It’s the age old thing that you hear about, read about, and see on a daily basis if you have small children. They are terrific in the beginning when they are babies, consuming just about anything you put in their mouths. Then they hit that wonderful age of 2, and all of a sudden, they have preferences! Where did that come from! I witnessed it with my daughter, now seven, and lately with my little guy, Jacob, who turned two last October. Now you’re on the standard menu of mac and cheese, pizza, and chicken nuggets. I’ve been lucky with my daughter liking salad, broccoli from time to time as long as it’s saturated with butter or cheese (I’ll take it!), and my mom’s Portuguese dishes, which I’m not very good at preparing myself! My son will take veggies from time to time, but now he will look at the dish and tell me “No, mommy, no green!” What’s a mom to do?

I’ve always tried to eat healthy, although I must admit with a full time job and balancing a family, it has been tough to be consistent with good foods, but I have always loved juices – all kinds including carrot-apple-ginger, apple-orange, or whatever I have in my fridge and cabinets that I can put in my juicer. Since I like it so much I figured I would start juicing veggies for the kids and lo and behold, they like it (lately anyway)! I now mix carrots with orange juice, apples, and am going to take out my Jack LaLane juicer recipe book.

Don’t laugh, but years ago on a business trip, I was flipping channels in my hotel room and saw a Jack LaLane Juicer infomercial where Jack LaLane (the “Godfather of fitness”) and his wife live on a diet of various fruit and vegetable juices. Being a finicky eater myself and thinking, I’ll just drink my meals, I ordered it. I used it for the first month and then put it away in the closet after getting tired of feeling bad to get rid of so much good pulp (yeah, there are some minuses). Well it’s back now and back for good because now I can prepare nutritious juices for the kids and not worry about them getting their veggies.

I highly recommend trying a juicer if you have finicky eaters. It doesn’t have to be a Jack LaLane juicer. You can find many types of juicers in stores, but I highly recommend getting a quality juicer. I really like my Jack LaLane juicer and it has lasted a long time. They offer a lifetime warranty so it may be worth picking one up today!

Now go drink your juice!