100% Juice

I’m not sure what I’m going to do when my CSA is done for the season and I have to go back to grocery store produce. Don’t get me wrong, we live near a really nice grocery store but when there are 12 inches of snow on the ground, you know those tomatoes were not grown locally. Maybe we will just relocate to a place where it is always growing season. My best friend is reading this like “I know a place! I know a place!”

Oh well, winter is coming. But it’s not here yet so I better just keep enjoying the fresh stuff! Today I juiced some farm fresh spinach. I have been juicing for my family for roughly 2 ½ years and although I wish I did, I don’t do it every day because it does take some time. Maybe if I were one of those super organized moms that brings home the groceries and immediately scrubs and preps all produce and stores it all in a gorgeous array of labeled, stack-able containers so all I had to do is feed it into the juicer… But I’m not. We probably have fresh juice about 4 times a week.

Spinach is a pretty common juice ingredient here and I normally buy it at my favorite wholesaler along with our apples and carrots that are also common ingredients for us. When you get it in the bag, triple washed and sealed for freshness, or something like that, it’s ok but there are always broken leaves or leaves that didn’t get enough drying time so they are wet and wilting, etc. Honestly, it never really mattered to me because I was about to pulverize the juice out of it but now I know, there’s better spinach. Once again, the spinach in my CSA box was like food art. The color was perfect, beautifully sized, unbruised leaves of spinach. I almost didn’t want to juice them, like it was a waste of pretty food or something! I’m glad I did though! Even after juicing as long as I have, I still prefer a sweeter juice. Apples add a ton of sweetness and the veggies I used today also have a sweet side. My 1-year old drank his whole cup in like 2 minutes. There are few things more satisfying to consume than something that is fresh, honestly healthy, and truly delicious!

It’s Easy Being Green Juice

2 large crisp apples (crisp is kind of important, soft apples go through the juicer and yield more of an apple sauce than apple juice)

3 small carrots

3 stalks celery

3 handfuls fresh spinach

Clean all produce and cut to fit your style juicer. Process juice and serve immediately.