Raw Food Diet Recipes * Free Juicing Recipes * ❤ Apple Lemon Celery Lettuce Juice ❤

If you’re eating more raw foods and making that important lifestyle change, at some point you’ll need to consider investing in a juicer. A blender is NOT the same thing. To get all the benefits of juicing fruits and vegetables, you need to be able to process every part of the food – seeds, stems, peels and pulp. That’s where all the vitamins are. A blender just can’t do that effectively.  A juicer will extract all the nutrients from fruit or vegetable that not even your stomach can adequately do.

Juicers routinely used to cost $300-$400 and more. The best ones still do, but if you’re just getting into juicing, there are less expensive styles on the market as well. Here are a few you can research to find the best one for you. Natural food stores and cooking catalogues like Williams-Sonoma also carry juicers.

Here are some reasonably priced juicers to consider.

Omega 1000 – Makes good, virtually pulp-free juice. It’s a high-yield juicer but not good for juicing leafy greens. This juicer will not process wheatgrass. Price $150-$200

Commercial Champion – Better juice quality, pulpy with good nutritional value. Also a multi-purpose machine that grates and churns and can make nut butters. A good heavy-duty juicer, high volume, good for families. Does not process wheatgrass. Price $230-$300.

Solo Star – Create a pulpy juice, but very high nutrient value because the motor is a lower RPM. This is a multi-purpose machine that can grate, churn, make nut butters and extrude pasta. It can process wheatgrass. Price $190 – $300.

Green Power – A premium juicer, although a more complicated machine with more parts that need to be cleaned. Creates the least pulp with more nutrients. It is a Twin Screw Press type of juicer that is superior to masticating or centrifugal juicers. It will process wheatgrass. Also a multi-purpose machine. Pricey, but may be well worth it. Price $450 – $650

Cleaning is an every day part of our lives. If we\’re not cleaning the house, we\’re doing laundry, cleaning the car, cleaning out the garage or attic, or clearing our desk of the never-ending piles of bills, junk mail, and coupons we accumulate. For the computer-savvy, cleaning is even an every day process in order to maintain an optimally-running, reliable and safe system. We even clean the outside of our bodies in some form or fashion on a daily basis, from showering to teeth brushing. So, if cleaning is such a healthy part of our every day lives, logic would dictate we should do the same for the inside of our body as well.

Detoxification and tissue cleansing is the process of purging environmental and chemical toxins from your body. Such toxins can disrupt every system in your body. If our body is polluted with such toxins, its own detoxification system – namely the liver, lungs, skin, kidneys and lymphatic system – cannot work properly, and these unruly poisons set up shop in every cell of our body, and soon begin to wreak havoc with our physical, mental and emotional well-being. These contaminants can create such problems as lethargy, foggy thinking, unhealthy skin, decreased vision, mood swings, and digestive disorders. 

However, by adopting a lifestyle including eating healthy raw foods, our body can conduct its own \’spring cleaning.\’ And contrary to what most might think, raw foods are actually more easily digestible than cooked foods are. It also enables the digestive system to \’clean house\’ and begin the process of purging the dangerous environmental and chemical toxins from the cells of the body, thereby restoring the systems to their optimal states. In addition, since raw foods are so nutrient-dense, they also simultaneously provide the body with much-needed and missed nutrients, vitamins and minerals it needs in order to continually perform on an ongoing basis.

How to buy celery and leeks; learn more about healthy raw food diets in this free food video. Expert: Denise Bennett Bio: Denise Bennett, is the owner of Gentle Soul Cafe in LA CA, and a partner in Light &Love Cafe in Sedona, Arizona. Filmmaker: Danniel Fishler

Since you\’ve been eating raw foods and changing your lifestyle, you\’re feeling better, finding you have more energy, and are purging the toxins from your system. You\’re also rediscovering the wonderful flavors that raw foods possess, as well as learning about the benefits the raw enzymes have on your health. And summer provides the perfect opportunity to expand your taste buds and try all sorts of wonderful new produce options you\’d never dared explore before.

Don\’t let your new-found inspiration and energy get lost once you set foot in the kitchen because you\’ve run out of new and exciting raw food meal options. Try some of these fresh ideas to and some zing back to your mealtime and continue down the raw food path to improved health, energy and happiness.

Sunflower Seed Sour Cream

1 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup water

4 tbsp. lemon juice

1 garlic clove, pressed

3/4 tsp onion powder

3/4 tsp salt

Blend all ingredients together in a food processor or blender until smooth. If consistency is too thick, you can simply add a bit more water. (Adding a bit more lemon juice will give it an added zing.) Garlic and onion powder can be increased for your taste preferences.

Portobello Sandwich

1 Portobello mushroom, sliced about 1/2 inch thick

1 cup vegetable broth

Dijon mustard

2 slices sprouted multi-grain bread

1 Holland Tomato, sliced

1/4 avocado, sliced

1/4 cup baby lettuce

Cook the sliced mushrooms in the vegetable broth until they are semi soft and cooked through. Place the desired amount of mustard on 1 slice of bread. Layer the tomato slices, mushrooms, avocado, and lettuce. Top with the mushrooms and the other slice of bread. Cut in half and enjoy! See some raw foods are barely cooked.

Raw Curry Cantaloupe Soup

1 cantaloupe

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

Combine and blend all ingredients until smooth. Serve well chilled.

So hit your local farmer\’s markets, visit those roadside produce stands, or maybe even enjoy the fruits of your own hard labors and raid the garden and spice up the summer with some cool new twists on some of your favorite produce.