Juicing BASICS for the Whole Family!

We've been officially JUICING for the past EIGHT MONTHS!! For someone who has tried various fad diets and has gone yoyo dieting for most of my life-- this for me is truly an achievement! I usually try something, get sick of it and eventually forget.

But with JUICING-- We've reached a point where my kids are asking me, "are we having juice tonight? or "hmmm Mama I can smell the juice from the kitchen!" For this I am very thankful! A few months back they wouldn't drink the actual juice even if I scare them! Now they are so used to it they are in the kitchen waiting for the juice so they can already drink a whole glass!       

I super like it when I see my boys drinking their juice and loving it! :)

What made me decide to actively make JUICING a part of our everyday life? Like most kids my boys don't eat vegetables. Yes, a sad reality that I had to accept; no matter how I tried to make them eat their veggies they end up resisting and hating them even more. But with JUICING they are unknowingly consuming: carrots, wheat grass, spinach, cucumber, celery and even kale! 

 What I did at first was have them consume juice that's mostly fruit based so they can get use to the taste of real fresh juice as opposed to the juice that comes in a tetra pack. I used mostly apples and oranges with a few leaves of spinach and some carrots. There was resistance at first and comments like "yuck it doesn't taste good at all!!" I never gave up, I even added honey so the juice would be a bit on the sweet side. After a few weeks of prodding and trying different ingredients they eventually loved it!

Miguel loved his juice after just a few days! He is now looking forward to a refreshing drink everyday!

JAIME finally came around and now loves to drink his JUICE! :)

For the adults in the household I figured we also needed the energy boost and health benefits we all know we can get from drinking fresh juice. My Mom loved the juice and she said she felt better than ever. After a few months she said her cholesterol levels improved and even her skin improved! She said she can sleep better and she feels she has more energy. 

MY Husband on the other hand, hated the JUICE! But like the good wife that I am, I FORCED HIM! He had to drink one glass of juice everyday whether he liked it or not! He would always say how come the juice for the kids tasted so much better than our juice. It was because our juice had less fruits and more vegetables and leaves. 

After months of resistance and complaining on social media; he would post pictures of my juice on his Instagram or Facebook and rant --- but he'd drink the juice anyway! Then after a few months his friends and family noticed he had better looking skin, a smaller tummy and an overall improved appearance! He admitted that it was because he was JUICING!!! :) 

One of Veegee's Instragram posts:

SO HOW DOES IT TASTE?? This is a question that is often asked and I would always honestly answer-- it doesn't taste amazing but it doesn't taste too awful either! I guess it's an acquired taste and you will eventually get used to it. What we do is chug it all down, sometimes Veegee and I would say "cheers" and drink it all at once.

SO WHAT'S THE FINAL RESULT FOR ME? I feel so much better and yes I have more energy every time I drink juice. We've been having less bouts with colds and flu and if ever we get sick  I feel we get better faster than before. NO I HAVEN'T LOST WEIGH because of juicing. I guess because I never tried juice as a meal replacement. We drink juice more of as a supplement and not as a meal replacement. 

I've noticed healthier looking skin and I am happy! :) Also going to the toilet has never been a problem for me since we started juicing. Must be all the fiber from the vegetables and fruits! I've had my routine blood chem test done a few weeks ago and I must say I passed with flying colors! My sugar, cholesterol and uric acid levels were perfect! I've never seen blood test results this great even when I was in my twenties! Again it must be the juice!! :)

SO HOW DO WE MAKE OUR JUICE:

JUICE FOR THE BOYS:We don't have a specific ingredients list for juicing. I think that's the reason why we were able to sustain daily juicing in our household. Because if you always follow a strict list of ingredients there will always be something missing and something you'll need to buy which will hinder you from juicing.

Some of the INGREDIENTS we MIX and USE just for the BOYS: 

AS FRUIT BASE: For the kids we use two to three fruits at a time:

APPLES 

ORANGES

PINEAPPLE

PEARS

ADD SOME: Spinach

                       Wheat Grass

                       Carrots

                       Cucumber

                       Malunggay-- not too much it can be a bit overwhelming and too "spicy" for kids

Some of the INGREDIENTS we MIX and USE just for ADULTS:

JUST use one or two of the following: not too much; so sugar levels won't be affected

APPLES 

ORANGES

FRESH PINEAPPLE

PEARS

GRAPES

MORE OF : Spinach

           Celery

           Wheat Grass

           Carrots

           Kale

           Parsley

           Cucumber 

           Lemons/ Kalamansi

           Malunggay-- not too much it can be a bit overwhelming and too "spicy"  

           Beets --- not so good but we sometimes just tolerate it!

           Cabbage-- totally weird tasting and smells awful so we avoid this if we can! 

OUR BASIC JUICE INGREDIENTS: spinach, carrots and parsley!

FRUIT INGREDIENTS: Apples and Oranges! :) Not too much fruit for the adults or daily juicing can be counter productive and raise sugar levels! :)

JUICE with fresh yellow Mangoes!

Juice with more leaves than fruits! This is for me and my husband!

After THREE MONTHS of juicing with a Blade/ Centrifugal type of Juicer we finally decided to invest in a Cold Pressed/ Masticating Juicer-- we got the MATSTONE LOW SPEED MULTI-Purpose Juicer. It can make pasta, almond milk, smoothies, salad dressings and so much more! I LOVE IT!!

My old KOII centrifugal/ blade based juicer. I read somewhere that essential enzymes are killed when they pass through blades at certain speeds and the pulp I get from this juicer is still wet and I really feel much of the fruits and vegetables go to waste because it's not pressed/ juiced the right way. 

My MATSTONE LOW speed Multipurpose JUICER! 

DRY PULP!! With a Masticating Juicer I know every bit of the fruit and vegetables has been pressed and squeezed!

More fruits for the kids and less for the adults! :)

IMPORTANT JUICING TIP: Since I can't always buy all ORGANIC fruits and vegetables what I do is clean the fruits and vegetables thoroughly under running water and soak them on a big bowl. Then  add three tablespoons of ORGANIC APPLE CIDER VINEGAR and soak for around ten minutes. To make sure all insecticides, dirt and bacteria are gone.


Goodluck and Happy Juicing!! :)

YUMMY JUICE!! :)

HE LOVES JUICE at last!!! :)