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Delicious Juicing
We've been working flat out at The Pamper Company over the last year. Organising hundreds of Pamper Parties and events has been thirsty work. We always make sure we take the time to treat ourselves to a fantastic juice smoothie which really helps us to get through the day. After you've had a lovely glass of juice you feel reassured that you've had a good dose of pure goodness.

We tend to vary the juices according to the fruit and veg that we have bought, and through trial and error we've discovered what works and what to stay away from. So rather than giving out specific recipes we've laid down the following guidelines and tips to help you to discover the wonderful world of juicing.

Equipment:
We use both a juicer and a blender. As the juicing doesn't retain the roughage we tend to blend where possible. We use the 'Anthony Worrel Thompson' signature juicer from Breville. It has an extra large feeder so there's no need to chop the fruit and veg into small pieces. It's had lots of use over the past couple of years and is still going strong. As for the blender, make sure it is good quality and has a big enough capacity.

Mental Preparation:
You often see juicers in people's houses which still have that sparkling new look even after a few years. They have probably only been used once, on the day of purchase, and the thought of all the cleaning afterwards puts you off using it again. Psyche yourself up and put your health first. Get into a routine. I tend to juice first and then add everything to the blender and get the juicer cleaned and the put waste in the bin while the blender is doing its stuff. Our juicer is easy to take to bits, clean, and reassemble. I always have a carrier bag handy to dump the waste into as I'm juicing.

The Key to Fantastic Fruit Juices:
I start off by juicing several of the following, and tend to just chuck in what I have rather than worrying about quantities:

. Oranges (peeled but leaving the white bits on)
. Carrots (topped)
. Apples (these usually go in whole)
. Pears (I tend to chop the stalks off first)
. You could also add a Pepper to give it a bit of a zing

Whatever I've juiced then goes into the blender with any of the following:

. Bananas
. Ginger (I always use a nice thumb sized piece roughly chopped)
. Mangoes (cut around the funny shaped stone)
. Pineapple (the middle bit can go in too)
. Passion Fruit (scoop out all the insides with a spoon)
. Berries (e.g. Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Blueberries)
Tip: During the winter just buy a bag of frozen berries and just add them when required
. Nuts - a handful of brazils or almonds give a lovely nutty flavour
. Seeds - some sunflower seeds or some Linseed (I tend to buy whole linseeds and grind them up in a batch before using in juice)
. And finally you can always add a touch of cinnamon or a drop of almond essence for a real treat.

Give it all a whiz in the blender and there you go... (I usually give it a couple of minutes on low speed while I'm cleaning the juicer)

A note on milk and yoghurt... A lot of people think you need to add milk or yoghurt. Personally I think it ruins a good juice so I stay clear, but I guess that's a matter of taste.

Juices to avoid:
My worst experimental juicing experience was cabbage juice. A little bit of cabbage is fine in a lovely vegetable juice, however in a moment of experimental madness I made a whole pint of the stuff with red and green cabbage and some broccoli stalks. Drinking it was made more palatable with a good few squeezes of lime juice. The trouble is it tends to repeat on you and for the rest of the day everywhere I went, the whiff of cabbage followed...

The best juicing resource I've found is The Juicemaster. Buy Jason Vale's book, he has a very funny and relaxed style of writing and the book is full of fantastic ideas.

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