Every once in a while, I think back to my college years and can’t help but laugh about what I did then and what I do now.  The life of a Rooster, I guess. Those days included lots of yoga, eating healthy (including one strange diet of only fruits, vegetables and nuts), and listening to vinyl records while I studied.  My favorite uncle was on a “raw foods” diet and took pride in living “off the grid.”  And what appliance was featured in my apartment?  I’ll give you one hint – this guy is the spokesperson.  That’s right – the Juiceman Junior.  You could whip up great, healthy juice blends with things like oranges, carrots, pineapples, spinach, beets, all that stuff.  Sometimes it tasted great, sometimes the experiments went awry, but it was always healthy and kind of fun.  When I met the Healthy Hen, I even managed to convince her that some green juice sludge was good to have every day.  That version of the Juiceman Junior made it through about the first year of our marriage, but then baby chicks, careers and the like pushed it to the back of our cupboards and, eventually, to the goodwill.

Now, about ten years later, we have two chicks and recently had one of those epic virus combinations that made everyone in our house sick and miserable for about two weeks.  And while you would think it was an unpleasant time, for me it was proof that every cloud has a silver lining.  Why? Because one day, while the Healthy Hen was at the store waiting for antibiotic prescriptions to be filled for the chicks, she wandered past the 2010 version of the Juiceman Junior! I COULD NOT BE MORE EXCITED!!!  It makes my 1998 version look like a black and white TV in today’s HD world.  We are having an absolute blast with it., and here’s why:

1.  It really is healthy.  We make fresh, tasty juice with all sorts of fruits and vegetables.  It is  healthy and tastes great.

2.  The chicks love it too! They think it is really interesting to watch the Juiceman process the ingredients and kick out juice, and we love having them drink the goodness.

3.  It is easy to clean – unlike prior versions.  The old version had to be hand washed and was really cumbersome.  Now, it is all dishwasher safe and really easy to clean.

4.  Easy goodness.  Seriously, if you try and eat the recommended daily allowance of fruits and vegetables every day in their “natural” form, it can get tiring and overwhelming.  The Juiceman lets you get all that into you system with just a glass or two a day – good for your body and convenient too.

5.  Creative cooking.  One night, after making some carrot juice, the Healthy Hen had a great idea to take all of the left over fiber from the Juiceman and put it into the blueberry muffing mix she was going to bake.  The end result was moist, sweet blueberry muffins full of natural, healthy fiber.  We used every ounce of the vegetables in two great sources of nourishment.  How is that for efficient?

Obviously, I recommend the Juiceman Junior as a source of nutrition and fun in your home.  I know, I sound like some sort of Jay Kordich disciple, but trust me, I am eating more than my share of unhealthy foods from day to day.  The Juiceman, at this stage of life, is just a great way to make sure I’m getting some convenient, economical goodness in my system too.