Attempting a juice cleanse
Circuit breaker has brought out the cook/baker in all of us. Hahah. I think it is because I could actually cook dishes without being interrupted, with ah lau at home and being able to watch the kids for a bit.
Obviously the lack of moving about meant we were piling on some weight. I wasn’t very consistent with exercising. I love my food, and I felt conscious exercising at home with so many eyes on me. Hahaha. And just like that, I piled on an additional 6kg. ðŸ˜
I have to constantly remind myself that I am not doing it to lose weight but to stay healthy. I can’t cut the food I love so exercise would be it. Close to hitting 40 already, ah lau has high cholestrol. My weight has been yo-yoing for the past 8 yrs with 4 pregnancies. I went for a gallbladder removal surgery 2 yrs ago cos of gallstones.
If not now, then when?
So ah lau attended a detox zoom class and decided a juice cleanse was what he needed. I rolled my eyes..like a lot. Isn’t that like a super expensive fad? I have nothing against juices, I love it. But wah lao, I rolled my eyes cos this is coming from the skeptic of the year, my ah lau himself.
We used to have a centrifugal juicer and he went on about how we should blend fruits instead of juicing so it retains the fibre, or eat the actual fruit itself; how difficult it was to wash and how a balanced diet was more important. How slow-pressed juices were just a con job to charge exhorbitant prices; how fruit juices are all sugar.
Ok lor. But wthhh he got damn excited after the class and we nearly bought a juicer over the weekend?? I am supportive wife ok. But logic got over the better me, smacked some sense into him and we decided to borrow his mother’s Kuvings to trial for 3 days.
$40 of veggies and fruits poorer, today is day 1 of his juice cleanse. We did some research and learnt that juice cleanse is more veggies than fruits, the various types of masticating juicers (capacity, speed of machine, brands and other uses for said machine) and that hey, veggie juices with an apple or two don’t really taste that bad.
Juices! Lelong lelong 😂
I made an apple, pineapple, carrot and mint juice for myself. Ah lau’s kale, spinach and apple juice didn’t taste too bad. He is still going strong lol. He is taking notes of his journey so maybe there’ll be some result after 3 days!
I was also conscious of all these pulp getting wasted. Ah lau actually sent me a link to use the pulp for baking bread! Wahh, so supportive of my zero waste. I would use for compost if I had a bin but my last attempt at composting got me a little iffy so I will pass on it for now. The almond pulp didn’t get wasted tho!
Almond pulp from making almond milk
I used these from my last batch of almond milk and add it into my banana bread batter. Oh my…it was so lovely! It was not as fine as almond meal which is fine cos it means the bread has a nuttier texture to it. It was so so yummy.
Banana bread with almond pulp and a glass of almond milk
Recipe for banana bread:
1½ cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
125g unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
2 large ripe bananas, mashed
½ cup buttermilk (make ½ tbsp lemon juice and enough milk to fill ½ cup)
100g almond pulp
Preheat oven to 170°C. Sift flour, baking powder and bicarb soda together.
In another bowl, use an electric mixer to cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time, ensuring egg is well mixed after each addition. Then add mashed bananas in and stir to mix well.
Add the dry ingredients into the wet mix, alternating with buttermilk, stirring well after each addition. Finally, add in the almond pulp until combined.
Spoon mixture into prepared loaf tin and bake for 50 – 60mins, or until the top of the bread is firm and is a deep brown colour. An inserted skewer should come out clean. Cool in tin for 10 mins before removing.