Juicing for National Salad Month

May is National Salad Month (surprise!) and in honor of that I thought it would be fun to devote this week to a topic I hold dear to my heart; juicing. So what do salad and juice have in common? Well, a tall glass of fresh juice is like drinking a salad. I know it sounds weird, but it’s true! I’m not the only person who thinks this way, either. 

A couple of weeks ago, a representative from Foxy (yeah, like the lettuce!) emailed me about an initiative the company just began. It’s called Rejuicenate. They're encouraging people to learn more about juicing at home with fresh fruits and veggies and are going beyond that, too, by providing them with recipes families can use so as to not waste their juicing pulp either.

It’s a pretty cool idea and it made me want to do something similar. So, this week, Foxy and I will be sharing with you some great recipes not only for juice but also for your juice pulp.

Where to Begin

For starters, I want to encourage you to drink juice. Austin is a very juice friendly place. And juicing is very friendly to your body. If you're wary about taking the plunge and starting to juice at home, you can find a local juice bar throughout the city and sample some of their offerings. These stores make their own juices in house:

• Whole Foods at 9607 Research Blvd. and 11920 Domain Dr, at least.
• Juiceland at 1625 Barton Springs Rd., 2307 Lake Austin Blvd., 7329 N. Burnet Rd., 45th & Duval, 6705 Hwy 290, 2601 Cesar Chavez, and 2422 RR 620 S.
• Skinny Limits 3720 Far West Blvd. Suite 105, 2201 Lake Austin Blvd., 1720 Barton Springs Rd., 1310 RR 620 S A-01.
• The Juice Well at 1309 Rosewood Blvd.
• The Juice Bar  on 1807 W Slaughter Ln.
• The Daily Juice at 205 W. 3rd Street and 3300 Bee Cave Road, Suite 245.
• Juice Spot at 12400 North IH 35.

And you can find juice bars nationwide, too. In fact, you may be surprised to find that you can order fresh fruit and vegetable juice at the deli counter at your grocery store. Just investigate and you are bound to find a juicing establishment nearby. Use this locator on the Reboot With Joe website for a quick find.

Juicing At Home

If you've been thinking about starting to juice at home I definitely encourage you to do so. Who got me into juicing? First, my mom. She bought a Juiceman Jr. while I was young. I very much enjoyed her carrot apple juice and when I moved out on my own I bought a juicer so I could continue making it for myself. I've been using it off and on since then (like, 10 years!!). It served its purpose and was extremely affordable. Recently, though, I had been wanting a newer, more efficient juicer suitable for concocting green juices. Centrifugal juicers don't do greens very well at all. But all the other kinds seemed too expensive. Until I went to the store and saw how amazing they would be!

My wife-to-be went with me and after reading about the differences each machine offered we both couldn't resist the allure of Omega’s slow-juicing system. This masticating slow juicer was about $100 more than the model we intended to buy, but we used a 20% off coupon and that knocked off about $52 from the overall price. I have used it regularly since then. It is amazingly easy to clean and it makes extremely delicious juice from hard vegetables, soft fruit, and even greens.

In addition to juicing, the machine also presses pasta noodles, makes nut butter, and can be used for making almond or soy milk. I’ll show you how to do that later on, though maybe towards the end of the month. 

Here’s a video of it in action.

Some consumers complain that it takes awhile to prepare ingredients for this juicer, but I haven’t found that myself. Yes, the chute is a little smaller than others, but prep time is nearly identical to my other juicer. What I enjoy most about it, aside from improved flavor and output, is how easy it is to clean. My Juiceman Jr. stained easily and had a huge grinding strainer that was very difficult to scrub pulp out of. The strainer on this unit is small and cleans easily with the brush included with the machine.

Learn More About Juicing
I said that my mom got me into juicing originally. Well, I hadn't used my juicer in years until I saw the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead last year. For my review of the film, click here. While I have not and will probably never go on a juice fast myself, I absolutely loved the film. It really inspired me to examine my health and to take how I felt into my own hands. I got back into juicing right while watching the documentary! Shortly after that, I started making green smoothies for breakfast everyday. I've been consuming both regularly since then. I'm positive that drinking fresh juices 2-3 times per week and having a green smoothie almost everyday has helped me get into the shape that I am today. I have tons more energy than I did even six months ago. But I digress.

In fact, I like the film so much that I went to the creator's book signing while he was in Austin. I purchased the book version of the film, The Reboot With Joe Juice Diet, and even stayed to get it signed in true juice nerd fashion. Behold!

Nerds for juice!!

If you'd like to learn more about how juicing can positively influence your life, you could certainly start by watching this documentary. There are also an infinite number of books available that you can consult for additional information, recipes, and resources. Just check on Amazon.

Check back tomorrow and every day next week for a new juice recipe from either Foxy or myself. I'll finish up with a recipe roundup of juice recipes found on other great blogs. After that, I'll be hosting a salad related giveaway and will share some hybrid juice recipes, too. If you've got a recipe recommendation, feel free to leave it in the comments! I may include it in the roundup!

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