Juices get seriously expensive, FAST and it also isn’t in my budget to buy myself a juicer. So each time I feel a cold coming on or am needing a detox, I go through the same internal battle of whether or not I should sacrifice my wallet to the juice gods. 

Let’s change subjects for a second here (I swear I’m getting to the point!). A few weeks ago, Blendtec offered to send me a Designer 725 Blender with Wildside+ Jar, so I did a little research on the blender and then patiently awaited its arrival.

What excited me most was that the Blendtec has a “juice” option so you can actually make juice in your blender! Now here’s the catch, what actually separates juice from a smoothie is that the fiber (or “pulp”) from the vegetables and fruit has been removed so what you’re getting is the vitamin and mineral packed juice.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with fruit and vegetable pulp. Fiber is great for the body and we all need it in our diet, but sometimes it can get in the way of our body absorbing all of those vitamins and minerals. When you drink juice (versus a smoothie), your body can absorb 100% of the good stuff, without the insoluble fiber getting in the way.

So I set out to recreate my favorite simple green juice using my blender instead of a juicer. The Blendtec made it super easy because the “juice” option knows exactly how long to blend the fruits and veggies for (somewhere around 1 minute). It also has a self clean option which makes cleaning the blender completely hassle-free. Considering the horror stories I’ve heard about trying to clean juicers, this is a godsend!

For the record, it has several other pre-programmed cycles including smoothies, soups, salsa and ice cream! I’ve made smoothies and soups using it and it has been fabulous. I’m looking forward to trying it out on nut butter.

Back to juicing…To get around the whole “juicing without a juicer” deal, you have to take one extra step by straining the juice through some cheesecloth to remove the fiber. If you want to drink this with the pulp, go for it! But if you want real authentic green juice, you’ll need to do the second step. It’s all good though, because I walk you through the entire process.

I figured what better way to kick off the series than with this How To Make Green Juice In Your Blender post?

For the full recipe, click here!

*This post was originally published on Davida’s blog, The Healthy Maven. For more from Davida, visit www.thehealthymaven.com
(Photo via)