These days we only juice citrus. We had a Jack Lalane juicer for apples and carrots, but we gave it away because we do not produce enough apples or carrots to juice. After tasting garden carrots we no longer want to buy commercial carrots. I found the Lalane really wasteful, lots of good roughage gone to the compost rather than our bodies. Also, a real pain in the $%^& to clean. It does make very good carrot, apple, carrot apple, melon, kale, celery juices. We switched to a vitamix, still experimenting with it, but we are interested in getting the whole food in a juice/smoothie, rather than just the juice and throw a lot away. I juice gallons and gallons of citrus. It was 10 gallons last year. That was the excess, not what we drank as we went along! We probably drank another 10 gallons. I have an citrus juicer attachment to our kitchenaid mixer. It is crap, don't buy it. The manual ones are OK, I have several different types. The Mexican clam-shell types that close on the halved citrus are not bad for small quantities. Since most of what we juice are minneolas, I now use a food mill. Same exact tool i use to mill my tomatoes. This is because minneolas have a very delicate, easy to remove peel when they are ripe, so it is best to peel first, then juice. In the rare occasion I juice grapefruit I'll use the crappy Kitchen aide attachment, or a regular manual juicer. In any case, the food mill is easier on the body than the electric Kitchen aide attachment, more comfortable to use and less effort, believe it or not. Also, the quality of the juice is exceptional, it does not separate when it sits, and it freezes nicely. I should also say I only juice quarts at a time, not gallons at a time. I get approximately 1-2 quarts per large basket of citrus, I only pick at most 3 baskets (so about 3-6 quarts at a time)

Thanks for sharing what does sound like a fantastic kale salad, mabeldingeldine. I'll be trying it very soon. I have been making this one that gellchom posted in 2011 (notes are hers). KALE SALAD WITH PINE NUTS AND GOLDEN RAISINS Makes 4 servings (sez she; I think more) 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon lemon juice 2 teaspoons maple syrup 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt Scant 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 6 to 8 ounces kale (I use more; there's plenty of dressing) 1/4 cup golden raisins 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, syrup, mustard, salt, red pepper flakes and black pepper in a nonreactive bowl. (The dressing can be prepared 1 day ahead; cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature 30 minutes before using.) Remove and discard the tough stems and center veins from the kale leaves. Then cut the leaves crosswise into 1/2 inch-wide strips to yield 6 cups well-packed kale. (I often just chop up the leaves rather than worry about pretty strips; it's a LOT quicker.) Place the dressing in a salad bowl and whisk well. Add the kale and toss to coat greens thoroughly with dressing. Divide salad evenly and mound on 4 salad plates. Garnish each serving with raisins and pine nuts. (I like to serve it in a big bowl instead of on individual plates, so I just put the raisins and nuts on top and eventually it all gets tossed together.)

"I WISH I could like the green smoothies but I just don't! Maybe I need to add more fruit to give it a sweeter taste." You could add more fresh fruit and/or dried fruit. An alternative is to give your tastebuds more time to acclimate to the "green" taste. When I first started making smoothies, they had quite a lot of sweeter fruits in them, and a lot of carrot juice. These days, I've not only increased the proportion of vegetables substantially while decreasing the proportion of fruits and sugary vegetables, but I've also switched to lower-sugar fruits, like berries, including unsweetened cranberries. What's interesting is that now, I don't like sweeter smoothies as much. For example, I made one a few days ago with unsweetened pomegranate juice, and it seemed like a dessert to me. golddust, you said this: "I can't believe the difference in my skin. It feels softer and less puffy." The same here. But there's more. How many of you have face creams, eye creams, special creams for nighttime, body creams and lotions? Special ones for feet, for cuticles. For every single body part or so it seems? I realized the other day that I'm no longer using anything. After showering, I always needed the whole gamut of creams and lotions; the same after washing my face, which always felt unpleasantly tight. These days, my skin always feels soft, and no creams or lotions are needed. Of course, I can't scientifically ascribe the change to green smoothies, nor would I. I also can't say it's because of what I now eat, or because of what I no longer eat. It's probably due to a combo of all those factors. (It might well be due to something else entirely, of course.) But whatever, I don't want to estimate the cost of all those partially jars and bottles! Because I doubt I'll ever finish up any of them.

Have a $$$ Cuisinart juicer--it is ok, but what a pain to clean!! So it rarely got used. Bought a Nutribullet from kohls (as one can easily find 20% off coupons online) and I am very impressed with it!!! None of that pulp mess I had to deal with the Cuisinart! A ball bearing went on the extractor blade--so I called up the 180# and the service was great! I had registered the product, but had never scanned/emailed (or faxed) in a receipt. Lady said I could do that now. So in a few days I will cal back and just have to pay the $2.99 for shipping. It does take awhile to find that right combination! For losing weight, one wants more vegetables. Very happy with it so far.