Author: thejuicenut

Vegan, raw foodie, juice nut, writing somewhat wryly about health/nutrition/wellbeing with a little creativity on the side. pearsnotparsnips@mail.com

Earth Day Comp: And The Winners Are…

Drum roll please …

Riot Grrill and Alexander West!

Congratulations!

If you will get in touch via

contact@gripandgo.co.uk

and leave your details plus the colours you would like in each of the 350ml, 500ml and 1 litre bottles as well as a travel mug, they will send off your prize asap.

But wait…

Grip and Go don’t want anyone to lose out, so they have generously given you all a

25% Off Discount Code:

Use STILLWINNERS at the checkout

Please Like and Follow @GripandGoUk on Twitter Or on Facebook

This code must be used by midnight on Friday, 6th May, 2016

(sorry  UK residents only)

Visit the Grip and Go website and look at their range of stylish glass bottles and double-insulated travel mugs!

Treat yourself or buy someone a gift. Great for storing juices, nut milks and water. Much better for you and the environment than single-use plastic water bottles.

Thank you all for taking part and to Grip and Go for a great prize!

Copyright: Chris McGowan

Last Day of our Grip and Go Competition!

Today is the last day of our Earth Day Competition!

You can win 3 Grip and Go leakproof, dishwasher-safe glass bottles plus a fabulous double-insulated glass travel mug in whatever colours you choose.

They are great for storing juices and nut milks or carrying water around, much better for you and the environment than single-use plastic water bottles which inevitably end up in landfill and in our oceans.

All you have to do is Like and Follow Grip and Go on Twitter and/or Facebook and use #earthdaycomp.

That’s it!

Here are the links:

@gripandgouk on Twitter

Grip and Go on Facebook

Hurry!

The competition ends midnight tonight, Friday, 29th April, 2016.

Ditch the plastic!

Good luck!

Copyright: Chris McGowan

Blended Breakfast Beetroot Juice

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Blended Breakfast Beetroot Juice in Grip and Go Bottle*

When I first began juicing, I would never have believed some of the combinations I now use every day or how many vegetables I would try with trepidation but end up loving and adding to the juicing repertoire (parsnips being the exception, of course!).

Beetroot is one of them.

I am so hardcore, I even leave the skins on!

Beetroot is known as the blood builder and is especially recommended for anyone with raised blood pressure or poor circulation.

All ingredients are organic and washed and so keep their skins, except the pineapple, if using non-organic then scrub and peel.

The juice is blended with avocado to add protein, fibre and healthy fats and because it makes you feel fuller longer.

Ingredients

2 Apples

1 large Carrot

1 Thick Slice of Unwaxed Lemon

1/2 Medium Beetroot, ends removed and scrubbed well

4″ Cucumber

2″ Broccoli stalk

Half inch slice of Pineapple

1/2 stick of Celery

1/2 small Avocado

(you can freeze the rest if you remove the skin and stone, chop up the flesh and use in smoothies or guacamole)

Juice all the ingredients except the avocado, blend the juice with the avocado.

Add ice if you like your juice chilled.

Ps If you’d like a chance to win some of these Grip and Go Bottles and Travel Mugs see Earth Day Competition but hurry, it ends midnight on Friday, 29th April, 2016!

Copyright: Chris McGowan

Khaki Kiwi Coconut Smoothie!

This smoothie turned out a bit differently from how I’d envisaged, on one of those mornings when things don’t quite go to plan – read more about it in One of Those Days …

The bananas were still very green, despite having been on the windowsill for three days, so I decided to use avocado, kiwi fruit and some cocount milk left over from the previous night’s curry.  Some romaine lettuce and a little wheatgrass powder, would, I thought produce a vivid green smoothie vibrant with health and nutrition, begging to awaken my sleep-starved body. What could go wrong?

This happened:

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I got a little carried away, adding blueberries and açaì powder. It came out khaki and looked less than appetising! And so thick I could probably use a knife and fork to eat it!

It tasted much better than it looked, however – the ugly duckling turned out to be more like a swan, so smooth as it glided down my throat – so let’s start again and pretend I knew what I was doing!

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This brunch in a glass is brimming with antioxidants, minerals, protein and healthy fats. It came out very thick, so you may want to add more liquid.

Ingredients

Half a ripe Avocado

(you can freeze the other half if you remove the skin and stone and chop it up, useful for smoothies or guacamole). 

1 Kiwi fruit, peeled

2 large Romaine leaves, washed and chopped

1 Tbsp chopped Sweet Apricot Kernels* (you can use almonds)

2 Tbsps Shelled Hemp Seeds*

2 Tbsps Coconut Milk

1  or 2 pitted Medjool Dates

Handful of Blueberries

1 Tbsp Açaì Powder *

1 Tsp Wheatgrass Powder

Glass of fresh Apple Juice + a little filtered water

Blend and eat with a spoon – or a knife and fork!

The only video that could possibly illustrate this recipe is the great Danny Kaye’s The Ugly Duckling, however it’s been removed from YouTube due to copyright issues 😕

*http://www.therawchocolatecompany.com/

Copyright: Chris McGowan

10 Things You Never Need to Buy

This is a great post from https://pioneeringthesimplelife.org/2016/04/25/10-things-you-never-need-to-buy/#comment-1319 with her list of Ten Things You Never Need To Buy! I started thinking about things we never buy because we re-use what comes into the house and thought I would post it here too. Maybe you could pass it on and we can get everyone thinking about the stuff they don’t really need:

Here’s my list:

  1. padded bags
  2. bubble wrap
  3. A5 brown envelopes
  4. A4 brown envelopes
  5. cardboard boxes
  6. plastic clothes bags from online companies
  7. string
  8. ribbon
  9. wrapping paper
  10. storage jars

We haven’t bought any of them in decades, seriously.

I have a cupboard full of the first 9 items that my grandsons used to love playing postmen with! I re-use every one that comes through the door.

We re-use the plastic clothes bags to post things I sell on ebay.

We save the string from our organic veg box delivery.

Ribbon is saved from presents, clothes etc.

Wrapping paper is always saved and re-used at Christmas and birthdays and it’s also used for cutting out patterns/shapes etc for cards and so on.

We reuse my husband’s favourite marmalade jars for storing nuts, seeds, grains, pulses etc and when we make juices for the day, we put them in the jars in the fridge. We have a cupboard full of them in the kitchen and periodically we donate them to people who make jam/pickles or to the local charity shop.

So that’s my list! What’s yours? Pass it on…

………………….

“We got our inspiration for this post by reading Suburban Pioneers’ list of 10 common products you never need to buy, so we thought we’d spread the wealth and add to their list. So, this is really a…

Source: 10 Things You Never Need to Buy

Earth Day Comp: Win Stylish Grip & Go Glass Bottles & Let’s Ditch the Plastic!

[ Thank you for visiting, this competition is now closed, but please do read the post anyway…]

Today is Earth Day and to celebrate our amazing planet, I am holding a competition to win a generous giveaway of 2 prizes of not one, not two, but THREE Grip and Go glass bottles! And that’s not all…

Many of you have admired my Grip and Go bottles that I use for storing nut milk and now you have a chance to win your own, thanks to their kind donation of some fabulously stylish bottles – plus an added extra…

But first, there’s a condition:

You have to Read ‘The Science Bit’!

We have all seen the warnings in the media about the piles of plastic clogging up our oceans, littering our hedgerows and harming wildlife. We read the articles and watch the news heralding predictions that there will be more plastic than fish in our seas by 2050 – whilst sipping from our plastic water bottles, popping the plastic takeaway box in the microwave and wrapping leftovers in clingfilm.

It is hard to contemplate a world without plastic, we have grown so used to it in every aspect of our daily lives.

But its production and disposal is choking our planet and harming our health, with chemicals leaching into our food and water, potentially causing cancer, hormone disruption and asthma in children.

Plastic water bottles are a huge contributor to these problems.

💧💧💧💧💧💧

Warm Weather and Plastic Water Bottles

How many of us carry plastic water bottles in the car and leave them there in the sun, often for several days?

Chemicals from the plastic are slowly leaching into the water as the plastic warms up:

  • Antimony (causes chronic health conditions, including diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach ulcers)
  • Bromine (causes irritation to skin and mucous membranes)
  • Endocrine Disrupters affecting hormones, thyroid function etc.
  • Cancer-causing agents 
  • Phthalates used as plastic softeners, associated with asthma in children.

Those plastic bottles will already be old by the time you buy them, having travelled halfway around the globe before you put them in your supermarket trolley, transport them in your warm car and store them in your warm home.

Some well-documented statistics about plastic bottles:

  • In the US, 50 Billion plastic bottles are bought every year and 80% of them end up in landfill.
  • More than 60 Million plastic bottles are thrown away every day in the US alone.
  • Just 1 plastic bottle takes 450 years to completely break down – that’s 25 generations!
  • 17 million barrels of oil are used every year in their production.
  • Bottled water costs 1,000 times more than tap water.

…

  • In the UK, as of 2007, an estimated 13 Billion plastic bottles of water were sold of which only 3 Billion were recycled.
  • The UK consumes 3 Billion litres of bottled water per year.
  • Despite the UK bottled water industry using increasing amounts of recycled plastic, it still creates a huge waste problem from discarded bottles which litter our hedgerows, streets and streams and often end up in the sea via our rivers.

…

  • 1 refuse truck worth of plastic is dumped into the sea every minute and it is getting worse.
  • The Eastern Garbage Patch is an area of ocean 6 times the size of England and is the world’s largest refuse dump.

…

  • Last year, a report by The Ellen MacArthur Foundation announced that by 2050 there will likely be more plastic than fish in the sea.
  • Their research found more than 5 Trillion pieces of plastic floating in the seas, many just 5 mm across making it easy for sea life to ingest.
  • Toxic chemicals leached from the plastic when it breaks down may be ingested by sea life and end up in the human food chain.

…

Here’s one solution:

Reuseable Glass Bottles!

Grip and Go have very generously supplied 6 of their stylish, leakproof, dishwasher-safe glass bottles as prizes in our competition.

350 mls.                    500 mls.                        1 Litre.

There will be two prizes of three bottles each, one prize to be won on Facebook, one on Twitter. You can even choose the colours!

But that’s not all!

In addition to the bottles, there will also be two Double-walled Insulated Travel Mugs, one to go with each prize.

image

This is a fantastic prize.

All you have to do is Like and Follow Grip & Go on Facebook and/or Twitter (@gripandgouk) for a chance to win these gorgeous bottles.

The competition will run from Mid-day Friday, 22nd April, 2016 and end at Midnight on Friday, 29th April, 2016.

Winners will be chosen at random.

(NB Apologies to all non-UK residents: due to the nature and weight of the prize, unfortunately this competition is only open to UK-based followers).

Just click on the link below to go to their web site, have a look at the bottles and travel mugs, decide which colours you’d like, click on their Twitter and Facebook links, Like And Follow using #earthdaycomp.

Like and Follow. #earthdaycomp. Easy-Peasy!

Good Luck!

Grip and Go

Twitter: @gripandgouk

Grip and Go Facebook link

Sources:

 Treehugger

Ban the Bottle

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation

The Guardian

Io9 We Come From The Future

Copyright: Chris McGowan

Earth Day: Microbeads – What Are They Good For…? (Includes Products That Dont Use Them).

…Absolutely Nothing!

(For Earth Day, I am republishing this post from last year, the Prime Minister may have left, but the issue remains.)

More than a quarter of a million people have signed a petition organised by Greenpeace, The Environmental Investigation Agency, the Marine Conservation Society and Fauna and Flora International calling on UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, to introduce a ban on the use of microbeads.

Barack Obama has banned them in the US, they are banned in Canada and many other countries are discussing a ban.

What are Microbeads?

Microbeads are tiny beads of plastic used in the manufacture of many toiletries and cosmetics. They act as exfoliants in products like toothpaste, facial cleansers, soaps and body scrubs, cleaning products.

Why should they be banned?

Tiny plastic microbeads can’t be filtered out by our sewage system and they end up in our rivers, lakes, seas and oceans. They are a massively polluting substance. Because they are so tiny, they become ingested by all kinds of sea life: birds, whales, turtles, fish, plankton, bivalves and so on. Most birds studied have been found to have microbeads in their stomachs.

Not only do they harm the species that swallow them but they can harm us too, for example when we use toothpaste and eat fish. Some end up in our soil via fertilisers.

8 Billion tonnes of plastic are disposed of in the oceans every year, do we really need plastic microbeads adding to the problem?

There are many more ethical and natural alternatives for example, seeds, cellulose, nut kernels, sugar, oatmeal and salt.

Many organisations and companies are calling for microbeads to be banned, some have agreed to phase them out, others have stopped using them. According to Greenpeace, Asda, Boots, Avon, L’Oreal, Clarins and Bodyshop have all pledged not to use microbeads in their own products. Other companies have made statements announcing the phasing out of microbeads from their products: Proctor and Gamble, Unilever.

The Co-Operative doesn’t use them at all.

image

My personal favourite, Dead Sea Magik products don’t contain microbeads or other nasties, are vegan, moisturising, gently exfoliating and you only need a tiny amount so they last a long time too.

1F6AFEA3-1A9C-4422-973E-2492968884EFGreen People organic products have won over 100 awards and are free from microbeads. Most of their products are vegan. Again, a tiny amount is needed, so although they may seem expensive, they last for ages.

They also use recyled and recyclable packaging.

Weleda use natural ingredients, working in harmony with nature, with no petrochemical derivatives, and many of their products are vegan.

We can all help by signing the Greenpeace Petition and by buying our toiletries and cosmetics from companies that don’t use microbeads – or make our own! There are many sites that have recipes for DIY cleansers, exfoliators and moisturisers using coconut oil, avocado and so on.

 Sources:

Greenpeace

Beat the Microbead

Plastic Free Seas

Copyright: Chris McGowan

Roll Up, Roll Up, Roll Up! It’s Competition Time!

Drum Roll…

I am very over-excited because today I’m announcing a competition to win some of my favourite juicing accessories – I wonder if you can guess which?

(Clue: They have featured in several of my juicy/nut milk posts!)

No purchase necessary!

Just check back on Friday for details of the prize and how to enter – there are two ways to give yourself a chance to win.

Go on, what have you got to lose?

 Pass it on…

???????????

 

Copyright: Chris McGowan

Improvised Thai Vegetable Green Curry with Chickpeas

This recipe is Vegan and Gluten-Free.

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This came about when we had nothing planned for dinner – nothing new there then! – and found just over half a tin of chickpeas in the fridge that needed using, along with about a quarter of a cauliflower and the same of broccoli.

I don’t often have curry. My husband likes them quite strong and puts tomatoes in which I don’t eat, but this time my tastes prevailed and so was born a mild, creamy curry made with my favourite veg.

Chickpeas – also known as garbanzo beans and gram – are a good source of protein, calcium, iron and fibre.

Most of the ingredients were organic, but not the Green Curry Paste – however, it was free from additives, refined sugar and gluten and was suitable for vegans, so passed muster for this curry.

All measurements are very approximate and timings, well, basically I’m guessing!

The curry was all cooked in a large frying pan, with the vegetables being stir-fried first. Everything was done within 40 minutes or so.

Serves 3 – on the basis that there were 2 of us and enough left over for a third if we didn’t have seconds.

We had it with brown Basmati rice – I know, clash of cultures, but that’s what we like and that’s all we had in.

Get everything prepared beforehand: rice measured, soaked for an hour and rinsed, water boiled for the rice, all veg washed and chopped into small pieces, cans opened.

Ingredients

Coconut oil for frying

1 large Onion, chopped

2 cloves of Garlic, crushed

large handful each of Cauliflower & Broccoli already chopped into small pieces

3/4 Cup Sweetcorn

3-4 Mushrooms, Sliced

1/2 to 2/3 can of Chickpeas

2/3 can Coconut Milk

1-2 Tbsps Gang Keow Wan Green Curry Paste

A Splash or two of Tamari (wheat-free soy sauce)

1 Dsp Coconut Palm Sugar*

Squeeze of Lime

Handful of fresh chopped Coriander

Optional: 1 chopped tomato added near the end, we also thought plain, unsalted peanuts or cashews would go well if liked, but we didn’t have any.

 Method

(Have the rice going when the onion has been stir-frying for a couple of minutes, have a hot dish ready to put it in in case it’s ready first).

Melt the oil until hot enough for the onion to sizzle but not smoking.

Stir-fry onion for a few minutes until shiny, add cauliflower, broccoli and crushed garlic, stir-fry for another few minutes, then add mushrooms and continue to cook until it all begins to give a little.

Add some of the coconut milk, the green curry paste and the tamari and stir, cooking until the paste is dissolved and well mixed.

Add the rest of the milk, chickpeas, sweetcorn, sugar and continue cooking for a few minutes on a low heat with a lid on, until the cauliflower and broccoli are cooked but with a little bite.

Add the nuts if used.

Before serving, add a squeeze of lime juice and some fresh chopped coriander, with more coriander for garnish (I forgot it for the photos!).

Serve on hot plates.

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Hope I didn’t miss anything out!

*http://www.therawchocolatecompany.com

Copyright: Chris McGowan

One of those days …

Please excise any serious typos  – there, I made one already, excuse came out as excise – I am injured. Not seriously. Hardly at all in fact, just enough to make typing a hit and miss affair. This morning has been one of those mornings when a couple of things happened to knock the day slightly off kilter and then you’re waiting for the other thing to happen. You know… disasters come in threes and all that. Although mine are more mishap than disaster, but still…

First thing happened when I was barely awake. Actually, no, that’t not right. First thing happened while I was still snuggled under the duvet. I missed the snow! I’ve been waiting all winter and the first real smattering we have comes down before I’ve opened my eyes and by the time I’ve stirred, it’s gone.

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(This is from 15th January for illustrative purposes. It lasted all of 5 minutes as did last night’s –  apparently).

I thought back to last weekend when my two-year-old grand-daughter, who has never experienced snow but is obssessed with it, had a long, forthright argument with me during a heavy hailstorm. She was entranced, kneeling up at the window eyes alight with amazement, mouthing ‘It’s snowing, look it’s snowing!’ in such a small voice overcome by the wonder of it all. We all tried to tell her they were hailstones, but she held firm and fast to her fantasy, and we finally agreed, yes, it was snowing.

Disappointed, I got up and went to the bathroom. We had a West Wing marathon last night and as I came out I was still drowsily thinking about it all when I was brought up short by a searing pain as I trapped my finger in the door and caught it on the edge of the catch. After all the usual squeezing of said finger while hopping around shouting and receiving no help – as always when disaster strikes, everyone has headed for the hills and you realise you’re on your own – I looked down and saw blood dripping down the bannister, pouring from my nail bed as my finger throbbed. Those cartoon disasters came to mind where a character gets hit on the head or hand and a huge lump forms and throbs in lurid colours.  It was a tiny cut, but you’d have thought that at the very least my nail and fingertip were missing, what with all the pain and blood.

Please note: there really should be an image here of my injured finger, but I spared you the sight of it. (You wouldn’t have been able to see it anyway without floodlights and magnifying glass! – ed.)

I made it to the kitchen and thrust my finger under the cold water in an attempt to staunch the bleeding. It carried on. I couldn’t get to the plasters in the cupboard without leaving a trail of blood the likes of which you only see in episodes of CSI! I grabbed a clean tea towel and held it around the finger but every time I tried to release it, the blood gushed. Honestly, it was the tiniest cut, you’d need a magnifying glass to see it. (Told you! – ed.)

Finally, my husband returned from his cycle ride and managed to get a plaster onto the finger. Crisis over. I listened to his usual recounting of where he went, how many miles, how fast, who he saw, punctures etc etc (well, listening might be overstating it a bit), as I got my morning juice out of the fridge and a straw from the cupboard. Intending to seem fascinated, I turned to ask him a question and…

I caught the straw with my sleeve, the jar went over and before my husband had even managed to remove his helmet and cycling shoes, he was on his knees dealing with the second disaster: sticky orange liquid was oozing across the kitchen counter, down the cupboards and fridge, soaking into the hanging tea towels, the leg of my jeans, the tops of my trainers and across the floor!

And then:

There were no ripe bananas for my breakfast smoothie! Now I know that in the grand scheme of things, this is so insignificant as not to be worthy of a mention. But in the context of my morning, this really is a disaster. They were green as green could be. So I decided to use avocado and just put things together and see how it turned out. I had some coconut milk that needed using up, a kiwi fruit, some romaine lettuce. A little wheatgrass powder. I imagined a vibrant green smoothie. But I couldn’t leave well alone and I added blueberries and açaì powder. I got khaki! And it was so thick I could have taken a knife and fork to it! But it tasted a lot better than it looks, really it did. Recipe here.

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So that was my morning. My husband fared a little better, he is back cycling after a 9 month lay-off following an accident and a broken arm that needed some metalwork. But he posted a birthday card to his cousin and then realised he’d forgotten to put the stamp on. Then of course he had to start washing floors and cupboards and jeans when he arrived home.

But I think the worst disaster is still to come.

The final episode of West Wing. Nooooooo!

Ps But the sun is shining!

Copyright: Chris McGowan