Fresh Tomato Juice, Without a Juicer

I'm saving up for a good juicer. In the meantime, I made some tomato juice with my blender and a Nut Milk Bag (also called a Sprouting Bag). You could also use cheesecloth, but the Nut Milk bag is easier to manage. Here is how I did it:

1. 15 Roma tomatoes , or vine-ripened. Some kind of really juicy, flavorful tomato is best.
2. dice them up into 2-3 pieces per tomato, depending on their size. The Roma tomatoes only need to be cut in half, if you use that kind.
3. Put them in the blender.
4. Whirl the blender until all the tomatoes are completely pulverized. There will still be pieces of tomato skin, unless you have a really high-speed blender such as a Vitamix. I have a "Smoothie Junior" (lol) , so there are bits.
5. Arrange the nut milk bag over a container with a wide mouth.
6. Pour the pulverized tomatoes into the bag. Let the juice drip out of the bag into the jar.
7. Help strain the juice by gently squeezing the nut milk bag of all moisture, leaving only pulp in the bag. It will take a few minutes. You kind of end up milking it like an udder as the moisture drains.

The strained juice in the jar is your tomato juice. When I made this, it was a beautiful, electrifying pinkish-scarlet color, and it tasted like pure summer. Delicious. I don't add salt or anything.

You can save the pulp and add it to other recipes.

Choco-Monkey, An Unmilk-Shake

This is so easy to make, and so delicious.

1. Freeze 2 bananas, peeled and broken in pieces, in the freezer overnight.
2. In the morning, put the frozen pieces in the blender.
3. Add a teaspoonful of shelled hemp seeds, a teaspoon of raw powdered cacao, and a teaspoon of agave nectar (actually, I've made it without the agave nectar, and it's just as good either way, so if you want to reduce the caloric load a bit, take out the agave.)
4. Pour in about 2/3 of a cup of filtered, cold water.

Whirl the blender until the mixture is completely smooth. it will take a few minutes. You will have to add some more water to make it pourable, but do it slowly so that you keep it as thick and creamy as possible. Just add until you can pour it.

Now drink it! It's SO delicious you cannot believe it. And good for you, too. Hemp seeds are high in protein and omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. Cacao is rich in antioxidants and trace minerals. Bananas are very high in potassium.