juicy fruit (and veggies too)

my quest to eat healthier is nearing the end of the first week.  it's been really tough, but i'm really trying my hardest to add more good stuff to my daily diet and find substitutes for the bad stuff.  the latter is super challenging, to say the least.

plus, although it wasn't required for my level of the challenge, i gave up caffeine!  after all, my version of coffee is impossible to duplicate without chemical-laden creamers and sweeteners.  my beloved caramel macchiato at starbucks is laced with lots of syrups that contain god knows what, and my homemade iced coffee isn't the same without a generous splash of coffee mate french vanilla creamer.  i thought at first that i was all good - the first couple of days came and went without that dreaded no-caffeine headache.  and then my body said "haha, just kidding" and i found myself totally crashing around 2:30 with a pounding head and feeling horribly sluggish and sleepy.  i almost cracked and just barely stopped myself from giving in to the k-cups, but realized that i just need to power through the next few days while my body detoxes.

so...i bought a juicer.  and i've been having fun with it, with all sorts of recipes and ideas i'm finding everywhere.  it's also led to my trader joe's cart looking like this:

crazy, huh?  my kitchen has never seen so many healthy ingredients on a regular basis.  my first juice contained these ingredients:

i peeled and sliced and prepared my juicer, and then had fun running all the stuff through it and watching the juice pour out of the side and into the cup.

doesn't this look delish?  even the bean liked it.  score!

this one was my attempt at copying v8, which i've always loved but no one else does.  actually, i guess this one was more of a v5.

i thought this would add some extra flavor to the concoction.

it came out looking like this:

while i dug it and thought it was tasty as hell, the hub took one sip and practically shit himself in disgust.  i'd forgotten that he despises v8 juice - "that stuff is putrid," he sputtered as he searched for some juice to wash away the taste.

oh well.  you know what that means - more for me!