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Welcome back to my 31-Day Guide to Juicing for Better Health. I am having so much fun sharing tips and techniques for juicing that I have learned over the past couple of years. This article is one of my favorites and may be one you’ll want to bookmark for later.

If you peruse book reviews in the “juicing” category, you are likely to come across two types of negative comments:

“It was all theory and I wanted more recipes” and “This was all recipes, what I really wanted to know was more about the theory.”

Well . . . in this series I am hoping to address both issues well by giving you the information you need to know why and how to juice, and 31 delicious recipes to get you started. But there will be days when you’ll open your fridge and look around on your counter top only to find you don’t have all the ingredients you need to follow a recipe you’ve found. And you’ll still want to juice that day without having to run out to the grocery store or farmer’s market to do it.

So today, I want to share a simple formula that will help you create your own yummy green juices. I’m including a template you can print, laminate (or put in one of those protective sleeves), and hang on the fridge, so you’ll always have it handy.

If you’ll click on the image below, you can download your printable template now. Or feel free to just pin the image so it’ll be there on Pinterest waiting for you.

There are basically 4 different fruit and vegetable components to every green juice:

Base (high water content fruit or veggie)

cucumber
celery
cantaloupe
honeydew melon
watermelon

Leafy Green (the big nutritional package)

spinach
kale
romaine
collard greens

Sweet Component (the fruit or veggie that makes the juice more palatable)

apple
pear
pineapple
carrot
beet root
turnip
parsnip

Citrus (citrus cuts the “grassy” taste of the leafy green and adds more water and zing!)

lemon
lime
orange
grapefruit
tangerine

A 5th component that I often add is the optional Flavor Burst

ginger
turmeric
cilantro
parsley
mint

There are certainly other fruits and veggies that can be added to juices that don’t fit well into these components, such as broccoli, asparagus, bell pepper, cabbage, strawberries, and blueberries — all wonderful additions to your juice and packed with nutrition, but the foods listed above are the most common ingredients in green juice recipes, and what you will usually find in my own kitchen.

Feel free to experiment by mixing and matching the fruits and veggies from each component. Remember, the size, shape and volume of foods like apple or cucumber can vary widely. This is not an exact science, so the yield (and strength of flavor) will be slightly different each time. If you make a juice and don’t quite like the flavor, add pineapple. Pineapple makes everything taste better (kind of like bacon).

Take a look at recipes online, in magazines or on You Tube, and then substitute according to what you like, or what you have on hand. Have fun with it. Try something knew. You might be surprised at what you enjoy most.

Come back tomorrow and the next day. I’ll be sharing how to prepare fresh fruits and vegetables for juicing. You might be surprised to find out that there are a few tricks to this.

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Juice of the Day

Here’s a simple juice you can make using the formula above. Simple and delicious and only 5 ingredients.

Simple Green Juice

Ingredients:

2 large handfuls baby spinach
1 English cucumber
1/4 pineapple
1-inch piece ginger
1/2 lemon

Directions:

Wash all produce well
Peel the ginger, lemon, and pineapple
Add all ingredients through juicer and enjoy (I use and recommend Breville)

Yield: 16 oz

Find more juicing recipes.

Please know that this is my own personal story and the information I have gathered from my own research and experience. I am not a nutritionist or a doctor (nor do I play either one on TV). If you have any chronic conditions, are under the care of a doctor for any diseases, or take medication, please see your doctor before making changes in your diet or embarking on a juicing fast.