served up at our table, and all that fiber and goodness that comes from consuming roughage and delicious foods in their whole state is ideal (IMO).

Except when it’s time for a change up.

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.

~ Victor Frankl

There are times when the body might be sensitive to things. There are times when we might be stressed. There are times when we just crave a glass of pure vital energy.

For these times, and often on short fast days, this drink is my go-to elixir.

Super-energizing, super-alkalizing, super-tasty, and super-charged, this drink brings together everything an ailing tummy or mind might need. Eating can be stressful on the body sometimes (especially foods that are not good for you), and that’s okay. Just knowing a good safe way to rest the body and mind is a good place to start.

Of course, you need a juicer for this (which I know we don’t all have) – thankfully juicers are easily found these days in all price ranges, so if you are inclined, with a bit of research you can pick one up without breaking the bank account. It is an investment that will pay dividends, regardless of whether you juice once a day, once a week, or once a month.

Live out of your imagination, not your history.

-Stephen Covey

Here is the lowdown on my favorite take on Natalia Rose’s Green Lemonade from her book ‘Raw Food Detox’. It’s simply divine, and actually tastes delicious!

The Less:

Less solids in your tummy means a little rest when its needed. Less pressure on the tummy means more time to just be. Less cooked and stored juices means more vital enzymes and goodness, and hopefully less time feeling less than the best.

The More:

More fresh lemon juice means more alkalizing health benefits. More fresh greens means more chlorophyll and minerals. More fresh simple fruit juice means easily digested sugars, without all the nasty highs and lows, because something this happy can’t bring you down.

Healing Green Tonic:

~ Adapted from Natalia Rose, Raw Food Detox

• 4 apples, skin on, cut into pieces
• 10 leaves kale
• 1 head celery
• 2 lemons, with skin on, cut into pieces
• knob of fresh peeled ginger (optional)

Simply wash all ingredients – try to use organic vegetables and fruits for this if you can. Chop apples, lemons, and ginger. Be careful when juicing to put the greens and lemon pieces in with a stalk of celery or a piece of apple to prevent clogging (depending on your juicer’s strength).

Strain through a very fine sieve (or not if you don’t mind a little pulp at the bottom), and enjoy right away for maximum life force and vital energy. Letting juice sit will oxidize the released nutrition, but if you like you can put some away in a sealed container (keep cold!) for enjoyment later.

I drink this when I need a nice boost. It keeps me going for hours and leaves a wonderful aftertaste and and even more glorious happy tummy smile.

It sounds extra-super-corny, but trust me it’s true!

I don’t juice too often as I get annoyed cleaning the juicer as well as I feel sad if I produce too much pulp – though it does certainly make a lovely addition to gardener’s compost 🙂

I’ve got nothing to do today but smile.

  ~ Simon and Garfunkel

The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists

~ Japanese Proverb

My weekend reading!

The power we have to create good, and to impact positive change both within ourselves and within a greater collective community is never lost on me.

There is always, always, always something to be thankful for.

~ Author Unknown

So keep up your own unique brands of awesomeness, dear IPOM readers and friends, for it is your energy and enthusiasm that keeps us all going, and I can only speak for myself and I know this to be true for this blogger!

I also have to let you guys know there are so many exciting things happening here this week with regards to Not So Fast. Honestly, I can’t wait to share….all in good time!

• Are you a fan of juicing?
• What is your favorite fresh juice of all time?
• What are you MOST excited for right now (share anything!)?

I just adore hearing from you all, we’d all love to know!

I am off to enjoy the glorious Vancouver sunshine…and it sounds as though it is here to stay for a while!

Yours in Less,