Life is good.
The last couple of days have been wonderful being able to juice and eat raw foods. I am adjusting to eating foods and loving the explosions of goodness wrapping around my tongue. The body is adjusting well too. At first my body was in RockBand mode making all sorts of noises. Now it is silent, but I can feel the body going to work processing. It was a nice relaxing vacation for my lower organs. You are welcome.
It was fun shopping for juicing and foods to eat. Again, we have no room in our refrigerator, but at least it is full of healthy treats. I am a fanatic for fresh fruits. It is like summer everyday I open the refrigerator. The sun is shining (frig light) and I have a plethora of yummy choices.
One thing that is not fun about juicing is cleaning the juicer. It takes more time that the actual juicing including cleaning the produce, peeling or cutting it, and the action of juicing. It was part of the process and a means of survival when I was only juicing, but now that I don’t have to juice every meal it is such a chore! I did a no brainer move, but not recommended by the juicing books I read—I made several juices ahead of time so be free of juicer cleaning.
Why is storing juice it not recommended?
A few reasons, the biggest being when you juice fresh produce, the cell walls of the produce break open, providing you with nutrients. Nutrients are very sensitive to air, heat, light and time and will cause their degeneration. Unless you drink immediately you will lose the benefits of juicing. If you have an expensive juicer that works on a low rpm, you can store juices up to 72 hours. Always store in glass jars—like canning jars—and not plastic. The plastic will leach into your juice. If you have a vacuum sealer it is recommended when storing juice. The best juice is juice you drink immediately, but I had to give it a try. Live and learn, right?
I have one trial and error tip to share on the subject of multiple juicing. You still have to clean out the separator between each juice. I know, I know. Somewhat defeats the purpose, but if you don’t you will yield much less juice. The more you juice, the more produce particles stick to the separator stopping juice from getting through. Lesson learned. I juiced 7 juices only cleaning the separator once. The last juice I made produced over 30-ounces on day 2, but when it was the last of several done in one sitting, the yield was a wimpy 14-ounces.
In the Kitchen Again!
I love to cook. I always have numerous projects going on at one time, many are never-ending and that is why I like cooking as much as I do. In only one to two hours you have a finale, task done. That is awesome! Also cooking with raw ingredients is like magic. All the combinations and the flavors they produce, how is that not magic?
Anywho, for those of you who haven’t read the guest blog from a couple of days ago, my husman is a great supporter of everything I do. In return for his selflessness, I surprised him with his first home-cooked meal in over two weeks. I have been collecting recipes from Pinterest for about a week now. He selected a few that would be on the top of his list to eat when I start cooking again. Bet he didn’t realize it would be so soon. He was surprised, excited and happy. The food smelled amazing!!! Since I haven’t eaten any cooked food or beans and grains, I was going to resist from eating. I couldn’t help it. After eating some the raw ingredients while preparing, I took the plunge and ate with my husman—our first meal together. It was phenomenal—and just so you know I am not biased. I will share the recipe that has been modified for our taste buds. The husman rating: 4.5 stars. My rating: 5 stars, I don’t mind crunchy onions.
Black Bean Enchiladas 
Makes 18 enchiladas, serves 8.
1 teaspoon of olive oil
3/4 yellow onion, diced small
1/2 bell pepper hulled and seeded, diced small
2 16-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
3 tablespoons of lime juice, fresh or bottled
1/2 cup of cilantro, loosely packed (depending on personal preference, more or less than 1/2 c)
1 cup favorite cheese (used twice)
1 16-oz jar of salsa
1 16-oz jar of taco sauce
18 corn tortillas
1. Preheat the onion to 400˚F
2. Dice the onion and pepper. 
3. In a saucepan on medium heat, saute the onion in olive oil for about 4 minutes. Add small amount of water if needed. (I did not do this step and our onions where a little on the crunchy side.)
4. In a large bowl, mix together beans, corn, chili powder, cumin, lime juice, cilantro, half the cheese, onions and green peppers. Get your hands dirty, don’t use tools!
5. Cover the bottom of your casserole dish with salsa.
6. Fill the tortillas with your enchilada mix.
7. Roll the tortilla and place in casserole dish. Repeat steps 6-7 until bottom of dish is covered.
7. Lightly cover tortilla in salsa and taco sauce, top with fair amount of cheese.
8. Make another layer the tortillas on top—creating two rows. Top the second row off with a mix of taco sauce and salsa.
9. Cover with aluminum foil and place in oven for 20 minutes at 400˚.
10. Remove foil (use spatula if it sticks) and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of enchiladas. Cook for an additional 10 minutes.
11. Serve.
12. Eat. Yum.
Download a PDF of this recipe Click here for Black Bean Enchiladas Recipe
Don’t forget to check out my other entries
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Start at the beginning of her juicing journey.
Why am I doing a juice fast (feast)?
Day 1 of my Juice Fasting
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Where it all started
GoodLuckTina’s purpose
So I opted to stick with raw foods. My evening meal was a platter of just that—celery sticks, carrots, blackberries, an apple and grapes. I snacked on this spread for hours, starting slowing listening to my body. Body approves! I wanted more, more, more.
goodlucktina 