Basic Juicing Tricks and Tips Plus Juice Reviews

I don’t think I need to completely rehash all the information out there about the benefits to be had from drinking pomegranate juice. Besides counteracting the plaque that clogs up arteries and leads to Athersclerosis, it is a great source of antioxidants which are said to help prevent diseases such as cancer and even slow down the effects of aging.

Whatever you believe, one of the most important reasons I like Pomegranate Juice is because it just plain tastes good. Actually, I’ll stand up for pomegranate seeds unjuiced just as quickly. Sure, it makes a great mess and stains. But you can’t beat the flavor and the nutritional benefits.

I’ve seen this brand of Pomegranate juice products in the market many times. They’re easily recognizable by the word “POM” with the “O” as a heart. I actually thought the name of the company was “Pom” but it’s actually Pom Wonderful. In addition to the pure 100% Pomegranate Juice and other blends (Mango, Blueberry, etc.) they also sell whole pomegranates which they grow to make juice from, and something known as “pomegranate tea” which is supposed to be packed with the aforementioned polyphenol antioxidants that are really good for you.

Continue reading “Pom Wonderful Pomegranate Juice” …

The idea behind this juicing recipe is to incorporate a few of the goodies that may be helpful for those with stomach ailments. Most notably, cabbage juice is good at easing constipation and treating ulcers. The only thing to beware is that if you have too much of it, you can actually get a lot of gas! You also need to drink it fairly quickly, within a couple hours of turning it into juice.

The addition of kiwis to this mixture might be a bit weird, but don’t knock it until you’ve tried it out…

Ingredients:

1/2 a head of cabbage
1 beet with the greens left on
2 large kiwis

Continue reading “Stomach Soother Juice” …

Well, this juice recipe might not exactly make you gallop per se. But it certainly will get you up and at ‘em! It packs a punch with grapefruit and pineapple, but is smoothed over with the addition of strawberry and banana. Also, should you choose to accept this mission - you can always sneak a little rum in there to round out your evening.

Ingredients:

1/2 a pink grapefruit, rind removed
3 long pieces of pineapple (also called “spears”)
2 strawberries
1 banana
rum (optional, 1-2 ounces)

Continue reading “Great Galloping Grapefruit” …

OK, I’ve got to admit that I’ve never actually tried this recipe. I saw it in a book and thought it was a weird enough combination to write down and try later on. But somehow, the combination of potatoes and radishes is just a bit intimidating! Radish can be quite spicy, but I guess that’s why they’re using potato juice which is milder. It might be a good combo, who knows? Maybe the carrots help blend them together better.

Ingredients:

4 carrots
1 medium white radish
3 potatoes, no need to remove skins

Continue reading “Potato Radish Juice” …

Cranberries are definitely one fruit that are difficult to eat all by their own… most people need to add at least a bit of sweetness to it. Actually, most people either have it as cranberry sauce come Thanksgiving, or as store-bought Cranberry Juice.

I’ve had many different varieties of juice including probably the most popular brand, Ocean Spray. However, the other day I saw these bottles of Langers Cranberry Juice Cocktail for 2 bucks and decided to try it out. For some reason, I had thought before that Langers was one of those generic store-brands for Albertsons, but it turns out that the company has been churning out juice since its formation around 1960 as a health juice manufacturer. Nowadays, they make all sorts of juices including cranberry, apple, grape and citrus. Theyr’e based in the City of Industry in southern California.

Like most cranberry juice-makers, the basic Langers Cranberry Juice is not 100% juice… there is no way that the public would go for that as it would be to difficult to drink. However, they do boast 27% of pure, all-natural cranberry juice in their bottles and don’t include any other juices in this. As such, if you’re not used to non-blended cranberry juice, you might have a tough time at first drinking it. The rest of the juice is mostly corn syrup and water. Still, it tastes pretty good.

Continue reading “Langers Cranberry Juice” …

If you happen to live in an area where fresh pears are to be found, they can be great for adding to your regular juicing schedule. When juiced, pears produce a stronger, flavorful liquid that is thicker than many types of fruit juices. As such, people often use it in jams or jelly. So if you do juice pears, you can save the pulp from it for thickening up your jellies or use it as a pear compote.

The three most common types of pear (this info is from Wikipedia) are the European Pear, the Ya Pear and the Nashi or Asian/Apple Pear. However there are many different varieties of these 3 pears that you’ll see in the market.

The nice thing about pears is that there are no seeds or rind to remove. For juicing them, you can just pull out the stem and cut them up.

Juicing Buddies: goes with Apples, Grapes, Lemons

This juicing recipe is sort of a take on spiced apple cider but with the addition of carrots to the mix. The cinnamon and cardamom give it quick a bit of kick, and the ginger rounds out the entire mixture. I use plain old ground cinnamon, though I know some people like using actual sticks in cooking. If you do that for this recipe, I’m not sure if the cinnamon stick should go straight into the juicer whole. You probably want to grind it up somehow first.

I have seen a similar recipe to this that is actually alcoholic and substitutes champagne for the mineral water.

Ingredients:

4 medium carrots
1 apple (golden delicious or red preferable)
1/2 teaspoon of ginger
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of cardamom
10 ounces of sparkling mineral water

Continue reading “Spicy Carrot Apple Juice” …

Well, I got the results of the first poll here on Juicing at Bloglander and they’re not terribly surprising. Of course the poll was somewhat limited because only four ingredients were offered as choices, which were Apple, Carrot, Tomato and Berry. Here’s how the numbers came out:

I put Apple and Carrot at the top because those two ingredients are both “staples” for juicing fruits and vegetables respectively. These two both came in approximately tied, with more than 3 times the votes each compared to the other two choices. Carrot edged out apple by a few more votes which sort of surprised me.

Many people use apple juice as a universal base for adding other fruit juices to, or to thin out juices which are unnaturally thick. It’s also common for commercial manufacturers of juice to use it as a base. It’s also nice that it can be juiced skin, seeds, and all.

Continue reading “Juicing Poll: Favorite Ingredient” …

Though most people think of salad when they think of lettuce, this is also a good juicing ingredient to have around because it is easy to prepare and juice. There are no seeds, rinds or other items to remove, and lettuce is generally inexpensive (depending on location, though).

There are many different types of lettuce, a large majority of which are grown in the United States, particulalry in the Salinas Valley in Central California. Arizona also produces a lot of lettuce. People most commonly recognize the heads of “Iceberg” lettuce in their salads and while they certainly are the most crunchy they actually have the least flavor and nutrients of all varieties of lettuce.

In fact, the general rule is that the darker in color that a variety of lettuce is, the more nutritious it tends to be. As such, Romaine and Boston Leaf lettuce (also called Bibb and Butterhead) are good sources of vitamins. They are also much stronger in flavor, so care is needed when adding their juice to other vegetables.

Since lettuce is a very soft juicing ingredient, it’s often a good idea to juice it along with harder vegetables like carrots. Some people wrap the harder items in lettuce and feed that into the juicer to produce more consistent juice.

Lettuce is said to be good for the skin, hair and a good cleanser of the liver. Interestingly, many varieties of lettuce actually contain a substance which is a mild natural opiate which can have a calming effect. This includes the popular Iceberg lettuce that everyone eats. This fact was known by civilizations long ago, such as the Romans and Greeks, who used it as an aid for sleeping.

Juicing Buddies: goes with Parsnips, Carrots, Spinach, Sprouts
Vitamins and minerals: Vitamin A, B1, C, K, Potassium, Folates

I actually found this recipe in an old Martha Stewart mag of all things. Not a bad juicing article at all actually. They have a section where they basically just show like 12 different cups of juice combinations and then list the ingredients. You just mix and match them, but it is sorta nice to have pictures to be able to see what the final product might look like (sorry, didn’t get to scan in the pics)

Anyhow, this one uses sweet honeydew melon as its base, with a bit of mint for zing.

Ingredients:

1/4 honeydew melon (rind removed, seeded)
1 whole apple
1/4 cup packed mint leaves

Continue reading “Honeydew Heaven Juice” …