Start the Year off Right with Fresh Juice

After my parents came for Christmas, they left half a cheesecake in our fridge.  This cheesecake was not only delicious, it was made from scratch.  Since this is not the sort of thing to waste, my husband and I have been eating it, usually in moderately sized pieces, ever since the day after Christmas.  For New Year’s, we’ll be in Florida, and I am already looking forward to a snack mix my mother-in-law makes, so good it’s hard to stop eating it even when I’m not hungry anymore.

This is the way it always goes around the holidays, and then we set New Year’s resolutions and pray that no one gives us half a cheesecake.  Once we’ve set healthy resolutions, juice can be a helpful nutritional boost.  It’s filling and sweet, satisfying those cravings while bringing vitamins galore.  And homemade juice is nice and bright to add a dash of color during the winter doldrums.

This past summer, my husband and I embarked on a three-day juice fast, and I had the chance to find the best combinations through trial and error.  This Carrot-Pineapple combo was a favorite; it’s very sweet yet packed with vitamin A (promotes healthy skin and healthy vision), iron and vitamin C (helps heal wounds, make blood vessels, and maintain healthy bones and teeth).

After you try this homemade juice and then experiment with other tasty combinations, be sure to mix in plenty of vegetables to lower the amount of sugar in the juice.

If you own a juicer, you can follow its instructions and won’t have to strain the juice.  If you don’t have a juicer, use a blender, and then strain the juice over a bowl, pressing the pulp with a wooden spoon and letting the juice drain for at least 10 minutes, until you really have gotten all the juice out.

Inspired to start a juice fast?  Check out this article for tips and recipes.