Should you simply assume, one apple is the same as the other 99? Absolutely not. And so is true with all fruits, vegetables and herbs you buy to add to your juice recipe. The selection of said ingredients can make all the difference in the world.

Thanks for a really informative post!

John
.-= John´s last blog ..May 25, Vegetable Juicing Recipes | Simple Vegetable Juicing Recipes =-.

Same goes for rice or almond milk- I can make either in under 2 minutes and get as much as a ‘UHT-ultra high temperature treated box of rice or almond milk) but with homemade it retains the nutrients and vitamins. This is actually a good thing for homeschooled kids!

My 8.5 yr old can put on rolled oats, while my 5.5 year old helps add the water and almonds to the Vitamix. I pour it into a cloth nut milk bag and hang it on a hook with a bowl under it. It’s a team effort

In terms of the fresh produce one could buy apples, cucumbers, carrots etc and peel them- takes a few minutes longer but best case scenario and yes I buy organic when I can…for certain things…anything we eat alot of – brown rice, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, leafy greens, carrots, apples, grapes. In the summer there are usually CSA’s all over the place (where you buy a share of produce at a farm and you get a bucket each week).

We are not vegetarian so we buy organic beef by the side otherwise we could never afford meat. But Really…you just do what you can, if you can’t buy organic, don’t worry about it, fresh IMO is still better then canned or boxed anything. try soaking with hydrogen peroxide or other methods to try and remove residue. Better then nothing

Of course growing your own is awesome too…. http://www.squarefootgardening.com is THE way to go to get the whole family involved and have an abundance of food!, no weeding, I have 8 now next to the sand box I couldn’t find the time to do a big garden because all my time went to weeding the darn thing. I belong to a local food coop http://www.onfc.ca and we buy rice pasta, rice, quinoa, millet & buckwheat by the 25lb bag or case and I store extra in freezer if there is room.

I also order all our ‘raw and unpasteurized’ nuts, seeds and dried fruit from http://www.realrawfoods.com in British Columbia Canada (I think they ship to US) and their prices are cheaper for raw organic even with shipping when I buy in bulk then at the local cheapo store per lb. Some other families sometimes go in on a shipment with me.

We try not to eat out at all, I don’t buy packaged anything if I can help it, but I do go on strike sometimes and hit a wall LOL It’s what you do 90% of the time….a process I think, forever changing, learning, adapting, experimenting

We have many juicers but use a champion juicer for lots of things like juice, raw pates, ice cream etc, which is awesome, but when life was really crazy and challenging a few years back I got a cheapy Jack Lalane juicer which of course is not the best according to the ‘experts’ but IMO it’s only as good as the one you are ACTUALLY USING!!! LOL The Jack Lalane has a large hopper which allows things to be fed into it without cutting it. Just like that late night infomercial you REALLY can juice and clean up in 3 minutes-we’ve time it!!!

My 8.5 yr old and 5.5 year old can run and clean this easily by themselves…due to the size of the hopper though I supervise the 5.5 yr old. Lately I’ve been putting it on the floor with full supervision and my 15 month old feeds all the veggies into it- and then shuts it off!!! adorable to watch!!! and he LOVES the juice.

Alternatively we also make ‘green smoothies’ in the Vitamix (it truly is the other best investment I ever made and we use it at least 3x a day-smoothies, soups, almond milk etc.) I find since I don’t have a juicer that juices greens well, aside from my wheatgrass juicer which I don’t want to drag out, I prefer to put it in the Vitamix- ie. handful spinach, 2-4 cups water, 1/4 – 1/2 lime with rind, 2-4 apples, 1-2 banans and blend together.

Sometiems we just don’t want the ‘thickness’ so I strain it with a nylon nut milk bag which costs about $5 or you can make your own. Since I no longer drink alcohol it is fun to put the ‘green’ juice into a wine glass at dinner

All of my children love juice and green smoothies etc. – my 8.5 yr old has been drinking them since about 6 months of age. An interesting favorite we discovered was from Julian’s Raw book and it is was called Apple Blaster (he also calls it Blood) but I prefer Apple Blaster LOL and is 2lbs (6?) apples, 1 piece ginger (i keep mine in the freezer so it doesn’t go bad), 1/2 cup of beets, 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice. It is shockingly YUMMY!!!! Juicing is AWESOME!!!

My experience with drinking my blended veggies/fruits is this…long story short…this past Friday I had to have a colonoscopy and an endoscopy because all of my ‘raw’ diet (2 quarts of blended juices a day as well as some type of raw salad 3 times a day) played havoc on my digestive system. It gave me colitis and caused gastroparesis. I’ve been praying about simply juicing my veggies since I am not permitted to have any fiber or raw foods at all. If someone has a sensitive digestive system, I feel that juicing would be the way to go for them, rather than blending. This is just my experience. Thanks for the tip on juicing the beets…my anemia/iron numbers are down right now, and that is a great idea. (I love beets!) Blessings to you, Robin! ~Sue~