Jazzed Up Juice…

I go through phases when I juice everyday… and other phases when I don’t juice at all. But overall, I love juicing–it makes me feel like I’m starting the day out right (I always do it in the morning). Smoothies are good too, but because of the types of things I want to put in my drink, I often prefer the texture of juice.

People often ask me which is better—smoothies or juice? You can read more about how to choose which is best for you here.

Right now, I’m really into making juice. I am breastfeeding, so I’m trying to stay hydrated and I’m also making sure I ingest a lot of nutrients (for the baby, but also for my own health and energy). Juicing first thing in the morning helps me meet those goals.

This week, my Mom (Mimi) and nephew (Matthew) are visiting from NY, so they’re helping me a lot with the baby… and I roped them into juicing with me too. Matthew used to make juice with me all the time when I lived in NY, and he likes to help run the juicer—but I’ve never convinced him to actually try the juice when it has veggies in it!

One of the things Dave and I love to do each week is walk through the farmer’s market and buy unique produce. He enjoys it for the fun factor, and I enjoy it because I think about the nutrient variety we get when we eat all kinds of crazy and different produce. When I sent him to the store today, I requested he buy some unique fruit to put in our juice. He brought us papaya, pluot, kiwi, and dragon fruit…

They were so beautiful and delicious that we decided to juice some and save some to eat! I added cucumber and celery to the juice for more nutrients and “water,” and to cut the sugar content a bit. It was awesome… but Matthew wouldn’t try it.

When I’m juicing for just myself, I stick to veggies and greens, but when I make juice for newbies or people who aren’t quite as into it as I am, I add fruit to make it taste more sweet.

The juicers I recommend to clients who are just starting out are ones like these. I use a different slow juicer that I bought several years ago—but the downside to it is that it takes much longer to prepare the produce and to juice it (the opening is smaller and the juicer is slower). With the high speed juicer, you could juice whole apples at one time, and you could juice an entire bunch of carrots or celery in just seconds. You can read about the differences in the juice produced here.

But… if you’re new to it and trying to start a habit, the fast juicer is often the best option in terms of efficiency! I often say I don’t want a high speed juicer… but I do. Some days, I don’t make juice just because it takes too much time with the baby needing a lot from me in the mornings (he sleeps all night so he’s starving all morning!).

Williams Sonoma has a great juicer selection—they asked me to write a post about a unique juice I’ve made, so I decided I’d use the opportunity to juice something I’ve never juiced before. In the past, I’ve tried to get creative with my juice, and sometimes it is really amazing (other times—cabbage and apple!!—it’s totally gross!). I generally tell people to start with watery produce as a base (cucumbers, celery, etc.) and then add variety to that. One of our favorites is celery, cucumber, lime, lettuce, and apple. It’s not very crazy or unique, but citrus cuts the “green” flavor and apple sweetens it!

What is your favorite unique juice?

 

Williams Sonoma asked me to write a post about a unique juice, but the content and ideas here are all my own.