tomatoes

Last year was the very first time in my life I have planted tomatoes. My hubby built me a raised bed last year and I planted a few cherry tomato plants. It was fun to go out everyday to see if any cherry tomatoes were growing.

This year I thought it went so well that instead of planted 4, I'd plant 11 in the same amount of spacing. I knew there were rules on how close you could plant them, but I thought hey...the more the merrier. Plus I want to plant as many tomato plants as I can so I can make salsa and hopefully tomato sauce. My goal really is to become self-sufficient as much as possible. I'm hoping to grow things that we eat a lot of. We eat salsa at least once a week, and tomato sauce once a week as well. So we'll see how much salsa/tomato sauce I can generate with 11 plants. 

I planted a few different kinds of tomatoes. I planted one row of hybrids and one row of heirlooms. I didn't know till after I brought them home what the difference was. According to Lowes.com: 

Heirloom tomatoes are old varieties grown from seed saved from season to season. Heirlooms are a category unto themselves. They tend to be less disease resistant and "wilder" in appearance. Fans insist that their flavor and uniqueness make up for any disadvantages.

Hybrid tomatoes are developed to give growers the best characteristics of all varieties. Fruit size, crop yield and disease resistance are all traits of hybrids.

When I first planted the tomato plants I put the cages on them so they'll go big and tall in the cage. I put the cages on them just the way I bought them from the store with the big side down....until I posted my proud picture on facebook and one of my more experienced gardener friends asked me what my secret tip was to putting them upside down like that. Ha! I had no idea they were upside down. How embarrassing! I turned them around the right way.

The tomato plants after I first planted them with the cages the wrong way...

My eldest child posing with the tomato plants with the cages the right way.

They've been growing for 1 month and I'm seeing so many tomatoes growing! I am now starting to understand why the guidelines are to plant the tomatoes a bit apart. They are getting so big, I am having a hard time seeing in between the plants.

My RESULS from the 7 day Juice detox

Seven Day juice detox is over. I woke up Monday morning craving a Super Juice, and unfortunately I have no fruit and veg left in my fridge. I have made my shopping list for the week, and my family is going to have wonderful fruits and veggies for the most part and a Super Juice for breakfast each day. 

So after craving my super juice and not be able to have it, I remembered we're supposed to do our measurements today to send in to Jason Vale. He had said not to weigh yourself during the detox, and wait till the end. I couldn't wait, so I've been weighing myself every day. Very early on, I lost 6 lbs. By the end of the juice detox I lost a total of 7 lbs. but the AMAZING results I couldn't wait to share with the world is: I've lost a total of 14.5 inches!!!!!! 14.5 inches!!! I feel lighter, I feel like I can do anything. I have more energy and there's no more cloud or haziness at all.

Here's the breakdown:

• I've lost 6 inches on my waist! 6 inches?!?!?!?! My pants fit! I tried on dresses and they're big. I have to return a skirt because it fell off! I'm so happy I could cry! Pre-pregnancy size here I come!
• I've lost 4 inches on my hips!
• 2 inches on my behind are gone
• I've lost 2.5 inches around my rib area.
• TOTAL of 14.5 inches! WOW! 

This detox has catapulted a love for healthy living. On my husband and my date night the other night we bought a rebounder (i.e. a mini trampoline). Jason vale says it's awesome because you feel like a kid. He has a video for $15 for sale on his website and the same size rebounder that I bought he sells for $129 (for a 40 inch rebounder). I bought a Gold's gym one from Walmart for $29! I got it home and had a blast jumping! I found videos on youtube for beginners and not only did I feel the burn, but I felt like a kid. I couldn't stop laughing as I was "rebounding". 

I am going to miss seeing Jason's daily encouraging videos. I'm going to miss knowing that 24,000 other people are in it with me. Now the challenge is to keep the momentum going, and to 'up' my game. We're going on vacation in February, and I'm going to do my best to get myself as fit and healthy for that trip!

What to do with the Pineapples...DAY 7!

DAY 7 is here!  I did it, with lots of prayer and definitely the Lord's help. The Juice Detox is over! I feel like a million bucks. I am on a path to physical wellness. Not just living well, but thriving! I don't want this momentum to stop.

I had juiced all of our juices for today, yesterday. So we didn't have to get out the juicer at all today.  When we started this 7 day juice journey we planned that we would eat lunch on the 7th day. Of course we had the lunch planned out completely. We were headed to one of our favorite spots: Chili's! We set limits for ourselves: Salad, chips & salsa! My first bite of a chip with salsa was one my mouth couldn't handle the intense flavors. I didn't even wait for someone to say grace. I bit down on the first chip, and the salt taste was delicious. The crunch of the chip, with the cold yet spicy salsa were welcomed flavors to my mouth. Since we've been having nothing but juice for the last seven days, I was singing in my seat over the yummy chips and salsa.  I couldn't wait for my salad to arrive. Jason Vale was right, I was craving veggies, not donuts! Wohoo! I made it! The juice detox works!

So the plan starting tomorrow???  Back to the Daniel fast. Eating whole grains, fruits, nuts, seeds, veggies, and water. It seems like there are SO many choices to eat on the Daniel Fast. About a year ago when I did the Daniel Fast I felt like I was depriving myself of so much. Now the Daniel Fast feels like a welcomed and exciting change! Funny how our perspective changes so much, as time goes on. After doing the Juice fast, the Daniel fast feels like it's really full of so many options.

My counter is empty since we've used all the fruits and veggies. I am chilling tonight looking through a vegan cookbook and my daniel fast cook book to figure out what the menu plan is for the week. I LOVED Jason Vale's Turbo express juice, and the Super Juice. I think our family is going to have that each morning for breakfast. Now, I just need to figure out what we're going to have for lunch and dinner. I'm thinking whole grain tortilla's toasted in the oven and topped with pizza sauce (homemade of course), and grilled veggies (grilled with lots of fresh herbs). Since we're on the Daniel Fast (no cheese). I'm salivating just thinking about it.

So with the Fast we went through A LOT of pineapples. I lopped off the tops of them and saved them each time we cut into a pineapple. Today I planted them all in my garden. We're going to dig a long narrow garden along the side of the house where I will space them out more. When they grow they get a lot wider. Pineapple tops grow another pineapple out the top of them. It's a really great idea to save the tops and replant and have another pineapple in 2-3 years. When you go to Lowe's or home depot and buy a pineapple plant the cost is $10! So I have 16 that didn't cost me anything since we were buying them for the juice fast anyway!

Some of the pineapples planted in a garden in front of the house

See the giant pineapple at the front on the right? I planted that one six months ago, and it's tripled in size. 

I also saved all of the pits of the avocados. They're sitting my window sill drying out right now. Hopefully we'll start some avocado trees soon.

Thanks for following along on this journey with me. I'm excited we're in this together!

My juicer is about to die....DAY 6

It's day 6 and I can almost feel the taste of the finish line. We are almost there! Tomorrow is the last day and I can taste the victory.  In all honesty I'm really missing the variety and textures of food. Who would have thought you could miss chewing, but this girl sure does.  My husband and I have already envisioned our first meal will be a salad at Chili's with chips and salsa! Tons of veggies here I come

Today I got up and made all the juices my husband & I needed for today, and tomorrow. I also tried to juice up the last of the pineapples, they were on the verge of going bad. My fridge was starting to smell a bit funny, so I thought it was best to juice up as much as I could so I wouldn't loose any of the produce.  My juicer is starting to smell like burning plastic, and it's not able to juice the center of a pineapple anymore. Part of the top has broken off,  it's getting rough...probably because I'm juicing 10 juices a day with it. My poor juicer, I think to celebrate after the 7 days is over I need to buy a new juicer. I would LOVE to buy the Philips Avance, that Jason Vale recommends, however it's only sold in the uk. I think it plugs into a different outlet. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this juicer! It's so different than any other juicer on the market. It's funky and extremely functional. I emailed Jason Vale's crew, and put a question on facebook to them regarding the Philips. If it could work in the U.S.A that is the juicer I want. I hope they get back to me quickly. Perhaps it's in the works to make it functional in the U.S.A? If it doesn't work out I'm thinking maybe about getting the Breville Fountain elite. Do you have a favorite juicer?

Philips Avance Juicer

The Ultimate Test on Day 5!

So I woke up on Day 5 with a TON of energy.  Made 5 juices for my husband, and 5 juices for me. I put them in tightly sealed mason jars in the fridge. I watched Jason's Day 5 video while I was juicing and got so inspired by hearing everyone's stories and the positive outcomes they're having. I appreciate those of you who reached out to me yesterday as I almost struggled. I indeed made it through today.

I made dinner with ease tonight for my kiddos: whole grain pasta with homemade pasta sauce. We had a treat tonight by having a babysitter watch our kids. We were so excited to be able to go out on a date. We planned to go to a movie. I was nervous about being in a theater with the smell of popcorn, and not being able to have any. So I planned to set us up for success. I packed 2 of our juices in mason jars and brought them in my purse. I also brought 2 S.O.S's with me: 2 banana's just in case we were really struggling with the smell of the popcorn and would want to cave.

When we walked into the movie theater the smell of popcorn hit me, but honestly not as badly as I thought it was going to. I clutched my heavy purse (full of 2 full mason jars of juice, and 2 banana's) close to me and proudly walked past the snacks without any regret. I was BEYOND proud of myself. I did it! Way to go me!!!  We walked into our theater and as the lights went down my hubby and I got out our juices. We were doing so well, we didn't even need the 'S.O.S' banana's.


Not only did we survive, but it was not nearly as tough as I thought it was going to be. I think we are getting stronger!  Only 2 more days! We are almost there!!!!

Elizabeth

S.O.S Fellow Juicing Buddies!!!!!

We were running errands tonight as a family. Actually we were dreaming at Home Depot & Lowes about our home projects. I always love dreaming there. When we finished the kids were super hungry (my 2 & 5 year olds). We decided to grab something for the kids to eat on the way home. It was hard a couple days ago when we picked them up nuggets and fries...but I mustered through the amazing smell. Unfortunately my wonderful kids picked my ABSOLUTE favorite food in the whole wide world: PIZZA! I didn't object when they asked, and I begrudgingly held it when my husband passed it to me. I smelled the ooey gooey cheese, sauce and crust as we drove the 10 minutes home. I felt like I was literally going to die. We arrived home, and I had no more mason jars to store my juice. So I had to unload the dishwasher and wash some mason jars in the sink. The kids were eating my favorite food at the table, and I didn't think I could handle even being in the kitchen anymore. My hubby looked at me and I had tears in my eyes. He said "Honey, go to the bedroom for 10 minutes, while they finish." I am so blessed to have a hubby support me and know when I'm struggling. I think tonight was the hardest moment of the last 4 days of my life. I know it's silly, it's just pizza. I just finished a post a couple hours ago about all my progress...and I'm sure it'd go out the window if I indulged in a slice. I keep having Jason Vale's voice from every coaching video saying "Eat it and shut-up, or don't eat it and shut-up."

So I will shut up. I just wanted to vent to a community who I know is supportive and caring.

The most awful and awesome moments of Day 3 and 4 of the Juice Fast

Well Day 3....I started my morning at 7 am with a headache and just feeling foggy. I had heard this could happen on Day 2, or Day 3. I decided to juice all of the juices for Wednesday since I was going to be gone for the whole day and night. I also juiced Thursdays 8am and 11am juice.  So in total that was 7 juices for me, and 7 for my hubby = a total of 14 juices juicing them all at one time. I didn't finish juicing until 10:30. I was completely and totally beat after that. While I was juicing I watched the two videos Jason Vale posted about juicing for the day. He shared an interesting tip to run warm water through the juicer in between juicing a juice to clean it. I thought that would work perfectly! So I ran the warm water through it, and didn't realize that the top of my juicer had a crack in it. A ton of pulp from the juice cam spewing out the back of the juicer as well as most of the water! What a disaster. It was such a mess, my whole counter top was a complete mess. So I had to pull it all apart, and clean the counter, and the juicer. I had to manually wash the juicer after every 2 juices I juiced. It seemed to take forever.
I drank my 8am juice at home
Had the 11, 2, 5 & 8pm all at work. It's always a long day on Wednesdays. Our normal routine before the Daniel & Juice fast we would order a pizza on Wednesday nights since we get home so late. So I found last night to be particularly difficult.

Jason had talked about how on day 4 most people get this surge of energy. I was so hoping that would be me. On Thursday (Day 4) I woke up ready to go. I got a ton of work done before 8am! Drove my daughter to school.  When I got home, my husband had a major spurt of energy too. He had started on some home renovations we have been wanting to do. I did a ton of errands, and still had energy left over. I never feel this good. I think the juicing is giving loads of extra energy. WOHOO!

Ready for more good news?!?!?! It's only half way through the juice detox and here are some stats:

• I've lost 1 1/2 inches on my hips
• I've lost 1 inch on my behind.
• and the best part: 4 inches on my waist & lost 6 lbs already!!!!!!!

Jason shared that there's a plan for 14 days after the detox. I can say for sure I am NOT going to eat the same after the detox. I am NOT going to eat as much. I am DEFINITELY going to be working out starting Monday! MOTIVATION has set in. I'm thrilled about the momentum.

For those of us who are doing the juice detox we are 60% of the way there! Way to go. We can do this!   Anyone planning your first meal after the detox? I am so sure we are having salad at Chilis, chips with salsa and a big glass of water!

End of Day 2

HAPPY DAY 2 of the World's biggest Juice Detox!!!!

We had juiced our 8am, 11am, and 2pm juice yesterday and poured them into mason jars and sealed them tightly to keep them fresh. We woke up today and had our hot water with lemon. I packed my three juices in my lunch sack. My husband had his in his cooler full of ice. It almost felt like a routine, even though it's only our 2nd day doing this.

I brought my 8am juice with me to my staff meeting. I love our work environment, everyone is very supportive of one another. In fact we have 20 people who are juicing or doing some kind of fast with us. One of my co-workers Mr. Terry asked to try some of the Super Juice. He was surprised how good it was. I shared that Jason Vale's recipes rock!

At lunch time I had someone pick me up some tomato soup. That was the only time I've veered off the plan, even though it was completely liquid.  I was surprised how much I had missed using a spoon. I had my 2pm juice while I picked up my daughter from school in the car rider line. When we got home I decided to cut and bag all of the fruits/veggies for Thursday & friday (since I had already cut up all of Wednesdays fruits/veggies). I labeled each bag with what juice it was, what day and what was still missing (i.e. the apples, and avocado so they wouldn't go bad before I juiced them).

I was surprised I was having a GREAT day, with no cravings, no sluggish moments until...our kiddos were hungry for dinner and we got them chicken sandwiches with french fries. The amazing smell filled the car and I thought I was literally going to die. I had this crazy, intense craving for yummy fried food. We got home, they ate their food two feet away from me, and I still suffered. I didn't complain out loud, I just had a hard time mentally because I could smell the yummy goodness. We then made my son his lunch for tomorrow. We made some macaroni and cheese on the stove, again the smell filled the air with ooey gooey cheese. All I could think about was jason vale's video this morning about how we get one S.O.S a day: either a banana or an avocado with salt/pepper and lime on it. He said to use this if it's a make or break moment. To eat one of those, if you feel like you're about to falter off the plan. So I decided on the avocado with the lime, salt/pepper on it. There was just something about bringing a fork up to my lips and eating it that tasted so delicious!  I was seriously in heaven, and didn't break the rules! Yay me!

We had the Turbo Charge Express at 5pm and again at 8pm. I decided instead of the Hot and Spicy to have some hot tea with honey like Jason suggested in the video this morning. It's not as filling, and a perfect end to the day.

I'm wondering how tomorrow is going to go? We shall see!

End of Day 1

Well...day 1 is coming to a close. I have had an exciting first start to the 7 day juice fast. I am pumped about the week, I wasn't tempted to eat rotten junk food, and I didn't even have an sugar cravings.   I LOVED the super juice we had twice today. I did find the Super Chute Juice smelled like grass....perhaps too healthy of a smell for me. It didn't taste bad though. I decided next time I make it, I'll definitely add more ginger, and lemon. Perhaps it'll make it taste better.

Super Chute Juice

I almost had a moment of weakness. I found it quite difficult when my husband was making my children personal pizzas tonight. The smell of the crust baking in the oven almost put me over the edge. I was standing at my juicer making our "dinner" the Turbo Express (2 apples, baby spinach leaves, celery, cucumber, lime, pineapple, avocado), while the smell of pizza was in the air .  I knew this week I'd stay away from temptation, and focus on the juicing. However, I didn't anticipate that we'd still have to prepare our children meals. I suppose they do have to eat!  Perhaps I could wear a mask, or scarf over my nose and mouth. I'm totally kidding...well, kind of.

Turbo Express our 5pm dinner.

I also juiced our 8pm drink: The Lemon-Ginger Zinger ( apples, carrots, ginger, lemon). I'm excited to try this one.

The Lemon Ginger Zinger

I also juiced our 9pm treat the Hot & Spicy. I think this is the one I'm most looking forward to! Each night at 9pm we get to juice 3 apples and heat them over the stove and add some cinnamon! Sounds so yummy, and comforting.

Tomorrow morning is a very early morning for our family, so I went ahead and juiced our 8am, 11am & 2pm juices.

I ended up juicing 12 juices tonight. I thought I was being smart juicing everything at the same time...however I had to  keep cleaning the juicer because it kept getting clogged. It was A LOT of work to juice that many juices at one time. I wonder if the juicer will make it through the week.  The nice thing is, the juices are all stored in the fridge in mason jars filled right up to the top and sealed tightly to help keep any oxidization from happening.  So I don't have to juice again until tomorrow afternoon for the evening juices.

Now I'm sitting by the fire, blogging, while my children play super mario. I've got my feet up, chilling on the couch looking forward to our 8pm juice.


Have a Blessed night!

DAY 1

We had planned to wake up at 6 am to start juicing, get the kids ready, get us ready and get out to door to our 4 locations for the day....but for some reason we couldn't spring out of bed. We clicked on the DAY1 video from Jason Vale to get inspired for the week. He had great tips for the week. One of my favorites was "Shut up and eat it , or shut up and don't eat it". we have a choice to choose to juice, or choose to eat the junk. It's important to not complain during the juice detox...you're just making it harder on yourself. You can eat whatever you want. What are you choosing to do this week? Keep a positive attitude. I love this!  Great motivation to start off the week right.


We got up and decided to divide and conquer! Juan got the kids ready, while I started the task of juicing 6 juices.

• Our 8am juice, the Super Juice (apples, pineapple, cucumber, lime, avocado, ice)
• Our 11 am juice, another Super Juice
• Our 2 pm juice, the super chute juice  (apples, carrot, celery, mixed green leaves, cucumber,  red beet, zucchini, lemon, ginger root, ice)

This morning we used:

• 12 apples
• 1 pineapple
• 1 lime
• 1 avocado
• 2 inches of carrots
• 1 stalk of celery
• 1/2 cup of lettuce
• 1 cucumber & 2 inches 
• 1 inch of red beet
• 1 inch of zucchini
• 2 inches of lemon
• 1 inch of ginger

We poured the 6 juices in mason jars, and labeled the top with 8am, 11am 2pm. So there's no guess work to what we're drinking & when. I put mine in a lunch tote and put them in the fridge when I got  to work. I filled a cooler with ice for my hubby and put his mason jars in there since he's on the road all day for work.

I saw on the greener living mom's facebook page that Ms. Shirley prepared her fruits/veggies for a few days and separated them into bags. I think I might do that to prepare ahead of time. This morning took A LOT longer than I anticipated.

So at 8am I had the Super Juice, and I have to say it's SUPER delicious. I had made a bit extra and my son LOVED it. You know it's a winner when the kiddos like it!

Looking forward to drinking the 2pm one while I wait in the car rider line to pick up my daughter from school. When I get home I'll start preparing all the fruits/veggies for the juices tonight and the ones we'll be juicing tomorrow morning.

Day before the Juice Fast

 Are you ready for the world's largest juice fast with Jason vale? This is how we're preparing:

We went to Publix and picked up ALL our produce for the week long juice fast! Our trunk was FULL of produce. We had to special order the apples and pineapples to get that many in bulk.

This is what 16 pineapples looks like.

This is what 1 case of golden apples looks like. 80 apples in this box. We ordered 2 of these boxes!

Here's most of the produce we'll need for the juice fast!