Spicy Homemade V8 with 8 Veggies & Fruit #RawFood

Homemade V8 juice made with 8 different veggies and fruit with a spicy kick is a drink I can drink any time of the year. I am not too crazy about store bought V8 although I do drink it occasionally. Sure, it provides 2-3 servings of veggies/glass but the fact that it is reconstituted from concentrate and has 420 mg sodium/ serving make it a less desirable than other juices for me. When you see the word concentrate, it means that most of the water is removed from the juice so that it can be stored and transported, and then it is added back in later. Sometimes this can be months later. Not really fresh juice if you get my point. Back to the sodium content, the lower sodium varieties are better but then again they’ve been pasteurized, so less enzymes and good stuff. Well I don’t mean to bash store bought juices and V8 (both of which I buy for my kids occasionally) but rather focus on making fresh juices like this homemade V8. Just throw stuff into a blender and you have fresh homemade V8 in seconds. Super easy and no juicing required!! I added some fruit to this homemade V8 blend to add some natural sweetness and give it a thinner juice consistency. I used tomatoes, carrots, red peppers, spinach, cilantro, lemon juice, watermelon and grapes. Well, cilantro does not really count as a veggie but I wanted to stay with magic number 8. You can add or delete fruits, veggies from this list. Just have the lycopene rich tomato as your base and keep the watermelon in the blend to give it that sweet watery juicy feel. I added some chili pepper to my homemade V8 but you can skip it if you like. Yummy raw juice homemade V8 to help you meet your 10 a day!!

I have this huge love affair with tomatoes, esp ketchup. It started in my childhood days when I smothered everything in ketchup aka tomato sauce. There was a brand called Maggie which as a favorite in India. It had a sweet spicy ketchup which even my kids love. My oldest took a bottle to college the first year she went and even now they tend to panic if we don’t have it in stock.  Fortunately the Indian stores here sell them. I remember in my college days studying Nutrition, we were asked to keep a food diary. I was reading my food dairy to the class and remember the look of amusement on the professor’s face when I finished reading my 3 day diary; ” Tomato ketchup with dosa, idli and bread ??” he said! I grinned and told him ketchup makes everything taste better!! Well my kids would agree so yeah give me tomatoes and I will cook them up anyway I can! This juice is a bomb so yeah please try it!

Nutrition Wise!

Watermelon and tomatoes are loaded with lycopene the skin vitamin that helps prevent skin cancer. They are also chockfull of vitamin C, A and potassium. Celery contributes a fair share of potassium while red peppers and spinach are brimming with Iron, Vitamin C and A. Add some heart healthy grapes and you have a delish healthy homemade V8 that is fiber packed!

Homemade V8 with a Spicy Kick

Print recipe

Serves	3-4
Dietary	Diabetic, Gluten Free, Vegan
Meal type	Beverage
Misc	Child Friendly, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold

Ingredients

• 1 Large tomato
• 1 cup watermelon chunks
• 1 cup red grapes
• 1/2 cup spinach
• 1/2 cup carrot
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1/2 cup red peppers
• 1/2 lemon (juiced)
• 1/2 Tsp chili flakes

Directions

	Wash, prep all veggies and fruit.
	Blend nicely to a smooth puree with chili flakes.
	Add ice cubes and drink cold!!

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