Tag Archives: Juicing

Juicing Experiment – A Good Recipe

I’ve been juicing again and added some changes based on some recommendations from the last thread. I ended up shopping unplanned on the spur of the moment so I didn’t remember all the recommendations given and Costco didn’t stock all the stuff I was looking for (Kale, celery, and beets), but the recipe I made this time tastes ok, almost good, and and was simple to make. So, I wanted to record it:

  • 2 large bags (about 500g, 1 lb each) of spinach
  • 1 large bag of broccoli (about 1.5 kg, 48 oz)
  • 4 lemons (forgot to get limes) with skins
  • 1 Pineapple

Post-juicing I added:

  • 1 container (500 g, 2 cups) of liquid egg whites
  • a splash of extra virgin olive oil
  • some sea salt

The recipe made about 2.5 litres (10 cups) of juice, enough for a about 1.5 cups each day for the rest of the week. It took less than half an hour to make. The cost was about $20-25. I like it.

Next time, I plan to replace one of the bag of spinach with celery, the other with kale, if I can find some. I’m going to add some whole ginger into the juicer, and some beets. I’ll replace to lemons with limes. Hopefully I’ll remember, when it comes to shopping next week.

We’ll see how that goes, but I liked this recipe.

Things I found:

  • Doing the leafy stuff first, and leaving the pineapple to the end, saved a lot of time. The juicer never clogged or shut off other than during the pineapple. The pineapple clogged it a lot, but by then the juice was almost done and it was fairly easy to unclog.
  • The first bag of spinach I juiced by just adding small amounts then slowly pushing the pusher down. The second I added large clumps that got stuck in the in spout and jammed the pusher down. The second method made far more juice and was far more efficient.
  • I the first two lemons without the skin, the second two with the skin. The second method made a bit more juice with a slightly different coloring and was faster. As Keoni advised, throw them in peel and all.

Anyway, not much to this post other than recording a recipe I liked so I can use it again later.

Adventures in Juicing

I started juicing today. Based on the recommendations of Juicing for Men and Hawaiian Libertarian I asked for a juicer for Christmas, and received Jack Lelanne’s Power Juicer as a gift.

I used it once immediately after to make sure it works; I threw whatever I had lying around into it to create a single glass. But I haven’t used it other than that until last week.

I decided to try to make enough for one cup each weekday morning, as I no longer eat breakfast, and would like a nutrient boost as a replacement for breakfast.

I ended up making a litre (4 cups) worth in about a half hour from the following ingredients, which ended up costing less than $20:

  • 1 large bag of brussel sprouts
  • 1 large bag of spinach
  • 6 bananas
  • a handful of leftover blueberries
  • 1 pineapple

Here’s what I found:

I didn’t notice any real improvement in my life from a week of juicing in the morning, but I did enjoy having something to fill my stomach early.

Costco did not sell either kale or collard greens, which is why I used brussel sprouts and spinach. I need to find a source of kale.

The taste was unpleasant, but not overly so. It’s something that seems like it could grow on me, or at the very least be tolerable.

My juicer had a hard time with the pineapple and the brussel sprouts tended to get clogged. It also needed frequent cleaning and even died on me a couple times (which was rectified by cleaning and restarting). If I end up doing this regularly I’ll definitely need a more efficient juicer.

Bananas are not good for juicing. They create a slime, rather than juice and made the consistency of the juice really weird. They also tended to clog the machine.

Pineapple is good in the juice. It adds a nice sweetness.

The berries and spinach juiced easily, and the spinach made a nice dark green juice which looked pretty cool.

The brussel sprouts had a harsh taste and tended to clog easily. I’d like to replace them with Kale or more Spinach.

The berries give very little juice. In my original throw whatever I had in glass to test the machine experiment, I used a whole package of blueberries and got only a tiny amount of juice. I don’t think berries are exceedingly cost effective for this purpose, but I might add in one pack each week for flavour and nutrients.

Conclusion:

I’m going to continue to try juicing to see if any effect takes place over a longer time period, but if I decide to make this a permanent part of my diet, I am definitely going to have to buy a better juicer.

I might occasionally post more on juicing as I do it. I can’t say that I recommend it at this point and haven’t noticed any real life improvement, but I’ve only done it a week. After a longer period, I’ll have more information to share.

Any advice or comments any of my readers who juice might have would be appreciated.