Juice It Up!

Here we go! A quick lesson on juicing and smoothies. If you purchase a juicer it will separate your fruit and vegetables into three edible parts. Dry pulp is what comes out of the back of the juicer in a separate container. It is semi-dry and can be frozen to be used in making frozen fruit/veggie pops and vegetable soups and stews. Don't throw this good stuff away! Do separate and freeze the vegetables from the fruit.

From the juicer spout will come the pulp and the water content of all fruits and juices added to the machine. This is best consumed straight from the juicer. Shake well and drink up! You can let it sit in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Do expect it to change color and do shake often. You can also skim off all the pulp and use it for a smoothie booster and save the beautiful semi-clear vegetable/fruit water for a later time. This will keep fresh for up to 48 hours in the fridge. Squeeze a little lemon or lime in it and splash over some ice for a great summer refresher or make ice cubes out of the water with the pulp and have guests guessing what their healthy ice cubes are made of.

Brain Power: Beet, cucumber, kale, green apple, ginger

Green Goddess: cucumber, kale, green apple, celery, honey

Apple A Day: Pineapple, two types of apples and celery, lemon

Autumn’s Bounty or Thanksgiving Treat

Carrot, celery, green apple, cranberry, honey or maple syrup, allspice, Himalayan salt

Green Tea Mango Blend:

Green tea, frozen mango puree with ginger, blended with a lime slice

When I first started juicing I was fortunate enough to have a co-worker who was into it and she let me borrow one of her juicers to try it out before I invested money into buying one. If you need help in choosing a juicer that's just right for you check out this article at Reviews.com. As it turns out I now use one of the juicers they mentioned!

Smoothies are made with fresh or frozen fruit and veggies with a juice, lowfat milk, plain yogurt, greek yogurt and a rice, almond, coconut, soy milk base. For a protein packer use fresh fruit and vegetables with a scoop of cottage cheese and blend until super smooth.

Blueberry Banana Protein Packer:

Blueberries, Banana, Cottage Cheese

Berry Blast

Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, yogurt

There are an abundance of juice and smoothie recipes all over the Internet. For your convenience, I have added only ingredients that are in an everyday family shopping list.