Katrina Cool Banana’s Guide To Juicing

I’m nearly three months into my ‘all-new’ healthy eating thing (imagine me doing jazz hands as I say that) and while I’m really happy about all of the junk that I’m not putting into my gob, I’m aware that I need to be better at putting super healthy things in there. We’ve been eating lots more vegetables but something I really want to try is juicing. However I don’t know the first thing about which juicer to buy and what to do. So I asked my friend, fellow blogger and juicing pro – Katrina – for a beginner’s guide to juicing. So here’s her guest post for me – and check out her fab Cool Bananas Blog too! Over to Katrina…

Katrina Cool Bananas

Beginner's guide to juicing

Whether you want to juice for a detox, as an aid to slimming: or simply for a lifestyle boost to up your intake of those all-important 5-a-day fruit & veg portions, there’s no denying that juicing gets my seal of approval. In fact, it’s an integral part of my daily routine (along with being a toddler tamer). I suffer with several food allergies & malabsorbtions so for me juicing is a way to aid digestion function, increase my intake & absorption of essential vitamins & minerals, & besides they taste delish (honestly, they do!)

Have you toyed with the idea of juicing, but found it all rather baffling? Fear not! My mission today is to introduce you to this wonderful world & show you just how easy, tasty & fun it can be. Now, I’m known for rambling, so I’ll try my upmost to keep this short & sweet, to ease you in gradually.

The basics: What do I need?

1. A machine & compostable food waste bags (or similar). Don’t scrimp on this or, I can say from experience, you’ll be disappointed. Originally I purchased a cheap machine, it juiced badly & I spent far too long preparing food to feed through the tiny shoot. Admittedly the juicer market is highly saturated market so it can be tricky to choose one. My weapon of choice is the Sage Nutri juicer (if I had the money, I would most definitely invest in the next model up, the ‘pro’)

Ta Dah!

Juicing machine

Use a food compost bags to line the caddy-it’ll save you so much time, & there’ll be a hell of a lot less mess to faff with (ah, the great faff)

Lined Sage juicing caddy

 

2. Fruit. Some fruit will juice better than others – although it’s been reported that you can pretty much juice anything. But WHOA! Easy cowboy….don’t go spending large, buying up the entire fruit & veg section. Start slowly, just make a couple of juices: get the hang of your machine before you dive into the deep end & go cold turkey on food. If you decide to undertake a ‘cleanse’ or ‘detox’ (I do highly recommend these now & then) you’re far more likely to succeed by easing in gradually.

Which juices should I make?

Lets keep it simples (said like a meerkat), here are my three favourite juices:

Carrot, orange & ginger

4 carrots, 2 oranges & a slice of ginger. All blitzed through your machine on the high speed. This lot should give you at least 500-600 ml of juice (Carrot will juice surprisingly well). For fruit with skin, like orange, I advise you peel them. The result, if you don’t, is extremely bitter!

Carrot, orange and ginger

Green juice

2 cucumbers, 2 apples, kale, spinach & ginger (and a stick of celery if you have it). You can throw apples in as they are – stickers & all. TIP: If you’re using leaves, try & roll them up or bunch together – you’ll yield much more liquid from them this way. Leaves should be juiced on the low speed, the remaining items can go back in at the top speed. You’ll get around 800ml juice from this.

Green juice ingredients

Blueberry, grape, fresh mint & coconut water

Half a pack of blueberries, half a pack of grapes, large bunch of mint and coconut water to taste. Now this one doesn’t yield much liquid, but there’s no need to be disappointed by that, as it’s probably the tastiest of the lot! Chuck all the fruit & mint in together, then juice on a low speed (from half a packet of grapes & half a packet of blueberries you’ll get approx. 200ml) Add coconut water once you’ve poured the liquid into a glass/ container, I find this far too sweet if I don’t dilute it.

Make a yummy healthy juice!

 

My tips!

  • Wash fruit before juicing.
  • Clean your machine immediately – and I mean before you’ve even taste-tested your efforts: washing off the debris pronto makes the cleaning process so easy. Leave it too long and it’ll be a sticky nightmare.
  • Make juices in batches. I often make these three back to back and then wash my machine.
  • Store juices: In theory, it’s best to drink any juices straight away, for the most nutrients etc. But you can store them for up to three days in an airtight container, in your fridge. Ideally, when you make them, add a slice of lemon (juiced) as this helps preserve it. Fill the container to the very top for minimal ‘gaps’ (basically you want zero oxygen present as this is what will deteriorate the juice.)

Juice storage idea!

 

Want some more inspiration?

  • Watch: ‘Fat, Sick, & nearly Dead’ Joe Cross. A fascinating film about one dudes mission to take control of his life, medical conditions & get the world juicing.
  • Recipes: There are dozens of recipes at your fingertips (God bless Google) If you check out the Joe Cross website, the pages here are packed with great info & so is his book. Jason Vale is the other big name in juicing & his books are great too.
  • You’re always welcome to follow me over on instagram for your weekly dose of juice-inspiration #justsayin’

I hope this guide hasn’t bamboozled you, but has given you the oomph needed to give juicing a try.

If music be the fruit of love…..Juice on!

 

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5 Comments

  1. August 23, 2014 / 8:02 pm

    Oh looks yum! I am an avid YouTube watcher (geek as they are all far too young for me to be watching) but a lot of them juice and it does look something I would like to do. I am thinking when the girl is in pre-school this will free me up for such things when I’m not working! And the lovely Katrina is fab xxx

  2. August 25, 2014 / 9:48 am

    Great post- and a great guide to get you started. I did a juice detox and it was great as I was told what to do every step of the way – but has not juiced since as I didn’t know how to add it to my daily routine. Lovely pictures and love following your picts on IG – they are so inspiring.

    Still not sure about a totally green drink… ha ha

  3. August 25, 2014 / 9:35 pm

    What a fab post, thanks for this Alison and Katrina. I am in the middle of a health and fitness mission, but it’s more fitness than health at the moment. I am just too lazy to make juices but I really want to try! x

  4. August 26, 2014 / 8:52 pm

    Woohoo go Katrina! Have to admit the most adventurous I am about juicing is sometimes picking out the red innocent smoothie and not the orange one. I need to change that and look into making my own as it’s really healthy and not scary, isn’t it? x

  5. August 26, 2014 / 8:52 pm

    Woohoo go Katrina! Have to admit the most adventurous I am about juicing is sometimes picking out the red innocent smoothie and not the orange one. I need to change that and look into making my own as it’s really healthy and not scary, isn’t it? x

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