Blog Archives

McDonalds To Close 700 Locations

6/20/2015

The fast food giant Mcdonalds announced that it is closing around 700 locations worldwide. While thats not a huge dent considering the millions of "restaurants" still out there it's still pretty exciting.
I lovingly refer it as McDeath and their chicken nuggets as McParts, and there is clearly something addictive put in their Special Sauce..
In the Juice Junkie book I mention the documentary on McDonalds called Super Size Me. Morgan Spurlock who is also behind the 30 Days tv docu-series, spent 30 days eating only at McDonalds. He ended up fat sick and depressed. The scariest part other than his post-McD's blood tests were the experiements on the foods themselves. Took various menu items from McDonalds as well as the equivalent from a regular restaurant or burger joint and placed them all in glass containers, basically to see how fast they would rot. They assumed with all the chemicals and preservatives that the McDonalds food would stay fresh a little longer than the "real" food, and boy were they shocked and how right they were. I think the french fries sat there for 6 months unchanged. They looked seriously new. Food should never do that!
if you want to see the article announcing the closings you can find it here.

1 Comment

What you probably don't know about essential oils...

6/17/2015

4 Comments

If you're anything like me you don't just want to know what works, you want to know how it works. I like to get a little Science-y every now and then, and I stumbled on this great article explaining how essential oils do some of their most important tasks.
Things like improving cellular function and warding off nasty bacteria and viruses to name a few. Click the link below to read on.

Click to Read Article

4 Comments

Vote now! Support the Coffee House Cafe!

6/16/2015

1 Comment

Have you ever wondered where your favorite authors escape to when they're dreaming up new characters and crafting clever plot twists?
Well I'm not sure, I'll have to go ask J.K. Rowling or Stephen King, but THIS is where I wrote most of The Juice Junkie!

Could you ask for a more inspiring patio? There's a fireplace for ambiance, and well-behaved pooches are welcome too. I personally approve of their fresh squeezed orange juice.

Chewy Bear highly approves of their French Toast Sandwich, and the Lemon Ricotta pancakes rival Sarabeth's in New York City.
They are one of the top picks for a Chase Mission Main Street grant and we need your votes!

What it's all about:
"We've applied for a grant for that little patch of Texas dirt where Coffee House Café sits - for direct sourcing our beans and roasting them in house and being able to package them up for sale by the pound and for our use in house to offer to our customers and beyond "
Vote Here!
https://www.missionmainstreetgrants.com/b/70453

1 Comment

The Ultimate Summer Reading List!

6/3/2015

1 Comment

School's out and it's definitely Summer! It's time to sit by the pool with a cold glass of juice and a good book.

This is my Summer 2015 reading list, though the way things are stacking up I'm not sure I'll have time to finish them all!

Juice Junkie book # 2 is now in the works, and I still have a day job folks. Also I'm moving to a new place very soon so I'll be enjoying some of these books while sitting on my new patio.
Enjoy!

SUMMER BY THE SEA - Susan Wiggs
"This summer Rosa Capoletti is about to rediscover the pleasures of love and laughter, food and wine, friendship and romance… "

You had me at Pizza and Romance!

INDIAN SUMMER - Elizabeth James
"A Jewelled Journey through Indian Pattern and Colour. Switch off, unwind, and unleash your inner creativity as you lose yourself in the flow of colouring in these stunning patterns and designs. "

Did you know adult coloring books are all the rage?!? Now you do!

JUMP START YOUR DAY - Elaine Gutierrez
"If you are struggling with getting up and getting started every day then “Jump Start Your Day: Everyday Mini Habits That Will Change Your Life for the Better” is the book for you. "

Mornings are hard. Do them right!

THE HAPPINESS PROJECT - Gretchen Rubin
"Gretchen Rubin had an epiphany one rainy afternoon in the unlikeliest of places: a city bus. "The days are long, but the years are short," she realized. "Time is passing, and I'm not focusing enough on the things that really matter." In that moment, she decided to dedicate a year to her happiness project. "
Come on, Get Happy!

ADULTING - Kelly Williams Brown
"If you graduated from college but still feel like a student . . . if you wear a business suit to job interviews but pajamas to the grocery store . . . if you have your own apartment but no idea how to cook or clean . . . it's OK. But it doesn't have to be this way. "
Still, there's nothing wrong with PJ's.

THE JUICE JUNKIE - Kristen Torgerson
"Learn to juice like a pro!
Learn to think like a juicing success story!"
". . .Kristen is exactly the kind of person that should be writing on these subjects, and I hope she has plans for many more juicing books to come. "
I sure do, but there's nothing like the original.
Always good to re-read and keep the motivation going strong!

1 Comment

Juicer Wars!

6/2/2015

12 Comments

Here it is folks, the battle round you've been waiting for. The Jack Lalanne vs. The Big Boss Juicer. The Centrifugal vs. Masticating. Which juicer will take home the title of The Juice Junkie Smackdown - Champion Juicer?!

If you already picked up a copy of the Juice Junkie Book, then you know that I personally own and use two different juicers. The reasons why I ended up with two are explained in Chapter 7,' Juicing Supplies'. If you haven't gotten your copy of the Juice Junkie book, then what are you waiting for?!?
To thoroughly compare each juicer to the other, I set up two identical bowls of produce, varying in all different kinds of greens, fruits, hard and soft items, and a little tropical curve ball just for fun. I am looking to prove how well each one can juice hard and soft items, how fast it can juice them, how much juice they produce, and the taste and general quality. I'll also compare some of the mechanical differences, and quirks different to each. Now, let's get ready to RUMBLE!!!!

Weighing in at 11 pounds, the contender on the left is the Big Boss 9176 Nutritionally Beneficial Slow Juicer in Black. This Juicer features a single study gear which crushes produce slowly through its mesh basket, separating the juice from the pulverized pulp.
Weighing in at 13.8 pounds, the contender on the right is the Jack Lalanne Power Juicer in White. This juicer features a fast spinning steel blade and basket which powerfully shreds its produce and whirls it into the pulp receptacle faster than you can say Pacquiao.

Speed
No one can deny the speed of a centrifugal juicer. It's super fast blade and larger chute can accommodate a large quantity of produce at once, and it can shred most things apart with no hesitation. The slow masticating juicer is no bench warmer though. It's powerful gear happily hums along, chomping endlessly on what you feed it. The time it takes to juice with each machine can be divided into two categories; prep time and actual juicing time.
To accommodate the smaller chute and the amount of force required to chew up the produce with the Big Boss you will need to cut things a bit smaller. You do have a bit of leeway with most fruits and veggies, it's really only the harder items like beets and carrots that are less forgiving in this category. The Jack Lalanne can handle half an apple, or even 1 whole apple if it's small enough, and as long as it fits in the chute, you are good to go.
During the actual juicing I continually load up the chute of the Big Boss, and it has a handy tray up top that you can pile things on to keep it going. I only use the plunger about half the time to help push things along so you are more likely to have two hands free to load it up. The Jack Lalanne has 1 large chute with no feeder tray, and since the blade has so much speed and force, you need the plunger at all times to keep the produce moving against the blade and not flying up in your face.
Overall, juicing with the Big Boss took about 7 more minutes including prep time and juicing, so it's not a huge loss there.

Technique
Each juicer has its own specific requirements for operation and things to watch out for. The Big Boss juices everything whether hard or soft indiscriminately. I can tell that I am getting as much juice content from the green leafy items, as the berries, the carrots, etc... With the Jack Lalanne, it excels with harder items, but can breeze past the softer and squishier items too quickly. I try to mix up the density of produce that I juice at the same time so that when the blade and spinning basket are chopping up and spinning a hard juicy apple, it will also take with it more of juice from the softer greens. This requires paying a little bit more attention to how you are feeding the juicer to make sure you get the most out of it.
With the Big Boss juicer any stringy produce like celery or pineapple can sometimes get caught in the pulp chute. I keep a small fondue fork or skewer nearby to clear it if it becomes stopped up. The blade on the Jack Lalanne can get harder items like beets or peels from apples or citrus stuck on the center prongs. You'll need to unplug the juicer before you can pick off any produce that has stuck to the blade before you can proceed with juicing, or the sharpest parts of the blade will be covered up and not work.
Juicing with a Jack Lalanne also isn't for the faint of heart. Like I said before, you need to keep the plunger covering the chute at all times otherwise the produce can fly up onto your cabinets, or worse, your face. I have taken a carrot or two to the eye, so beware!

Quality
The quality of juice created by each is somewhat different. The slower masticating juicers do not heat up the produce, therefore, the nutrients are not diminished in that manner. The centrifugal juicer with it's high speed blade does apply some amount of heat during juicing. The high speed also produces more foam which is evident in the comparison pictures above and below. The top half of the Orange containers on the right are much more foamy, whereas there is hardly any foam in the Yellow and Red containers on the left.
(Left - Big Boss/Masticating - Right - Jack Lalanne/Centrifugal)
Foam increases the oxidation of the juice as it's exposed to a lot more air. One thing you also want to notice is the quality of the pulp that is leftover. Has it been fully processed and broken apart, and all the juice removed? The bowl on the left contains the very dry remnants of the Big Boss Masticating juicer. The pulp is so dry that it comes out of the tube almost like Play-Doh and retains the shape. It's very lightweight and dry and barely fill half of a small bowl. The two bags of pulp on the right are from the Jack Lalanne Centrifugal juicer. There are plenty of spinach leaves and pieces of lime that are still almost completely intact, and the pulp is heavy and wet. Almost mushy to be honest, and some of the coconut meat came through completely intact. I recommend that if you have this kind of juicer you may want to run the pulp through the juicer again a second time, or invest in a cheesecloth, or nut milk bag to strain out more of the juice.

Quantity
The Big Boss Juicer completely filled two of my juice containers (left) , whereas the Jack Lalanne filled one container, and less than half of the second (right). We actually snuck a taste test from the first round of juice from the Red bottle, so there was originally even more juice from the Big Boss than what is shown. If you want your money's worth, there is definitely a big difference in quantity with a masticating juicer.

Taste
You may not think the taste would be very different considering all of the ingredients were exactly the same, but it is. The masticating juicers can do a much better job with some of the softer greens, berries, and things like mint, ginger, and citrus. I threw in the coconut meat curve ball here because I've already tested mint and ginger in the past and it's not even a fair fight with the masticating juicer, it will always juice those better. I can use 3 single mint leaves in the Big Boss, versus entire sprigs of mint in the Jack Lalanne and still not even come close to the amount of flavor produced by the Big Boss. The same story with the ginger, I kept juicing piece after piece, adding more and more and I could smell the ginger from the Jack Lalanne, but not really taste it. The Big Boss really puts the lime in the coconut if you know what I mean.

Clean Up
The best way to lessen the cleaning time with any juicer is to do a few days worth of juice at a time. Then you are only cleaning juicer maybe 2-3 times a week. All parts of both juicers (minus the motor) are dishwasher safe. The blade on the Jack Lalanne will lose a bit of it's shiny finish, so you can opt to hand wash that part instead. Really on both machines the only difficult part to clean is the mesh baskets. They'll require brushing on both sides which you can do with any normal kitchen scrubber. I also use a bottle brush or toothbrush to quickly flush out any crevices on the other pieces. The Big Boss came with its own specially designed brush with 3 sizes of bristles to clean each section. As you can see in this picture the Jack Lalanne takes up a little more counter real estate, so if you have a really small kitchen you may want to find a more space saving model.

Ding Ding Ding... We have a Winner!
Well no one threw in the towel, and no one tapped out. Both contenders put up a respectable fight, and more importantly both can get you healthy! Due to the quantity, quality, and overall taste, as well as the space-saving design my vote goes to the Big Boss.

Congratulations to the Masticating Juicer, You juice Like a Boss!

12 Comments

<<Previous

Get the book!

the juice junkie

Kristen Torgerson

Juicer, Chocoholic,
Dog Lover, Joke Teller
-----------------------
Share your juicing success stories here!
-----------------------
Helpful hints, tips, tricks, and positive comments are always welcome

Find Local
Pet Sitters on Rover.com

McDonalds To Close 700 Locations

What you probably don't know about essential oils...

Vote now! Support the Coffee House Cafe!

The Ultimate Summer Reading List!

Juicer Wars!

Get the book!

Kristen Torgerson

Categories

Finally!
Saving Money can be Fun!

Get $5 free cash when you set up your account.

Archives

McDonalds To Close 700 Locations

What you probably don't know about essential oils...

Vote now! Support the Coffee House Cafe!

The Ultimate Summer Reading List!

Juicer Wars!

Get the book!

Kristen Torgerson

Categories

Finally!​Saving Money can be Fun!

Get $5 free cash when you set up your account.

Archives

Finally!
Saving Money can be Fun!