Juice Box Cafe

The teaches of peaches

2011-08-15T22:27:00.001-04:00

I’ve got a confession.

Up until recently I was never a fan of fruit in my salads.

But then the heat wave came.

And juicy fruit on a refreshing salad didn’t sound so unappealing.

First came the strawberries.

And I thought, “Okay, I can do this.”

Then there were the blueberries.

And those were downright tasty.

And August brought the peaches.

And what can I really say about peaches?

To me, they are like the prime rib of fruit. I’m convinced that adding peaches to any recipe could not possibly be a bad decision.

So what I’m trying to say is, even if you don’t THINK you like fruit in your salad, Juice Box Café’s August special peach salad just might change your mind.

And it’s much healthier than the Pittsburgh tradition of French Fries on top of the salad :)

We’re blue (da ba dee)

2011-07-24T20:32:00.001-04:00

We’re celebrating a hot and steamy July with cool and refreshing menu items created with organic, local blueberries.

The blueberry salad features blueberries (duh), walnuts, blue cheese, and apple cinnamon dressing.

And if you’re wondering about that subtle, nutty taste in the blueberry shake, ~~blame~~ thank the almond milk.

Of course, these blue treats go best with a side of Eiffel 65.

Enjoy.

June is Strawberry Month

2011-06-01T21:26:00.001-04:00

When I was younger I spent a lot of time on albinoblacksheep.com watching absolutely ridiculous flash videos.

So when I was asked to write about strawberries in honor of Strawberry Month at Juice Box Cafe, one of the first things I thought about was “The Evil Stawberry.”

So after I thought about the evil strawberry, I thought about the results that once popped up when I started to type “what” into the google search bar…

Apparently it’s some kind of book…

So as it turns out, I really didn’t have any good ideas when it came to writing about strawberries, so I decided I’d just take pictures of Juice Box Café’s new strawberry salad and strawberry shake in honor of Strawberry Month at Juice Box.

Here at Juice Box, we love strawberries. And cowboy boots. Alright so maybe it’s just me that loves cowboy boots.

Skinny smoothies

2011-05-30T23:53:00.001-04:00

Food Network star Nigella Lawson was recently photographed in a rather conservative swim suit…

Perhaps if she’d been regularly sipping on our low calorie smoothies, she would have been more willing to reveal ~~Victoria’s~~ Nigella’s Secret.

Swim suit season can be a little intimidating. Take the edge off with one of our new skinny smoothies—all under 100 calories.

Watermelon Smoothie

Calories: 46

Fat: 0 grams
Cholesterol: 0 grams
Sodium: 2mg
Carbohydrates: 12g (4%)
Dietary Fiber: 1g (2%)
Protein: 1g
Vitamin A: 18%
Vitamin C: 21%
Calcium: 1 %
Iron: 2%

very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium
a good source of Potassium, Vitamin A and Vitamin C
a good source of antioxidants, lycopene, and vitamins B6 and B12.

Apple ginger smoothie

Calories: 59
Fat: 0 grams
Cholesterol: 0 grams
Sodium: 5mg
Carbohydrates: 12g (4%)
Dietary Fiber: 0g
Sugars: 12g

Very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium
a very good source of Vitamin C, Magnesium, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.

Citrus Smoothie:

Calories: 53
Fat: 0 grams
Cholesterol: 0 grams
Sodium: 0 mg
Carbohydrates: 12g (4%)
Dietary Fiber: 0g
Sugars: 8g
Vitamin A: 4%
Vitamin C: 90%

very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium
a good source of Vitamin B6, Thiamin, Folate and Potassium, and Vitamin C.

Frosting is not a food group

2011-05-06T17:16:00.001-04:00

Recently I’ve come to learn that pizza plus cake does not a healthy diet make.

[source]

Okay so maybe I already knew that.

But I had a hard time letting the leftover cakes and three extra large pizzas from my graduation party go to waste.

When I started to smell stale pizza coming out of my pores, I decided I needed to incorporate some healthier foods into my diet—AKA some vegetables.

I’ll admit that a big stalk of broccoli isn’t always as appealing as cake frosting, but I’ll let you in on a secret:

If you hide your veggies in a fruit smoothie, you can’t taste them.

For an extra 50 cents, Juice Box will add some kale to your smoothie, and I promise you won’t taste it! You’ll just reap its awesome benefits and knock off one of your five daily servings of veggies.

Now lay off the cake and pizza. Oh wait, that was me. Nevermind!

When life hands you lemons…

2011-04-26T10:51:00.001-04:00

Lemons will forever remind me of the Andy Milonakis show that used to be on MTV.

“It’s my show don’t tell me what to do. When life hands me lemons, I make beef stew.”

Have I lost you yet? Okay, nevermind. Not that important.

[source]

According to an article by Fit Sugar, lemons are not just pretty good, but a SUPER FOOD!

Here are some of the health benefits the article mentioned:

Constipation and diarrhea relief. Lemons help cleanse the digestive track and allow food to digest properly.

Lemons aid in the production of antibodies in the blood that attack invading microorganisms and prevent infection.

Lemon is found to be anticarcinogenic, which can lower the rates of colon, prostate, and breast cancer.

Because of its high potassium content, lemon controls high blood pressure, dizziness, and nausea, and provides relaxation to mind and body.

Lemons feature antibacterial properties that help aid sore throats. Mix half of a lemon with water and gargle.

Lemons are great for colds, the flu, and fevers. They help stop the fever by increasing perspiration.

Lemon has antiseptic and styptic properties, so it can stop internal bleeding. For instance, you can put some lemon on a cotton ball and apply it to the inside of your nose to stop a nose bleed.

Lemon mixed with water is great for anyone who has respiratory problems like asthma because of its rich source of vitamin C.

A cup of warm water with lemon and a pinch of salt can help with weight loss and lower cholesterol.

When applied to a burn, lemon juice will actually reduce the burning sensation since it acts as a cooling agent.

So stop by the cafe for some lemonade today to get all the amazing health benefits that lemons have to offer.

New Hours!

2011-04-14T22:44:00.001-04:00

New, longer hours effective Friday, April 15:

Monday-Friday: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Saturday: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Sunday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sure they’re a little hard to remember, but they’re also longer. Which means more time for more juice, like the V6.

No I didn’t sneak into someone’s yard to take that extremely artsy picture of my V6 by a pond…

Okay so maybe I did.

It’s not creepy if it’s for artistic purposes.

Okay so maybe it is.

Meatless Mondays

2011-04-04T08:12:00.001-04:00

A meatless lifestyle is not for everyone. But there are benefits for you and the environment if you go meatless just one day a week.

[source]

Meatless Monday is a movement that encourages people to go vegetarian on Mondays.

The health benefits of going meatless for a day include:

limit cancer risk
reduce heart disease
fight diabetes
curb obesity
live longer
improve diet

The environmental benefits include:

reduce fossil fuel dependence
reduce carbon footprint
minimize water usage

If you’re interested in going meatless for a day, our menu has plenty of vegetarian and vegan options for you to try.

Smoked Tofu and Spicy Curry Wrap

Mock Tuna Salad

..and others.

Happy Meatless Monday!

[source]

What's the ratio of a pumpkin's circumference to its diameter?

2010-10-28T16:56:00.002-04:00

Here at the Juice Box, we're excited for the fall season. We love the falling leaves and the crisp air. Halloween and Thanksgiving are just around the corner, and the new year isn't too far away. But recently we've had our eyes on a particular oblong squash whose name conjures up images of autumnal bliss - the pumpkin. We're working night and day to incorporate this delectable treat into a variety of home-made recipes that will be sure to please your palate (We're so focused, in fact, that one of our Juice Boxers discovered the ratio of a pumpkin's circumference to its diameter is pumpkin pi).

Our pumpkins may not be displayed on our patio or in the lobby, donning spooky faces and ghoulish countenances. Instead, we serve them directly to you. Pumpkin is the MVP behind our vegan/gluten-free pumpkin bars, our root vegetable soup, and our vegan pumpkin spice hot chocolate. Not only do these new menu items taste divine, they are also jam-packed full of nutrients. The prominent orange hue reveals the multitude of carotenoids within the pumpkin. These powerful antioxidants defend the body against free radicals that promote skin damage and aging. Other antioxidants, notably lutein and zeaxanthin, support supreme eye health by scavenging free radicals in the lens of the eye, reducing the formation of cataracts and macular degeneration. Pumpkin is truly an all star when it comes to your health and vitality.

There's nothing scary about our pumpkins at the Juice Box, unless you fear eating the best food ever!

Adam Haritan
Juice Boxer at Juice Box Cafe

Juice Box Cafe Grand Opening

2010-10-14T14:56:00.006-04:00

Official Grand Opening Week:

Monday, October 18 - Sunday, October 24

$5 Healthy Lunch Specials: All Day, Monday thru Friday
NEW Full-service Dining
Weekend Brunch
NEW Menu Items: Hot Beverages and Soups:

-Almond Milk Hot Chocolate (Vegan)
-Mulled, fresh-squeezed Apple Cider

-Chicken Noodle Soup with brown rice
-Butternut Squash Soup (Vegan)
-Black Bean Chili (Vegan)
-Vegetable Barley Soup (Vegan)
-Tomato Basil Soup (Vegetarian)

Grand Opening Event:
Thursday, October 21: 6-9 pm
Featuring an Art Reception and Vegetarian Fine Dining Hors D'oeuvres
FREE!

Read the full press release here.

Visit www.juiceboxpitt.com for a complete menu.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for Soybeans!

2010-09-14T14:30:00.004-04:00

Fact: Roughly 91% of soybeans grown in the United States have been genetically modified.

Fact: The Juice Box Café supports the 9% of soybeans grown naturally by using non-genetically, organic soy!

Genetically modified (GM) foods are those that have been tampered with by injecting foreign gene sequences into the DNA. GM soy is produced by forcing a gene into the DNA structure that renders it resistant to the powerfully toxic herbicide, Roundup. Studies show that once GM foods enter the human body, they do not simply disappear or deactivate. Rather, they can continue to function inside the body, creating an internal herbicide that the body was never designed to handle. Other studies show that GM soy-fed rats display signs of liver complications, allergic reactions, sterility, and infant mortality.

GM foods are being forced into the supermarket aisles, such that if you randomly choose an object on a shelf, there is a 75% chance it contains genetically modified ingredients. The information regarding these mutant, man-made creations is being shrouded and hidden from the general public, but we are here to help!

The Juice Box Café uses only organic soy in its products. Whenever you order the delicious smoked tofu curry salad (ever tried it as a wrap?), or perhaps the tasty vegan egg salad for brunch, you can sleep wonderfully that night knowing there was nothing funky inserted into your soy. We love our tofu just as much as we love our customers, and will continue to source the best ingredients we can to ensure a healthy future for everyone!

Last fact for the day: The smoked tofu curry salad has been shown to increase levels of pure happiness by as much as 100% (OK, so we haven't gotten the results from the lab yet, but I guarantee the two are strongly correlated!)

Adam Haritan
Juice Boxer at Juice Box Cafe

The Mad Mango

2010-08-13T12:00:00.005-04:00

The infamous Mad Mango is far from your average fruit smoothie. Its main ingredient, the mango, is bathed in ancient religious folklore, and has been viewed as a symbol of love and fertility. In case you were wondering which fruit orchard Buddha visited to meditate and rest, it was none other than that of the mango! While the fruit is popular enough for a religious sage to worship, and also for a juice bar to name a smoothie after, there are other important elements that go into the making of the Mad Mango.

We start with a base of freshly squeezed orange juice, and add in frozen pineapple and mango slices. To provide its creamy and smooth texture, a fresh banana is blended in, meshing all the ingredients together into one wholesome, refreshing drink. And that's it. No hidden ingredients, no added sugar, no high fructose corn syrup, no fertility-busting yellow #5. What you see is what you get!

At around 300 calories for a medium 12 ounce glass, it's hard not to pass up the Mad Mango. A vitamin C superstar, each piece of fruit contributes its share of this essential nutrient, which is critical for:

-Immune system deficiencies
-Cardiovascular disease
-Prenatal health problems
-Collagen building (great for wrinkles!)
-Healthy gums

Back to the mango. Did you know that the yellow flesh of the fruit is actually an antioxidant called beta-carotene, which is associated with a reduced risk of cancer? It's true. Antioxidants are nutrients that combat free radical damage in our bodies and enhance immune defense, which lowers the chance of illnesses.

Maybe nutrition isn't your thing. Maybe it's 80 degrees outside and you're looking for the easiest way to cool down. In that case, you definitely will feel refreshed and satisfied when you indulge in a Mad Mango smoothie.

Adam Haritan
Juice Boxer at Juice Box Cafe

Strawberry Time!

2010-06-16T16:30:00.004-04:00

Fresh strawberries from local Soergels Orchard are in!

We are offering two seasonal strawberry additions to our menu:

Strawberry Parfait - fresh strawberries, unsweetened, plain, low-fat yogurt, granola (from Frankferd Farms)

Strawberry Spinach Salad - fresh strawberries, almonds, and feta. Dressed in balsamic vinegar with a hint of vanilla-all over a bed of spinach
(you can get this salad as part of our daily salad special - juiceboxpitt.com)

We are THIS excited about Bee Pollen

2010-05-09T22:35:00.003-04:00

Want increased energy? Resistance to allergies? A stronger immune system? Want to slow the hands of time?

The amazing Juice Box Cafe employee and nutrition guru, Adam is a huge proponent of adding Bee Pollen to your smoothies or juices to add a huge element of health to an already healthy drink. We've learned a lot about Bee Pollen from Adam and want you to know too! Check out what he has to say about this super food:

The ancient Egyptians used to bury their pharaohs with these magic granules to assist in the afterlife. Native Americans would carry a pouch containing this life-giving dust on long journeys. This ambrosia was fed to the ancient Greek and Roman athletes for stamina and endurance. This powerful substance, known as bee pollen, has been used for thousands of years by cultures all over the world for its healing properties.

Bee pollen is simply the male seed of flowers, necessary for the fertilization of most plants. Collected by bees, only the best pollen is harvested from the millions of grains present. It is essential food for bees indeed, but is often referred to as nature’s perfect food for humans as well. That is because bee pollen contains just about every nutrient needed to sustain human life. Not only is it 40% protein, bee pollen also yields 22 amino acids, a concentrated source of vitamins (notably vitamin C and B-complex), essential polyunsaturated fatty acids, and enzymes. In addition, also present in the granules are trace minerals that the body cannot manufacture on its own, like iron, zinc, magnesium, and calcium. It is no surprise that nutritional experts say bee pollen contains everything we need to live!

Some benefits of bee pollen include:
Increased energy and vitality
A stronger immune system
Improved mental clarity and concentration
Stimulated metabolism to burn calories
Anti-aging components
Resistance to allergies
Because the pollen used in our recipes is sourced in Pennsylvania, consuming it regularly will naturally bring you in tune with the local environment, where the original plants were grown providing food for the regional bees. The granules are subtly sweet and colorful and a teaspoon makes an energizing addition to your juice, smoothie, or parfait.

It is quite likely that if Cleopatra or Chief Sitting Bull were passing through Shadyside and decided to stop by the Juice Box Café, they would be adding some bee pollen to their drinks. So don’t wait any longer to experience the amazing rejuvenating qualities of this food, which will be sure to turn any drink into an extraordinary, invigorating elixir!

http://www.juiceboxpitt.com/

The Story of the Juice Box Cafe

2010-04-19T16:40:00.006-04:00

Everyone that comes in to the Juice Box tells us the same thing: "the neighborhood needed you!". We agree, and that's why we started it. Part of it was a selfish desire to eat healthier ourselves. Our staff is split about 50/50 between vegetarians and meat-eaters, but every one of us wanted to eat better. And let's face it, making a big old salad at home isn't easy. Not to mention the challenges of getting a fresh-squeezed juice! We also desperately wanted to be involved in something that had a profoundly positive impact on our customers. If we could help people eat [and live] in a more healthy way, coming to work each day would be a lot more fulfilling. Positive karma is something we all believe in very much. Doing good things tends to bring good things. Lastly, we wanted to build up a business that would last, and could provide good benefits for the employees. We're trying our very best to provide excellent health care, matching retirement, and other benefits (like free healthy food) to our employees.

Ok, so that's we why started the Juice Box. But going from an idea to opening our doors was a lot more work than any of us could have imagined. We've had to make a lot of decisions along the way about sourcing and what kinds of food and drinks we would serve.

We've tried to be true to a few core sets of ideals while making these choices. First off, we're committed to provide healthy food a reasonable prices. Not just reasonable for established Shadysiders, but also reasonable for a college student. This means that we've had to balance our desire for an entirely organic set of ingredients with the fiscal reality that some organic ingredients are simply far too expensive. Plus we're very big proponents of regionalism, and not all of our regional farms are organic. This brings us to our second primary ideal, and that's local sourcing. We try to source everything from apples to corn chips locally. If we expect others to source locally for a sandwich or a smoothie, we should be doing our very best to do the same for our lettuce! This isn't always possible, especially in winter, but we have found a lot of great sources in western PA, and hope to find even more moving forward. Third, we've tried to be as environmentally conscious as possible. Even down to analyzing the environmental impact of PLA cups (cups made out of a compound based on corn) versus using regular plastic and recycling it, we've done our homework, and have chosen what we believe is the most eco-friendly choice. As a side note, we chose to use regular plastic cups because we can recycle them, and because of how resource-intensive PLA production is.

So that's the story of the Juice Box in a nutshell. As much as the neighborhood needed a healthy cafe, we need the support of our neighborhood even more. So come by and say hello the next time you're in the neighborhood, and definitely tell us what you like, and what else we could be doing. We're going to be adding items to our menu in the coming months, and the more input we have from our customers the better.

Regards,

Al Polanec
Owner

http://www.juiceboxpitt.com/

Busy in the Kitchen

2010-03-29T09:25:00.011-04:00

We're getting ready for our opening in April and are busy in the kitchen, preparing healthy sandwiches, salads and wraps!

We're proud to be a vegetarian and vegan friendly restaurant and we focus on working with local farms and sources as much as possible.

Go ahead and view our dining menu and take a look at some of our delicious sandwiches and paninis, including a few dishes for our omnivorous friends, with meats and cheeses fresh from Pittsburgh's Strip District:

Vegetarian Pesto Panini

Apple Ham Sandwich (also available as a panini)

Turkey Cheddar Panini (also available as a sandwich)

Here's a sample of two signature Juice Box Cafe salads, served over crisp lettuce, and also available in a wrap:

Vegan Mock Tuna Salad

Vegan Raw Garden Salad- chopped and full of seasonal vegetables

http://www.juiceboxpitt.com/

Opening in April

2010-03-09T10:01:00.011-05:00

Here's a sneak peek behind the scenes of renovations inside the future Juice Box Cafe.

http://www.juiceboxpitt.com/