Juicing Like Crazy

We got a juicer a few weeks ago and have been going juicing crazy in our house and loving it.  The best part, we didn't pay a thing for the juicer!  That is what you get when you have a mom that buys anything and everything kitchen related on TV and she has to have it even if she doesn't use it.  Well, since my mom passed away about 5.5 years ago, items are slowly getting discovered in the house where my dad still lives.  Since my dad is not a cook at all, the kitchen items are up for grabs.  My husband found a juicing cookbook amongst a ton of other cookbooks and knew it came with a juicer, but where it was, was the big mystery.  After checking all the cabinets in the kitchen, I found it in the last one I looked tucked back in the corner.  To our surprise, it was so clean, we are almost positive it was never used.  We are now the proud owners of the Juiceman II Elite.  It might not be the fanciest or finest, but it does the job and we love it!

So far our favorite is apple, carrot and spinach.  I have to be honest, I am nervous to go the all green juice route, but know that is the best for you.  Will have to work up to that since I love sweet things, going all green will take some time.  My boys are loving it just as much and it is turning into another easy way for us to get them to eat their fair share of fruits and veggies which can be a challenge with a 2 and 5 year old.  The only downside is that we are making more trips to Costco to get bulk produce more than ever since we use it so much.

One thing I feel guilty about juicing is all the waste of the pulp spitting out the back into the bucket.  I have looked online for recipes on how to use the pulp, but everyone's comments are not positive and say as hard as it is, it is best to just throw it away or compost it.  If you happen to have a recipe that works for the pulp, I would love to hear about it and try it!  But other than this negative part, I am loving this juice thing and can't believe we have waited so long to try it!

Peanut Butter Hoarding

Have you heard the news recently?  Peanut butter prices may rise as much as 40% over the next few weeks.  Some people are saying we could expect to pay as much as $6 a jar.  This seems to be what everyone is talking about on the news, twitter, blogs, facebook and other social sites recently.  Being vegan, we eat a lot of peanut butter in the house as a staple to our daily diet.  We love it on bread, dipped with apples, add it to smoothies and the list goes on. 

So do we believe the media or chalk it up to be all a marketing hype?  Well, it seems that this is one of the worst peanut harvests we have seen in decades.  Which will result in skyrocketing prices in the stores very soon, if not already.  You can read more about it here or just google "peanut butter price increase" and you will get a lot of recent articles on this subject.

What are your thoughts on all of this?  Will you go out and buy an extra jar or two in the next few days or just ride it out?  Will this cause a huge hoarding scare to where we may see bare shelves where once peanut butter used to sit?  Only time will tell, but I am not taking this chance with my two little boys.  Yep, I fell into the trap, went online to amazon.com and just brought 12 jars of it so we are set for the next few months.  My boys are in the very picky eating stage and pb&j sandwiches seem to be a staple in our house at all times.  Let's just hope it isn't as bad we expect, but if it is, I am prepared so to speak/eat!

Happy World Vegan Day

Happy World Vegan Day, a day late.  Yep, I forgot it was world vegan day.  Better late than never :)  But hope everyone was able to celebrate it in some sort of fun vegan fashion!