Introducing
"Our Living Kitchen Principles"
How to Store & Prepare Produce for Juicing and Blending!
Video:
A Little Personal History....
Back in 1990 I came up with a thought that has followed me for decades. Perhaps it's because we are from Southern California (San Diego area) that I had the opportunity to buy great organic produce year round, and was in the kitchen night and day, lol..but I tend to believe it's because Jay and my life as teachers and advocates of juicing and eating a primarily living diet, I decided to go deep into the thought, by realizing how can we bring more 'life' into our diet when our appliances and tools are not going to support this kind of lifestyle?
That's how Our Living Kitchen was born. In my book, Live Foods/Live Bodies I have an entire chapter on what appliances and tools work well with a juicing/blending and predominating living food lifestyle needs. Our juicer is the king of the kitchen and our blender is the queen. How can we make home made salad dressings without a good blender? What about a sprouting method? That's important as well. Tools such as salad spinners, glass containers for juices, smoothies and salads are important as well. Then there's things like tofu makers, dehydrators and so much more.
Starting a New Life!
Beginning a new way of eating can feel challenging. I'm going to help you sort through all the confusion. It's actually not as daunting as one would believe. This is because so much feels new. We question ourselves, by saying, how on earth am I going to do this, consistently. How is my partner or family going to react? What if I fail?
We ALL feel this way in the beginning. Even I did when I married Jay and he came home with 50 pounds of discheviled carrots in a bag comingled with varieties of all kinds of fruits greens and veggies. I had never been married, nor had I had to deal with this kind of volume. Yes, I had been brought up in a veg family since childhood, juicing as well, but my mother and grandmother ran the kitchen! But I learned quickly how to sort out what works and what didn't. Jay was a gentle man and a wonderfully loving teacher to me so it came a lot easier than had he been tough with me.
Let's remember, any new project we embark on, whether it be with a new job or relationship, it does seem to bring on anxiety, yet it also can bring excitement and opportunity for change.
Let's Get Started!
This week's program is designed to help lay out a way to ease into a new way of eating that's worked for me for 50 years. First, though, let me as you a question:
What are your Goals?
Energy/Vitality
Weight Loss
Longevity
Overcoming a Disease
Detoxify the Body
all of the above?
Believe it or not, ALL of these will be achieve simultaneously as we start this new journey. Despite the reasons, your overall health, longevity, energy, vitality and cleansing of the wastes from the body, including transforming your lifestyle can all be achieved by changing the way you eat. As a result of changing the way you eat, your lifestyle will transform and as I will discuss later on in my newsletter, you'll see that even your mood and perspective in life will transform.
Getting excited about starting a new regimen can trip us up sometimes, because we are not prepared for what it really takes to sustain a long relationship with produce for either juicing, smoothies or super salad preparation. I've been teaching this way of life since 1980, and living this way since 1965. I have learned so many things about how to ease into it, not just with precision, but mostly, with pre-thinking before you go to the store to start your new and healthy, colorful life.
Yes, it takes organization, it takes patience and it also takes diligence. Let's start with the first one. Also...we need to keep motivated. GO TO: youtube.com/livefoodslivebodies and watch Jay!
#1. Organization: First and foremost, we need to clean out the refrigerator of foods that no longer support our new way of juicing and eating. Try to see it as a way of a new beginning for you. Turn on music. Turn on the kind of music that brings you joy or relaxes you. For me, I love going to youtube and playing Michael FK ethereal music because it helps me get into the mood of loving my new life, loving my kitchen and loving those in my family to ensure their health is our number one concern.
#2. Patience: We must learn a bit of patience because, let's face it, sometimes produce is messy, dirty, and cumbersome. And I will guarantee, you will fail on and off. I do, and we all do. The real key is how soon do we get up and start again? if we screw up, we need to get back on the horse asap... so to speak!
I like to use the word compassion too. The higher meaning of patience, in my mind is compassion. Having compassion for ourselves also allows for mistakes, and yes of course so does patience, but if compassion sounds better to you, then use it. (I do) Once you get your produce home, it's important to be patience and soak, clean and store. Relax into the music and invite the kids or your partner so they can see how the process works. It's fun... and when our two boys were little, I loved bringing them into the kitchen so they could see how important it was to get into the process of learning to be patient and learning how to organize our foods so that we could ultimately respect how much time and effort it takes to fuel our bodies with high vibrational juices, smoothies and living foods. Once they get it, they'll ask to help you in the future, and even if they don't they will appreciate how much dedication you've given to making sure your family is well taken care of, nutritionally.
#3. Diligence: This is a word I'm not too fond of, because for me, buying and storing produce for future juice is an honor. Why? Well, it's simple but kind of complicated... It's an honor because juicing this way has kept me (at almost 70 years old now) superiorly healthy, it's given me great energy, vitality and endurance to continue to stay open hearted and opened minded. Yes, it's true. Juicing actually affects our minds in ways that keep us optimistic and joyful.
Perhaps I'll use another word. Focus. Or how about Consistency. The one I like the best? Commitment. A loving Commitment. I like to see it as embracing this commitment, lovingly because it gives back SO much to me. Trust me when I tell you that it's worth every effort you make.
Now that You're Home from Shopping: First, get some comfy clothes on, put on your favorite apron, turn on some of your favorite music as I mentioned above. I also really like to listen to Tony Anderson's Beautiful Ambient Mix, from Youtube. Fill your sink up next and start to deconstruct the product you purchased.
Now that your fridge is clean....
Purchasing your Produce: I love going to our local Farmer's Market on the weekends. However, sometimes I don't have time to do it because I usually dedicate Saturdays and sometimes Sundays to working at our meditation center to help prepare and feed others. I urge you to purchase produce that is organic, and if you can't, I understand. In my newsletter entitled #2, you can see the way I wash and store produce that is not organic*** so that the surface sprays are removed. When I can't get to the Farmer's Market, what I do is go to my local store (for me, it's Meijer). They always have great deals on either organic or non organic produce and I usually buy in bulk because I like to buy in bulk because most of it can store well for up to a week. Most big stores like Pete's or Whole Foods has wonderful produce too (I live in the Chicago area) but Whole Foods is National. Here's a great tip: Get to know your produce guy or gal! At the Meijer store close to where I live, I have built a relationship with them, whereby I can get older produce they can't use any longer and they sell it to me by bulk. Another good thing to do, is to ask them if they can sell me 25 pounds of carrots instead of the 5 pounds that they have. Sometimes they package bulk carrots into 5 and 3 pound bags, from a 25 pound bag. This way I get a great deal. Unfortunately, every store has their own rules, but in my case, they've been very generous with me. Another good tip is to find a restaurant supply store. When Jay was alive we lived in northern Washington State and they had a store called Cash and Carry. it was for restaurant owners, but anybody could come in a buy from them. You'll have to look online to find one like this, so you can purchase produce by bulk. I remember buying 2 pounds of fresh mint in the summertime....oh how I loved to juice it with cilantro carrots apples and ginger. Delish! They also had great supplies for keep the kitchen clean as well. AND, they also sold dried beans, quinoa, millet and rice for great prices, but they sold them only by 20 pound bags. We usually just used the produce from these restaurant supply stores. Luckily, in Chicago, they have a Cash and Carry store, but it's not in the best location, so I only go once every two weeks as it's a long trek.
Here's a list of what you can buy to help get you started for the first week: (family of 2 to 4)
Veggies and Greens
20 pounds carrots (4, five pound bags)
1/2 pound Ginger root
10 pounds apples (red delicious or fuji is recommended)
2 large Cilantro bunches
2 large Parsley bunches (either curly or flat)
1/2 pound fresh Ginger root
3 large Beets (sometimes they come in a bunch of 3)
1/2 head red or green cabbage
16 ounces of packaged Spinach (or) 1 large bunch of adult Spinach
3 large Cucumbers (I like the hothouse kind)
1 large head Celery
3 Red Orange or Yellow Bell Peppers
1 Jalapeno Pepper (optional)
1 head Swiss Chard (or similar)
3 Lemons
3 Limes
Fruits
3 pounds Oranges
3 pounds Grapefruits
3 pounds Pears (Bartlett or Bosc juice best)
Pineapple (when in season)
As you move into different seasons, you can purchase things like berries, stone fruits etc.,. but as we are getting to Fall, I am only showing Citrus Apples and Pears. I always recommend only buying produce in season. It's less expensive "and" it's also better for us.
All of this will make (for each person) 32 ounces of juice (daily) for 2 people for a week. (approximately)
Here's what I do:
Veggies and Greens
Carrots: I remove the plastic bag, cut the ends of the carrots off and scrub the dirt off of the carrots. Do not peel them. The peels contain an abundance of nutrients. Next, put paper towels into one of your bins, and place the carrots into the bin. Cover with paper towels.
Leafy Greens: Take your dark leafy greens: Spinach, Swiss Chard, Parsley, Cilantro and any other dark green you purchase needs to be undone and placed into your sink. Fill it up with cold water and let them soak for a minute or so. Gather them up individually, and put into a 12x12 zip lock bag, but first line it with paper towels so they will keep fresh and some of the water will be absorbed into the towel. I like the Glad zip locks because their design to keep the bags secure works well. Your greens will stay fresh for 10 days done this way.
Beets: Soak the beets for a minute, simultaneously scrubbing the dirt off of of them. I sometimes cut off one of the ends off of them because they can be very
dirty.
Ginger/Turmeric/Garlic: I refrigerate these and keep them in my bins. I do not peel the Ginger, Turmeric or Garlic when juicing, or blending for that matter.
Celery: I take each rib and soak them in cold water for a few minutes. Then I put them into paper towels and store them in the refrigerator drawers (bins). They're usually too long to store in zip lock bags, but if you cut them in two, they'll fit nicely. My experience with Celery is that they stay firm whether they're inside the zip lock bags or not.
Cucumber: I do not ever recommend peeling Cucumbers before juicing or even blending, that IS, if they're English Cucumbers (hot house cucumbers). These are the kinds of cucumbers that are not waxed. If you purchase cucumbers that have a wax on them, I suggest soaking them in cold water for several minutes (3 to 4) and scrub well. Then you can use the entire cucumber with the skin.
Swiss Chard: (or similar) Take the leaves, separate them and place them in cold water sink. Rinse well then store in zip lock bags with paper towels in between each leaf or in between every two or three leaves. Store in your fridge's bins.
Bell Peppers: I do not recommend Green Bell Peppers. They are unripened Red Peppers. Dark red Peppers have more antioxidants and more vitamin C than the green ones. I recommend washing them and do not cut them open until you are ready to juice. Cut out the seeds but leave as much of the white that's located inside the peppers. Powerful bioflavinoids are located here and will help keep you free from winter colds or even summer flues.
Fruits
Pineapples - If they're unripe once you purchase them, soak for one minute in cold water, then scrub with a scrub brush, leaving the tops on the Pineapple. Then turn upside down and keep on your kitchen countertop until it ripens. This means it should start to smell quite sweet. Then it's ready to be juiced. I order to take the top off of the pineapple, take your left hand and grab the top of the pineapple with your right hand and twist! Now the top will twist off easily. Refrigerate the Pineapple until ready to juice or blend. Peel. then juice or blend.
Apples - Soak apples in cold water for a few minutes, then dry. Keep in the refrigerator. They'll last for a good few weeks. I usually always put them in a large bowl so I can see them when I open up the refrigerator doors.
Pears: Soak pears for a few minutes, then dry. If they're not ripe, put them into a large bowl and let them ripen. Once fairly ripe, they're perfect for eating. If you want to juice them, then once they're dry and out of the sink, you can refrigerate them, then juice the next day or even that day. Pears are better juiced when firm. The same can't be said for blending. They should be ripe.
Limes/Lemons: Wash them, scrub them then keep in the refrigerator until needed. Not necessary to peel when juicing, but I would suggest peeling them if blending them.
Oranges/Grapefruits: Try to pick out heavy oranges or grapefruits. This insures they're full of juice. Also their skin should be smooth, not ruddy. Like our skin, ruddy skin is full of large pores. These citrus fruits should have a very smooth skin, small pores. Peel them before juicing and leave as much of the white as possible! This is where all the bioflavinoids (super powerful vitamin C) is located. The insides of the oranges and grapefruits are only the sugar water of the fruit, albeit, valuable but without the pith from the fruits, it's not compete.
It may seem like a tremendous amount of produce, but I can assure you, if there's two of you, it will go fast. 1 Pineapple, for example, when juiced or blended will feed two people for 1 to 2 days, even if you're juicing or blending it with other fruits. Carrots go very quickly, when you consider, 10 carrots per person, per day even when combined with other greens or veggies.
Veg Juice Combination to Start With in Afternoon or Evening after Dinner
15 Carrots to 20 Carrots
2 handfuls of Spinach, Parsley, Cilantro or Swiss Chard
8 ribs Celery
1 large Cucumber
1/2 Beet without its greens
3 Apples
Fruits (best consumed in the AM)
3 peeled Oranges
1 peeled Grapefruit
1/2 fresh Ginger Root
Juice and drink immediately! It should make about 40 to 60 ounces of juice. This can be split between two people. We do not recommend storing juices, unless they are pressed or you're using a slow juicer like the Good Nature juicers, the Nama, Greenstar or Angel juicer. The benefits of using a fast juicer are wonderful, but we can't store juices. Slow juicers have a lot of micro fibers in them, so this is what keeps the juices stable. More on this later.
***Here's the pesticide remover I use at home
The first thing to do, is to wash your fruits and vegetables, even if they are organic. The number of people who eat fruits and vegetables straight from a packet or the fridge, without running them under the tap first is quite shocking. Washing bagged salads is also highly recommended, despite the packet saying it’s pre-washed. Bagged salad is a breeding ground for E. coli and other bacteria so it needs to be washed again before eating. Before being packaged up, the salad is washed with an array of toxic chemicals by manufacturers, including chlorine and bleach. Washing off this chemical residue is essential.
Here’s 3 ways to effectively remove pesticides from fruits and vegetables and actually I use all three in my large sink filled with cold water:
1) Soak 1 heaping tbsp. of salt using Himalayan salt or sea salt for 20 minutes. Researchers discovered that 10% salt water solution is effective for removing common pesticide residues including DDT. Rinse with water afterwards.
2) Use bicarbonate of soda (also known as bicarb and baking soda) to clean your fruits and vegetables. Add 1 teaspoon of bicarb to 2 cups of water and soak for 15 minutes. Rise with water afterwards.
3) Soak in vinegar (any type) and water for 20 minutes. You need to use 1-part vinegar to 4-parts water. Be careful, porous fruits such as berries may become soggy when soaked for too long, so I only soak them for 5 minutes.
Sending my best to you and your loved ones
May you be full of vitality, joy and health!
Linda Kordich
