To juice or not to juice? I have been battling this question in my mind for years now. A few months ago I decided that I was going to become a juicer. I searched juicers, watched YouTube videos on how to juice and juicing machine comparisons, I talked with people who had juicers and why they liked the juicer they had. Would I be willing to pull out my juicer and use it daily? Would I want to clean it out after each use? I was a bit confused, but finally decided on which juicer I thought I would be most likely to pull out of a cupboard and use. I have issues (just ask my kids) with a lot of stuff on my counter top.
I am happy to announce that I AM a convert. I am really getting into the whole juicing thing. I love creating juice mixtures and I love the health benefits of juicing fresh organic ingredients.
Tell me, why on earth I have a battle with my husband, a grown adult, every time I hand him a glass of fresh juice? Just yesterday he asked me, “why do you have to add a vegetable into everything? Why can’t you just juice fruit. JUST FRUIT”? I replied, “why can’t you JUST get over it”?
Basically if my husband actually sees me adding a carrot to his juice, he automatically hates it. The other day I made myself a beet juice blend. It was delicious. I happened to have a bag of cherries on the counter and he assumed I was giving him a taste of cherry juice so naturally he liked it! BUT when I had given him a taste of the exact same thing a few days earlier and told him it was beet juice, he hated it!
Lucky for me the dude is color blind. He has issues distinguishing greens and reds. One day I had made a smoothie loaded with spinach. It was bright green. I handed him the smoothie and he said, “I don’t want one of your green smoothies”. I simply lied and said, “it’s pink”! He drank it!! He’s more mental than I am going through menopause!
Our next battle: Coconut water.
After hot morning run, I was thinking about how nice an ice cold, healthy drink would be. Something natural and not filled with sugar. Then I had the idea to freeze the juices that I made and making a slush out of them. Why not? (I’m sure I’m not the first person to think of this)
I decided to freeze my juices in ice cube trays then putt the frozen juice cubes into a tall glass and pour ice cold coconut water over the top. The frozen cubes were so refreshing with the coconut water. I loved it and immediately froze a variety of juice cubes.
I’m going to share my favorite juice. You can freeze whatever combination you like. I’ll call this my Beet Ginger Refresher.
You will need:
1/2 red beet, including the beet greens (why not?)
1 orange, peeled
1 apple, quartered
2 carrots, peeled
1/2-inch piece of ginger
1/2-inch piece of fresh turmeric
Prepare the fruits and vegetables. Make sure to wash everything very well. I guess you don’t have to peel the carrots and beets, but I just like to. Some juicers will require more chopping. Just follow the instructions for prep for your particular juicer.
I need to say that I really hate posting a recipe that requires special equipment, but I’m loving my fresh juice so much that I just had to share.
You will need about 1 1/2 cups of juice to fill an ice cube tray depending on the size of the ice cubes.
Pour the juice into trays. My juicer creates a lot of foam, but has a pitcher that separates the foam from the juice, which is quite handy.
Place in the freezer until completely frozen.
Look at me. I made three different varieties. Beet/Ginger, Kale/Lime/Green apple/Mint, Orange/Pineapple/Vanilla Bean (No veggies so the husband doesn’t whine).
After the cubes have frozen, remove them from the trays.
Place in a ziplock plastic bag. Label and return to the freezer.
Juicing is the time consuming part. Now that you have your frozen juice cubes, the rest is a snap.
Place several cubes into a glass.
Pour your favorite ice cold coconut water over the top. Wait for a few minutes and the cubes will thaw slightly. Using a spoon or a straw, mix together to create a slushy drink.
After a hot trail run on Saturday, I told him that I had made him frozen fruit slushy that he was going to love. I promised that vegetables were not present in the juice. I had simply juiced a pineapple, a few oranges then added a bit of vanilla bean. I poured the cold coconut water over the top of the frozen juice cubes, placed a straw in the glass and handed it to him. He took a sip, put the glass down and said, “it has potential if you leave out the coconut water”. I replied, “you don’t deserve me”.
My Favorite Juice Blends
Juice is a fun way to get in nutrients, especially if the whole produce isn't one of your favorites.
Ingredients
Beet Ginger
- 2 carrots
- 1/2 beet red or gold
- 1 green apple
- 1 orange
- 1/2- inch knob of ginger
- 1/2- inch knob of fresh turmeric
- Feel free to ease up on the ginger/turmeric. I LOVE the bite.
Kale Lime Mint
- 4 stalks Kale washed
- 1 green apple quartered
- 1/2 grapefruit peeled
- 1 lime peeled
- few springs of mint
Orange Pineapple Vanilla
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup pineapple juice
- 1/4 vanilla bean seeds
Instructions
Add produce to your juicer following the directions of your machine. Stir in any additions and serve.
Recipe Notes
Juice blend ideas:
- Pineapple, orange, grapefruit
- Orange, carrot, pineapple, apple, pear
- Pear, Pineapple, green apple, lime, mint
- Spinach, kale, apple, celery, lemon, ginger
- Apple, beet, ginger, lemon, cayenne (for a kick)
- Kale, cucumber, green apple, lime, ginger
- Kale, spinach, cucumber, celery, green apple, parsley
- Apple, beet, carrot, cucumber, ginger, parsley
When storing your fresh juice, do so immediately in a small, tightly closed glass jar in the refrigerator. Filling the jar to rim is best, this will reduce any unwanted air in the jar. There are also tools on the market that can push the unwanted air out of containers.
Its cool!
Great idea, i think it is a great way to have coconut water if you are bore of having it plain daily.
This looks so refresh and colorful yet healthy. Thanks for recipe.
Thank you so much. I love coconut water on it's own.
Almost forgot to ask: Where are you buying fresh turmeric?
I have been getting my fresh turmeric in Denver and Seattle. Ha ha I know that doesn't help. I have kids in both of those cities so when I visit I stock up. I found some yesterday at Good Earth on 7th east in Sandy. It's a whopping $10.99 lb. It's $3.99 in Seattle and Denver. I bought a ton and put it in my freezer.
I know I should never advocate for a big chain over local stores, but the new Whole Foods on 114th has it for $9.99/lb. I was practically giddy when I found it! Plus their kombucha is cheaper than anyone else's…
I know! I saw it and was so excited. It's double the price than Denver and Seattle, but I bought a stash. Did you try the fresh coconut water they were pouring right from the young coconut? Amazing. I didn't notice the Kombucha. I'd like to try making my own.
Janet! I am so excited you are juicing! Love your recommendations. I just decided to start juicing again and was looking up some "health specific" recipes last night, so was thrilled to see your post this morning. (Clearly, I'm not keeping up…) I see you went with the Breville. One gal I read upon has found that running the pulp through, one more time, can yield up to 8 ounces more juice, and she was using a Breville. I'm going to do the same with mine. Love the frozen cubes with coconut water! Your hubby, while a great guy, is nuts! 😉
I have been putting mine pulp through again. I know there are better juicers that extract more and I researched them, yes they do a better job, but I was looking for quick and for as little chopping as possible. Ya, Keith's nuts!
I bought my juicer for the same reason, huge chute, less chopping! If it isn't quick and easy, I won't stay with it.
I juice too!! And I chase my husband around with green drinks too! And he complains too! So funny. I love your combinations.
Seriously! Why are they such big babies??
I love all of these juice recipes! I juice often and just throw in whatever I have so thank you for inspiring me to make some that blend well together. Love your blog. Seriously good things!
Thank you so much Tami. I purchased some popsicle molds and I have been freezing the juice in the molds. So refreshing. They are simply grab and go. Thank you for your kind comments.
These look delicious! I have tried the beet/apple/carrot/orange/ginger combo before and it's so good! Question: In your juicing research did you find any information about the benefit to juicing over just blending the whole fruit and vegs in a powerful blender? I have a vitamix and it is more than capable of handling that. Is it just a textural preference? I would think the fiber you get out of a smoothie is lost during juicing? Thanks!
Hi Dena, I talked with a nutritionist who told me that sometimes the body needs a break from processing so much fiber and that juices were a quick way to get nutrients into the blood stream. Here is an article I found that details juice vs smoothies. Basically they are both good. I hope this helps.
http://www.foodmatters.tv/articles-1/juicing-vs-blending-which-one-is-better
It is very true, we taste what we expect to taste. My husband does NOT like Thai food or curry but he loves my spicy meatballs (which of course are Thai.)
If you enjoy reading you might like a book called Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink. It is very fascinating. It's a study about the psychology of why we eat what we eat and also how to make some changes. I've read it multiple times, partly to learn more and partly because it is just so funny too.
Thanks for the recommendation. I will be reading this book for sure.
Oh, (insert very inappropriate word in spanish)! my belly hurts from laughing so much! Janet! you should put a NSFW warning in this post!!
Every single one of those looks like a little jewel, I bet that they taste amazing <3
Ha ha ha. Welcome to my life.