J...Juicing Disaster

A friend of mine, who also has fibromyalgia, mentioned to me last year about the benefits of incorporating more raw fruits and veggies into your diet. She said that she had seen some wonderful results with juicing and wanted to get back to consuming fresh juices and green smoothies on a regular basis. She hoped that she could once again reduce her fatigue with this simple dietary change and thought that it would be a great idea for me to give it a try. She explained that although all fruits and veggies are great, the dark green veggies are the most important. I downloaded a juicing/green smoothie recipe eBook, broke out my Ninja, and gathered up some fresh veggies and fruit for the next morning.

For my green veggie, I picked spinach. I love baby spinach in my salad, so I reasoned that it would be easier to start with green vegetables that I was more familiar with. I followed the directions in the eBook and whipped up a beautiful and healthy green smoothie to have with my breakfast. As soon as I opened the lid, though, I started wondering if I could drink the strong-smelling concoction.

Determined to make it work, though, I strained the juice.  Then, I poured a little in a glass and took a sip. Immediately, I spit the awful stuff in the sink. I couldn’t stand the taste, but I didn’t want to waste all the ingredients. I had run out of fruit, though, since I made a double batch. So, I started rummaging through my cupboards trying to find something that could possibly mask some of the potent taste.

I don’t know if it was a case of fibro fog or because I’m not much of a morning person, but I found my chocolate breakfast shake mix and thought that chocolate fixes everything. I scooped a bunch into the Ninja, added some milk and ice, and then blended away again. The color turned an awful greenish-brown, but I wasn’t deterred. I opened up the lid, poured a nice tall glass, and took a deep gulp. And I about died! My makeshift green smoothie was the most putrid thing I have ever tasted in my entire life. It really smelled like something crawled up into my glass, died, and then started rotting. The stench was so strong that my kids came downstairs for breakfast choking and gagging!

In the end, I decided to flush the entire pitcher of smoothie down the kitchen sink, and it stunk up my kitchen for days afterwards. I learned firsthand that juicing and smoothie making is certainly an art form and a science. There is a lot of trial and error involved. But the most important thing I learned is spinach and chocolate do NOT belong anywhere near each other!