So there is a little story for this one! While living in NYC I fell in love with fresh fruit & veggie juices from the street vendor juicers. Just $4 could buy you a custom designed large juice packed with your choice of an array of fresh produce, from melon to mango, watercress to spinach, the options far surpassed the store bought OJ. It seemed like a great deal considering the amount of produce in one drink, the expensive juicer I did not have to buy, and most importantly the clean-up I didn't have to do. Nothing felt as cooling, detoxing, and energizing. A healthy magnificent splurge that became daily routine.
Then... I moved to Bountiful, Utah. The only juicing going on here is Jamba juice, which really isn't juicing at all but rather but high calorie, overly sweet, fruit smoothies that claim nutritional but fall far from it. When I did try to give Jamba juice a try, I asked what fruit and veggie juices they could make me, they came up with only one, OJ and carrot, I tried it but it just didn't hold a stick to my NYC juices and was twice the cost. I was not going to be defeated on my pursuit of the juice so like I often do with culinary pursuits I decided to take matters into my own hands.
I was limited on options. I wasn't about to invest in an expensive juicer, and I didn't have access to great farmers market produce, so I somehow dreamed up a concoction I believed would suffice, provide similar nutrition, and incorporate convenience. It came to me while shopping at Costco one day. I somehow decided a V-8 juice mixed with an Odwalla green juice would provide all the benefits and taste of my former fresh fruit veggie juices. So 48 cans of V-8 later and a few bottles of Odwalla, since it is impossible to buy small quantities at Costco, I discovered my theory was a bust. It was the sickest combination I had ever tasted, and V-8 alone reminisced nothing more than a tin can. I decided eating cold marinara sauce was better than a V-8. So what to do with 48 cans of V-8 juice? I have spent over a year coming up with ways to use them. I suppose it could count as food storage, but I don't know that I would drink them straight even in a crisis.
Well it turns out it makes fabulous Enchilada sauce when you drown it in taco seasoning. The best part it is my non vegetable eating husband even likes it! A year later and I still have 10-15 cans and I have found that when a recipe calls for tomato sauce I can usually use it. In constant search for such recipes I am proud to say I created one today. It is a twist on Sweet and Sour sauce made from Pineapple juice. But I loathe canned pineapples so I opted for a tomato based sauce that is similar to a great BBQ sauce but better and slightly (not much) lower in sugar. It has some kick, and if you like the flavor you can certainly increase the flair ingredients (horseradish, ginger, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, vinegar). Micah liked it but commented he thought it might be great with pork ribs, or a non ground meat, but he would say that about any dish because he does not care for ground up meat. All in all a success, and I plan to use the sauce for other things in the future. I did mine in the slow cooker because I had 2 hours for it to simmer, but I am sure you could do on the stove top in less time and still get fabulous results. So here is to sneaking V-8 juice into a balanced diet!
As for the juicing, I did finally buy a blender, an Oster 8 speed that I am currently in love with. Only $30 a Walmart, it has an all metal drive and glass jar and great power! It doesn't juice but it makes fine smoothies of my choice of fruit and veggies. It still pales in comparison to my juice vendors, but it far surpasses the V-8 Odwalla concoction!
Sweet and Sour Meatballs
3/4 lb lean ground beef
1/4 cup breadcrumbs or 2 tbsp cornstarch if you are making GF
1 egg
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp basil, oregano, sage (optional)
1/2 tsp horseradish sauce
salt and pepper
Mix altogether and shape into 1.5 inch balls. Heat on skillet over medium heat about 5 minutes to brown outside.
1.5 cans V-8 juice or 2 8 oz. cans of tomato sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp molasses
1/4 cup vinegar (I used half apple cider and balsamic)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1.5 tbsp cornstarch
Mix the above in crock pot and turn on low. Add meatballs, cover and let cook for another 2-4 hours. We had ours over rice with some veggies, YUM!
The house will smell amazing!
