A few of you asked “what the heck were you making in yesterday’s show” so I thought I’d explain today…
By the way, if you haven’t watched yesterday’s show on what percentage do you have to be to be considered a raw foodie, I recommend joining the conversation. It’s a good one!
Ok, so today we’re talking about green juice, nut bags and the Vitamix.
I think it’s the best way to juice your greens, so watch the show to find out why…
Your question of the day? What’s your favorite green juice recipe?
Click here, scroll down to the bottom of the page and leave your recipe there, I’d love to hear it!
Live Awesome!
Kevin
PS. I wouldn’t recommend using fruits like apples and berries with the nut bag and Vitamix. (I wouldn’t recommend juicing berries at all, actually, because they don’t juice!)
Here’s why: the fruit fiber or pectin is not as stiff as the vegetable fiber which means that it holds more juice. So when you put it in the nut bag, you won’t be able to strain out as much as a centrifugal or screw type juice would! 
7:37 pm on April 22nd, 2008
Remember, I am new to the raw food scene, so keep that in mind with my question – why do you prefer the juice and not the fiber? Isn’t the fiber good for you, or is this mostly a texture issue for you? I happen to LOVE the texture that the fiber adds to the smoothies that I make.
My favorite smoothie so far is simple, just a really RIPE pear, orange, banana and spinach. That is about the most refreshing thing I have ever tasted.
7:42 pm on April 22nd, 2008
AWESOME!
I have never done this, but I am excited to try it..
Can you explain oxidation to me?? I don’t get what it is and why it’s bad..
Thanks!
My recipe is
Big handful of Kale
Big handful of Spinach
Big handful of field greens..
Sea salt
Little lemon juice
dash of cayenne
8:01 pm on April 22nd, 2008
Right now, my favorite green smoothie is more like a blended salad.
dandelion greens
2 celery stalks
1 or 2 swiss chard leaves
1 cup of fresh carrot juice
1/4 avocado
2 Tbsp ground flax seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds pre blended in a bamix mixer
handful of spinach
that’s about it
oh, 1 apple
8:21 pm on April 22nd, 2008
Thanks so much for sharing guys! Rob, I’ll have to try that one…
Biz, yep, you absolutely do want fiber! Juicing to me is more of a supplementation to my diet of greens, fruits and other raw and vegan foods.
What juicing does is breaks down the fibers in the vegetable and releases the nutrient dense juice from the plant.
When you do this, you end up with a very powerful elixir that you can use to refresh and feel great!
Mammaren, oxidation is basically, “non-scientifically,” the process of something going bad. When you expose the plant matter to the air it reacts with oxygen and creates charged free radicals (unstable molecules searching for an electon) which then ripple through the entire juice or anything else (that’s why you hear we as humans have to combat free radicals!)
Anti-oxidants are what we eat to help stabilize that molecule that has the missing electron.
Hope that helps!
Kev
PS. At least that’s the scientific, reductionist theory!
8:43 pm on April 22nd, 2008
I loved how you were telling a story while you were “milking” the juice.
For me, I haven’t graduated to the high green drinks level of raw foods, yet. I’m two years raw, but still working up to more green drinks. I do enjoy eating lots of greens, however!
Lots of love to you,
Wendi
XOXOXO
8:47 pm on April 22nd, 2008
My favorite green juice now is large amount of spinach, one frozen banana, and mango.
9:02 pm on April 22nd, 2008
I enjoyed watching this. I’ve been making green smoothies for over a year now, but as I preferred the taste of baby spinach, the nutmilk bag wasn’t necessary. Lately I’ve been adding all the edible weeds from my garden and juicing them just as you did, because the fiber is too much like moss and/or too bitter. I found that some turned my hands and nails a grewsome shade of green! I place my bag over a widemouth pitcher and the drawstring hangs above my head on a cupboard knob. While the bag dangles I have both hands free to squeeze the bag. Then it pours nicely back into the blender.
9:09 pm on April 22nd, 2008
I basically do the same thing you did but I only have an old Oster at the moment. I made my own nut bag out of some chiffon left over from a wedding dress I made. Also, I use an 8 cup measuring cup with a pour spout. The bag fits around the top and is hands free.
My favorite green drink:
Avocado
Lemon
Ginger
Spinach
Celery
Stevia
Thank you for your shows. I enjoy them very much.
Margie
9:35 pm on April 22nd, 2008
Hi Kevin, and everyone! There is another way to store your juice that will keep it fresh 24 hours also. Get some 8oz. mason jars and fill them to the brim, so there is no air space, put on the lid, refirdgerate, and you will be pleasently suprised just how wonderfully fresh your juice will stay (plus 8oz is a good serving size)!
Cheers!
9:42 pm on April 22nd, 2008
Thanks Kevin! I appreciate the explanation and YES it makes total sense..
10:51 pm on April 22nd, 2008
My favorite recipe is so simple
a banana
strawberries
peeled orange
spinach & ground flax seed
more spinach is good!
11:42 pm on April 22nd, 2008
What do you do with the fiber? Do you keep it? If, so what do you use it for? or do you compost it? Throw it away?
4:27 am on April 23rd, 2008
Ah yes Kevin, thanks so much for the explanation! I will keep that in mind.
6:23 am on April 23rd, 2008
pyrex makes a great pouring bowl that would help you with your mess.
check it out
6:24 am on April 23rd, 2008
http://www.shopworldkitchen.com/viewImage.asp?img=71160010727
8:33 am on April 23rd, 2008
Hey Kevin, I did 17 days of the global juice feast last month. I loved it, but my husband didn’t really like me dringking juice while he ate, so I stopped. I did all my juices in a nut milk bag, but it took FOREVER to make them all. My bag was very small, so once the vitamix was full, I had to put it through the bag in samll bathces. I like the bigger bags, but have really been looking for one that is also tapered. I noticed yours was. Can I ask where you purchased it, if you remember. The tapered end makes less of a mess, and a larger size for me would make the process so much quicker. Although I am not juice feasting, I still make a good bit of juice during the weekday, and eat more solid food with my husband when we are together. Thanks so much, Lynn
9:02 am on April 23rd, 2008
My fave green juice is;
green apples
spinach
celery & or cuke
root ginger
(maybe a carrot or two?)
My fave smoothie is either;
nectarines/peaches & greens (spinach)
banana
mango
papaya
orange
soaked sunflower & pumpkin seeds
I also love making watermelon & strawberry smoothies in the summer, sometimes with mint!
Hi to all you guys!
9:45 am on April 23rd, 2008
I think juicing greens in the Vita Mix is such a great idea! I know you say that you don’t think putting berries in is a good idea, but since I have been juice feasting, I do it all the time. Here is a current favorite:
1 bunch spinach (or other dark leafy green)
1 pint strawberries
1/4 cup soaked goji berries
water of one young coconut
the juice of 3-5 oranges
I blend all this up, strain it, and then I re-blend with a tbsp. of spirulina. The perfect drink to super charge a raw food super hero!
10:16 am on April 23rd, 2008
My most favorite of all and most energizing juice is (however at first it tastes very green but soon I started craving this juice!)
watercrest
dandelion
spinach
kale
green cabbage
lemon
This juice makes me feel like a super women!
enjoy
Alissa
10:57 am on April 23rd, 2008
I’ve been making green juice this way, with my Vitamix and a nutmylk bag, every day for about 4 months now. I follow the same basic recipe each time, to keep it easy and simple, changing only the kind of greens I use each day. The juice is so delicious, I could almost cry! Here’s how I make it: I put in the Vitamix 2 or 3 apples (Braeburn or Delicious) cut into chunks, 2 or 3 stalks of celery, cut into pieces, a half lemon or lime that I’ve cut the peel off, leaving as much of the pith as possible, a couple of big handfuls of baby spinach or kale, a 5-oz paper cup of frozen blueberries, and 2 big ice cubes. I used to add a half cup or so of cold water, but found it made the juice too watery tasting. Now I just use the ice cubes, which seem to add just the right amount of water, and those, along with the frozen blueberries, let me blend the juice on High for a full minute or so without it getting warm.
I often buy those pre-washed bagged organic salad greens and baby spinach leaves, which makes it even faster and more convenient to whip up a glass of juice.
I’ve found the perfect solution for getting the juice into the nutmylk bag; I went to Target and bought an inexpensive Chefmate 3-quart Batter Bowl. It looks just like a giant measuring cup, complete with a handle. I loop the string from the bag under the handle, and the other end of the bag over and under the pouring spout, and it holds the bag open for me while I pour in the juice! Then the pouring spout on the batter bowl makes it a breeze to pour the juice into a glass.
I’ve never had any problem straining my juice because of the apples and berries. I just “milk” the bag like you do in the video, and it doesn’t seem to take me any longer than it did you. The result is like a sweet blueberry lemonade with a hint of that wonderful “green” taste, and I wasn’t exaggerating when I said how delicious it is.
11:02 am on April 23rd, 2008
Hi Kevin,
Using a blender for green juices is such a good idea. I have a juicer but I found it did a poor job on leaf vegetables, so instead of going out and buying another expensive juicer, I tried blending the leaves and straining them. I only have an oster too, but it worked really well and I could then add the green juice to whatever I was making in the juicer. Eventually, I started liking the green juice all by itself. I suppose you could add it to smoothies as well, to make it taste a little more palatable.
You are so right. It IS easier to clean up and I like drinking juices without all the fiber. I don’t like when my drinks separate either. I’ve heard its better to blend greens to make the nutrients more bioavailable anyway. I also read that soluble fiber is more beneficial than insoluble fiber and that is the type of fiber we should be seeking out in our diets. Insoluble fiber can be harsh on the digestive tract and soluble fiber is soft and jelly like and has the added advantage of picking up toxins along the way.
Another great thing about blending greens is you can use up whatever you have in your fridge that won’t last much longer to make room for fresh produce, and still get the nutritional benefit out of it. It is like taking a multivitamin/mineral supplement in a whole food.
Thank you to Ron for his imput on mason jars. I’ve never thought to store my green juice and that is a great was to store it. I love the blogs… I get so much great information from them as well.
An excellent video Kevin. Keep them coming.
12:02 pm on April 23rd, 2008
Just one question. What’s with the microwave in the video?
12:13 pm on April 23rd, 2008
Kevin,
YOU are such a MAN!!! I can’t believe you drink green juice without so much as a apple added!! WOW, does that grow hair on your chest?!?
My favorite green juice recipe is:
Spinich
Kale
1 lemon
1 knob of ginger
1 – 1 1/2 apples
My other favorite is great, but isn’t the best combo. would be to add pineapple instead of apple.
Later,
Tracy
12:52 pm on April 23rd, 2008
Is this a good alternative to getting a GREENSTAR juicer?
12:58 pm on April 23rd, 2008
Wow Kevin! I can only hope for the day when my taste buds adapt enough to drink all of those great greens without masking the taste. *bows*
I make a horrible mess when I make green juice this way and it feels too laborious to me, which is why I prefer to make green smoothies. I may be using the wrong nut bag, now that I see your tapered one. Mine are big square bags.
You need a pouring bowl, as already mentioned but personally I have not found a wide enough pouring bowl to use so that I don’t make a mess. Maybe it’s just me. If you find one please let us know! Thank you!
1:05 pm on April 23rd, 2008
Hey Kevin,
How do you know that by juicing it and not just eating it in a salad or a sandwich that you’re getting the full impact of “eating your veggies”? Isn’t some of the nutritional value in the fiber?
Liquid nutirents are generally easier to absorb I know, but just curious what you leave out by not eating the fibrous parts of the plant?
Thanks!
C&J in Buenos Aires
1:44 pm on April 23rd, 2008
I was a little hesitant about contributing my favorite green juice recipe because it has fruit in it, but now that I see a lot of people are listing fruit in their recipes, I will share it. It doesn’t even taste green, it just looks green and it’s a great summer refresher. It is simply 1 cup of watermelon and 1 cup of spinach. Even my friends, who don’t eat a lot of greens, like it.
1:46 pm on April 23rd, 2008
This episode is all too familiar.
I’m on day 47 of the Global Juice Feast and I’ve had hundreds of green drinks since starting.
Nauturally, I’ve got different favorites all the time and right now I’m absolutely LOVING cilantro in my green drinks.
1lb spinach
1 cucumber
1/2 bunch celery
1/2 bunch cilantro
1-2 lemons
1/2 green apple
basil
I think it took a good week of experimenting before I started to really enjoy the different green drinks.
So… anyone reading this and experimenting with green drinks, don’t get discouraged if they don’t turn out “great” the first couple times, keep trying and they get better and your body adapts and LOVES them.
3:28 pm on April 23rd, 2008
You asked about the nut bag – I use a hemp seed fabric sprout bag that I purchased through the mail from Mr. Sproutman. You just need to wet it and wring it out before using it. It is fabric and heavy duty and organic etc.
7:09 pm on April 23rd, 2008
I am new to eating raw and the first green smoothies I made were awful and went right down the drain.
I went to a demo at Whole Foods and now my green smoothies are the best!
I throw everthing in my vitamix.
1 frozen banana
1 young coconut water and meat
1 pear or apple or fruit of choice
kale hemp seeds vanilla or agave
add just enough water to cover and blend away
12:07 am on April 24th, 2008
Wow, so many questions, thanks for being so active and sharing your recipes too!
Here are my answers…
Rawbin, awesome idea to keep it steady and squeeze with ease (how do you like that little rhyme!)
Claudia – we’ll definitely have to get one of those bowls… much better for clumsy me! Thx!
Carrie and Jonathan – yes, taking out the fiber does leave a good part of the plant behind… the idea is to incorporate your juices with your diet of greens, fruits and whatever else you come up with
Alicia, see ccd’s post for a Pyrex alternative!
eyal, you must have missed one of the earlier videos… the microwave was put in when the kitchen was renovated since we knew we were going to sell eventually. it’s unplugged and we use it as storage for some of our serving trays. It’s never been used once!
maple, I think it’s a great alternative to the greenstar. I’ve never tried wheatgrass in the vitamix, so I’ll have to yield to maybe someone who has… I know the greenstar can handle wheatgrass.
Loretta, thanks for the heads up on the nut bag made of hemp!
Jessica, you can compost the fiber, (yes, you can throw it out too
), or I know a few people who combine it with other spices and make dehydrated crackers. I’ve never tasted one that I really like, so we take the other route. 
Hope that gets ‘em all! If I missed yours, please post it again!
Kev
2:30 am on April 24th, 2008
Its actually not a green juice since I add raw beets – but here it goes:
beets
kale
spinach
cucumber
tomato
parsley
celery
and there you have it – a detoxifying blood and liver cleanse juice that gives me so much energy. I put about 2 raw beets in the juice which gives it a nice deep red color.
11:48 am on April 24th, 2008
cool , i didn’t know this trick,but i gone try see what the different is,because i didn’t like juicing at all.
some say juice will spike your insulin leave trough the roof. what are the facts about that.
thank for the tip. will check out the page even more, just found it. lucky me!
gr,
Tom
6:14 pm on April 24th, 2008
Hi Kevin,
I love your show.
Here is my recipe:
3-4 carrots
1 red pepper
1 apple
1/2 lemon (I pill off the skin because it makes the juice bitter)
1 small beet
2 celery stalks
3-4 leaves of kale
a little bit of both: parsley and cilantro
(cilantro and kale both remove heavy metals from the body)
broccoli (you may adjust quantity yourself)
If I feel under the weather, I also add some ginger (approx. 1 inch slice) and 1 big clove garlic.
7:13 pm on April 24th, 2008
I have a real hard time drinking green drinks in the a.m. so I opt for frozen berries, 1/2 banana, supplement powder mix, chia seeds, and sometimes a raw egg. Is it bad to only do frozen berries? I get my greens later on in the day. Some of the recipes I’ve read look like they’re worth a try but sweet(fruit) with greens is a taste I have a tough time liking. Anybody else out there feel the same way or is this just an acquired taste I need to get used to?
10:25 pm on April 24th, 2008
Do you have to add water to the Vita-Mix? I saw a YouTube video of someone not adding water and I was wondering if that would burn out the Vita-Mix faster? I would rather not add water or ice cubes to my green juice.
10:13 am on April 25th, 2008
HI KEVIN
This is all a learning process. The juicer I use is the norwalk juicer. It is a 2 step
process- grate and then press. I purchased for my father -we were implementing the Gerson Cancer Therapy. I do have a question–I am looking for a place or someone who can teach raw food prep. I can’t seem to entice my family to eat as i do so thought raw food prep/ed would be useful.
Thanks
10:33 am on April 25th, 2008
Peggy, let me know what state and vicinity you live in and I’ll see if I can help you out!
Kev
12:02 am on May 7th, 2008
Hi Kevin,
I love your web site. I thought I was doing it all wrong, but it seems ya’all do what I do. Only difference is I put cinnamon and turmeric powders and I use mangos sometimes. I also put beets and carrots in mine thanks
11:14 pm on March 18th, 2009
Here’s my green juice, it is evolving, 1 cucumber, 3 to 5 stalks celery, 2 limes peeled, 1 lemon with peel, 1 jalapino, 1 tomato, apple optional, good chunk of cabbage, optional, salt and red pepper powder to taste
5:34 pm on February 7th, 2010
so, i know this post is super old… but is there any benefit to getting an expensive masticating juicer over doing it this way?