On Juicing

When I was sick a couple of weeks ago I began juicing.

Here's what I already knew:
~ Americans, myself included, do not eat nearly enough raw organic vegetables and fruit.
~ Juicing was a sure way to get plenty of nutrients into my body, especially when I had no appetite.

About a year ago I rescued a Jack LaLanne juicer from sitting in my grandparents garage.  I had used it for a while only for it to end up in my own garage.  So when this occurred to me a few weeks ago I pulled it out and began experimenting.

Costco is a great place to get organic veggies in large quantities at a good price.

To my pleasant surprise my kids actually enjoyed many of the juices I had made.  Juicing was getting more vitamins and nutrients into them than I ever could by serving them raw veggies.  (The only raw veggies they'll eat is cucumber and the occasional broccoli and lettuce.)

Then I decided to watch a movie about juicing I had heard about: Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.  Very eye opening!  I also did a little online research on the subject.

Here's what I learned:
~ There is enough protein, iron, and other nutrients in vegetables and fruit alone to sustain our bodies.
~ You can juice so many things I never imagined... Like asparagus, sweet potatoes, and collard greens... Three of my favorites!
~ If the pulp you get after the initial juicing feels wet you can put it back into the juicer and get more juice out of it.  With my juicer I find with hard veggies it's not worth the hassle, but with leaves I get a good amount of juice from the pulp.

The Jack LaLanne Juicer is by no means the best one out there, but it's doing the job for now.  I really want to get a good one when I have the funds!

I didn't look up any recipes, I just experimented until I found some combinations that I liked.

Here are some things to use sparingly or avoid completely unless you're brave.  (I was juicing whatever vegetables I had on hand so I learned this the hard way.):
~ Swiss Chard
~ Radishes
~ Endive
~ Arugula


Here are some of my Favorite Recipes:
(Most vegetable juice without a piece of fruit is still unbearable to me, but I only use one fruit or less each time I juice.)

Cucumber Mint (I'm thinking watermelon would go wonderfully in this if you wanted to add fruit)
~ 2 cucumbers
~ About 5 sprigs of mint leaves

Collard greens (surprisingly good!)
~ 5 collard green leaves
~ 1 cucumber
~ 1 apple
~ piece of ginger (I love the flavor, but start off in small pieces so it's not too overwhelming!)

Salad
~ head Romain Lettuce
~ about a cup Spinach (optional)
~ 1 cucumber
~ 1 green apple

Asparagus (another surprising favorite!)
~ 5 asparagus
~ 2 carrots
~ 1/2 head Romain lettuce
~ 1/2 cucumber

Orange Juice (My most favorite!)
~ 1 orange*
~ 5 carrots
~ 1 sweet potato (peeled)
~ piece ginger (or sprinkle some on top)
~ 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

*You can juice the orange on a citrus juicer if you have one.  Since I don't want to dirty another appliance I just cut the peel off leaving the orange intact. A little pith on the orange is okay, but if you leave too much white it may be bitter.

I have yet to do a juice fast (drinking ONLY juice for a number of days).  But I substitute juice for a meal about once a day.

If you have a juicer please try some of my recipes, and share some of your favorites!