Fresh Tomato Juice

V8 used to be a popular drink around the work place at one point when the dangers of sugary drinks was being announced from everywhere. While I was blissfully enjoying the free V8 juice offered around the office I started to realize that the unusually good tasting vegetable juice had a whopping amount of sodium. A problem that lead to dry mouth and being constantly thirsty.

When life or in this case your local farm or garden throws tomatoes at you take up the offer and make fresh tomato juice. The best way to enjoy vegetable juices is to make your own. I do not like adding other vegetables besides tomatoes to my vegetable juice. I The refreshing and the naturally sweet tasting tomato juice can knock some of the highly sweet fruit juices to the wayside.

Tomato juice used to be popular in India when we were growing up. Some of you who were kids in the 80s should remember this. It seemed like the only juice besides lime juice that was served to guests. I am not really sure how people will react if you served guests tomato juice these days! Unlike now nobody bought juice and stocked them up. Yes! even concentrates. Most people made them fresh and when it was wanted. Good old days!!

Summer time when your garden gives you an overload of tomatoes you make tomato juice. These bright red tomatoes unlike the store bought ones looked like it was a crime not to juice them. While DH enjoys them with a dash of Tabasco/pepper and salt. I prefer them as they are. If you want add a tiny bit of sugar. Most days I just enjoy them unadulterated. Making the juice is not tough either.

I personally do not like using use a device like vitamix or a nutri bullet which pulverizes the skin and the seeds. But if that works for you by all means. I like to use my regular old blender. Pulp the tomato and strain the seeds and skin and just enjoy the pure juice. Bliss in a bottle.

Wash the tomatoes, dry them, cut them into smaller pieces and add to the blender. Blend for 1/2 a minute or so and strain using a fine mesh strainer.
Strained fresh juice.
To the serving glass add sugar if needed and mix it into the juice.

The color alone is enough to make you want to drink it.

Tomato Juice
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients (for 16 oz of juice)

1. 6-8 medium sized red juicy tomatoes
2. 1-2 tsp of sugar or honey (optional)

Method

1. Wash and cut the tomatoes and take them in a blender.
2. Let it whirl for about 30 seconds.
3. Strain through a fine mesh strainer to take out the seeds and skin.
4. Add the sugar to the serving glass, add in the tomato juice.
5. Stir till the sugar dissolves. Add ice cubes if needed.

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Gooseberry Juice

4 years ago we planted a couple of gooseberry plants. This year especially they have been a bonanza in terms of the number of berries we have got. While they are sour when not fully ripe they have a pleasant sweetness when fully rope. With the first round of picking I made jam with them. With the subsequent pickings they languished without being eaten so I took the executive decision to make juice out of them. What do you know the juice was much sought after. The speed with the juice disappeared made the pricks I got from the thorns while plucking the gooseberries very worthwhile.

Gooseberry plant

For Indian reader, the American/European gooseberries is a very different species compared to the Indian variety. The Indian gooseberry is a tree while the one growing in my backyard is a thorny bush.

If you click on the link for the jam you'd see a green colored jam, this is because they were made with unripe berries. The jelly I made this time was a beautiful red color. The big advantage of home made jellies, jams and juice is that it is easy to control the amount of sugar that goes into them.

Gooseberry Jam

You perhaps have all been reading about research about our declining well being, that rightfully puts the culprit as sugar and carbohydrates in our diets as opposed to fat which has been unfairly made the villain. We all know that as low fat food products proliferated so did the increase in added sugar content in all of these products. Some of the so called health products sure do have unhealthy amounts of sugar. Protein filled foods mostly meats also have fats in them but they fill you up quickly and prevent tacking on the unnecessary calories. The opposite of what happens when those fat calories are replaced by carbohydrates especially in the highly processed foods. "Eat Butter - Scientists labeled fat the enemy. Why there were wrong" a Time's magazine article last month is a good one to read.

Above all be it carbohydrates, fat, sugar or salt it is best to use common sense in what we are eating. Avoiding highly processed foods will be the single best way to reclaim our health and make strides against obesity.

I rarely buy juices because first of all I want the kids to eat fruits, secondly I do not want them to grow up thinking that store bought sugary juices are healthy. So making juice at home is a rare occasion and it makes the kids extremely happy.

Gooseberry Juice
Preparation Time:10 minutes
Serves : 4-6
Ingredients

1. 3-4 cups of ripe gooseberries
2. 1/2 cup of sugar

Method

1. In a blender add the gooseberries and blend them a cup of water. With a slotted spoon remove the bigger pulp pieces.
2. Leave most some of the pulp inside. Add the rest of the water and sugar. Mix it in. Refrigerate. Add a few cubes of ice and is ready to serve.
Note:When the juice is left to sit in the fridge for some time the pulp rices to the top leaving the clear juice below. But resit wanting to filter the pulp out. Mix it in and serve.

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Watermelon Juice with Basil Seeds (Tukmaria seeds) - Summer Cooler

If I happen to go to the grocery with DD2 I cannot get back without carrying a big load on my shoulder - yes a watermelon. Around here watermelon is available all year around but usually at a much higher price during the winter months. Summer months watermelons are cheaper and I can satiate DD2's unfulfillable love of watermelons.

While eating them sliced is perfect, juicing them and drinking ice cold is even better. Adding a tsp or a couple of basil or chia seeds depending on how much you like those seeds adds a welcome crunch.

While making water melon juice does not require a recipe here it is anyway.

Watermelon Juice with Basil Seeds (Tumkmaria seeds)
Preparation Time:5 minutes
Cooking Time:5 minutes
Serves : 2
Ingredients and Method

1. 3 cups of peeled chopped watermelon
2. 2 tsp of Basil Seeds (or Chia seeds)
3. ice cubes as needed
4. Blend the chopped watermelon pieces (strain out the solid watermelon pieces if you need a clear juice). Freeze the drained watermelon pieces to enjoy at a later time.
5. Either soak the basil/chia seeds in some water or add it directly the juice in a glass, add some ice cubes.
Ready to be enjoyed on a hot hot day.

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Raspberry Limeade with honey

DC summer weather is predictably hot, humid and icky. When the mercury hits 90F there are public service announcements to drink water and not to stay in the sun for too long. What a pampered lot I thought when I first came here. Apparently people do forget to drink water and end up being dehydrated and lots of bad things happen.

But spring months are another matter altogether. It is the time of the year when it is warm enough and on lucky days not too humid so you can actually enjoy being outside without being hot and bothered. It can also mean stifling hot and humid days. Never know what you get. Don't get me wrong, I grew up in a place where even the peak winter night time temperatures do not go below 68F so hot is better than cold. Since we grew up knowing that drinking water is required when it is hot and humid we are generally OK.

Anyway yesterday was a hot humid day with intermittent thunder storms all through the day. The rain did some good though it brought down the temp. and it is actually quite pleasant and cool today. As I type this I am enjoying some cool spring breeze wafting through the windows.

Drinking something cool and refreshing preferably home made makes these hot humid days bearable. It also gives the kids a chance to enjoy the product of their own handiwork rather than drink the sugared up store bought drinks. It is an excuse I give to avoid buying them.

DD2 picked up a box of raspberries and also lime declaring that she is going to make limeade. I suggested adding the leftover raspberries to the limeade. Oh! what a pretty color that made. Don't have raspberries try with strawberries, blueberries, blackberries or even mulberries - if you are lucky enough to have a tree close by.

Raspberry Limeade with honey
Preparation Time:5 minutes
Cooking Time:10 minutes
Ingredients

1. 1/4 cup of raspberries
2. 2 limes or lemon
3. 4 tsp of sugar + 1/2 tbsp of honey
4. 6 cups of water
5. Ice cubes

Method

1. Add the washed raspberries to a blender with 2 cups of water. Puree. You can filter out the seeds but you can leave them be.
2. Squeeze the lime/lemon into the puree and add the rest of the water, sugar and honey and stir till the sugar is dissolved.
3. Refrigerate and serve or serve with ice cubes.

Orange Lemonade Recipe

Is Your Supermarket Chucking Foods Before They Expire?, saw this article on Mother Jones magazine website and my thoughts turned to my attitude towards 'Sell by' and 'Use by' dates on food packages.

I grew up in India were refrigerating cooked food for more than a day at least back then was unheard of. Vegetables were in the crisper for a couple of days maybe. We mostly used our senses - noses, tongues and hands to detect if fruits, vegetables, milk or any food for that matter has gone bad.

I still carry that technique to detect freshness of food even with the plethora of dates on most packaged food products. Though I ignore the dates to figure out if they are spoiled I definitely use these dates to buy stuff from the store especially the quick perishables like meat, milk etc., but once they land in my pantry or refrigerator I generally use my nose to tell if they have to be thrown away.

I am actually glad when something goes bad as opposed to them staying the same even after a good couple of weeks. Makes me wonder if these unspoilable food are real food but that is a story for another day.

I know and have seen people throw away perfectly good food because the dates on the packages say otherwise and are on or near the expiry date.

What is your attitude towards these dates on food products?

Moving on to the recipe,
I am on not terribly fond of orange juices. I rarely buy them and never reach for them unless I have no other choice. Those are the times when I want to avoid the donuts but want something sweet. The metallic taste of most store bought orange juices is what I do not like about it.

Freshly squeezed orange juices on the other hand tastes like well how fruit juice should taste fresh and sweet. It was no wonder that when I saw some orange lemonade at my favorite Amish Lancaster Dutch market I could not resist picking it up. It doesn't hurt that they usually make the juices on the premise and does not have any additives.

When the half gallon we bought ran out we set out to make our own. Simple recipe but delicious as they come. My dear friend and her kids were visiting and I tested the juice on them. While my friend found the juice a tad sweet, the kids liked it. So control the amount of sugar you add or skip it altogether.

Orange Lemonade Recipe
Ingredients
1. Juice from 6 medium sized lemons
2. Juice from 6-8 Oranges (see note)
3. 1/4 cup of sugar (half this amount should suffice)
4. 3 cups of water

Method
1. Mix in all the ingredients, refrigerate.
2. Add ice cubes just before serving.

Note:
1. I strained out the pulp (of course you can eat this later) but leave it in if you like it that way.