JUICING TIPS AND TRICKS

Juicing.  We all know it is so good for us but what a mess and hassle.  I have developed a few tricks out of necessity so that I am more likely to incorporate juicing into my day.  There is however some nutritional compromises that will be met so if you a juicing to support an anti-cancer diet and/or need to squeeze every last nutrient out of the juice the ideal juicing scenario is:

• Use a masticating juicer over a centrifugal juicer as this doesn't heat up the juice.
• Drink the juice in the first 30 minutes after preparing it.
• Keep the juicer on your counter ready to go at all times.
• Use all organic produce

That being said, I like to bulk juice.  It's less messy, less clean up, less time and it's a great way of getting rid of all of your extra vegetables that would normally rot in your veggie drawer.  Here's some ideas:

• Bulk juice before my weekly shopping trip to empty my veggie drawer and ensure all my produce is super fresh and nothing just rots in the fridge.  
• If you've got too much of one fruit or vegetable and you are afraid it is going to go off before you use it, Juice it all and freeze it in it's own glass container.  A good example is cucumbers that are so wonderful at extending juices but can go off quickly.
• Freeze extra spinach in ziplock bags before it goes off.
• Always buy bananas.  If they go brown, remove the skin and freeze them in ziploc bags.  They are perfect for smoothies and making faux ice cream.
• Recipes that call for brocolli stems are common.  The broccoli stem will last a few weeks in the crisper drawer but the florets won't.  I wash and remove all the broccoli florets and freeze for soups and stirfry.
• All vegetable pulp (no fruit) can be used to make veggie broths and there are some recipes that call for pulp to make dehydrated crackers.
• Before turning on the juicer, make sure you line the pulp collection container with a compostable kitchen liner to facilitate clean up (unless you are using the pulp for other purposes).
• Buy a dozen 2-cup mason jars with lids and buy little labels for storing and freezing.
• As you will be juicing large quantities, use a large (4 cup) glass measuring cup to collect the juice.
• Juice hard fruits and vegetables to make a 'base' juice.  Light vegetables like spinach and other greens, herbs and frozen fruits are added in a blender to the base juice before serving.  If you have a centrifugal juicer, those herbs and greens will just fly through without being properly juiced.  This way you can retain the all nutrition and flavor of the greens and also save some money. 
  
• If you can't afford organic produce for some items, make sure you peel it to limit your exposure to pesticides.
  
• You get more juice if you use a citrus juicer for your lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruit rather than peeling them.  It's faster too.  You can buy some good quality citrus juicers that have non-slip bases and big collection bowls.  All you need is some muscle.
• Make 2 juices at a time. Divide the liquid in 2 2-cup mason jars, label and freeze.  Freezing the base juice helps to retain the nutrients. Simply thaw out the juice in the fridge overnight to use the next day. Then you can add your base juice to a blender or Nutribullet along with the greens, herbs and frozen fruit or ice depending on the juice recipe.
• Use frozen organic berries for your blender juices.
• Use frozen pineapple rather than fresh.  It adds some thickness and coldness to the blender juice, it isn't as messy and you don't have to worry about it going off in the fridge.
• Make as many base juices as freezer space allows. Then you can freeze them all. Empty and clean you juicer parts and store away until the next batch. You may have to empty your pulp container and rinse the parts if you are making lots of base juice to ensure the juicer is working efficiently.