Monday, January 7, 2013

the weekly juice

My mom surprised me with a juicer for Christmas! 
Yay for my mom!
I was so happy when I opened it, and we have been juicing ever since. 
No fruit or veggie is safe. 
The first day I opened it up I went through my fridge to see who my first victims would be. 
I had apples, fresh mandarins from our trip to California, carrots and beets. 
In they went. 
We decided to call this one "sweet beet" juice, 
and here is what we all thought. 
Me: I LOVED it, and I've made it for myself a few times now. I just love the earthiness of the beets and you can really taste them in this juice. 
Robby: Liked it. He prefers it to be a bit sweeter.
The boy: DOWNED it. He was done before I could get him a straw, and asking for more. 
He likes his beets, just like me. 
The girl: Liked it until about half way through, and then said "mom, this is really....uh......beety." Just like dad. I now make their beet juice with more apple, because apparently, they are beet wimps.
bonus: this juice is the prettiest.
www.inthelittleredhouse.blogspot.com
-ingredients listed above make one glass. I double it for my kids and I, triple it for the four of us. 
-if you don't LOVE beets, maybe start out with a smaller piece and work your way up, or add extra apple or orange.

For the longest time I didn't understand why we would need to juice. 
We eat veggies in every color of the rainbow (even the kiddos) so I never understood why we'd bother making them into a juice. But after doing this I realized, my kids would never come home from school and eat a beet, an apple, an orange and carrots.....right? This is such a great way to pack in the nutrients, especially during this nasty cold season. 
I am so new to this, and I know that many of you out there are pro juicers, so can I ask you some questions?  

What do you do with the left over pulp? 
I just can't throw it all away--it seems so wasteful, and all that good fiber can't be rinsed down the drain. I froze the pulp from this juice and sprinkled some in our oatmeal....but I need more ideas. I've seen all kinds of recipes but I don't know if they are worth it--so what do YOU do with the pulp?  When I start to compost again in the spring (my pile is frozen solid right now) I will feel a bit better about composting some of it, but I'd also like to reuse what I can.
Peels on/off? I was always under the impression that you throw everything in with peels/skin on (oranges, lemons, beets/etc) but I've seen a lot of recipes that say to peel it......juicing newbie here, what do I do?
What are your favorite recipes? I have had fun experimenting, but I would love to hear what you are drinking. Leave a link back to your site and if we like your juice, I'll share it here on the blog and credit your work.

happy juicing!

ps. wow! thank you for all your kind, thoughtful, and encouraging comments in yesterday's post. I am so happy to know I am not alone in feeling this way. I smell a blog revolution coming.....

26 comments:

Deborah said...

Yay for juicing! We have an Omega that I love, a masticating one and the pulp is very very dry when it comes out, so I can't imagine using it for anything except our compost.

We love kale and spinach with almost anything, celery is really good too, can be a bit spicy if you can believe it!

Depending on the fruit we've done with peel on or off. If it's going to make it bitter, I skip, but if it's a satsuma orange I say peel on all the way. :)

Olya said...

I'm looking forward to getting a juicer after we do our taxes, I've been waiting for months (camera replacement first though!), researched a bunch of juicers and already forgot which one I liked best :) So no advice on juicing from me (although I loooove beets), but as far as peels go (texture aside), I generally keep peels on organic produce (maximum nutrients), but wash and peel conventional produce when I buy it, to minimize exposure to pesticides. Happy juicing!

Zizi said...

I have a juicer that came with the kitchen blender in one pack so I started juicing half a year ago. I don't have so much practice in it but I usually use beet, kale, apple, lemon, spinach, Swiss chard, carrot, orange or banana to mix up something.

Not long ago I found a raw carrot cupcake recipe that I love so much. I haven't done it yet but it looks so yum! You can use carrot pulp to make it: http://www.choosingraw.com/raw-vegan-carrot-cake-cupcakes/.

Happy juicing!

Zita
http://ziziadventures.com

Amanda Fetters said...

I do peels on, except for citrus. For those I slice off the peel with a serrated knife (it's faster). My very very very favorite thing to add to most any juice is fennel! It adds amazing flavor & is so so tasty with apple, orange, whatever. A little grapefruit is nice, too.

Alison said...

I'm so excited to see you are juicing. I've been reading up on it and researching juicers, just about ready to take the plunge. Can't wait to see all the delicious veggie/fruit combinations you come up with!

Ashley said...

I am also a beet wimp! ;) I almost always include 1/2 of a lemon but never peel it. I don't take the stems off kale. If I'm including grapefruit or orange I do peel those as the peels add a ton of bitterness (to me). I love carrots in juice and green apples (a little sourness and less sugar). A little goes a long way with celery. I haven't gotten into adding things like parsley yet, but I LOVE adding a knob of ginger. It adds such a nice little zip and good contrast with the lemon. Also, cucumbers are a juicing gold mine. SO much juice! Romaine, too! I usually do something like cuc+apple+carrots+lemon+ginger or kale+apple+carrots+lemon -- No beets for me! I don't always save all of the pulp, so I'll stop in between and scrape what I want then continue. ie: save the carrot/apple/cucumber/kale (without the lemon/ginger) -- I've combined this with flax and water before and baked them into crackers with salt + pepper. So good and obviously packed with fiber. Have fun!

Anonymous said...

I've been trying to get more beet in my juices too. I finally found a combo I like: a small beet, 2 green apples; then I blend the juice with spinach. Certainly doesn't stay the pretty pink, but I like it. As for the pulp, I'm never sure either. I've thought about making dog treats with it. I peel citrus, but leave other peels on now.

When the mood strikes, I really like sweet potato in juice: http://colourmehappy.typepad.com/colour-me-happy/2012/02/hello-again-my-current-favorite-fresh-juice.html
Also, if you like beet, you might like it in soup: http://colourmehappy.typepad.com/colour-me-happy/2012/03/chioggia-beet-root-soup-with-green-garlic-meyer-lemon.html

Anonymous said...

Sounds delicious (and colorful!). I would love to juice more in the new year but I don't have a juicer and can't really add it to my kitchen right now. I will definitely make some smoothies though!

whitneyingram said...

I get a this smoothie from Roxberry that is carrots, oranges, peaches, ginger and agave and it is HEAVEN.

Tara : Damon : Ellis : Hudson said...

i got a juicer for christmas too and we have been using the heck out of it! i'm a fan of spinach, an apple, couple of carrots, quarter lemon, mmmm! i'm liking beets but my husband doesn't, he's more of a fruit juice guy, but i love it when my almost 2 year old will take even a big sip of my green juices! i've heard of people using the pulp in muffins? but mine is a masticating juicer and the pulp is fairly dry so.. sometimes i take a little and throw it back into the juice and shake it up to get some fiber back.

Cooking Quidnunc said...

Very nice juice mixture! I love beets in juice, kale too.

Rachelle said...

i compost all of my pulp and orange peels, cucumber peels, and carrot peels if i peel those. wish you could compost already! i never use the pulp for anything else because i can compost year round.

on to peeling. i peel the citrus fruits or else i find it's too citrus-y! i peel my cucumbers and carrots too. i never peel my apples.

my absolute favorite combo that daphne loves too is a big bunch of kale (i just keep adding it), 4 carrots, 3-4 mini cucumbers, 3-4 stalks of celery, 2 apples, and a clementine or two. it makes a big glass for kelly and i and a small one for daphne. forest snubs it.

so glad you have a juicer. it really is so good. we try to juice almost every morning. i find it really helps during the cold winter months with sicknesses.

Heidi McLeod said...

I am so glad you posted this because I literally just bought a juicer this morning with a Christmas gift card. I had some of the same questions. I have been researching books tonight I think I am going to go with the juicing bible but I would love to know others' favorites.

Anonymous said...

I love my juicer! I wrote about my crush here:
http://theusualbliss.com/2012/07/10/a-new-crush/
Juicing in winter makes me happy. :)
From one Utah blogger to another- have a great day!
amber

Unknown said...

We love fresh juice! My hubby & I are both big beet fans, too. I like beets, lemon, apple & carrots. The lemon adds such a nice zing. (http://choicesustenance.blogspot.com/2012/11/fresh-apple-beet-juice.html) I freeze the pulp to throw into smoothies, & I'd like to try making crackers, but I'm at the same place you are...I hate to waste it! Sadly, sometimes that even prevents me from juicing, because I feel like I'm only using part of the produce.

Beth said...

Do you mind sharing what kind of juicer you have? I've just started looking at them and would a recommendation if you are happy with yours. Thanks!

katelyn said...

we just got a juicer for christmas too! i've been juicing like crazy, i am in the middle of a juice fast right now. i'll be posting some photos and our favorites on my blog soon, and let me know when you find the answer for the leftover pulp, i'm curious too!

Sophie said...

Peel citrus, the rest is fine. Some people remove apple seeds because of the cyanide. Great recipe!

Courtney said...

You can use the pulp to mix into quick breads/muffins (carrot works wells for this). You can also mix it into hummus and tomato sauce. The sky is the limit!

One of my favorite combos is: 1 grapefruit (peel/pith removed), 3 carrots, and a bit of ginger. You can mix some apple in to make it a bit sweeter :)

Joseph Carr said...

My wife made sweet cakes with the leftover pulps she got from making carrot juice. Since we both have a dream of starting our new restaurant someday, we both keep experimenting with food. I once combined Kale pulps with my original pasta sauce recipe. I did a little taste test with a selected group of people. The review was surprisingly good.

Joseph Carr

Joseph Carr said...

My wife made sweet cakes with the leftover pulps she got from making carrot juice. Since we both have a dream of starting our new restaurant someday, we both keep experimenting with food. I once combined Kale pulps with my original pasta sauce recipe. I did a little taste test with a selected group of people. The review was surprisingly good.

Joseph Carr

Unknown said...

Fresh juice very popular to us we always try to take fresh juice. beetroot juice juice is one of the best healthy juice.

Kennith said...

Hey, I enjoyed reading through your article.

I also enjoyed reading the comments. One of the comments mentioned putting the pulp in compost and thought that was a great idea.

You can check out my blog which is full of recipes, my adventures, and other random stuff at http://www.juicingdelights.com/

Healthytips said...

Thanks for sharing such beautiful information with us. I hope you will share some more information about beetroot. Please keep sharing. Health Is A Life

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