Cantaloupe Craze

This morning I tried juicing cantaloupe for the first time.  I was hoping it would be pretty darn good because it is not cantaloupe season and I searched high and low to find a decent looking cantaloupe.  I liked it, but it does have a pretty strong cantaloupe flavor so if you don't love cantaloupe you may want to use less cantaloupe and throw in an apple or orange instead.  I've pretty much come to the conclusion that almost anything will taste fine if you add an apple. 

1/2 medium cantaloupe
5 medium carrots
3 stalks of celery

Calories = ~ 236

Sweet Potato Heaven

I'm not sure I would have considered using sweet potatoes in my juicer all on my own.  However, I had seen a recipe that called for it, but when I wanted to use my sweet potatoes I could no longer find the same recipe. So I just made this one up.  I really liked it.  It was really smooth and actually sweeter than I thought it would be. 

1 sweet potato (about 5 inches long)
4 medium carrots
3 stalks of celery
1 apple

Makes about 24 ounces
Calories = ~ 284

Tomato Carrot Juice

This was really quite yummy.  Almost like a V8 but not as salty, though I did add a touch of sea salt.  It seems like the tomato makes the drink kind of creamy which is nice.  The lime gives it a nice zing too. 

2 large tomatoes
4 medium carrots
1 apple
1/2 lime, peeled

Calories = ~ 231

Peachy Carrot

I LOVED the addition of peaches.  Maybe because it was something I haven't put in my juicer yet and since everything was starting to taste the same it is nice to add a new flavor.  I'm excited to juice some peach juice this fall when my wonderful peach tree is ready to harvest!

3 peaches (pits removed, of course)
1 grapefruit, peeled
4-5 medium carrots

Calories = 336

Celery Sensation

Yeah, I'm probably getting a little too inventive with the naming of my juices but you start to run out of options!  This one actually tastes quite a bit like the Cucumber Lemon drink I posted before.  Celery is a great base for your juices because it is inexpensive and you get a lot of juice out of each stalk.  I'm starting to have my doubts about the leafy greens though.  You can put in tons of spinach or kale and only get a tiny squirt of juice, but I suppose that one squirt is probably loaded with lots of nutrients. 

8 stalks celery
1 cucumber
handful of kale leaves
2 handfuls of spinach leaves
handful of parsley
1 pear
1/2 lemon, without rind
1 inch piece of ginger root

Calories = ~225

Fruity Breakfast

This one was bound to taste good because it's almost all fruit.  But I did tell myself I could have a fruity drink for breakfast and then more veggie based drinks for lunch and dinner.  The calorie count is higher than the other recipes I've tried.  Maybe if I'd known before hand how many it had I would have tried something different.  Nah, it was worth it!

2 oranges
2 apples
1 grapefruit
3 carrots


Calories = ~ 425

Veggie Delight

Yeah, I did make up the name of this drink.  I'm trying to make myself keep going with this by calling the drinks something cute.  Don't get me wrong, the drinks themselves really don't taste bad (though they are starting to taste all the same) but I want something to chew!  A hamburger sounded really good for dinner last night but instead I made this drink.  It was a little like V8.  I couldn't taste the garlic so if you want that flavor you might want to put in more.  The touch of sea salt was a nice addition especially considering I haven't had any salt in 4 days. 

2 Tomatoes
2 cups greens (I used mixed greens)
1 cucumber
3 stalks celery
1 Apple
1/3 small beet
2 carrots
1 clove garlic
1 pinch of sea salt (stir it in after, don't put it in the juicer)

Calories = ~237

Apple Ginger Juice

After 3 days of lots of veggies I decided to go for a little treat.  Plus, I was headed to the gym right after and figured I'd burn off the extra calories anyway.  Fresh apple juice is incredible!

5 Apples
1/2 lemon
1 inch ginger root
dash of cinnamon (stir in after, do not put it in the juicer)

Calories = ~283

Beet-le Juice

I was a little hesitant to try using beets in my juice, but I decided to go for it anyway. I ate lots of beets growing up (my parents always raised a MASSIVE garden) and I had forgotten that I actually like them.  Plus, the color of this juice was really pretty.  I'm starting to think that it makes it easier to drink your veggies if the juice is an appealing color.  Once again though, my husband chose to make something different because he doesn't like beets.  I'm starting to wonder if he likes vegetables at all (aside from celery and spinach!)  Beware though!  Beets are stainy little suckers, especially on my light colored counter tops!

2 apples
1 small lemon
3 celery stalks
1 small to medium sized beet
3 cups spinach or other leafy green
1 cucumber

Calories = ~ 240

Orange Carrot Juice

I really liked this juice!  The orange color is so much more appetizing too. 

2 Oranges, peeled
5 Medium Carrots
3 Stalks of Celery

Calories = 211

Spinach Carrot Ginger Juice

So I tried a recipe for lunch today that was entirely veggies.  Bad idea! I could barely choke it down.  I've decided you need at least one fruit in each recipe.  Even if fruit does have more calories you're still looking at less than 300 for the entire recipe (~20 ounces.) If you're juice fasting then three meals at 300 calories is still only 900 per day.  Add in some exercise and you're definitely going to lose weight.....or at least I'd better!  This was my dinner drink and it was probably my favorite so far. I really liked the hint of parsley.  And I'm starting to think you can't go wrong with carrots and celery.  They don't really have strong enough flavors to take over the whole drink.

1 Apple
1 Orange
4 Medium Carrots
3 Cups Spinach (recipe called for Kale but I didn't have any)
1/2 lemon, peeled
3 stalks celery
1 inch ginger root
Several sprigs of parsley

Calories = ~246 (by the way these are the calorie counts if you consumed the whole fruit/veggies.  So just the juice will come out to less because there is some pulp that's not eaten.)

Grapefruit Sunrise Juice

1 Apple
1 Grapefruit
5 medium carrots
3 stalks of celery

Calorie Count = 290

We are trying to do a juice in the morning that contains more fruit.  Then more vegetable based drinks for lunch and dinner.  I really liked this drink.  I actually put 2 grapefruits in this drink this morning. It was too much, but I think one would be perfect.  My husband didn't care too much for this juice because he doesn't like grapefruit.  But I'll make it again with only one and see if he likes that better.  I was surprised that even with 5 carrots it didn't tasty "carroty".  You could probably add more carrots if you wanted to.

Cucumber Lemon Juice

My husband and I recently watched the documentaries Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and Hungry for Change.  They both talked about the benefits of juicing fruits and vegetables as a way of getting more nutrients in a concentrated form.  I was a little hesitant but my husband was all for it.  So we purchased a fancy pants juicer and are starting on a 10 day juice fast. We both would like to lose just that last 10 pounds and we're hoping this is just the ticket! We don't believe in all the "nutritional supplement" type diets but this seems like a good natural option. So here's to 10 days of no solid foods, no soda (yikes!) and lots of produce shopping! Wish me luck!

Cucumber Lemon Juice (Juice #1)
2 Apples
4 Stalks Celery
1 Cucumber
2 handfuls baby spinach
1/2 lemon, peeled

***This recipe is a total of 231 calories according to the calorie calculator at myfitnesspal.com

Most of us (we made the kids try it too!) really liked this one.  My two youngest boys didn't care for it too much but they did drink a small glass.  This recipe makes about 20 ounces of juice.  We did three rounds of this recipe.  I drank one whole recipe myself and then the kids shared most of the second recipe, and my husband drank the rest of theirs and a whole recipe of his own! The cucumber and lemon flavors really dominate in this one.  My husband doesn't like cucumbers but he was really going to town on this stuff!  Honestly, it was kind of like drinking summer.  Kind of nice on a cold January night!