First Time Juicing

I've had a juicer for over a year, but this week finally took it apart to clean it and used it for the first time.  I bought cucumbers, carrots, celery, and parsley to juice but ended up only using one cucumber and about eight carrots.  It was great juice, earthier than even when I buy fresh squeezed carrot juice at a health food market.  Carrot has long been my favorite, and the added cucumber was refreshing.  

Nutritionally, I know carrot juice is highly glycemic but that's probably why I like it so much.  It's a good transition for my sugar addiction as I begin to improve my habits.  I was surprised to find I didn't have a great need to munch on snacks for several hours following my juice consumption.  Juicing does remove a lot of the fiber from your diet, so is not the best source of vegetables.  However, if it gets you to eat what you otherwise wouldn't and overall increase the vegetables in your diet, I'm all for it.  

Of course it made a mess of my kitchen--my Big Boss juicer leaked a bit from one place that is supposed to be sealed--but that may have been simply because of my lack of experience.   I was surprised by how much waste was created!  I thought about using the waste to make a loaf of carrot bread, but since I'd added the one cucumber, my waste was a mixed bag.  Next time I will know to clean out that reservoir before adding another vegetable so I can put the carrot bread plan into action.

the bag of mushy waste in comparision to the juice created

Do you juice?  How often, and what recipes?  What's the model of your juicer and what are its pros and cons?  Please comment on the blog!  I'd love to hear your experiences.