DIY Blueprint Juice Cleanse

DIY Blueprint CleanseAfter a particularly indulgent weekend away, I needed something to give my system a reboot and get me back on track and so I wanted to try a juice cleanse. I didn’t want to do anything too crazy and after looking through a bunch, it seemed this one is the best. You replace your meals with six juices and it lasts three days. I didn’t have $250 laying around to spend on juice so I decided to replicate the Blueprint juices myself. After looking up the Blueprint ingredients and going through some DIY versions online, I knew from my juicing experience what to tweak and came up with my own recipes! All in all, it cost me about $60 {plus $10 for the ball jars to store the juices in} for all of the ingredients, a far cry from the cost of ordering the real thing! Most of the juices were great – I drink the green juice all the time anyways and some of the new ones {like the pineapple, mint, apple one} were delicious. The spicy lemonade one is gross, no matter what you do… and trust me I tried it all. If you want to follow the cleanse exactly, you do three prep days then this cleanse and then a phase to “break the cleanse”. Even if you don’t want to cleanse, try swapping one meal a day out with one of these juices to get a boost in nutrients!

Here’s the grocery list if you’re going to do the cleanse, this will make a total of six 16 oz green juices and three 16 oz juices of the others.

Bueprint Grocery List

 The order each day is green juice, pineapple/mint/apple, green juice {again}, Spicy Lemon, Beet/Carrot/Apple and then Cashew. I found it easiest to make the first five juices for the first day the night before I started.Then at night on the first day I made my last juice for the day and the first four for the next day. On the second day I made my remaining two juices and the first four for the next day. On the last day I just had to make my last two juices. I would highly recommend making your juices as close to when you’re going to drink them as you can, as every hour that passes after the juices are made, the more nutrients are lost. You can’t make the whole cleanse before you start, the juices won’t last that long. 

The Green Juice = Kale, Apple, Ginger, Romaine, Spinach, Cucumber, Celery, Parsley & Lemon.

Since you drink two of these a day, I find it easiest to make both drinks in one batch so this recipe is for two 16 oz green juices.

I add lime juice to my green juices, you don’t have to if you want to stick strictly to the blueprint juice. I don’t like to juice whole limes or lemons even after peeling because they are still too bitter so I start out by reaming one lemon and one lime into my juicer’s pitcher using a strainer.

Reaming lemon

I then juice the following with the juicer speed on low:

4 ribs celery

6 leaves romaine

handful spinach

2 small cucumbers

Then juice the following on high speed:

6 large kale leaves

2 large apples or 4 small ones

about 1″ piece peeled ginger {use a spoon to peel with ease!}

few pieces parsley

Stir well with a spoon and then divide evenly into two 16oz ball jars, seal and keep in the fridge.

P.A.M. = Pineapple, Apple & Mint

I found it easiest to cut my pineapple top and bottom off and then cut it into 3 equally sized rounds. You’ll use one round for each day.

Cutting Pineapple

With the juicer on high, combine:

the  pineapple

2 large apples or 4 small ones

a large handful of fresh mint

Spicy Lemonade = Lemon, Water, Agave & Cayenne

Again, I don’t like to juice the lemons as even if you peel them they are still so bitter. Even making this the way I do, it’s almost undrinkable, lol. I reamed two lemons into a jar with a strainer over it then added a tiny pinch of cayenne and about 1 tsp agave. I then filled the rest of the jar with filtered water and shook to combine.

C.A.B. = Apple, Beet, Carrot, Ginger & Lemon

I cut off the beet leaves and really give the beet a good scrubbing with a brush under running water before juicing to get rid of any additional soil taste. I ream on lemon into the juicer pitcher through a strainer then I juice:

1 medium beet

2 large apples or 4 small ones

5 carrots

1″ piece of peeled ginger.

Cashew Milk = Cashew, Water, Cinnamon, Vanilla & Agave

The key to making the cashew milk is soaking them at least overnight in water. Ours came in a plastic container so I filled it with filtered water and kept it in the fridge.

Cashew Milk

This can be a little messy but the way I ended up doing it minimized the mess as much as possible. Separate out about one third of your cashews and put them into the juicer while it’s running. You’ll notice that the rim of the catch bowl under the juicing basket is now caked in a cashew butter looking substance but no juice has come out. Take some filtered water and slowly pour it into the juicer while it is still running until you have about 2 oz of cashew milk. Sprinkle a touch of cinnamon into the juicer pitcher along with a tsp of agave and a 1/2 tsp vanilla. Stir with a spoon and then strain the mix into your jar, you can see what still slips through the juicer:

Straining Cashew Milk

After the first time I made this I also lined the strainer with a cheesecloth to get even more of the grit out and it was much better.

Have any of you done a DIY cleanse at home? I’d love to hear about ones you had luck with or even just your favorite juice recipes!

Category : Breakfast, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian
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