Homemade Bread and Juice

     What to do with some rapidly wilting kale, a brand new Pampered Chef loaf pan gifted upon you from the mama, and a rainy day? Homemade green juice and beer bread.
     I've recently fallen in love with the Naked brand Green Machine juice. It's packed with things like broccoli and pineapple and somehow tastes amazingly delicious. While I'm a huge fan, sometimes a girl just has to do things herself and at cost. My half-eaten bunch of kale (the first half having been devoted to massaged kale and avocado salad-yum) was staring at me from the fridge, wilting and furrowing its brow at me for allowing it to be wasted. A little too floppy to be eaten raw, it was time to juice the lot of it. Combine the crinkly leaves with one farm stand cucumber, one granny smith apple, 5 celery stalks, about an inch of ginger (peeled), and the juice of one lemon. I altered the recipe from this site and found it to be very tasty. I think the lemon is definitely needed and I liked the tartness from the granny smith variety. There is always a lovely foam that the juicer creates, making a homemade juice a little like a raw latte of sorts.

The remains of the green dream juice

     Everyone knows how good green veggies are for our health, and this is a super easy way to get the servings we need. Hello, B12, it's good to see you again. Another recipe I've enjoyed for many turns of the juicer is carrot, apple, celery, ginger juice. It's a little sweeter for those who can't quite swing the green dream. If you have access to a juicer, I completely recommend taking the time to make one of these or all of these. If you don't have a juicer, put it on the wedding registry. If you're not getting married, buy some Naked juice and stock your bachelor(ette) pad mini fridge. I wish I had some more right now...


     Another thing to definitely consider when juicing is buying organic. I love the lists of foods that are more important than others to buy organic, and here's one for you!

     The last time I was ready for a nice cozy rainy day, the weather faked me out and decided to be sunny. This time, I was sure that the rain was going to hold out for a nice soft drizzle all day as I gathered the necessary ingredients for a ridiculously easy beer bread. Just three cups self-rising flour, 1/3 cup sugar, and 12 oz. of beer - slap it in the pan with no need to rise and give it an hour in the 350 degree oven. I brushed mine with a bit of butter on top to give it a nice brown crust. The original recipe is here and I love this website for all of the comments that people leave on the page with adjustments to make the recipe even better. The bread actually does taste like whatever beer you use, combined with the sweetness of the sugar. I ate my first slice warm, right out of the oven, with a smear of butter. I think homemade bread is one of the best kept secrets most underused obvious sources of awesomeness. If you are intimidated by rising and kneading, try this bread and thank yourself profusely. Remind yourself that you just drank a lovely healthy juice, and eat the butter, too.

Fresh out of the oven, crusty and sweetly warm

     Craving more wonderful recipes that lavish love on veggies and pair them with beautiful photos? Here are some of my favorite magazines with links to their websites:

Urban Farm
Grow (by Fine Gardening)
Farmer's Market Cooking (by Vegetarian Times)

     Now, what to do with a loaf of bread that may go stale soon? A recipe from my favorite breakfast place:

I'm going to be breakfast!

Toast + ricotta cheese + asparagus + a poached egg.