Drink Your Veggies . . . and Other Adventures in (Non) Eating . . .

Green Star Juicer

8:00 a.m.  My (urine) pH is 7.0, my husband is at 6.0

I'm drinking water and I made myself some custom blend herb tea which is blah compared to my usual morning brew of Guyaki Yurba Mate, a teaspoon of maple syrup, and rice milk. But the tea is hot and it helps me feel as if I'm in my usual, comfortable routine.

9:00 a.m. 

I wash the veggies and my husband starts juicing. I'm feeling pretty excited about our first glass of green juice.

Our Morning Brew

Makes about a quart

1 lb. raw spinach leaves

6 stalks celery

1/2 cup Italian parsley

6 leaves romaine lettuce

1 cup salad greens

1 lemon

I chug about 20 ounces straight down without breathing. My husband savors the juice. I think he's acting a bit like a juice snob. The spinach has a mild taste and the celery and romaine add a touch of sweetness. Ya right. Don't follow this recipe because it sucks.

I hear people talking about their green juices as if they are a fine wine. They go on about the "sweetness", the "finish on their tongue", blah, blah, blah.  I think they're liars. I think they hate this stuff as much as I do. Whatever.

10:00 a.m.  My pH is 7.2, my husband is up to 6.6

OK, I have to admit, I'm jazzed because my pH is up, I feel like a pH snob.

11:00 a.m. My pH is up to my targeted 7.4 and I'm stoked!

We're heading out to run some errands and I'm full of energy. My husband is quiet.

12:00 On the road

We stop at the roadside stand on Hwy 12 because the strawberry guy is there. I buy three baskets of red, juicy, ripe strawberries and I show tremendous strength of character as I carefully place them in the cooler in my car without tasting any.

12:30 p.m.  Laguna Farm, CSA

We arrive at Laguna Farm and Farmer Scott is wrenching on the tractor but stops to come and greet us. He comments about the strawberries in the car so I offer him a couple. I am amazed that he saw them at all as I had pulled them out of the cooler and tucked them way at the back of my Volvo wagon. Farmers nose. Scottie takes a bite of a strawberry, murmurs, and rolls his eyes. I want to slap him and rip the ripe strawberries from his hand.

1:00 p.m.  Whole Foods Market, Sebastopol

We decide to try the green juice at Whole Foods. We both choose the Whole Foods Green Drink because one of the ingredients is spinach. We pay our $11.00 for our two, 16 once juices. The juice is not green it's orangish. Turns out there is very little spinach, and lots of carrots and celery in this concoction. It tastes good because it's sweet so I sip it knowing this is going to tank my pH.

2:30 p.m.  Driving home

I'm cranky. I always get cranky when I'm deprived of food. I consider robbing an unripe avocado from our Laguna Farm produce to eat. 

4:00 p.m. My pH is 7.4, husband is 6.6

After putting away all of the farm produce, I peel a bunch of bananas and rinse the strawberries. I put the fruit on trays and place them in the chest freezer for tomorrows smoothies (YIPEE!) I feel pretty smug that I didn't even lick my fingers.

5:00 p.m.  pH, schme-H

6:00 p.m.

After doing some online research about detoxing for heavy metals and radiation, I pull out my stash of French Green Clay from Frontier Herbs, and my husband joins me in taking a teaspoon of clay in a bottle of water. It's a bit chalky but we manage to get it down then drink another 10 ounces of water. I'm hoping the clay will 'stick to my ribs'.

7:54 p.m. 

I'm so bloody hungry I'm ready to chug the Macadamia nut oil I just got from Mountain Rose Herbs. Seriously. 

8:00 p.m. My pH is 7.2

I blame the lower pH on the carrots in the Whole Foods juice. 

I'm feeding the visiting blue jay stale almonds on the front porch thinking to myself, "I could just pop a few of these babies in my mouth and no one would ever know."

Instead I go back inside the house and make myself a cup of rose hip tea. Ya, I know it's not green, slap me.

8:45 p.m.  I don't give a #$%! what my pH is!

This tea is good, I wonder if it's going to tank my pH.


9:00 p.m. On the computer searching for recipes

There are an infinite number of vegan recipes online. I've chosen a Creamy Cucumber Dip recipe I found on the Whole Foods site.

Creamy Cucumber dip ~ photo credit Whole Foods Mkt.

Creamy Cucumber Dip

Makes about 2 cups

1 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked


1 English cucumber (about 1 1/4 pound), peeled and shredded 


2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 


1/4 cup freshly chopped dill 
 (I'm going to use parsley because I don't have fresh dill)

2 tablespoons freshly chopped chives 


2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
Soak cashews with enough water to cover for at least 4 hours. Drain.

Place shredded cucumber in a strainer and set aside for at least 15 minutes to drain, then squeeze out as much excess liquid as possible. You should have about 1 1/2 cups packed shredded cucumber. Transfer cucumber to the bowl of a food processor. Add drained cashews, lemon juice, dill and chives and purée until dip is smooth and creamy. Garnish with pine nuts and serve.

Nutrition
Per serving (about 1/4 cup): 170 calories (110 from fat), 12g total fat, 2g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 25mg sodium, 12g total carbohydrate (3g dietary fiber, 3g sugar), 6g protein

10:00 p.m.  My pH is 6.8

Bummed. The tea did tank my pH. I'm going to soak some cashews and go to bed and dream about the meals I'll make tomorrow . . .