I’ve wanted a juicer for a long time. In fact, when we were contemplating if we wanted to do a wedding registry, I realized there’d only be two things on it: a food processor, and a juicer. I’d heard of the benefits of juicing, including increased energy, detoxification, and of course, a quick & easy {&tasty!} way to get lots of fruits & vegetables in. Plus, who doesn’t want the ability to create their own fresh juice whenever they want, using whichever ingredients they prefer?

So when I had the chance to try the BELLA NutriPro Cold Press Juicer I stocked up on produce & got to work! One thing that I noticed right away was that it was much quieter than I expected. Having never used a juicer, I was expecting it to sound more like a blender- after all, it was turning my fruit & veggies into juice. It was quiet, but it was efficient- mere seconds after placing the food into the machine, delicious smelling juice came pouring out of one spout while waste material came out the other. &I was really surprised by how much juice I was able to get out of it! Having grown up with one of those glass “juicers” {those bowls that have a thing in the middle to squeeze juice out of lemons} I imagined it’d take pounds of fruit to get anything, but that definitely wasn’t the case.

Some more high-tech information on the BELLA Nutripro Cold Press Juicer:

With the NutriPro juicer, users are able to get more juice and more nutrients for optimal health and wellness than other conventional juicers by thoroughly squeezing each fruit and vegetable. The BELLA NutriPro Cold Press Juicer utilizes a two-stage cold press juicing technology that operates via a chewing (mastication) method to produce high-quality juice from each fruit and vegetable. The single juicing screw in the processing bowl first crushes, the compresses and squeezes out the juice. There are no fast-spinning blades that cut and pulverize the fruits and vegetables to produce juice. With the no-blade, cold press technology, oxidation is minimized, no heat is used, and more nutrients and enzymes are preserved. (Most traditional juicers and blenders that claim to juice use blades that shred and break open the cell walls of the produce, exposing it to oxygen and therefore affecting the integrity of the nutrients and enzymes. Enzymes are a necessity for the health and healing of the body. They help break down foods and tell the nutrients where they are most needed in the body. Enzymes aid digestion, keep you youthful and vibrant and increase energy.)

Besides the health value, the NutriPro Juicer users can get more juice from certain fruits and vegetables than other juicers. For example, the NutriPro got 66% more pineapple juice than one of its main competitors.

I love it because:

-It’s dishwasher safe: let’s be honest, if it wasn’t, I’d never use it.
-It’s quiet: something I especially appreciate as a Mom with a 3 year old afraid of loud noises.
-It works really well: I definitely feel like it squeezes out every last drop from what I put in & so I don’t feel like I’m “wasting” any produce by juicing it instead of eating it.
-It’s delicious: While the machine itself doesn’t impact the taste of my produce, it has allowed me to create some yummy juices & even comes with a recipe booklet full of great starting points!

In fact, I actually made the following recipe from their website, although I tweaked it a bit. {The original recipe calls for ginger, but I absolutely despise ginger, so I just skipped it.}

Fresh Strawberry Lemonade

Ingredients:

-Zest from 2 lemons
-3 cups spring water {I just used filtered water from the fridge}
-1 lb. fresh strawberries, tops removed
-2 lemons, peeled, seeded

Directions:

-Add the zest of 2 lemons to a pitcher of cold spring water and stir well.
-Peel and seed lemons. Cut into chunks. Cut unpeeled ginger in chunks.
-Alternate feeding ginger, strawberries and lemon chunks into the hopper.
-Pour fresh juice into the pitcher and serve.
{Optionally, sweeten with a small amount of stevia- I didn’t need it but Justin did}

Serves 4

I love this Fresh Strawberry Lemonade recipe- Strawberry Lemonade is already my favorite drink but to be able to make it in my own kitchen, from fresh produce, without any preservatives or added sugar adds up to a whole lot of win in my book. &It’s the perfect healthy beverage to enjoy on a hot Summer’s day!

Buy It: You can pick up the BELLA NutriPro Cold Press Juicer for the MSRP of $249.95 {or trial it for 30 days for just $14.99} on their website.

Do you juice? What are your favorite recipes?

Note: I received the juicer in order to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.