Sleeping Beauty

Do you ever have one of those mornings where you stay in bed 15 minutes longer than you really should? That has been a reoccurring problem for me my whole life. No matter how early I go to bed or how much sleep I get, it's always a struggle to get up in the morning. Even as a kid, I remember my dad coming into my room and flipping the light switch on and off in an attempt to get me moving. And by the way, the light switch in my room was not a normal light switch, it was a thunder light switch. It did not turn on and off silently like most light switches do. This sucker was LOUD! And then when I was in college I spent a summer with Aunt J and Uncle K. The only thing that got me out of bed then was the threat of Uncle K busting through the door and literally jumping on the bed until I got up. I just don't know why people won't let me ease into the day.

Anyway. Today was another one of those days. Now that I'm juicing, my morning routine is 30 minutes longer than it used to be. You can imagine my thrill when my alarm clock chirps. I made it work this morning (by cutting out ironing my whole shirt - hot tip: if you wear a sweater, you only have to iron the front of your shirt), but I need to get it together tomorrow.  

Tonight I have prepped my fruits and veg for juicing, so tomorrow (when I inevitably stay in bed 15 extra minutes) my juicing routine will take less than half the normal time. What a yummy breakfast! And look at all those vibrant colors!

cucumber, carrot, ginger, radish, celery, beet, kale, spinach, parsley, apple

Ready, Set, Garden!

Since we are consuming a ridiculous amount of veg these days, it seems like the logical next step would be to grow some of our own. We attempted a backyard garden last year. Due to the extreme heat and drought-like conditions, the output was minimal (and probably due to us being novices). Since then, Jason has clocked several hours (and I've clocked a few hours) volunteering at the downtown community garden. He's picked up some tips from the pros and we are much more experienced and prepared this time around. 

We spent Sunday prepping the garden and planting. Here's the garden all cleaned out and ready to go.

And hey! What's that colorful mixture of goodness on top of the soil, you ask? It's the pulp we saved from juicing! You can mix it into the soil for compost. Talk about a beautiful trifecta. Good for the soil, the soon-to-be veggies, and us! 

Hot tip: If you don't have a garden, you can donate your pulp to a local community garden or farm!

On the summer garden agenda this year: tomatoes, Thai peppers, habaneros, rainbow carrots, onions, eggplant, cilantro, parsley, and dill. Come on over in a few months for some SPICY salsa!

And I had to include this picture of Sasha. She loves gardening season too, just another excuse to be outside all day!

Aunt J Knows Best

Last Thanksgiving, Jason and I were in California and stopped in to see my favorite Aunt J and Uncle K. Aunt J is Mom's little sister, and we are three peas in a pod. I don't know how many times growing up my mom switched our names or said, "You are just like your Aunt J!" And Mom was right. I know I can thank her for several of my wonderful personality traits, and my height. Although she lived half way across the country, we always managed to stay close. I called myself her sidekick, and everything we did together was an adventure. It is fitting that she has played an instrumental role in my road to vegan.

At our last visit, Aunt J had semi recently become vegan. The change was a good thing for her, and I could see that she was glowing and even more full of life than ever before (which is hard to believe if you know her). We talked some about the change while flipping through a vegan cookbook. We admired the colorful dishes and fun presentations. While I was intrigued, many of the ingredients listed in the recipes were foreign to me. It sounded like a good idea in theory, I just didn't know if I could do it. But with Aunt J making it look so simple, I thought I'd give it a try.

Each morning while we were there, Aunt J made us a juice concoction to go with breakfast. Jason and I have adopted juicing, and now swear by it. With juicing, your body does not have to work hard to digest anything, so all the nutrients are absorbed immediately. Some people make "green smoothies" which are also incredibly good for you. If you're looking for nutrients plus extra fiber, that's a good way to go, too.

Daily Juicing

The contents of our juice varies depending on what we have on hand. We buy greens in bulk from Costco, and the rest from the farmer's market. We try to do about 3/4 vegetables to 1/4 fruit. Here's what I made yesterday:

2 handfuls of spinach

2 handfuls of kale

2 stalks of celery

1/2 cucumber

1/2 beet

1/2 apple

1/2 orange

1/2 lime

3 carrots

1 inch ginger

*Makes anywhere from 12-20 ounces, depending on how juicy your fruits and veg are.