For some time now, I have been drooling over my friend Kris‘ wonderful homemade juice creations. Kris juices every from bell peppers to garlic. Here is one of her wonderful creations. (I hope you do not mind I have taken your picture, Kris! I have linked it, you see? 
)
~ sweet broccoli kale juice from Spabettie ~
And then I recently saw that also my friend Rufus drinks homemade juice, made from lots of greens. So what do you think, who else wants fresh juice?
Now the problem is, of course, that I do not have a juicer. I also hesitate to buy yet another kitchen appliance … So, time to get a little creative. And since I have a blender (James), I figured that I might use him to make juice. And it worked.
I started very basic with a simple green vegetable juice made from just spinach. You can also use other greens such as kale, broccoli, lettuce, or whatever you like, to make something like this. I found it quite bitter and it was a little too much for me to drink it pure (how do you do it, Rufus?), but it is very nice when you water it down and add some lemon juice and ice, or balance it with a litle sweetness from fruit. It is also a nice addition to a smoothie. Even an already green smoothie will be more nutritious when you make it with green juice instead of water. I am looking forward to trying fancier juice creations in the future. 
GREEN JUICE
350 ml (1 1/2 cups)
Ingredients
- 2 handfuls of spinach (or other greens)
- 350 ml (1 1/2 cups) water
Directions
Blend everything in the blender. Filter the “soup” using a sprout bag or a (washed ) nylon sock. Now you have green juice ready for further use or direct enjoyment (if you are hardcore). This technique works equally fine with other vegetables or fruit, or any mix of fresh stuff. Just add some water so you will have something to drink afterwards 
.
So, my (probably juicerless, but hopefully blender-equipped) friends, join the juicing fun! What would you like to juice?
I’m not sure why but I have never been a fan of juiced vegetables, fruits yes, but not verges.
I think you probably have to get used to the taste, no? But when you combine veggies and fruit you usually don’t taste the veggies so much anymore (like in a smoothie). Fruit-only juices usually are too sugar-intense for me, so adding veggies is a nice option and also a nutritious one.
I quite like veggie juice, love fruit juice. I don’t drink much of either because of all the added sugar and the fact that we never really know what is in them. Also the fibre is so important! But to have made them myself, I can keep as much fibre in as possible and there isn’t anything iffy in there that I don’t know about. i don’t know if I’m brave enough to drink a green juice though. That sweet broccoli kale juice top photo looks amazing, a strange colour for a mostly green juice! I clicked over to see it has carrots in it. I don’t know if I’d like broccoli juice – I love broccoli for the taste and texture by itself. But it sure looks delicious. Thank you (and this is even more helpful because I don’t have a juicer either, only a stick blender!)
Hi Fiona! Thank you for your comment, and visiting me!
That green juice *was* challenging, and I didn’t drink it pure.
I included the “recipe” (not quite a recipe, with just one ingredient) because this is a basic post, and will post more juice creations in the future. I’d always use some fruit as well, for a better taste. 
So far, I’ve been drinking green smoothies, but they sometimes just have too much “bulk”. 
So this is a nice option.
I’m happy you liked this! I’m sure this works with a hand blender, too, because before I bought a blender, I made smoothies with my little hand blender, and it worked well.
I wish I had a juicer, too. Glad to hear that a blender can work. My blender stinks though. It doesn’t even blend water well.
Haha, wow.
I love that you did this, and it works!
and it IS indeed a recipe, there is a method there!
did you enjoy the flavors? did you feel the instant energy? are you HOOKED yet??
I still have to try one of your creations, Kris! So far, I can’t tell because I didn’t drink the green juice pure. I used some of it for a smoothie the other day, but then its energizing effect was confounded with the smoothie energizing.
It works! I do my fresh juices in my Magic Bullet, a tiny little thing that can be on the counter without much fuss if I don’t get it put away. I have to chop things a bit…spinach, cuke, apple, parsley or cilantro, and lemon. Sometimes I add avocado if I am feeling really hungry.
I love adding herbs and spices as well. Basil, ginger, cinnamon, and mint are my favorites. Parsley is also great.
i love you for this! i needed to know how to juice. Will be experimenting this weekend. Cheers!
Whee, please let me know how it goes!
Hi Kath! Like you, I also have not invested in a juicer, though my cheap blender does a good enough job, so little girl and I would treat ourselves to a healthy slushie or soy smoothie from time to time. I have not tried a “green” one yet, we like spinach, but not sure how the family would feel if I make them drink it…
Have a good weekend!
The interesting thing is that you can’t taste the greens when you add other things like fruit or carrots. What’s a slushie?
Veggie juices make me feel SO GOOD. I want a juicer badly. But your method is fab too, v creative
Heidi xo
Thank you, Heidi! I don’t like that veggie juice from the store is often so loaded with salt, so I almost never drink it. But this is a nice option.
Oh gosh, I’m glad you’ve found a way that works for you, but all that effort merely reinforces that I much prefer chewing my greens!
I do, too, usually. But you know, I like to have options, even if I don’t use them regularly.
I am also not sure what it achieved by straining? you lose all the fiber. Let James do all the work and make a smoothie.
That’s what I do usually when I have veggies in a glass. I just wanted to try this because Kris has so many wonderful juice recipes on her blog. I don’t think I’ll juice regularly, but every now and then.
I don’t know if I’d like to drink spinach juice…..
I didn’t drink it pure, Julia! This one is or mixing into a smoothie for adding nutrients. Juicing greens along with some fruit works well, though.
Oh! Lol. Silly me. That gave me a good laugh.
Haha, or silly *me*, because I could have actually included a *real* (drinkeable) juice recipe.
I love juicing, but I usually buy them from street carts since I like them nice and fresh and I’m rarely home to make some. If you like spiciness, add in a knob of ginger for a kick.
Ginger is always a great addition!
Ob ich das mögen würde?
Hm. Ahh … Öhm. Vielleicht?
Sicherlich nicht pur (das schmeckte scheußlich 
), aber reingemixt war’s okay. Außerdem sooooooooo gesund. 
Die *eigentlichen* Sachen zum Ausprobieren sind ja auch etwas elaborierter und haben mehr “leckere” Zutaten. 
Sorry I have been so delayed on reading all your posts!
I used to HATE, LOATHE, DESPISE vegetable juices. They always tasted SOOOO bitter! I think though that I’ve slowly gotten use to them to the point I don’t cringe anymore. Granted they are still pretty potent – especially when i add too much ginger!
I started out adding a lot of carrot, apple and lemon juice to tone down the greens. Cucumber, fennel and celery are very mild and help ‘thin’ out the juice. You can also add stevia powder.
You can also go the opposite of sweet and add garlic. Honestly, this was the most palatable of all the options and the one I think tasted the best. greens go with garlic better than apples in my opinion but given you recent post on garlic…
Haha, no stress! I already was about to email you and ask you how you’ve been doing.
I want to try more vegetable juices now. My gut is currently a mess, and I need to do something to make it better again. At the moment, I even have problems to eat my regular “Kath-compatible” foods. So, I’ll start with chicken stock, sauerkraut juice (hope I can find some in probiotic quality at the organic supermarket), and fresh veggie juice today. Thank you for the veggie suggestion, I’ll see which of those I can pick up today.
Garlic sounds like an interesting option as well, particularly since I don’t have any social things tonight.
I make lots of juices (or smoothies as I love) without a juicer – I just choose my ingredients to not need a juice – banana, berries, spinach, pineapple, kiwi fruit, orange juice and passionfruit are favourite things to put in – I sometimes buy unsweetened apple juice or carrot juice to add in but often not. Lots of options without a juicer – I just use a handheld blender – and they freeze well for summer snacks
Sounds great, Johanna! I don’t drink (oure) fruit juices so much because of the sugar. I want to try veggie juices, and although I love smoothies, all the bulk in there is sometimes too much for my stomach. (I know it’s healthy fiber, but still …
)
Loved this post!
My favourite green juice/smoothie (I normally just go for smoothie, this is great, and you get the fibre as well), is 2 small / 1 large apple, a big handful of spinach, squeeze of lemon juice and a bit of fresh ginger blended – taste like apple milkshake. YUMMY!
That’s a mixture I absolutely love as well! I know smoothies have all the fiber, but sometimes it’s just too much for my tummy, so I’m happy for the juicing option.
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