Drink Your Veggies...Bottoms Up!

For reasons unknown, I don't care for carrots. (My son, on the other hand, eats carrots like candy.) But I can't deny the amazing health benefits of these root veggies, which are bursting with beta-carotene, fiber, biotin, vitamin B6, antioxidants, and many other nutrients. And FYI: Did you know that if you eat at least a pound of carrots a day, your skin would eventually begin to turn orange? This girl's friends didn't believe it was true, so she set out to prove them wrong.

Anyway, so as I've been on a quest the past few years to continually improve my nutrition, I took a big leap recently and bought some pure carrot juice. But I can't drink it straight; just like alcohol, I believe it's an acquired taste. So here are two creative (and mighty tasty) ways I've come up with to sneak the carrot juice into my daily routine:

Carrot-Mango-Apple Juice

In a glass, mix together equal parts carrot juice, mango juice and apple juice. Enjoy with breakfast, lunch, dinner, or as a tasty snack.

Carrot-Banana-Mango Smoothie

• 4 - 6 oz. vanilla yogurt (or flavored yogurt of your choice)
• 3/4 cup pure carrot juice
• 3/4 cup pure mango juice
• 1 ripe banana

Blend all the ingredients in a blender until smooth; drink up!

In case you're wondering where to buy carrot juice, I'm sure if you take a wild guess you can figure out where I purchased mine. Give up? (Drumroll please) Why none other than...Trader Joe's!! I scored a 32 oz. bottle of 100% pure carrot juice for $3.49 and also bought a 16 oz. bottle of pure mango juice there for $1.99. I'm sure these are available for purchase at many mainstream grocery stores, though they might be a bit more pricey. And beware about vegetable blend juices, as they often have a butt-load of added sugar and other junk in them, and because of this, I'm a big label-reader.

Carrots--they do a body good!