Sweet Beet Juice

My brilliant husband has figured out a way to draw out the sweet taste of beets without that unpleasant earthy taste.  This is what happens when you get brave with your juicer and just start tossing things in that need eaten before they go bad!  You make experiments.  Some of them turn out not so great but in this case, he hit the jackpot!

Here's the recipe:

Hal's Sweet Beet Juice
3 beets (no greens)  Ours had gone limp, which is fortuitous because otherwise this recipe wouldn't work!
3 carrots
3 celery stalks
handful of spinach
4 leaves of swiss chard
handful of brussel sprouts
1/2 of a canteloupe
2 red apples
(This recipe serves two people a 20 oz portion or one person two meals)

This has got to be one of the most delicious recipes I've ever had.  The combination of apples and canteloupe bring out the natural sweetness of the beets while masking some of the earthy taste of the beets and chard.  It's pleasant going down and also has a nice after taste!  I could eat this for two meals a day!

I'm finding that cantaloupe and pineapple are the rock stars of the juicing world because they can mask almost every bad taste.  Lemon is also good as a masker although the taste is entirely different, it's more of a refreshing citrus flavor.  I've found that oranges and grapefruits aren't as good at masking.  You still have to blend in something sweet like apples or grapefruit, maybe even kiwis.

Today is day 20 of my fast.  I broke down and ate yesterday, much to my dismay because it made me SO SICK! I've been fantasizing about eating for a few days now.  I'm going to go ahead and blame it on my cycle.  My cravings have been at an all time high.  What I thought would be a pleasant, yummy experience turned into feeling horrible all day and night.  I've still not completely recovered.  Totally wasn't worth it.

I'm starting to worry that I'll never be able to eat again.  I know that's ridiculous, I'm sure I'll be able to eat again but now that I feel so good, it's so obvious how bad food makes me feel bad.  When I didn't know it before, I was oblivious.  Now there is no un-ringing that bell and I have to say, that sort of makes me sad.  I love to eat food that isn't good for me.  It's so gooey and cheesy and delicious!  But wow, it's amazing how horrible I feel after eating!

Oh well, you live and you learn, right?  But now I know what happens when I eat and I'm going to try my best to remember how I feel and hope that it turns me off to eating the nasty stuff.  I'm hoping I have a really strong Pavlovian response to junk food...like when I'm around it, I immediately get nauseous.  I'm sure that will make more likely to resist the temptation!

I know it sounds crazy but I totally love juicing. After eating a little yesterday, I was totally psyched to drink my juice this morning.  You'd think that I would want to give it up after a 47 day fast of nothing but juice but I can't wait to integrate it into my life.  I can see myself eating a small meal and snack a day but drinking juice the rest of the time.  I absolutely love it.  Who would have thought it? I mean, for real?  I may be one of those people who when I come to visit overnight, ask you not if you have enough room for me to sleep, but if you have enough counter space where I can set up my juicer.