Juicy Juice

Here at Wellington we're trying very hard not to think of the awful day in the future (two more days!) when the littlest chick will be leaving for sleep-away school. I've hung on to him with two clenched fists for as long as possible. One by one my fingers have been pried off his arms while his feet edge closer and closer to the door.

So we distract ourselves as much as possible. It's a coping mechanism we have honed over the last (seven) years. Some people call it denial. I like to think of it as mental agility.

For instance, would you just LOOK at that gorgeous JUICE?! A month or so ago The Husband and I bought a juicer. It's this monstrous contraption resembling a large food processor. You click the parts together and shove in whole fruits and vegetables. You sort of cringe as it whirs and spins and spits out glasses of fruity goodness. Or in the case of The Husband, greenish vegetable slop. He seems to like it. Actually if you shove an apple in there (we take the seeds out just in case there's any truth to the old wive's tail about apple seeds being poisonous), anything tastes like fruit juice.

The juice pictured above is apple, peach, carrot and orange. I put a half an orange right in there, peal and all! Sometimes I'll shove a handful of fresh spinach and/or kale for good measure. I always put three ice cubes in mine so it seems like a summer drink! It's so good for me. Apparently it is full of something called "micronutrients", which sounds positively healthful. The first two times I drank a glass I actually got dizzy. Something about the stuff passing right into your blood stream or something, I don't know.

And here's a tip I made up with my frugal little brain. Once the spinning is done and you have your glass of juice, there's all this PULP leftover. I read somewhere you could just bake the pulp, which generally consists of fruit and vegetable matter, including kale, spinach, carrot and celery, with meringue on top. They lied. It tasted gross, apparently. I didn't try it. But when the husband proclaimed it tasted sort of like carrot cake (as he made a face and threw the rest in the trash) I was positively inspired to bake what is now referred to as Pulp Cake (or carrot cake if the kids are in the room). It was yummy! And you could hardly taste the radish.

Oh little boy, I'm going to miss you. I'll have to bake you something yummy and nutritious to take along.