Juicy News

Last week I bought myself yet another juicer. So far, it is still in my possession and has not been returned. A good sign. Still not my perfect juicer though. I bought the (as seen on TV) Jack LaLanne power juicer on sale from Target (because I practically live there!). It is far easier to clean that the last one I bought (and promptly returned after using once and spending 30 minutes cleaning). But I wish the spout was higher because I can only fit a small juice glass under it. And it does not tilt up when I switching to an empty juice glass, thus requiring me to be quick with my hands. Which I am not.

But I have just felt run down a lot lately. Or always. And realized (duh!) that I don't get nearly as many fruits and veggies in my diet as needed. So a juicer to the rescue (This week anyway. I tend to be flighty with toys/fads like this. Ask me in two weeks if I still juice anything and then we can really talk.). The pup hates it as it is not quiet. She has very sensitive little princess puppy ears. But I don't make her drink my concoctions so I consider that a fair trade off. My dad rolled his eyes at me when I told him that I am yet again determined to be a "juicer." And in all honesty, I feel that is a fair response. As I said, I do not have a great track record with juicers. In fact, I think I own the very first electric juicer I ever had in a box in the basement somewhere. I believe I asked for and received it for Christmas in 8th or 9th grade. So my fascination and good intention goes back to childhood. The follow-through has yet to be found though.

The book says to drink it ASAP and not store it in the fridge. I of course make my own rules in life and say pish posh to that nonsense. So I am juicing about ever three days or so and keep in in the fridge where it seems to be surviving just fine, thankyouverymuch. Take that Jack LaLanne juicer recipe book! Above is my own little treat of a recipe - 1 apple, 1 pear (mmmm- my favorite!), 1 humongo carrot, 1 big bunch of baby spinach, and a knob of ginger. Take that and toss in blender with a bunch of fat free vanilla yogurt and a banana (they cannot be juiced - sad, I know!) and there you have it. Served in a wine glass because it makes me happy. And I think meals should make one happy. Most of my juicing is not this sweet but I felt like a smoothie tonight. I ended up drinking the entire thing with dinner (which consisted only of the 1/2 a too large to eat in one sitting chicken and red pepper pesto panini from lunch yesterday). Just think about how many lovely vitamins and fiber entered my happy body in just this one meal!

I hope my enthusiasm is maintained as it doesn't look like either flu shot is going to enter my body any time soon. And no, I am not mad at the government for over-estimating. It happens. When they get to me, they will get to me. I hope to get both. But will settle for the regular flu shot if that's all I can find. Don't get me started on how insane and irresponsible I think you are if you are one of the people who refuse to get one for any reason other than an actual medical issue. It saves lives. Mine, yours and then some.

They just showed the lab making the H1N1 shots in the US on 60 Minutes. Fascinating. I love stuff like that. Factory tours that is, not medical stuff. Let me assure you that I am not remotely fascinated by anything medical. I turn away from many of the scenes on Grey's. Medical and KK do not mix. (But a big shout out of congrats to my best girl Georgia who just decided to go back to school to become a nurse!! I'm wicked proud of you! Just please do not tell me anything about your studies. Ew.) But I love a factory tour. I can actually tell you the exact moment I decided I loved a factory tour and am curious to know if any of y'all share this same memory. Sesame Street had an episode that featured a tour of Crayola Crayons being made. Right then and there I decided it was completely fascinating. To date, my favorite factory is the Celestial Seasons (yes, the tea company) factory near Denver, CO. The tour is excellent fun but then, the gift shop is fabulous too!

Funny story. So a long time ago when I was in college, my best pal and sorority little sister (or sister daughter as they are now called), Little, and I signed up to do an Alternative Spring Break. You know, the trips where you go volunteer time and work instead of heading to Mexico and Texas. But a week before we were set to head up to Memphis to work at Saint Jude, they cancelled on us. We were both completely bummed and had been so looking forward to working with such an incredible program. So we scrambled. Her grandparents lived in Boulder and said we could come stay with them. So we found tickets and headed out to Colorado to hang with Grandma and Cowboy (she called her grandfather Cowboy- adorable!). We did a little of everything. I am a big fan of skiing so we went to a more local mountain one day. We both took separate half day lessons. It was her first and last experience. I still maintain that if she gave it another chance she would love it. So after lunch she sat in the lodge and I skied solo. Another day, my payback for her spending her day skiing for me, we went to the USAFA to watch them march. Her childhood friend was in school there at the time and she LOVES her a man in uniform. Bad weather came in though and the men and women didn't march that day. We went to the gift shop to buy a sweatshirt for her and they didn't have anything in her small size. So we left crest-fallen. Poor thing. So we headed back home. But on the way home, we passed the Keebler plant. Realizing my love of factory tours (we went to Celestial Seasoning earlier in the week and I have been to many others in my life) and our less than fabulous day, we pulled in that cookie filled parking lot. We were babbling on and on about how exciting the gift shop would be with all of their new products ready for us to test out. So we don't see any signs. Nor do we see any goofy tourists. We find their office though so I hop out to ask where we go for the tour and gift shop. The sweet gal behind the counter looks at me as if I asked to meet Santa Claus. I ask again. She politely says that they don't have a tour. And they don't have a gift shop either. Gasp! Horror! But she did offer me a cookie as they had a trey of them in the back office. How sad and pathetic is that?! Keebler, why no tour of the magic tree house and elves working hard? I would pay good money to see that any day of the week.

I have no real reason I have been blog absent for a week and half. Some days I didn't have anything exciting to say, some I was tired, and some I just never got around to it. It happens. Hopefully my fresh juice will give me more energy this coming week! I cannot believe that there are only two more months in 2009. I have about a million and one things to do before Christmas gets here. Eeks!