I’m a big time smoothie drinker.  I drink one nearly every morning for breakfast and usually after a workout.  As much as I love smoothies, I like to switch it up every once in a while and throw a green juice into the mix.  They make me feel super energized.  Not the jittery kind of energy, like when you drink a little too much coffee either.  It’s more like a refreshing, restorative kind of energy.  If that makes any sense.  It’s hard to explain.  You’ll just have to try it yourself!

We’ll start with the juicer I use.  The first juicer I bought was a Juiceman.  This juicer works great if you’re only making a small amount of juice.  I used it for about 3 years before I decided to buy one that could hold more pulp/produce more juice in one use.  There just isn’t much room for pulp in the Juiceman and I basically got tired of cleaning it out so much.  It served me well for the time and I had it and it still worked great when I passed it on to the next owner.

After quite a bit of research, I decided to fork over some extra cash and get a Breville Juicer.  I ❤ it.  It makes so much more juice and is so easy to clean.  I’ve had it for a couple of years now and have no complaints.  If you need some help deciding what juicer to buy I definitely recommend checking out Kris Carr’s blog post here.  And while you’re there, check out her entire site too!  She is one of my favorites.

Onto the juice!

I like this recipe because there are only 4 ingredients involved and it tastes so good.  Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 CUCUMBERS
• 1 GREEN APPLE (I LIKE TO USE GRANNY SMITH)
• 1 LEMON
• 1 CHUNK OF GINGER (ABOUT A 1-2 INCH PIECE)

I try to get everything organic if at all possible.  It’s kind of hard for me to find organic cucumbers here during the winter.  They’re so much easier to find during the summer months at a farmer’s market or in my own backyard (if I’m lucky).  When I can’t find organic ones I always peel the skin off of them before juicing.  Have you ever rubbed your finger on a cucumber that you get from the store?  Weird question, I know, but seriously.  It’s gross.  Try it.  There is a sticky residue that is hard to clean off.  My first thought was that just non-organic cucumbers were like this, but then I did a little research and found out that both non-organic and organic cucumbers can be coated with a wax to help keep moisture in them.  The only difference is that the organic cucumber wax coating cannot contain any chemicals or pesticides while the non-organic cucumber wax coating will most likely be filled with them.  So peel those skins!

 The ginger gives it a little kick and is also good for digestion.

 I like to juice the pulp twice to get the most out of the veggies.  It can be a pain trying to put the pulp back into the juicer without making a big mess though.  So back to Amazon I went and found this nifty little stainless steel funnel to help the transfer process.

Hello, lover.

This is how much juice I got out of the ingredients I used here.  I made the juice before I went to bed so they’d be ready to go the next morning.  I filled them to the rim, put lids on & stuck them in the fridge.  The less air you keep in the jar the better.  The juice won’t spoil so fast this way.  You can keep them in the fridge for up to 3 days.  Me & the boyfriend usually polish off the whole batch before lunch the next day.

CHEERS!

~ Lacey