First of all, to cut down on the amount of fresh fruit we need, which can be quite costly, we mix our fresh juice with all natural and organic pre made juices found in the product department.
These juices are super healthy and often times have lots of added vitamins and minerals.
The brands that we have in our area are: Odwalla, Naked, and Bolthouse Farms.
With the ready made juices, be sure to read the label carefully; not all of them are all juice/puree blends.
Make sure they are free of anything with milk, caffeine (such as Green Tea or Cocoa Beans), or sugar (even natural - like "cane juice / extract" or "evaporated cane juice").
My favorites so far are "Odwalla: Orignial Superfood" and "Naked: Green Machine Superfood.
" The "Odwalla" brand gives you a big kick of super healthy stuff like Spirulina, Wheat Grass, Barley Grass, and Wheat Sprouts but you only taste the yummy Apple, Peach, Mango, Strawberry, and Banana fruit blend; the "Naked" brand is packed with the same as the "Odwalla" brand but even more, including, Broccoli, Spinach, Parsley, Chlorella, Blue Green Algea, Oderless Garlic, and Ginger.
You want to make sure to limit the fruit juice intake b/c the body has to work extra hard to break down the sugars in fruits and you may find yourself crashing by mid-afternoon.
I have found that the best way to save money on your grocery bill is to store hop.
I start out at the lowest cost store in my area and work my way to the mid-priced store and end up at the specialty food store.
That way, I get all the organic foods I need at the cheapest prices that I can.
I also check the paper before I head out to see who's having a sale on items that I want.
For example, I normally get my bagged Spinach at Wal-Mart b/c it's cheaper by .
50 cents at $2.
49 / bag vs.
$2.
99 / bag at Publix.
Some weekends, Publix has their bags on sale 2 for $4.
00 - which saves me $1.
00, which really adds up after awhile.
It takes longer to shop, and I have to be mindful to a lot myself the needed time to go slowly and be able to read the labels and price compare, but it's definitely so worth it! In our area, I start at Wal-Mart first; they have many of the pre-made juices but they are usually .
05 - .
10 cheaper than any other store - when you buy as much as we do, that can stretch a long way.
Wal-Mart usually has a few organic veggies as well; again, at a lower cost than any other store.
I usually score organic grapes, carrots, spinach, & strawberries there.
I would like to mention, though, the strawberries don't seem as fresh there, so, I inspect them carefully and if I don't feel they will last me, I get them at my next spot, Publix.
Publix is well known in our area for superior produce and meat departments.
They are well stocked, extremely fresh, and have friendly, available, and knowledgeable staff.
In recent months, their organic market had increased significantly.
Instead of buying individual apples at 2.
50 / lb, I can buy a 5 lb bag of organic Gala apples for $3.
89.
I usually go through 1 ½ - 2 bags per week, so that's a lot of savings for me.
The same for naval oranges - they have organic ones by the 5 lb bag.
I pick up organic raspberries and any pre-made juices I can't get at Wal-Mart and move on to my next stop, my favorite place on earth, Whole Foods Market.
At Whole Foods market, the produce department can seem quite overwhelming when you walk in.
Its luscious displays boast everything from the ordinary to the exotic.
I have to remember to stay focused and not let my eyes glaze over from the wonderful colors and smells wafting over from their grab and go section of pre-made foods.
I don't have to guess which fruits are organic and which one aren't; I don't have to mill through boxes of berries to find the ones without mold - everything there is uber-fresh and maintained daily.
I pick up cantaloupes, pineapples, watermelons, and blackberries from here.
Even when we're not fasting, we do this shopping routine.
You wouldn't believe how much money price shopping really saves you.
You have to spend a bit more time shopping, but it's totally worth it.
When we get home, we prepare everything to be stored in the fridge.
We've invested over the last year in several vacuum seal storage containers called Ultra Vacs - We've had a bag of spinach last over 6 weeks before in these suckers - it probably would have gone longer even, but, we ate it all before our experiement was over! So, needless to say, our berries stay fresh all week long! We wash all of our berries, grapes, apples and oranges and scrubb down all of the carrots.
We ultra vac the berries and grapes and rebag everything else in clean gallon baggies.
Organizing, rinsing, and scrubbing the day of shopping helps you go quickly and smoothly throughout the rest of the week and saves a lot of time.
Now, for the calculations.
We've gotten our measurements down to a science now.
Here's our daily meal plan: Breakfast: 1 Cup Bolthouse Farms C-Boost ½ Cup Fresh Juice (cantaloupe, apple, orange, & carrot) Lunch: 1 Cup Odwalla Superfood ½ Cup Naked Superfood ½ Cup Fresh Juice (spinach, apple, & carrot) Snack: ½ Cup Odwalla Pomegranate Juice ½ Cup Bolthouse Farms Berry Blast ½ Cup Fresh Juice (Grapes, Strawberries, Blackberries, & Raspberries) Dinner: 1 Cup Odwalla Superfood ½ Cup Naked Superfood ½ Cup Fresh Juice (spinach, apple, & carrot) So, with this menu in mind, I go about with my calculations.
Juicing for two people, for seven days, I need the following in pre-made juices: 112 oz C-Boost: 3, 33 oz bottles (Wal-Mart, Publix, or Whole Foods Market) 1, 16 oz bottle (Wal-Mart, Publix, or Whole Foods Market) 56 oz Pomegranate Juice: 1, 64 oz bottle (Publix or Whole Foods Market) 56 oz Berry Blast: 2, 33 oz bottles (Publix or Whole Foods Market) 224 oz Odwalla Superfood: 3, 64 oz bottles (Publix or Whole Foods Market) 2, 15 oz bottles (Wal-Mart, Publix or Whole Foods Market) 112 oz Naked Superfood: 3, 33 oz bottles (Publix or Whole Foods Market) 1, 16 oz bottle (Publix or Whole Foods Market) The biggest benefit of a prolonged juice fast, in relation to grocery shopping, I'd have to say is that we know exactly how much fruit and veggies we need to last us through the week.
So, we don't waste money or food; we only buy what we need: Breakfast: ¼ Cantaloupe, 1 orange, 2 small apples, 4 carrots (Yields 1 cup; 2, ½ Cup servings) Lunch: 3 Apples, 4 Carrots, ¼ Bag Spinach (Yields 1 Cup; 2, ½ Cup servings) Snack: 1 Cup Grapes (black or green or mixed), 1 Cup Raspberries, 1 Cup Blackberries, & 12 Strawberries (Yields 1 Cup; 2, ½ Cup servings) Dinner: 3 Apples, 4 Carrots, ¼ Bag Spinach (Yields 1 Cup; 2, ½ Cup servings) For a seven day week, this is what our grocery cart is filled with: 3, Cantaloupes 2, 5 lb Bags of Apples 1, 5 lb Bag of Oranges 1, 5 lb Bag of Carrots 2, Bags of Spinach 2, Containers Strawberries 3, Containers Raspberries 3, Containers Blackberries 1, Small Bag Green Grapes 1, Small Bag Black or Purple Grapes A couple of days during the fast, for an extra special treat, I have bought a couple of bananas, a pineapple, an Odwalla Tropical Energy, and a can of coconut milk.
I juice ½ the pineapple and 2 oranges.
I add that with the Odwalla juice, 1 Cup Pineapple, ½ can of the coconut milk, and 2 bananas to the blender and make a tropical juice smoothie.
It's important to remember that our menu is tailored to our specific tastes.
We don't have the stomach to juice all different kinds of vegetables; we did the first week to get a super charged detox week in, but after that, we just couldn't do it.
If you don't mind it, we wholeheartedly say, "Go for it!" - juice all veggies to your heart's content: celery, parsley, kale, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.
A Bolthouse Farms pre-made juice to combine is called "Veg" - it's tomato based, so, if you like Tomato Juice, you'll love this.
Stay away from V8 - it's super high in sodium and V8 Splash has more high fructose corn syrup than actual vegetables! Stick with the all natural and organic juices in the produce department.
Stay tuned for our next article on "The Art of Splurging.
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