a green juice a day

For the next few weeks, I'm going to do my best to have a green juice every morning. Aside from the obvious health benefits of giving my body between 4-6 six servings of fruits and vegetables at the start of my day, I'm a bridesmaid in a wedding on Labor Day (see last post), and I want my skin to be clear and glowing on the big day. Many people don't realize that the anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of fruits and vegetables are great for this, so I figure starting my day with a nice jolt of fruits and vegetables will be a great addition to my regular skin routine. And while having a green juice to start my morning won't do a thing to help me lose weight if I don't control my portions and diet for the rest of the day, I've found that when I begin my day on a healthy note, I'm inspired to make better choices throughout the day. So, who knows, maybe I'll be able to shed a few pounds, too.

Despite missing two of my favorite go-to ingredients, ginger and mint, the juice I've made so far this week has been incredible. Here's a quick recap:

Monday
kale
cucumber
celery
apple

Tuesday
kale
cucumber
celery
apple
blueberries - oh man, amazing

While the recipes are almost identical (haven't had a chance to go to the market), the juice I had with the blueberries this morning was delicious. I've added strawberries and raspberries before, but the blueberries made the juice slightly tart. It was still sweet, thanks to the apple, and also nice and light because of the mellow, watery properties of the cucumber and celery.

I'll post again after my morning juice tomorrow and will try to include a photo, although sometimes the color of the juice does not photograph well, if you know what I mean (read brown). One of my favorite things to do is to make a savory vegetable-based juice. I've got a bunch of almost-gone Roma tomatoes that would be awesome with some kale, celery, cucumber, carrots, bell peppers and scallions.