I wish the ending of this story was that I bought a juicer, made some amazing homemade juice on the cheap, and kept right on cleansing but that’s not what happened.
The situation on the morning of day four was I had decided to extend my juice cleanse, I had no BluePrint Cleanse juice left, and I needed to be at work early for a meeting. So I cheated by having some fresh pineapple and a Vitamin Water. I also hit up One Lucky Duck in Chelsea Market (did I mention Chelsea Market is Snackish heaven??) for a fresh-pressed juice. The Thai green juice with greens, pineapple, cilantro and lime was amazingly delicious but it was—hold onto your seat—$10. I realized I couldn’t sustain this cleanse for much longer, not for hunger reasons, but for financial ones. Read more…
Days two and three were where I reached a turning point on my BluePrint juice cleanse. On day two I woke up thinking about a cappuccino and bagel again, and feeling crushed that I would not have them. It was twenty degrees outside and the last thing I wanted was more cold juice. I planned to stay home and work the full day, and I was able to get some writing and other work done despite being anxious and fixated on timing my next juice. Drinking lots of hot green tea with a little agave nectar really helped, and I could see just how much of my life revolved around food and drink. I have a lot of time freed up when I’m not looking for, photographing, preparing, or consuming food. But oh, I missed it. Even seeing a photo of a cheeseburger in my Tumblr feed felt like a punch in the heart.
On the morning of day three I felt… different. Read more…
A cappuccino and a bagel are usually the two things I’m thinking of when my eyes pop open on a weekend morning, and this morning was no exception. But with $200 worth of juice slowly spoiling in my fridge there was no question about what needed to happen. I poured myself a glass of BluePrint green juice. This was the juice whose taste I most feared, since it contains six pounds worth of romaine, celery, cucumber, apple, spinach, kale, parsley, and lemon. I could really taste the parsley and celery, both of which I’m not a huge fan of, but after sipping a while it mellowed out to more of a leafy green apple juice flavor. By the time I finished it, I was enjoying the fact that it’s not too sweet and is actually good for me. This drink, more than the others, made me want to buy a juicer and recreate the recipe. Read more…
I didn’t think I’d be the type of person to buy into pricey juice cleanse. It sounded like the thrill of instant, temporary weight loss packaged with woo woo wording—particularly, that juice cleansing could normalize weight, boost immune systems, reduce signs of aging, increase energy, elevate mood, and sort out a plethora of health issues from allergies to PMS. If you ask me there hasn’t been a drink that could cure that many problems since they stopped making Coca-Cola with actual cocaine.
But December and early January really knocked me off course. The keys to eating all kinds of tasty food and not feeling gross are having good habits about portion control, variety in diet, and exercise; I dropped all of that. Read more…
Recently I attempted to recreate a billionaire cocktail, my favorite drink on the menu at the famous Employees Only, without the long wait and $15 sticker shock. I pulled the recipe from the New York Times, but made a few changes. Instead of from-scratch grenadine syrup, I added some Stirrings Pomegranate Liqueur from Astor Wine and Spirits, and instead of a half ounce of absinthe substitute, I added a dash of St. George Absinthe Verte (the recipe dates back to a few months before absinthe was legal to produce in the US). At Employees Only they use housemade absinthe bitters, but I think the St. George is complex enough to stand in for the bitters—it’s just that a little goes a long way, unless you like a liquorice cocktail. The result was tart and just sweet enough, with subtle herbal notes. It’s going on the permanent menu at my place.