A Fasting Fiasco?

When Mike and I decided to fast for one-day a week in March we assumed it would be easiest monthly challenge yet, however the opposite has turned out to be true! So far we have attempted to fast for the last three Sundays in a row, and we still have next Sunday to go, in order to complete the challenge.

The first Sunday went well, however since then we have not been 100% well. The second Sunday was right after my dad had returned home from hospital and I was completely emotionally fatigued; from both daily hospital visits and the difficulties that arose around his return home (cue second family crisis in the same week).

So I must admit I was pretty half-hearted about the fasting by Sunday. I had been fine preparing more juices for breakfast and lunch hunger pangs, but by dinner time the emotional NEED for a hot meal was nearly overwhelming. I definitely would have broken down in tears if I hadn't been able to eat dinner. So Mike and I opted for a light healthy dinner of steamed rice and vegies, with a little home-made satay sauce for taste. Simple and absolutely delicious.

Yesterday was the third Sunday of the month and again we failed in our attempt to fast for the day, this time because Mike is sick with the flu. He had been coughing, sneezing and sweating profusely with fever since Saturday afternoon so we agreed it might not be the best time to tax his system with a fast.

We still did our best and had juice and water for most of the day (he didn't have much of an appetite anyway) but by late afternoon he was hungry so I made us the comfort-food my mum always made me when I was sick, "boiled eggs and soldiers". If I had better will power I would have just made some for Mike and not myself, but I'm not that strong.

So next Sunday is our last chance to do the full 24-hour fast and attempt to find any physical, mental or emotional benefit. I'll report back once the month is finished!

Home-made juices

The Juice Extravaganza

We upgraded our juicer at the weekend. When we realised that our current juicer (that we bought second hand at The Salvos) was so large and loud to use that it was actually stopping us from juicing, we decided to find a "new and improved" version to try.

Without too much time wasted we found our new wonder juicer and promptly bought a bag of apples and selected fruit and veg to start juicing. I read the instructions first, which probably seems like overkill (I mean, how hard can juicing be?) but I actually learnt a lot! Four key juicing tips I learnt are:

• When juicing multiple items always start with the softest then move onto the harder items
• To juice herbs (I used mint) roll it up into a ball and push it through the juicer under another item (I used an apple)
• If you aren't going to clean the juicer straight away, leave the strainer in soapy water and it is easy to clean later (don't let food dry out in the strainer - it solidifies)
• You can re-use the pulp left-overs from the juicer! I always used to compost the pulp but I learnt that you can also make teas and use the pulp as a nutritious filler in soups and stews. I used my mint pulp to brew a GORGEOUS cup of mint tea. I am not exaggerating either, this was THE best mint tea I've ever tasted.

I only cut up half our bag of granny smith apples and that turned out to be PLENTY as a base for two different mocktails. At first I juiced everything separately (except the mint which went through with an apple, as described above); then tasted each juice and mixed it with the other ingredients to pick the perfect combinations.

Our original ingredients were:

• A bag of granny smith apples (and one lemon to stop browning)
• A bunch of mint (juiced with one apple)
• Half a rockmelon
• Several celery
• Half a dozen pears

The instructions were also helpful in suggesting certain recipes, however I prefer to experiment. The general guide seems to be: add watery juices to pulpier ones to attain a pleasant consistency for drinking (not too watery, not to thick). Using the ingredients above the best combinations were:

1. Apple, rockmelon and pear. YUM
2. Apple, celery and mint. Mmmm, refreshing.

One important thing to note is that when I brushed my teeth at the end of the day I was amazed to find I still had rockmelon juice in my mouth. Fruit juice can rot your teeth and as good for you as it is, it is not worth a trip to the dentist! So always clean your teeth after YOUR juice-fest.