No Measuring, Acne Destroying, Juicing Recipes
Ok, so juicing has been the fad the last few years and for a variety of reasons. Anything from cleanses, detoxes, diet alternative, etc. Me, on the other hand, does it because it keeps my face really clear of acne and I like to get a healthy dose of vegetable nutrients I know I don't get on a daily basis (you don't have to worry about taking those multi-vitamins either). I have now been on a journey of juicing daily or every other day. I started using the which I found out from Brocollete that the friction and heat created from the masticating shredder in a juicer destroys all the goodie nutrients that you want. It also helped answer my question about what is cold pressed juicing? I had terms in many boutique-y health food stores but I was like oh they use refrigerated vegetables or something. Well once I got informed about how cold press juicers don't destroy all those good nutrients I decided to invest in a good one and do juicing right.
After much research (because I always wanna make sure I am getting the best product for the amount of money I am spending) and consultations with Brocollete, I came to the conclusion that I would purchase the Omega J8006 Cold Pressed Juicer(the newest model). Great warranty, not too much foam, not that expensive (Brocolette also said you can get a refurbished one at a great price via Amazon).
I had already come to the conclusion the best treatment to my adult acne (as evidenced in my time in Japan eating healthily), that the more leafy green vegetables I eat, the less acne I end up getting and I am talking about in any situation - from leaving sweat on your face in the gym to sleeping on that pillow case that has hair oil residue on it, no acne flares up! I was being rather diligent making Green Smoothies mostly with spinach and I still sometimes do that when I am running low on funds and time because juicing can be rather pricey in terms of ingredients and takes about 5-10 minutes to juice 24oz.
Most of my juicing recipes are about 65% one type of vegetable that are great at fighting acne flareups (leafy greens such as kale and spinach and/or beets) and the other 35% is a combination of natural sweeteners (apples, pears, lemons, pineapples) or more-liquid/water additives (cucumbers, carrots). The ingredients seen above helped make about 24oz of juice.
Some of my favorite kale juicing recipes include a combo of the following: a bushel of kale (any kind red or green), two apples (any kind is fine as well), 1-2 medium sized carrots, 1 in piece of ginger (that yields about 24 oz of juice)
If I find it needs more sweetness I add half a lemon or more apples. If I think it needs more liquid/juice, cucumbers are literally two glasses of nutritious water waiting to add more body to your juicing drink. Depending on your taste preference (I prefer to like the earthiness-taste of juices), you can add some Organic Blue Agavewhich is better than sugar or even regular honey. I've usually add Blue agave when the lemon made the juice too tart or the ginger made the drink too strong.
Phiphi216 is a big fan of beets so I made a batch for her the other day using 2 beets (and their stalks), 2 carrots (and their stems) and 2 apples which also yielded about 24 oz of juice. If you are just starting off juicing, beets tends to be a lot more earthy tasting than any vegetable I have juiced, so I tend to add more carrots when I do these juices to help mask the strong root flavor.
I have to say making two 24 oz batches of beet juice and two 24 oz batches of kale juice costs me about $22. I only drink it every other day (you will see my reasons to do so below) but when I do drink it, I drink about 16oz in the morning.
Some things to keep in mind when juicing:
- Make sure your ingredients are as organic as possible, just because you don't want to be juicing ingredients with pesticides on them that can end up in your drink
- Consider adding fresh mint or even basil (again my friend Brocollete is a master at getting the right combo for that); I am also planting a barrel of mint this weekend specifically for adding a sprig or two to juicing mixes
- Depending on how sensitive your stomach is to acid and drinks that sometimes tend to 'run a cleanse' on you, try drinking your juice in smaller amounts or doing it every other day. Some people say the cleansing aspect of the juice is great for you, but I don't want to be near a bathroom all the time.