Juicing for Health: Carrot Beet Apple Spinach Juice Tastes Good. Really.

I've had a great juicer for years - high powered motor, easy to clean - but I had stored it in a cabinet awhile back and just forgotten about it. And juicing.

Then, I was surfing around and there was this discussion about the nutrients that are available in raw vegetables and fruits, things that get lost by the time they get into bottles or cartons or cans or bags. That's right, I remembered: I own a really nice juicer - why aren't I using that thing? (Slap of forehead.)

So, this week I pulled that puppy out and went to the store and bought organic beets, carrots, Fuji apples, and baby spinach. Some cilantro, too - but I also made pico de gallo, and the cilantro escaped the juice machine.

Today, I'm back in a routine of juicing daily and I feel the better for it. I've posted on this before (Food as Medicine: Juicing) and you can find links for lots of detailed information there. Right now, I just want to share how easy and fun this is, and here's my recipe (and a couple of tips):

Reba's Daily Raw Carrot Apple Beet Spinach Juice

8 small carrots or 6 regular/medium size
2 big handfuls of baby spinach leaves (don't skimp)
2 medium sized Fuji apples
1 medium sized beet (about the same size as one of the apples)

Wrap the spinach around the carrots to juice, it works better (the leaves can be hard to juice). Keep your working area clear and clean as you go: that beet juice will stain stuff (including your tee shirt).

I drink this over ice and with a straw. It's a pretty purple color.

For more on what this provides, read the links given with the ingredients above.

Personal Post 20: Trimming Food Costs

Food costs keep rising. Here are some tips I've found work:

1. Brew tea (for iced tea) in the coffee maker. Instead of waiting for the water to boil in the kettle, then to steep in the teapot, I've taken to putting one decaffienated, family size tea bag in the carafe and letting a full water level run thru the Mr.Coffee. Faster tea, dense and not bitter, results -- saves time and money. (I put this with stevia into a gallon pitcher, fill with water, and sometimes add fresh lime juice. It's no wonder that iced, sweet tea is called the "wine of the south.") Keep this in the fridge - it's so much better than soda.

2. Check the dates on salmon, steak, etc. If it's close to the expiration date, then ask the butcher if he'll lower the price. Yes, they'll work with you. My friend Susan reports that her pal Catherine got a month's work of salmon (cut into individual fillets at home, and frozen) for less than $2/lb this way.

3. Learn recipes for those strange veggies and meats that don't cost much. Things like cabbage, fish, and beans are very good for you, and there's lots of recipes out there for great dishes your family will love. You have to find the recipes, and be adventurous. Remember how cheap skirt steak was before fajitas became popular?

4. Freeze things. You can't keep things indefinitely in the freezer, but with proper storage, you can keep things for several months. I buy those huge bags of almonds at Sam's for under $10, then break them apart and freeze them. Everytime I walk down the Planter's/Emerald's aisle of the grocery store, I smile.

5. Avoid prepared foods. The more that is done to your food before you buy it, the more it costs. A whole chicken costs less than one that's been cut for you; both cost less than buying a box of fast food fried chicken. You'll be getting more vitamins and nutrients this way, as well. Yes, you'll have to cook more. That's not really a down side, once you get the hang of it.

For more information:

How to Cook - 4: Beans Are Easy, Cheap, and Good

How to Cut Up a Whole Chicken

How to Fillet a Whole Fish

Cabbage Without Gas Masks

Food as Medicine: Juicing

Jack LaLanne swears by juicing so much that he's got his own juicer on the market. There's also Jay Kordich aka the Juiceman, who has spent his lifetime promoting juicing of raw fruits and vegetables as a health necessity.

Of course, there are skeptics. They argue things like you get too much sugar, too rapidly, from juicing. They argue that there's a reason to chew, it's healthy to do so. Things like that.

However, juicing proponents are not arguing that juicing should substitute for eating foods (as opposed to drinking them). They are encouraging juicing as an addition to the diet, usually to increase intake of foods otherwise avoided or eaten rarely, or to combat specific maladies. Juicing gets more fruits and vegetables into the daily diet, as well as optimizing certain nutrients that fight against certain maladies (e.g., cabbage helps heal ulcers in part due to its high percentage of vitamin U).

At HPS Health, there are lists of recipes for juices (combinations of raw fruits and vegetables with some fresh herbs) to address specific ailments such as headache, anemia, fatigue, and gastric ulcers. Other recipe sites include ones promoting delicious taste (this one has a V8 recipe) and those that have, well, interesting combos.

And, for the skeptics, there's a site that gives recipes as well as advice on choosing a juicer. The site? The Stanford Cancer Center, part of the Stanford University Medical System.

According to Stanford, "The best selection of juices comes in nature’s own containers: fresh fruits & vegetables. Fresh juice is loaded with cancer-fighting phytochemicals and vitamins, in a state easily absorbed by the body."

Choosing a juicer is the next step. Short answer: get the highest powered motor you can afford, and make sure the components are easy to clean. Juicing is a messy job.

Shown: Jack LaLanne at age 84.