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       Which vegetables are most suitable for juices?

      Naturally sweet vegetables that are popular with children, such as carrots and cucumber, are particularly good, as are other vegetables like spinach and beetroot that are not usually junior crowd-pleasers. Juicing vegetables with fruit not only helps mask their flavour – beetroot in particular can taste rather earthy on its own – it can also produce spectacularly coloured drinks, such as bright orange when carrots are added or a rich purple with beetroot.

       I prefer not to add sugar to my kids’ drinks but will they complain they’re not sweet enough?

      Although individual tastes vary, the juice recipes in this book should be sweet enough without the necessity to add extra sugar. All fruit and vegetable juices, whether they’re ones you’ve made yourself or bought ready made, tend to be sweeter than the individual ingredients used to make them as natural sugars in the fruit and vegetables become concentrated when their juice is extracted.

      Some fruits such as pears, mangoes and strawberries are naturally very sweet so, when using these to make a drink, it’s worth combining them with sharper flavours such as citrus fruits to ensure a good balance. Taste the finished juice and if you feel your children will complain that it’s too sharp, add a little runny honey or maple syrup to sweeten it if necessary. Alternatively, you can just change the balance of ingredients in a recipe by cutting down the quantity of citrus or leaving it out altogether. If you do add honey or maple syrup to a juice, it’s important to do this just before serving as the longer a juice is left to stand the more its flavours – including its natural sweetness – will develop.

      Older children and teenagers are likely to have more sophisticated palates than their younger siblings so a particularly sweet juice may need sharpening with the addition of a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice to suit their taste.

       Are juices suitable for children of all ages?

      The recipes in this book are aimed at children aged between four and 16 years old, although hopefully they will appeal to the grown-up members of the family just as much. It is recommended that juices should not be given to babies under six months old and the amount of juice given to young children should always be carefully monitored to avoid them filling themselves up with smoothies and fresh fruit drinks and leaving no room for lunch or supper!

      Although good for kids – juices contain valuable minerals and vitamins, and milk or yoghurt-based smoothies contain calcium – most of the calories in fruit juices come from sugars and carbohydrates rather than protein or fat, so over-indulgence risks a child’s diet becoming unbalanced. The sugar and acid in fruit juices can also damage tooth enamel if large quantities are drunk between meals. For this reason it’s a good idea to dilute juices with water for younger children and make sure they brush their teeth before bedtime.

       What equipment do I need to make juices and smoothies?

      There’s no need to buy a special juice extractor as all the recipes in this book can be made using either a liquidizer or food processor. However, if you do own a juice extractor, this can be used to make the orange, apple, pineapple, grapefruit and other juices that are blended with the whole fruit and vegetables in the recipes, rather than buying ready made ones.

      Citrus fruit juices can be made using a simple old-fashioned lemon squeezer or manual press but if you do put oranges and grapefruit through a juice extractor cut away the outer layer of rind first using a sharp knife, peeler or zester, as it will give the drink a bitter taste if left on. The pith doesn’t need removing as it contains valuable nutrients and won’t taint the flavour of the juice.

      When putting fruit or vegetables through a juice extractor, it’s not necessary to peel them first or remove cores and pips, unless the skin, stalks or stones are very coarse and hard. As many of the nutrients found in fruit and vegetables are just under the skin, the resulting juices will be healthier. However, all produce, whether organic or non-organic, must first be washed thoroughly in running water.

      When using a liquidizer or food processor, fruit and vegetables need to be peeled first and the pips, cores, seeds and stalks removed. It is particularly important to remove the seeds from tomatoes, as well as the skin, as if these are blitzed with the rest of the pulp, they will give the juice a bitter taste.

      When whole fruit and vegetables are blended with juice, milk or yoghurt in a liquidizer or food processor, the resulting drinks are thicker than those made using a juice extractor. Some very pulpy ones will also thicken up on standing so might need letting down with water, milk or extra fruit or vegetable juice to dilute the drink to the desired consistency.

       Do I need to strain juices before serving?

      This is very much down to personal taste. Although pips and stones can be removed from most fruits, it’s not possible to do this with soft fruits such as raspberries and blackberries. If your kids don’t like drinks ‘with bits in’, strain juices containing these fruits before pouring them into glasses or simmer the fruit first with a little water or fruit juice until it becomes pulpy and can be pushed through a sieve to remove the seeds.

      Similarly, whilst it’s easy to skin peaches, plums and tomatoes, it’s not practical with small fruits like cherries, grapes and blueberries. When blended, the skins of these fruits won’t break down completely but will remain in the juice as finely chopped flecks so, once again, strain the juice before drinking if preferred.

       Should I only make juices from fruit and vegetables that are ripe and blemish-free?

      Don’t buy produce that’s past its best as the nutrient levels and juice content of fruit and vegetables diminishes with age. They need to be ripe, as they will have a greater concentration of antioxidants, but still firm and fruit should smell fragrant and sweet.

      If you grow your own fruit and freeze the excess to use throughout the year, freeze it as soon as you can after picking to preserve as many of the nutrients as possible.

       How far ahead can I make juices?

      Most juices and smoothies are best drunk freshly made as the longer they’re

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