Juicing

I have tried several juicers in the past, but to me the JackLaLanne is the best. You can get it at Costco for, I think, about 80 bucks. The comerical that you see on TV is right, you can put big fruit pieces in and it has no problem juicing it and it has the best juice output in terms of volume. My son loves the juices that I make from anything, apples, melons, grapes, whatever I have at home that needs to go. I can also smuggle veggies in there, carrots mostly or sometimes even spinach. My son (4) does not eat veggies at all, so juicing is a great way to get veggies in him. He loves to help and drinks it right away.

My husband and I love juicing and when my son is older I'm sure we'll give him fresh juice too. The one that we have was a little more money because it's a masticating juicer, not a centrifugal one like the Jack Lalanne. Ours is the Omega 8005 and it's a bit pricier than the centrifugal juicers (ours was ~$250 at Amazon), but we use it for a lot more than juicing. I have also made baby food, sorbets out of frozen fruit, almond meal that I use in baking, ground oat flour and even made my own natural peanut butter. The instructions have some recipe ideas, but you can search online for more and get really creative. The masticating juicers "chew" what you put in so you get more fiber out in your juice too and they get a lot more out of greens when you juice them.

I also second using the pulp for baking. I make low fat muffins and such with carrot and apple pulp and then we still get the fiber. You can use veggie pulp in pasta sauces to thicken them and add lots of nutrients.

Hi C.. Juicing is great! My kids love it and love to make it and days when I'm feeling lazy to do it they always ask. It's so much more healthy for them because it's alive...it does have a high sugar content and they really don't need a huge quantity of it. But whatever you give them is great. There are so many vitamins in there!

C.,

Buy the best one you can afford. I burned through many cheap juicers including the Jack Lalane one. The Rolls Royce of juicers is Norwalk. Champion and Greenstar are also excellent. I saw a very reasonably priced juicer at a health show a few weeks back called Samson which comes with a very good guarantee and is under $300. On sale now too at kitchensbest .com. I think I might get one myself. You can bake with the pulp and make crackers out of it.

Just be sure to use organic veggies and fruits!

veggie juices are healthier. fruit has lots of sugar in it. also, just add a little of apple or carrot to the juices to make it a little sweet.

Hi. We bought the Jack Lalane and loved it. There is a ton of juice and it gives you recipe ideas as well. My 2 1/2 yo sits on his dads lap while he's juicing and tries to drink everything that comes out if it. It a real help in making sure he gets fresh fruits and veggies.

There are juicers and extractors, but I don't know which one does what for the better nutrition. I do know one is better than the other. I just have a tip....The juicer usually separates the pulp/fiber from the juice. You can put the pulp in recipes that call for rind or just add it into cookies for extra flavor and vitamins. You can also use the pulp for mulch in the garden.