fennel bulb and tangerine juice with apple, carrot and basil

… it’s quite incredible how ‘virtuous’ becomes ‘chocolate’ after a hard session with the personal trainer.  I’m still not convinced why i’m putting myself through it and now that the weather has turned seriously beyond cold it’s not exactly what i’d call a good time but the results speak for themselves and I do feel fitter and healthier than ever before even if I do slip in the odd bar of chocolate or two… or three.  I have a sweet tooth and whilst I don’t need piles of sugar I can actually enjoy sweetness in other forms which is why there’s a lot of fruit and honey being consumed at Belleau Cottage most of the time… although now my PT tells me that no fruit should be consumed beyond 5pm because of the high sugar content so it’s all a little like a vicious circle of hate.  I think it’s all about making these things easy to achieve and not feel like tasks and so doing something simple like juicing fruit or eating breakfast is a great place to start and this way, I feel like i’ve at least started my day with good intention so by the time it comes to 4pm and the chocolate comes around you have a little bit of virtuousness inside… All I can say is at least i’m not doing Dry January…

fennel bulb and tangerine juice with apple, carrot and basil
this being Wellbeing Month on QVC I have been experimenting with my Jason Vale Retro Juicer… i’ve been using it quite a lot but have been quite traditional with the ingredients… as you know, we are up and down to London a lot so we can be found very often carting a lot of fruit and veg up and down the motorway and occasional there can be tired produce that never quite makes the journey and of course I hate this wastage so we’ve taken to juice up the fruit at the end of the weekend using whatever left.  Sometimes this can be quite odd but often than not it’s usually orange and apple based.  This weekend I happened to have two large bulbs of fennel in the fridge that were looking a little tired and I love that subtle aniseed flavour it has which works so wonderfully with the apple and tangerine… the basil doesn’t overpower as much as i thought it would but adds a deep undertone of sweetness.

The thing I love about juicing is that I can balance out the sweetness I crave with the healthiness that comes from the fruit and vegetables.  This juicer is brilliant because you quite literally don’t have to peel or core any of the fruit, it does it all for you and separates out the pulp from the juice as it works… check out my instagram for a little film of the beast in action.  The Jason Vale Retro Juicer is available to buy on QVC for £274.92.  If you follow the link above you can find more details as well as lots of other great products, ideas and inspiration for getting fit and healthy this year.