My real food adventure has opened the door to so many ideas. I’ve had a juicer for a number of years and have an on again/off again relationship with it. Now that I’m in search of real food and real food cooking ideas, the juicer has re-appeared on my counter.

Over the weekend I purchased cucumbers and a host of other vegetables from my local market. I was so busy experimenting with my spaghetti squash, whole eggplants and organic grains, I forgot all about the cucumbers.

Saving Veggies by Juicing

Although they had not gone bad, I knew that if I didn’t use them in the next day or so, they would have passed their prime. When a cucumber starts showing signs of softening, it’s time to toss it out.

In roaming around the Doctor Yourself website, there was an article about juicing cucumbers. What? Juicing a cucumber? I never ever thought of that. I’ve juiced wheatgrass, kale, carrots, beets and a host of fruit, but never cucumber.

The article instructed the reader to peel the cucumber and juice it, so I did. I threw a cucumber into the juicer along with a couple of fresh picked apples (I’ve got an amazing farm near my home). I’ve got to tell you, it tasted pretty good.

The cucumber takes on an almost watermelon like quality. It’s not a loud and aggressive taste; just enough to know there was something else in the juice besides apples, but if I had not juiced it myself, I wouldn’t have thought cucumber.

Before you ask, I have two juicers; a Jack LaLanne and an Omega. The Omega juicer I use for wheatgrass, the Jack La Lanne juicer, I use for everything else.

No More Racing to Cook

Often times I find myself racing to cook certain produce before it goes bad. No more. I now know I can juice it before its expiration date. You see, I have a tendency to get carried away when I’m at the local farm. Until I get the hang of buying and cooking whole foods, I’ll juice the excess or learn to cook meals that can be frozen for later.

The blog’s title sums it up…I’m on a real food adventure. The more I learn, the better I’ll get. BTW, for those of you who are more experienced in the real food arena, this newbie would love to hear some of your tips.