How I Make my Green Juice

This is the green juice I try to drink everyday. Diabetes-friendly juice recipes are hard to find, even for green juice. Good luck at juice bars - they are usually loaded with carrots.

Anyway here it is.....

Raw Food Chia Seed Recipes

Chia seeds are an excellent food for people with diabetes and are popular with the raw food community. I live in southern Arizona and chia seeds have been an important food source for the indigenous people here.

Many traditional foods are especially good at helping diabetes, and chia seeds are one of them. Here are some tradtional-style recipes to use Chia seeds.

CHIA LEMONADE AGUA FRESCA (fresh water)

1 tbsp chia seeds
1 cup apple juice
2 tsp lemon juice

Place the seeds in the juice, and stir or shake. Let it sit for 30 minutes until it becomes the consistency of jelly. Add the lemon and ice if desired to make a slushy drink.

CHIA LEMON AGUA FRESCA "JELLO" DRINK

1/4 cup chia seeds
8 oz water (use more or less to your own preference)
tsp lemon juice

Place seeds in the water, and stir or shake. Let it sit until the water starts to become a gel. This can take up to 45 minutes. Add the lemon juice and enjoy. Chill if desired.

CHIA BERRY SMOOTHIE

2 tbsp chia seeds
1 cup apple juice
16 oz unsweetened frozen berries

Place seeds in the water, and stir or shake. Let soak for 30 minutes. Put the chia mixture and berries into a blender (or just mash with a fork) until it has a smoothy consistency.

CHIA FRUIT SALAD

1-2 tbsp chia seeds
1/2 cup fruit juice
3 cups chopped fruit

Place seeds in the water, and stir or shake. Let soak for 30 minutes until it thickens. Toss chia mixture with fruit.

CHIA GRUELS

I like gruels. They are portable. Kind of like porridge. You can take a mix of seeds, flours and spices and mix in water. You have to remember that they are highly concentrated sources of calories and energy. So you don't need very much. It has been said that a tablespoon of chia seeds could provide enough energy for a long-distance runner for 24 hours.

I also use mesquite meal in these gruels. This is another food good for people with diabetes. Mesquite is an indigenous tree to southern Arizona. Bags of meal can be pricey, but you don't have to use a lot of it in gruels. Mesquite meal has kind of a lightly sweet, carmel flavor. Some say it tastes like mild Cracker Jacks. Here is a place that sells mesquite meal near me. They are a great organization and need support to preserve wild and traditional seeds.


I have a typical "base" of chia seeds, mesquite meal, and sunflower seeds. This can be made into so many dishes.

Here is a recipe to try. If you have never had mole before, then don't go in with preconceived expectations or be too disapoointed if you don't like it. Mole is kind of gritty, a little chocolate taste, not very sweet, sometimes savory too. Many different types of mole's. It is usually served as a sauce over some type of meat. But I always liked the taste of the sauce, so I made it into a gruel. I suggest you make this and then play around with it to get it where you like it.

BJAY'S MOLE GRUEL - makes 1 small serving

2 tsp chia seeds
2 tsp sunflower seeds
2 tsp mesquite meal (alternative: can try more flax and agave nectar)
2 tsp ground flax seed
2 tbsp raisins
1 tsp cocoa powder or other type of chocolate type powder
1/4 tsp mild chile powder (hotter if you prefer)
shake or pinch of cinnamon
shake or pinch cumin
shake or pinch of nutmeg
shake or pinch of cinnamon
shake of garlic salt (or combo of a tiny bit of mashed garlic and salt to taste)
1 tsp agave nectar or use other preferred sweetener
1/2 cup water

Mix together. It will thicken as time goes on. It will be more like a cereal at first. If you stir occasionally it should be more like a porridge after 15-20 minutes. If it isn't thick enough, you can add some more flax, chia, or mesquite.

My juice formula

Here is the basic formula I use for my green juice now:

Makes about 1 quart

1 small bunch or 1/2 large bunch celery
1 cucumber
1/4 - 1/2 pound dark leafy greens (kale, collards, swiss chard, spinach)
1 cup of water

1 apple (optional for flavor)
juice of a lemon or lime (optional for flavor)
a small piece of ginger (optional I like the smell and makes me happy)

I use a blender. I put this stuff into the blender with the juicier items on the bottom to help the blades move easier. I mix it and then puree it until it's pretty smooth and blended, no large specks of greens floating around.

Then I'll pour it into a bowl I have lined with a nut milk bag or a paint strainer bag. I gently massage the bag to get the juice out. Then I pour it into a quart jar or glass and drink. :)

SPECIAL NOTES: I make sure and mix up the greens so I don't overdose on just one type - especially the spinach. You don't want to be eating a whole lot of spinach regularly it has oxalates that can be harmful in large amounts.

If I have all organic items, I wash well but don't peel anything. I also will sometimes fill my glass 1/4 of the way with some of the mix with the pulp in it and then strain the rest. This way I get some fiber and something to "chew."

However, if it's not organic stuff, I make sure and peel stuff that has a waxy coating. And I strain the whole thing. I hear pesticides and toxins reside in the fiber - kind of magnetically attracted to it. So I strain it out and get rid of it on non-organic stuff. My budget varies, so I try to get organic when I can.