LADY CRAZY FOR JUICER, FORGETS TO FEED HUSBAND REAL FOOD

Rich bought me a juice machine for Christmas. Luckily, he did his research and bought me a heavy-duty starter model even though he wasn’t betting on my fledgling obsession.

He didn’t realize we would soon have a 25 lb. bag of Bunny Luv Brand carrots in our fridge, more juicing cookbooks than the local library and enough organic fruit and vegetables strewn across our kitchen island to start our own co-op.

JUICERS UNITE

I am not an early adopter. So naturally I am late joining this organic bohemian revolution — this juicing and cleansing craze.

But I’m in. Whole stalks in. Spirulina and Chlorella in. Nova Scotia Dulse in.

I have become a bona fide, pinky swearing, organic coupon carrying juicer.

Green juices with a mix of vegetables and fruits are my favorite. So this weekend, when I found myself out of juice (raw materials, that is) and not in the mood for a grocery store trip, my stomach growled for hours until I finally gave up and went.

I bought bottled backups– for the times I would find myself in need of my juice fix, but without the time or desire to wash, prepare and clean up a juicing session. I chose three of the most popular super food/green juices (sometimes labeled smoothies) and I headed home.

JACK & THE GREEN STALKS

I made a batch of homemade green juice using carrots, spinach, kale, green apples, lime and a knob of ginger.  Jackie– my mom –volunteered for a taste test so I slipped my homemade juice into the mix. She’s not the typical target market for these three companies so I was curious to see how she liked them.

Surprisingly, there wasn’t a clear winner. She loved all of them. But, when pressed, Jackie gave the award to Bolthouse Farms’ Green Goodness. My fresh juice (with much more pulp than the store-boughts) was her second favorite. Humph. She admitted she thought I’d made them all. (Rookie mistake.)

GREEN GOODNESS VS. ODWALLA ORIGINAL SUPERFOOD VS. THE GREEN MACHINE

In my opinion, the hands down winner was my fresh, homemade juice, but since this taste test was officially an effort to figure out which bottled juice was the best, I agreed with her Bolthouse Farms pick. Plus, since we can buy a bottle for 3,99 at Whole Foods, this is a great value. Odwalla was our least favorite, but to be fair, it has less sugar and possibly more enriched vitamins and minerals in it. If you can handle a slight plough mud/ sea kelp taste, then this is the juice for you. The others will appeal to the masses because both Naked and Bolthouse are slightly sweet (a little too sweet for me) and taste more like green apples and bananas than their hidden exotic ingredients. They are all genuinely delicious.