Happy New Year to you readers and your families! With the new year upon us and everyone focusing on diets, cleanses and new beginnings, I decided a cleanse with my homemade juice blends, cabbage  and eating my frozen servings of soups, stews and gumbos was a great way to go. I am a huge fan of cooking in bulk and freezing dishes for easy meals when you’re too busy or too tired to cook; in my case, I just wanted easy. This method can also help stretch your budget if you’re like me and still recovering from holiday spending. This has been a week of gumbos and soup with the cold weather, and a variety of fresh juice blends. I brought out my beloved juicer to make veggie and fruit blends. I’ve been on a citrus kick with the many sick bugs floating around the workplace  and green blends with kale and spinach. I’ve gotten produce from the farmers market and Southside Produce, looking for Louisiana items when I could. Since I’ve been sharing the juices themselves in my excitement, it’s only fair that I share a recipe or two. If you do not own a juicer, you can always whip out a blender and strainer or blender and the nut bags to help strain out the pulp. Please share your thoughts and as always, enjoy!

Note: Yes, I amused myself with the names. Each juice has a shelf life of 1-3 days to maximize the absorption of the nutrients and should make 16 ounces depending on the size and juice in the ingredients.

Color Me Orange

Ingredients:

• 6 peeled carrots
• 1 peeled medium grapefruit
• 2 oranges
• glass pint jar or (16 ounce) container

Directions:

1. Peel carrots and cut off each end. Set aside for juicing.
2. Peel citrus by slicing off both ends to stabilize the fruit. Cut the skin off of the fruit in a circular motion, removing the skin and pith (white stuff/inner peeling).
3. Place the container or jar under the juicer. Add carrots to  juicer and push through until juiced, then juice citrus. Top jar and place in fridge until ready to drink.
4. If using a blender, process the carrots until smooth then add citrus to the blender. Push the mixture through a strainer or nut bag into the container.

Applelation

Ingredients:

• 6 peeled carrots
• 1/4 of a pineapple
• 1- 1 1/2 gala or Fuji apple(s) (depends on size)
• 1 orange

Directions:

1. Peel and cut off both ends of the carrots. Set aside.
2. Peel orange by slicing off both ends to stabilize the fruit. Cut the skin off of the fruit in a circular motion, removing the skin and pith (white stuff/inner peeling).
3. Cut off both ends of the pineapple and cut off the spiked skin. Cut the pineapple in half and then each halve in half. Store the other portions for other juice blends
4. Cut apples in half and then cut each halve in half. Remove seeded center.
5. Juice carrots into the container, then juice the pineapple and apple quarters.
6. If using a blender, follow the steps from the previous recipe.
7. Store juice until ready to use.