Did you know? You can easily make fresh juice at home in under an hour! I’ll walk you through everything, from the shopping to the juicing. Let’s start with the basics!
Step 1: Shopping — 20 minutes
Whether you choose a Farmer’s market, a favorite grocery store, or even a combo of both, have your shopping list ready. This will save you time and money. Here is my shopping list and recipe for a gallon of juice(roughly a week’s worth). The amount you buy of each item depends on the size and quality.
Organic celery can really look rough, and you often have to compost the outer limbs. Choose organic whenever possible.
Shopping List:
Apples : 5-6 ($4-5)
Celery: 2-3 stalks ($2-3)
Carrots: 5 lbs. ($3-4)
Cucumber: 1-2 ($2-3)
Fresh ginger root: 1 ($1)
Watermelon: 1 ($6)
Mint: a few limbs — I get mine from my garden ($4 in store)
Lemon juice from 8-12 lemons: I juice my lemons separately with a citrus juicer. ($6)
Step 2: Cleaning and Prep — 10 minutes
Rinse all of your fruits and veggies thoroughly. If you were able to find organic, it’s really just about getting the dirt and bugs off. If not organic, use a fruit and veggie wash and then rinse well.
Cut all of your items up so that they fit easily into the juicing funnel. You do not want to force your food down the channel.
Step 3: Juicing — 20 minutes
I like to mix up the juicing! I do a few apples, then celery, watermelon, and so on.
Celery strands have a tendency to wrap around the juicing blade, so I will stop a couple of times and clean the blade, as well as to completely empty out the chute.
Depending on what type of juicer you have, you might have to keep an eye on the temperature. If your juicer gets too hot, stop for a minute and let it cool down. This is a hard job!
Step 4: Clean up — 10 minutes
Once you have finished with all the juicing, clean your machine immediately. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to clean. Next, add fresh lemon juice. I also like to add some alkalized water; you can use whatever water you like, or none at all.
You should have enough juice to fill 6-8 12 oz containers.
Drink one today, keep one for tomorrow in the refrigerator, and freeze the rest.
For less than an hour of time and around $30, you can make you own fresh juice that would retail for $60-80. Experiment with in-season fruits and veggies and to please your palette!!