Journeys in Juicing and Beginner's Recipe

One bigger purchase my husband and I have been discussing for some time was getting a juicer.  We talked about different options (Vitamix-type blender vs traditional juicer), how much produce would cost us, and whether we were really interested in drinking enough to justify the cost.  About 2 weeks ago we took the plunge.  We used some money that we'd been saving and purchased a Juiceman juicer from Target.  We also then purchased a LOT of fruit and veggies to get started.

So with a few recipes printed off, we started.  And we actually did pretty well!  We are only juicing for breakfast and the kids usually end up drinking most of mine, but we've been really good about sticking with it so far!  We have learned a few things from the recipes we've tried and speaking with others.

1. We don't like the all vegetable juices.  We don't eat a lot of veggies regularly and some of the flavors are just not good to us.  We don't want to have to "choke down" our juice.
2. Pears and apples will cover the flavors in many veggies...so we tend to load up on those.
3. My kids LOVE fresh juice!!!  They loved store-bought juice before so I guess I shouldn't really be surprised, but they often ask for seconds of juices I have trouble getting down.  
4. There is a steep learning curve to juicing.  We've learned a lot about how to prep veggies and fruit for juicing and what things are just not worth juicing (like grapes...while yummy they produce surprising little juice for the money).

Here is a picture I took tonight of our shopping trip today.

All of this produce was purchased at Aldi's (except for the lemons, I think).  We've found them to have some of the best prices on produce (though there's no organic fruit there, this is the best option for us right now) and it's usually in good condition!

So anyway, that will last us about a week.  Because of the cost, we can't afford to juice all the time, but we are doing what we can and we have noticed a difference when we have to stop for a day or so.  So I'm gonna give you our favorite juice recipe now....enjoy!

Basic Beginner Juice

3 apples (any kind-stem and core removed)

2 pears (remove stem and seeds)

3 carrots (trim off end)

2 large handfuls spinach leaves

This makes about 12-16 ounces of juice and serves one adult (or two children who love juice).  My kids LOVE this as do my husband and I. Hope you do too!