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My family doesn’t drink juice. Juice in bottles at the store is typically a high sugar no-no in my home. We wil sometimes buy orange juice to use in smoothies or if my daughter is in an OJ phase. But 97% of the time, you won’t find juice in my house.
That’s changed. Kind of. Now, you will find this as a centerpiece in my kitchen:
My wonderful Mother's Day gift from my family!
Several weeks ago, I watched a documentary called Hungry For Change and it inspired me. I started doing a lot of reading and learning about making your own juice and the health benefits of juicing. A friend offered to loan me her juicer so I could decide if I wanted to invest in my own.
From my first glass, I was hooked.
Here’s what I know about juicing. It’s an amazing way to get fresh, raw fruits and veggies into your system in a very efficient and easy to absorb way. I can practically eat my rainbow of colors for the day in 1 glass. I enjoy making combinations and experimenting with different fruits and veggies. I have juiced combinations including beets, spinach, carrots, broccoli, apples, oranges, collard greens, blackberries, strawberries, pineapple, mango, peaches- it’s endless! Don’t get me wrong- I still love a good salad and my fresh fruit but starting my day or having a snack of fresh juice has definite benefits. My mood and energy are higher, I don’t feel like eating as much nutritionally vacant foods, and I just feel healthier!
Turns out, it’s also a great way to get my kids even more interested in fruits and veggies.
Up until this morning, they weren’t too interested in trying any of my crazy juice combinations. They thought it was just weird that Mommy was drinking spinach, carrots, beets, apples, and more.
- A blend I made this week- spinach, carrot, blackberry, apple, peach, cilantro.
This morning, my 7 year old was fascinated with my spinach-carrot-pineapple-ginger-apple preparations. She enjoyed bites of fresh pineapple as I worked on prepping my produce. Then the juicer did the work and I had a lovely glass full of vitamins and minerals.
I always offer a drink of my juice to whatever kid is close by. And the answer is always no. But this time, my daughter had been so much a part of the process that I thought she might go for it. I had to convince her that it really tasted like pineapple. And when I told her about the ginger- she worked up the nerve to try a tiny sip. She sipped, smiled, I got a drink, and then…
She drank about half of my juice. And was then very excited to tell Daddy that she drank spinach and carrots.
Looks like I might have found another way to get fresh fruits and veggies into at least one of my kids! I thought I was juicing just for my own health benefit. I hadn’t anticipated that it would be a new way to get healthy stuff into the bodies of my family. And that truly makes it the best Mother’s Day gift I could have received!
