**REVIEW** Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Juice Extractor

With all the talk I did about not falling into the trap of New Year resolutions before I dive into this review, I have to explain that I'm not being a hypocrite. I had been planning on and saving up for this purchase for about 3 months now. By the way, this right here is what I'm talking about:

That's the Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Juice Extractor (model 67601A). It clocked in at $55 and was just smack dab on budget for me. I started saving back in the middle of September when I realized I was not eating as well as I could be. Also, I was buying my juices from Hyvee at crazy prices. It's not easy to find a good variety of healthy juices around here but it is fairly easy to find fresh fruits and vegetables, even in the dead of winter. Hurray for living in the Food Belt of the country. Anyway, let's talk about this HBBME.

When I started looking for the juicer, I wasn't stuck on getting a juicer. I thought about getting a good blender. I mean, I could see the benefit of doing juices or smoothies. What finally tipped it for getting a juicer is that I can do juices or smoothies with the HBBM. All I need to do is add back some of the pulp or use my stick blender to emulsify some fruit and veggies to add to the juice. (And I have to brag a little about the Ovente blender I got about 5 years ago from Walmart. That thing is a workhorse. I have used it almost every day since I got it and it has never given me trouble.)

Once I decided on a juicer, I had to find one that fit my "wants" and my budget. I wanted something with a decent motor and a large chute. It would be great if it wasn't too loud since I do live in an apartment. My budget meant that I would need to stay under a reasonable dollar amount if I wanted to actually make the purchase sometime in the next 6 months or so.

The HBBM fit all the wants but quite a few reviewers said that it was loud. I kept looking and kept coming back to the HBBM. Finally, I decided to take a chance because it was the only one I could finally afford that wasn't refurbished. I figured that as long as it didn't sound like a small aircraft taking off, I would be okay and just use it before too late in the evening.

So far, I am really happy with the juicer. It is nowhere near as loud as I expected from some of the reviews I read. I learned that if I put a padded placemat underneath while running it, the sound really isn't any louder than a large blender. As for everything else, I am super happy.

I hate raw celery. Easier to drink it than chew it.

I have been juicing celery, carrots, and beets with the HBBM. It works fast and it really juices well. When I empty the pulp after carrots, I notice that it's basically dry as sawdust. The celery pulp was a little wetter and I experimented with running the pulp back through the juicer. I got a little more juice but nothing significant enough to warrant the hassle. The first thing I tested it with was a little orange that was about as old as Methuselah and the HBBM got about a quarter cup of juice out of it. Oranges, however, are not my thing. I can always buy orange juice but beet juice is not something I can find around here so easily. Would the HBBM be able to handle that? The product page indicated that it could but I needed to know for sure.

When I grocery shopped, I only got a couple of stalks of beets. They aren't too expensive but they aren't something I would use outside of juicing. If the HBBM let me down, I didn't want to be stuck with messy, clothes-staining vegetables. Now I wish I had gotten a few more stalks. That juicer didn't even change gears when I threw in pieces of the beet.

Another thing I like about this juicer: it is really easy to clean. Okay, that mesh bowl is a little bit of a pain to clean but it helps that a brush came with the HBBM. I basically just soak that part in warm and soapy water while I'm rinsing the other pieces.

As far a the size of the juicer, it's not tiny but once you detach everything from the base, it's easy enough to store on top of a fridge or in a small-ish pantry. Mine is currently in the dishwasher so here is the diagram from the manual showing how the HBBM breaks down.

I have to say that, so far, I am more than happy with this juicer. It was at the bottom as far as prices for one with an 800-watt motor. I would not have been surprised if it had been a loser. Thank goodness it's not. If this last me more than a year, I will be more than happy.

Right now, I have some fresh celery and carrot juice to blend in with some of the apple juice I made the other day. I can also add in a little coconut milk and monk fruit sweetener if I want.

By the way, I am vac-sealing and freezing juices. I understand that this is the best way to keep them fresh for the longest period of time and I have to buy when things are on sale.

Peace
--Free

Food Ahh's and Ick's

This food detox I'm enduring (yeah, it's been a whole 15 hours) has me thinking a lot about, well, food.

How much of what we hear about "the latest" berry, oil or seed is hype the greedy? There has to be something good about any natural food, I'm sure. What I wonder about is whether I need a pantry/fridge full of every kind of seed, berry, nut, tree, leaf or twig.

My shopping plan for eating better is real simple: whatever is grown, pure, colorful and on sale.
Problem is, I can be a sometimes picky eater. I have a thing about textures (hate grit, love creamy) and I'm hypersensitive to flavors.

I'm considering adding a couple of new things to my pantry though:

• Chia seeds - I like the idea (if true) that they hydrate the body. One claim I need to check on is that they promote weight loss by "preventing food absorption". That sounded great when I first read it, but I have to wonder if, by the same process, the seeds will prevent the absorption of nutrients. I get all yin yang in my feelings about stuff like this. I really hate this type of trendy hype. Since chia seeds taste nice (and might actually help the heart),  I don't care if they do anything for weight loss and will probably give them a try.
• Flax-seed - Even if I don't try chia, I will most definetly be adding some flaxseed to my blended concoctions. Reading about it on WebMD, I was pleased to see the Omega-3 and fiber mentioned, but my beady little peepers lit right up at the note about estrogen. The woman out there will know where I'm coming from with that one. (By the way, I just love that WebMD. Not as much as I love my docs, but they're probably glad I'm not calling them up with my random questions at... 6:15 AM   Pretty sure about that!

I hope flax-seed doesn't tasted disgusting. Already I'm thinking "gritty-grimy" as far as the texture. Maybe all the pulp in my "Veg-oothies"** (I made that up, so don't go stealing it) will protect my taste buds.

Now, getting to the ahh's and ick's I headlined with, here are some of my faves/not-faves as far as food:

• Liver - I used to hate this so much that I would gag when Mom forced it on me. I'd spit that nastiness right out the second she wasn't looking and actually scrape at my tongue with my dinner napkin. UGH! As I've matured (in all kinds of ways), I find I don't mind eating liver. If I don't have to handle it raw. Is it not the most disgusting common food known to exist? My sister cooks it with onions, with or without gravy, and that is some good eating. Sometimes. I have to be in the mood for it.And I only like beef liver, which is the chewier kind.
• Gizzards - Love, love, LUV chicken gizzards. I cook them with a little olive oil and some garlic salt. Of course, I look like some kind of crazed freak of nature while I'm gnawing around those tough little ligaments (or whatever) to get at all the meat. Thing is, you have to eat like a pan full of them to satisfy hunger. I have never eaten a gizzard in the company of all but my nearest and dearest. One time I lost my grip while tugging the meat from one and it shot across the table and hit my uncle in the face. So, yeah. My life and times...
• Cabbage - Never been a fan of cabbage. When I was about fifteen, I brought my mother a head of lettuce from the store because I thought it was a cabbage. (You ever tell anyone about that, I'll hunt you down to laugh with you about it.) My family likes to cook it in water with oil and salt pork. And this is why so many black people have "high blood" and "the sugar diabetes". Help us, Jesus.
• Beets - Just started eating them without pickling juices. Not crazy about these solo, but like tossing them into blends or drinking the raw juice. Not a bad juice, just don't wear clothes or get near furniture while you guzzle. That vegetable stains air.

My basic plan is simple: getting lots of fresh air and exercise and putting better stuff in my body. I used to think that "eating better" meant choosing making better fast-food choices. I'd get the green tea latte at Starbucks or the McDonald's ranch salad. I thought I was being smart, but I was just spending more money than I needed for stuff that only sounded healthy. Let's take a look at some those choices.

• Best and worst salad choices
• It looked good on the menu
• Even it that "chicken" is really chicken
• If it's not the fat, it's the sodium

The biggest thing about eating (or drinking) something that sounds healthy is that almost anything can be made to sound healthy.

I'm not saying that I will never go to Starbucks again, but I'm going to go less and go smarter. As this article suggests, I'll use a this-not-that way of choosing my treats.

Like a lot of people, I tend to point out that I only eat fast food occasionally. The thing is, I don't like mystery about what I'm ingesting - ever. While, again, not everything you read is true, this article pretty much put me off McNuggets for life. I used to love McNuggets more than I loved the last man I was with, and now I realize neither of them was any good for me. Ick.

This list of the 18 Most Sickening Food Ingredients gave me dry heaves. I'm going to need a Valium the next time I enter a grocery store. This article was way funnier and had "sex" in the title (even though I'd rather eat beetle ass than condom lubricant). I was only alarmed by a few claims.

All giggling aside, I think that we need to be more aware of what we're putting into our bodies. We've heard so much about what's bad for us, we've gotten tired of listening.

Peace
--Free