All the cool kids are doing it. Yeah that’s right, it, and you know what it is, juicing. Everybody’s on the juicing bandwagon, and with benefits like increased nutrient absorption and mental clarity, why wouldn’t you be? Ok, I can think of a few reasons…I hate to say it, but juicing does have a dark side, not like a Dexter Morgan “I’m secretly a serial killer” kind of dark side, just a “I’m a pretty expensive way for you to consume more sugar than you really need” kind of dark side. That’s right, juicing is great, but it’s still juice – that thing you probably shouldn’t give to babies or they’ll end up obese, it’s not just about apple juice, it’s about juice, the sugary nectar from fruits and vegetables.
Juice, when done correctly, is also very expensive. For a long time, I would get frustrated by the prices when I walked in to New Moon, our local health food store in Truckee. But truth be told, the prices are fantastic. New Moon is getting their organic vegetables at a wholesale cost, and you will find quickly that purchasing the amount of organic vegetables that you need to squeeze and grind in to one juice is rather pricey, even if you do it on your own at home. You could likely take that same amount of vegetables and divide them about into your meals throughout a day or two, just as if not more healthy (you’re eating the skin and fibers), and far more economical.
Now that I’ve adequately played Devil’s Advocate (you’re welcome, Mama), I feel better about making the following statement: Juice makes me feel AWESOME. I don’t know what it is, but when I finish drinking a juice, I want to rebuild the scene from Almost Famous when the rock star, Russel, screams “I am A Golden GOD” and subsequently “I am on drugs!” and jumps into the pool. Because that’s how I feel after drinking juice. But…
I am not a wasteful lady. In fact, I hate food waste, it is my pet peeve, it is what makes me go into other people’s refrigerators and shamelessly judge them, I just won’t stand for it. So this week, I experimented with making bread (could easily be muffins as well) out of the extracted pulp from the vegetables in your juicer. These will be very fibrous muffins. I made mine with chocolate chips, because YES, the bread does have an “earthy” taste, but based on the three slices I ate in one day; it was pretty dang good. If you like this post and want to see others like it, feel free to fund it by checking out my campaign at Indiegogo. Now here’s the recipe:
Pulpy Chocolate Chip Bread
Bowl 1:
- 2 cups extracted pulp from your juicer (I had juiced carrots, an apple, beets, cucumbers, parsley and kale – be sure to sift through the pulp to get out any large pieces of skin or fiber out)
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1 very ripe banana
- 1 cup melted coconut oil
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup agave nectar or honey (it will be slightly sweeter with agave, which I liked 🙂 )
Bowl 2:
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose gluten free flour (or feel free to use whole wheat flour if you’re not GF)
- 1 tspn Xanthum Gum (only necessary for GF Flour)
- 1 tbs baking powder
- 2 tbs cinnamon
- 1 tspn nutmeg
Mix bowl 1 together with a hand mixer, then add Bowl 2 to Bowl 1, mix the bowls together until well incorporated. If the conglomeration seems too soupy, add flour. Once the bowls are well mixed, add 1 cup of dark chocolate chips, and walnuts if you please! Bake at 350 for about forty minutes. Enjoy!
Summit Sustenance 