I have discovered over time the best way to get veggies into kids for breakfast is to hide it in juice!  I purchased a juicer about 8 months ago and I am still going strong using it almost everyday.  I spent about 5 months replacing my breakfast with a fruit and veggie juice and my lunch with an all vegetable juice.  I don’t stick to that religiously anymore but I do almost always start my day with a homemade juice.

Juicing as a stand alone meal was great for me but making juice for myself and some for everyone else in the house quickly adds up to a lot of money especially when you are trying to buy organic food.  I have a huge garden and I can grow stuff to juice.  “Perfect” I said to myself, I will cut down on the costs significantly.  I failed to take into consideration how unimpressed my children would be when presented with a tall glass of cucumber broccoli kale juice.

Another lesson learned.  Kids want things like oranges, apples and pineapple in juice.  All was not lost though, I settled into a routine of making myself a large mixed fruit and veggie juice in the morning with enough extra to pour the kids small glasses.  This gives them some veggies for breakfast and the cost is reasonable. It prevent me from having to buy large containers of corporate made juice with things I can’t pronounce in them.

To make this juice you will need a juicer.  Mine like all small appliances I have was the cheapest one I could find with the best ratings online.  I have used it sometimes three times a day for about 8 months without issue.  The hardest part of using a juicer for me is cleaning it out after I am done so as to not draw the wrath of my wife after I leave for work.

This is less of a specific juice recipe for me and more of a guideline.  In the spring and summer I love using asparagus for the green component.  When my garden is in full gear I could use cucumber or kale for that part.  The two things I always use are carrots and pineapple.  Carrots give it the great orange color and pineapple gives it an excellent tangy taste.  To make the juice I simply wash carrots and asparagus and cut them into chunks without peeling them.  Wash 2 apples (McIntosh of course) and split them in half. Peel the oranges and split them in half, the white pith part is ok to juice.  Cut off about a third of a fresh pineapple and trim the sides off, then cut it into chunks.  Next is processing it through the juicer.  It is fairly handy to have a wide eyed three year old with a spatula ready to stir the juice together.  I always pour mine over ice because I like it cold but that is personal preference.  This will make about 3.5-4 cups of finished juice.

I really enjoy making this for my family. I especially like not buying jugs of juice from the grocery store anymore!