Living food gives me energy. Every so often I get weighed down from eating too much cooked or processed food, and I just need something cleansing, yummy, and easy for my body to assimilate. My answer is juice.
I know there are people that say juice is bad because you’re not getting your fiber. Please don’t get me wrong. I love fiber. I eat it and drink it every day. I blend green fruit drinks every morning. Juicing is a once a week to bi-weekly event. I recommend that you blend some greens often, but when you really want a heavenly energy elixir, try fresh juice.
I get out my Breville Juice Fountain Elite. I went through lots of juicers before I found this gem. It is amazing, but it’s definitely an investment. A worthy investment.
If you’re just starting, and want to be economical, you may want to pick up a juicer at a yard sale or on Ebay.
I start with carrots from Costco. They’re organic, and they’re cheap. Carrots are loaded with organic minerals and vitamins. They are hard to beat for cleansing and nourishing the body all around.
At the end of the summer, if I’m lucky (and if I’ve sown some seeds a few months before), I sometimes have some carrots from our own garden. These are also organic and cheap. They just take a little more cleaning, which is a great activity for kids.
This year we planted a rainbow variety.
I get out some apples. I even had a couple dozen apples on my own trees this year. Here’s hoping they keep coming.
Then I get out my beets. Beets are sweet, as long as you don’t overdo them. I don’t eat them cooked very often, but I love them in juice! They are cleansing and high in antioxidants. I look for them at the farmer’s market, they’re much cheaper than the store, or I get them from my garden.
Celery is a powerhouse of natural minerals. It is high in organic silica, which helps the body uptake calcium. I haven’t tried growing it yet.
Here’s what my garden looked like this past summer.
Next, I always add greens. My favorites are beet greens, chard, and kale. These are the dark green powerhouses of nutrition. If I don’t have them I use spinach. Spinach is a good one to start with because the taste is so mild. These are all terrific to blend into fruit drinks, too. I try to make fruit smoothies on a daily basis when I don’t have fresh juice.
I use green bags to keep them fresh. They work excellently, but there MUST be a paper towel inside to absorb excess moisture, and keep the greens from drying out.
When everything is washed and ready we start running it all through the juicer.
It’s wonderful to have helpers.
Even the littlest want to be involved.
Too cute!
We feed the pulp to the chickens. I used to compost it, or make carrot cake with it.
Juice gets lots of foam.
We use a fine mesh strainer to strain it off.
Stir to get all the little bits of pulp out and the juice though.
If we’re going to put forth the effort, we may as well make 2-3 quarts for our family. That way it will last for more than 1 day. After straining, I mix them all together, so we don’t have more of one thing in one jar than the others.
Now we take the juicer apart,
brush out the strainer,
and give the rest a quick rinse.
Finished product.
And it’s gone in 5 seconds flat.
It makes your blood happy.
You should try it sometime.
I love your blog! I’ve already bought some of the books you listed as favorites. Mostly the Eyres’ books! I’m going to try some of the recipes you have here. Especially the juice!