Beta Than Cider

I recently realised that I was not doing nearly enough exercise. Since the kids have finally both started school, I don't even seem to walk as much I as used to.  No more endless trips to the park pushing buggies.  This lack of exercise is taking its toll - mainly on my hips and although there is absolutely no sign of any warm weather ahead at all, I just know that it is going to catch me out suddenly.  Winter will come to an end one day, the sun will come out and I will be very white, over-weight and un-shaven.  So I decided to take up Bikram Yoga.  Although frowned upon by purist yogis, this variation of yoga is done in a heated room which not only causes you to sweat profusely but you also have to work twice as hard, just to cope with the heat. The idea is it makes you more agile and less likely to suffer injury and the heat makes it more cardiovascular so you burn more calories. In reality, it is really almost unbearable but you feel fantastic when you manage to survive yet another class.

Unfortunately this new exercise regime also coincided with another new discovery. I developed an unhealthy obsession with cider.  Not just any cider by Henney's Frome Valley Cider which is so delicious that I just couldn't get enough of it.  It just seemed the perfect way to re-hydrate and re-tox in the evening after a hard couple of hours detoxing. Unfortunately, it turns out that cider is incredibly fattening and so it was having a very detrimental effect on my attempts to loose weight.  I now appeared to be developing a beer-belly as well, or a cider-belly to be more precise. So, very sadly, the cider had to go. But what could I possibly replace it with?

The only joyful experience about going to Bikram Yoga is that they have a lovely juice bar with deliciously, tempting sounding concoctions.  However, having finished my relatively cheap 30 day introduction offer, the price rose rapidly, especially as they appear to expect you to go every day. However, at around £11.00 a class I really cannot afford to go more that twice a week and it has also forced me to economise on my new juice fix.  So I have turned to making my own.  After a few weeks of experimenting this is my favourite combination. 

First of all it must have beetroot, the ultimate super-food.  So long is it's list of benefits, that it is hard to believe that there is anything that beetroot can't do.  To counteract the sweetness I balance the flavour with celery and fennel and finally add a few carrots and a little apple. The overall list of health benefits of these vegetables on The World's Healthiest Foods website is so long that it would take you a week to read it but what is so amazing is that it tastes so good that you don't really even care.  The kids also love making juice so you can get them to do most of the work however there can be a bit of a battle as to who gets to drink most of the end results  but what better way to encourage your kids towards a healthy diet.

Beta than Cider

I really do recommend organic vegetables for juicing.  Since they are raw and I don't even bother peeling them I just don't want a whole lot of pesticides in my juice.  It is a really good way of using up an Organic Vegetable box which can work out cheaper than buying organic at the supermarket.  If you really want to go for it, add a handful of something green as well.  Spinach, beet-tops or Watercress are all especially good.
2 sticks Celery, washed
2 Carrot, washed and topped
2 Beetroot, topped tailed and well scrubbed
2 Apples
1 head of Fennel

Wash all the vegetables and cut the Beetroot, Apple and Fennel into wedges which will fit into the juicer. Carrots and Celery are usually the perfect juicing size already to fit perfectly into the 
juicer shoot. Mix all the juices together well and drink as soon as possible. I like to keep the vegetables in the fridge to make your drink nice and cold.

If you would like some more juice recipes I highly recommend Thirst by Nigel Slater.