Ew. This just proves that we should always take time to read ingredient labels. We should know what we’re eating!

The juice in the photo is the Depth Charge, from Daily Juice in Austin, TX.

I enjoy making my own juice. Sometimes (especially in summer, when the fruit is amazing) I make fruit juice, but more often than not I make green juices, with cucumbers, celery, kale, limes, grapes, apples, coconut water and more. I’ve been using my Breville juicer since 2007, and although it has served me well, I’ve been thinking about an upgrade. The Breville is a centrifugal juicer, which means it’s speedy and easy to clean, but you have to drink the juice fast to avoid nutrient loss, and the pulp is pretty wet, which means the juice isn’t being fully extracted. This means I can’t make juice in large batches to save for later, and as the juicer gets older, I’ve noticed that its extraction power seems to be deteriorating. For about a year, I’ve been eyeing the Green Star, which is the gold standard of juicers. It makes really good juice, but is bulky, slow and expensive, so I’ve never taken the plunge. It seems that now I don’t have to. According to awesome raw chef Kristen Suzanne (she really is one of my faves), there is a new juicer on the market that combines the quality of the Green Star with the ease and speed of the Breville. Luckily for me, Kristen compared all three juicers; the videos are posted below. I’m definitely going to start saving for the new Hurom juicer, which looks amazing.

For Kristen’s original post on juicers, click here.

In this magical memoir, author Noelle Oxenhandler explores the power (and danger) of the art of wishing. After a series of tumultuous personal events, Oxenhandler finds herself divorced, spiritually bereft and raising her daughter alone in a rental house. Simultaneously envious and suspicious of her friend Carole’s ability to manifest her desires through wishing (a husband! a successful art career! three houses in France!), Oxenhandler decides to research and explore the history and power of wishing.

She embarks on a year-long journey to fulfill three wishes: to find love with a man, to buy a house and to heal her soul and spirituality. She reads all that she can on wishing in its various manifestations (prayer, magic, positive thinking, etc.) as she struggles to reconcile the sacred and the profane (is it okay to ask God for more money?) and magic versus hard work (do shrines, wishlists and ceremonies have any place in modern society?).

To her surprise, her wishes do begin to come true, in a variety of ways. She discovers that she spends as much time wishing for her friends as she for herself, and after a year of startling discoveries, begins to feel comfortable with the blessings appearing in her life. An intriguing, compelling read for believers and non-believers alike.

I like making this shake – it’s vegetarian (not vegan, because of the honey), full of protein and superfoods, and tastes a lot like a chocolate shake. The amounts of the ingredients vary depending on how you like your shake (super chocolatey, lots of protein, runny vs. thick), so you might have to experiment to find your blend. But here are the ingredients (try to use as many organic ones as possible):

1-2 bananas, depending on size (use frozen bananas to make it extra cold and thick)
Goji berries
Chocolate rice protein powder
Raw cacao powder
Raw maca powder
Bee pollen
Raw honey (raw honey is generally solid, not liquid)
Cold-pressed coconut butter
Ice
Hemp milk

The bananas, honey and coconut butter add smoothness and sweetness.
The cacao, protein powder and maca make it nice and chocolatey.
The protein powder and hemp milk pack it with protein.
The goji berries, maca, bee pollen and cacao are all superfoods.

Put everything in a high-speed blender and give it a whirl (I guess you can use a regular blender on this, but you won’t get as smooth a consistency, because of the berries and the bee pollen). Serve cold – I like to sip mine with a straw. Enjoy!

I get a kick out of Christmas music. Even after years in retail, being forced to listen to Windham Hill’s Christmas music on an endless loop, I still enjoy it. It’s festive, and can remind you of the spirit of the season, even when you’re stuck in traffic. My taste in Christmas music spans from classic to pop to New Age to traditional. I even still like the Windham Hill Christmas sampler that’s left over from my Barnes and Noble days. BUT. There are some “Christmas” songs I cannot stand. These are my top 3:

Dan Fogelberg, Same Old Lang Syne. What is this song? This isn’t Christmas music, so why do I hear it every year? Just because the song is set on Christmas Eve, doesn’t make it a holiday tune. It’s not even festive. Seriously, take a minute to google the lyrics. In it, Dan runs into his old flame at the grocery store. They want to catch up, but all the bars are closed, so they buy a six-pack of beer and drink it in the car. It turns out that they are both unhappy and unfulfilled in their lives. Then the girl goes back to her husband and the life she loathes. Cheerful.

Paul McCartney, Wonderful Christmas Time. Arg. This songs makes me grind my teeth. First of all, it’s completely inescapable. I hear it more than any other song on the radio every December. Yes, McCartney is a legend. Yes, he is an amazing songwriter. But this song sucks. It has about 4 lines that just keep repeating, with each verse reminding us that we’re having a wonderful Christmas time, ad nauseum. You know what makes for a wonderful Christmas time? Not hearing this song.

Newsong, Christmas Shoes. Honestly, does anyone like this song? It’s horrible. Basically, a cranky guy in line at a store helps a poor urchin buy shoes for the urchin’s dying mother so that she’ll look pretty for Jesus (who, as we all know, is pretty strict about footwear in Heaven). As others have pointed out, this guy gets a kick out of being reminded of the true spirit of Christmas, all thanks to some poor kid’s dying mother. It’s complete drivel, and Rich over at FourFour has a great commentary on this song. He says it better than I could, so just read his opinion.

But, lest you think I’m a total Grinch, let me close with one of the cutest renditions of one of my favorites:

So, there you have it. What are your favorite (and least favorite!) holiday songs?