Ultimate Green Juice

2018?!  What happened to 2017?  Is it just me or did I blink and miss it.  I am not one to make giant New Years resolutions each year but I do think the time between Christmas and the New Year is good for reflecting on the past year and assessing how to approach the future.  Today I wanted to document some of my highlights, some things I want to work on and of course, this green juice to help celebrate new beginnings! 

I accumulated many memories throughout 2017.  Some of my favourites are:

• Our trip to Iceland.  An unforgettable experience – from the Blue Lagoon, to snowmobiling on a glacier to chasing the Northern Lights.  The experience of seeing the lights for the first time in the vast, starry sky is something I will never forget.
• Doing an Internship with Wild Muskoka Botanicals and taking the Wild Medicine Program.  This program and internship helped launch my interest in herbal medicine and wild food.  I learned so much from Laura and my classmates and I hope to further my learning in 2018.
• West coast road trip. In August two of my friends got married a week apart- one in Sonoma, one in Portland.  We flew out to Sonoma and then with two of my old volleyball teammates from University we road tripped up the coast.  After the second wedding AA and I continued on to Seattle, Vancouver Island, Vancouver, Jasper, Yoho and Banff.  It was one special trip!  My goal in the next two weeks is to make a book of all of our photos from that vacation.
• In October my first niece, Bridget, was born.  She lives all the way in Sydney, Australia so I haven’t gotten to meet her except on Skype but it was still a celebratory occasion.  I can’t wait to meet her in person in 2018.
• We took a weekend trip to Washington DC for another friend’s wedding.  I went to school in DC so it was nice to show AA around my old stomping ground and visit with friends.
• Our final trip of the year to was to Vilnius, Lithuania where AA is from.  We visited with family and saw many parts of Lithuania. I plan on doing a full post of our trip on the blog later!
• We travelled a lot this past year but we also enjoyed many days together at home and the cottage making a good balance of home and travel time.

In 2018 we won’t be travelling as much so I thought I would focus on some reasonable, attainable smaller goals such as:

• Body strengthening and body work.  It’s time for me to start taking care of my body again which means getting strong!
• Less Cell phone use.  This is a huge one!  I am making a goal or turning off my phone an hour before I go to bed and having NO phones in the bedroom!
• Growing my blog.  I have really enjoyed what I started here and am looking forward to creating more recipes, taking more pictures and working with herbs in 2018 so I can share it all with you.
• Continue to listen to my body and feed it everything it needs- including things like this green juice. This juice is one of my favourites for this time of year.  It feels like an IV of everything I have been missing  for the last couple of weeks!

Let’s get to this juice. After a slightly over indulgent holiday season not only will I be taking part in #dryjanuary but I also tend to forgo a lot of sweets and opt for nutrient dense foods and drinks.  This juice recipe has superfoods spirulina and camu camu berry and uses green apple as a sweetener.  If this is your first time juicing I would recommend using a red apple and possibly eliminating or decreasing the amount of spirulina- that stuff is potent!

What exactly is so great about spirulina anyways you ask? Well, it is a blue green algae that is loaded in anti-oxidants making it an anti-inflammatory food.  It is also is rich in iron and protein although I find it hard to stomach enough of it at one time to get a decent amount of protein.  It is such a powerful food that we could even be growing spirulina on Mars in the future!

Camu Camu is a shrub and the berries contain a very high amount of vitamin C which helps to boost the immune system.  The berry is sour and adds a tart flavour to the juice.  I really like the taste but if you don’t have the powder on hand it won’t make or break this juice.

This post contains affiliate links. Please see the Sweet Lizzy Disclosure for more information.

Ultimate Green Juice

This is a tart, superfood packed juice for the avid green juicer.  The spirulina and camu camu berry powder take this up a notch but are optional.  If this is your first time using spirulina start small and work up to a larger dose.

• Author: Sweet Lizzy
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 15 minutes
• Yield: 1 serving 1x
• Category: Juice
• Cuisine: Raw/Vegan

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

1 green apple

2 stalks of celery (about 140g)

1/2 an english cucumber (about 270g)

1/2 a lemon

1–2 stalks of kale

1 bunch parsley

1/2 inch of ginger (about 10-15g)

1/4 tsp spirulina (optional)

1/4 tsp camu camu powder (optional)

Instructions

Put all ingredients through the juicer with the exception of the powders.  Take about 1/4 cup of the juice in a small mason jar and add the powders. Shake it well so there are no clumps.  Add it back to the juice.  Garnish with lemon, parsley and enjoy!