What I Have Learned From Juicing (so far)

I have been juicing for about two weeks now (I've had the juicer for about three weeks but I had to take a week off due to travel - darn TSA and their liquid rule!) and I have definitely learned a few things about juicing - what to juice, what not to juice, what tastes good together, what to go easy on and what to include more of.

 

Here's what I have discovered so far:

• Bananas do not juice well - or at all - save them for smoothies!
• Frozen fruit/veggies do not juice well - if you are planning on juicing formerly frozen items be sure they are thawed completely.
• Be sure to place any berries in the juicer shoot very carefully and cover the shoot  immediately - if not, the berries WILL hit the ceiling.
• Juicing beets is a no go for me.  I wish I liked the taste of beet juice but I just don't - it's gross and the couple of times I have juicing beets I couldn't stand to drink much of it.
• Be sure to only juice one or two stalks of celery (if that) - anymore than that will make it seem like you are drinking a celery stalk.
• A little lemon or lime goes a long way!  And if you juice any citrus with the rind on your entire juice will be VERY citrus-y.
• The freezer is your friend, but not the fridge!  Juicing can take some time - all the set up, washing and chopping the fruits/veggies, and then cleaning the actual juicer afterwards; due to this it is not very convenient for me to do it everyday.  Since I started I have been making a couple of juices (2 - 3) at a time, putting one in the fridge for the next day and freezing the others (I have been using freezer safe ball mason jars).  One time I decided to not use the freezer and leave all of them in the fridge - the result was not good - the juice got slimy, completely separated and I ended up throwing a good portion of them out.  So use the freezer for juice storage!  Juice is also really good frozen!  I am looking forward to making some popsicles with the juice this summer! 
• Juicing keeps you full!  So far for me it cannot completely replace a meal but I have seen a reduction in how much I eat throughout the day.  On a typical day I will eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast and then around 11:30 AM/12 PM I'll begin drinking my juice.  I'll take my time and the juice will last around 45 minutes to an hour.  After that I will be full until about 2/2:30 PM or so when I will have a sandwich (my go to - peanut butter and banana) or some soup or a yogurt with granola.  Typically after that (and this will depend on the day) I am good until dinner!

 

So far some of my favorite juices have been:

• 2 orange bell peppers, 3 carrots, 1 peeled orange, 1 peeled lemon and a handful of fresh pineapple
• 1 large cucumber, 1 orange , 1 large celery stalk and a handful of fresh pineapple

Juice!  Juice!  Juice!

More to come!