I know you all have carrots in the fridge, right?  They’re great for snacking, kids love  them because they are sweet, and moms love them because they promote healthy eyesight.  Carrots are one of the easiest foods to juice because they’re easy to prepare and taste great with most other fruits and vegetables.  If you juice a lot of carrots then you’ll have a lot of carrot pulp left over.

Carrot pulp is such a versatile ingredient.  It can be used in muffins, cakes, sauces, soups, veggie patties and more.  But why stop there?  Carrots have great benefits for the skin as well and many cosmetic companies include carrot extract, juice, and oil in their beauty formulas.  Vitamins A,B,C,D, and E make carrots an excellent choice for skin care, especially for mature or dry skin.

Next time you juice some carrots, save the pulp and give this recipe a try.  It’s a fun way to incorporate a little “me” time into your week.

Carrot Pulp Facial Mask

carrot pulp from 2-3 carrots
3-4 Tablesppoons honey

Mix honey into carrots one tablespoon at a time until a nice paste forms.  For added carrot nutrients, or if you’re pulp is very dry, you may add a *small* (less than 1/2 tsp) bit of the carrot juice to the paste.  Apply to clean skin and wait 10 minutes.  Rinse with warm water and pat dry.

Honey is good for most skin types.  It is a humectant, which means it helps hold moisture in the skin.  Honey also has astringent properties to help draw out impurities.  This mask is non-drying and your face should feel nice and smooth afterward.

If you try this recipe and have some good results, let me know.

Related posts:

1. Juice Pulp, Eek What To Do?

Today one of my twitter pals posed the question, “What should I do with my leftover pulp after juicing?”  That’s such a good question.  Really the possibilities are endless, but it can be difficult to come up with creative answers on the spot, as she found out.

If you don’t want to reuse the fibrous pulp in other foods but don’t want to throw it in the garbage either, consider composting.  Your plants will love it and you’ll be satisfied that you’ve immersed yourself in the processes of nature.  Mother Earth News has several articles about starting your own composting bin.

Okay, so if you don’t have a need for compost soil or aren’t really into that much work, you can use the pulp in other food recipes. Sometimes you may want to put the pulp back into the juice.  Mix these together in a blender or food processor.  The pulp can also be baked in muffins, made into frozen treats, used to make soup, or dehydrated.

Fruit pulps make excellent sherbets and frozen yogurts.  Really all you need is some yogurt, fruit pulp, and honey.  Several frozen treat recipes incorporating the pulp of fruits, sweet vegetables, and herbs can be found in the book I recommend, The Juicing Bible.

Try putting some of your vegetable pulp into homemade veggie burgers or other such recipe that would call for vegetables.  I like to put some in my vegetable enchiladas.

Don’t freak out about your juice pulp.  Get creative, try something new. Still can’t decide?  Freeze the pulp until  you do!

Do you have an idea for using juice pulp?  Let me know with your comments!