Green Juice

Have you seen that documentary "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" ?  Well we did, and it really opened our eyes.  We knew the importance of eating real food, getting our fruits and veggies, and getting some exercise, but the journey and transformation these men experienced was amazing.  We followed it up with the documentary "Forks Over Knives"... part way through my husband said "I think I just became a raw vegan."  Alas, this hasn't totally happened, but we do eat more raw and cooked veggies and fruit and much less meat and animal products than we did before.  Both movies are amazing and well worth a watch!


Hence, we now have a Juicer and have incorporated it into our meal routine.  Our daughter walks over to the juicer, points at it and says "Daddy make me apple juice."  Our kids eat veggies regularly, but we've been working very hard to get them over the look of the "green" juice.  Carrot based juice was no problem... I guess orange is less scary than green.  


However, I think we've now succeeded.  This is Daisy well into her 4th cup of green juice.  (She's 2 and still a bit messy with drinks, I'm not trying to post inappropriate pictures here)


What you need:  a Juicer... or I hear that a Vitamix or another good blender can be used for juicing, but you may need to add some water and/or run through a strainer.  I've never done this, just providing options.


Ingredients: All ingredients assumed Organic, but buy what is available and right for your family.

1 pound baby spinach (run through juicer twice - optional)

• Spinach and leafy greens can be a bit tricky.  We find that putting a handful into a tight ball then slowly pushing through the juicer works well.  We then pull out the remaining spinach from the clean bag we have in the discard bin, roll it into another tight ball and run through one more time... totally optional step

3 - 4 Apples (our favorite is Pacific Rose)
2 handfuls grapes
4 large peeled carrots
2 celery stalks

Juice and enjoy!

Remember to "Chew" your green juice before swallowing.  Don't laugh... stop laughing.  The chewing motion starts the digestion process via your salivary glands and the enzymes contained within your saliva.  Yes, you will feel a little weird, but you don't need to chew a lot, just until you taste the juice getting a little sweeter (what, our bodies are magic).  As a bonus, if you chew your juice, you are less likely to get an upset stomach from all the veggies you can squish into 1 delicious cup.  Many people who start juicing complain about stomach aches, and this is usually caused because they are relying on your stomach to do all the work without the saliva starting the process.

There are so many Green Juice recipes out there, I hope you like this one.