CLE Eats: BEET JAR

As I've documented previously, I suck at juice cleanses. The minute someone says "juice cleanse" all I can think about is high-fat foods like cake. Or pizza. Its my pavlovian response.

That said, I really like juice. And I'm pleasantly surprised and very pleased that we have so many juice options in Cleveland, especially on the West Side. Between Garden of Flavor at the grocery store, Fruit Vibe, daily press, and BEET JAR we really have a wealth of options.

Today however, I want to focus on BEET JAR, that recently celebrated its one year anniversary at its home in Hingetown. I probably visit BEET JAR with the most frequency of any of the other juice bar options I mentioned, simply because its right next door to Harness Cycle and I frequently use their juice as a personal reward for a really good ride. I reward myself a lot.

Unlike most of my regular visits, my most recent visit to BEET JAR was right before lunchtime, and I did something that I've never done before. I FINALLY TRIED THE FAMOUS BRAVOCADO SANDWICH!!! 

If you haven't tried the Bravocado, its toasted bread, with greens, smoked coconut, avocado, red onion, and some other deliciousness that I couldn't identify. I was wary of the smoked coconut-- I think I expected it to be too sweet, but it was a perfect blend of meatiness from coconut, bite and crunch from the onion, smooth velvetyness of avocado, and tanginess from the unidentified ingredient. Seriously amazing and completely crave-worthy. Oh, did I mention it is vegan. Seriously, if I could eat food like this ALL the time, I would go vegan in a heartbeat! I also picked up some seriously delicious juice-- grapefruit, lemon, mint and cayenne. Perfection.

I would not call this an inexpensive lunch-- all in, it was about $20, but I will tell you that I felt incredibly virtuous after for putting all this healthy, nutritious stuff in my body!

Diary of a 3 Day Juice Cleanse

So, last week, the awesome people at Garden of Flavor sent me 3 days worth of their juice cleanse to test out. Now, I've done a 3-day juice cleanse before, so I kinda knew what I was getting myself into, but decided to post a 3 day diary so you can experience a 3-day cleanse too!

Day 1: Something is wrong with Otto. Its been happening for the past two days, and its getting worse. He's having a hard time standing up and walking up and down stairs. I haven't seen him this lethargic at any time other than (a) recovery from surgery or (b) the day after daycare at The Mutt Hutt. Yesterday I stress-ate a bag of hot Cheetos and a whole bar of cookies and creme chocolate. Whoops. Today I'm kinda glad I'm on this juice cleanse because at least I won't stress-eat!!!


Juice 1: 8 am. Goji Pineapple. Whoa ginger! This has a really nice kick to it!! Ginger is widely used in India for colds…hmmm, maybe these sniffles will go away?
Juice 2: 12 pm. Cucumber Fresh. Tastes like cucumber soup without the pulp. Hmmmm, maybe I should try and make this in my new Vitamix as a smoothie once this cleanse is done? Juice 2 is almost 2 hours later than it should be because I was at the vet (Otto likely has a strained muscle and/or arthritis- all fixable). But because its late, I'm STARVING!! I keep fantasizing about cheese….mmmmm a good, sharp cheddar…. Pro tip: make sure the lid is securely on the bottle before you shake. Not that I know from experience or anything…
Juice 3: 2 pm. Mean Green. Maybe my tastebuds are still active from the prior juice but I taste nothing. This is the mildest green juice I have ever tasted. Mostly I taste parsley? I am still hungry though…people keep posting pictures of spaghetti and meatballs… I have never wanted spaghetti and meatballs so bad in my life!!! I'm hoping this fills me up some more so I can stop fantasizing about food.
3:30 pm. 30 minutes until my next juice and I am OBSESSING about cheese. What?! Why is this happening?!
Juice 4: 4:30 pm. Twisted Roots.  I was dreading this juice. I hate beets. I really do. I've tried them baked, roasted, in a salad, in juice… they taste like mud. I was pleasantly surprised by this one! It is a beet, carrot and lemon juice, and honestly I tasted mostly carrot. It was actually quite good!
Juice 5: 7:00 pm. White Knight. This is the one I was most looking forward to- the cashew mylk. I LUUURVE cashew mylk and this one is good, although I wish it had more cinnamon in it. I put in some generous sprinkles of pumpkin spice, and it was delicious. And very, very filling. I'm so full I don't think I'm going to get to the 6th juice tonight. Which is totally fine, because then I will just have an extra for tomorrow!!!
Sidebar: I did have a bite of Nick's awesome Spaniard sub from Crust. It was delicious. And I don't feel the least bit guilty about it. 

Day 2: Stepped on the scale this morning. 150.8 lbs. Down 2 lbs since Monday!! WHOA!! Although, I have done these cleanses before and the last time, I lost 5 lbs, but put 2 of them back on as soon as I started eating solid food, so I'm cautiously optimistic
Juice 1: 8:30 am. Very distracted by work today, which is good. Maybe I will finally stop thinking about cheese?
9:00 am: someone brought in donuts. WHY? WHY? WHY? I'm just going to stay in my cube all day.
Juice 2: 10:00 am. Heading into a meeting with my juice. I feel a little weird toting these around, but I am not about to go into hangry mode!!
Juice 3: (subbed in the Lemon Pepp leftover from last night)1:00 pm. Uh-oh. I have the beginnings of a headache because I waited too long for Juice 3!
Juice 4: 4:00 pm. Work is consuming all my thoughts today. Plus side: I have not had any time to check instagram at lunch, so I'm not craving yumminess.  Down side: I really shouldn't wait 3 hours between drinks!!!
Juice 5 and 6: 7:00 pm. STARVING. RAGING HEADACHE. Chugged the Twisted Roots. Added cinnamon and cardamom to the White Knight and sipped it while Nick ate dinner. I cooked dinner for him tonight btw-- cajun chicken alfredo… it smelled really good.

Day 2 is always the hardest. Its when I start to question what the hell I was thinking when I signed up for 3 days of this. I haven't worked out in 3 days. And while I hate not having worked out, I'm kinda ok with it since I'm cleansing. At least I'm not putting junk food into my body!

Day 3: Weight 150.2 lbs. Not bad really.
Juice 1: 8:30 am. I'm really going to miss this juice. I'm feeling good. Exhausted (not cleanse related), but good.

Juice 2: 10:30 am. Drank this while I was at a meeting, so I don't really remember what it tasted like. I saw Arianna Huffington speak last night, and she was talking about being in the moment and focussing on what you are doing (rather than multi-tasking) and it totally applies here. I really need to stop eating lunch and dinner while I'm doing other things!

11:30 am. I really miss chewing. Really. Miss. It.

Juice 3: noon.  There are multiple boxes of pizza in the cube behind me and the delicious smell of melty cheesiness continues to waft ever so gently into my cube. CHEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSEE. FML.

3:00 pm. Green tea

4:00 pm: Juice 4 Am now fantasizing about pizza. And thanksgiving dinner. And pretty much food in general.

6:00 pm: Am on the phone with Nick and he suggests cheese pizza for dinner. Cleanse over. I only have SO much self control.

Overall, I really liked this cleanse, even though I quit early. I enjoyed the juices, even the beet juice, although I do wish the cashew milk had more cinnamon in it. Would I do it again? Sure!! But probably only for 2 days. In fact, I'm probably going to do it in January! Any one want to join me?

Disclosure: Garden of Flavor sent me 3 days worth of juice for me to try out. As always, all opinions are 100% my own. You can buy Garden of Flavor juices at these locations.