Cooling Yum!

Water is great, but let's be honest, sometimes it can be a little boring. If juice is too sweet for you and soda is too... liquid chemically, then this is the beverage for you.

Perfect for summer because of its' cooling effect, alkalizing for your ph balance to aid digestion, and full of immune boosting vitamin C and other nutrients, this is what I call functionally thirst-quenching (cucumbers also contain something called silica which is good for all the tissue in the body, it helps rejuvenate skin, reduce inflammation, and improve complexion). This simple and delicious drink will satisfy your thirst and your taste buds too!

Just combine water, sliced cucumber, lemon, and ginger, and add a few mint leaves if you have them in a pitcher. That's it. It's not too sweet but it's refreshing and just yum! The best part is that when you've finished about half of it, you can just add more water and then when you drink half of THAT you can add more water again, the flavor will get diluted but hey it's still got a leg up on regular ol' water and it'll last for days!

My Own Smooooothie Recipe

Ok, so i've been making lots of tasty smoothies with all sorts of healthy stuff in them and i think i have the basic formula for an awesomely delicious + nutritious smoothie recipe.

I admit some of these ingredients are not exactly what you may have laying around but a blender is pretty much the only essential and the rest i've divided into 'the basics' and 'feeling nutritious.' there's a lot of notes in there so i suggest if you really want to try this you should print it out and highlight the actual ingredients so you don't get bogged down with all that boring nutritional information.

The Basics:

(which will be a simply delicious berry flavored smoothie that is full of polyphenols, antioxidants, enzymes, fiber, and plenty of vitamins and minerals)

• about 1 1/2 cups of an organic juice of the berry family
• about 3/4 cup of a frozen organic mixed berry blend
• a thin fresh lemon slice with the rind cut off

1.blend it up

2. yum!

You can experiment with different juices but berries are a good foundation flavor to stick with because the phytonutrients in them provide protection from free radicals. (so far i'm a fan of black currant flavored good belly juice, you know, if you're in the mood for also replenishing your intestinal flora. but today i also tried pomegranate and red carrot juice and it also tasted great).

Feeling Nutritious:

(the ingredients listed here are the full recipe and if you put it all together it will be extra fortifying and replenishing and will simultaneously relax and invigorate you... but adding any one or several of these to the basics will still give you an extra boost, and feel free to improvise with any of your own favorites)

• smallish amount of raw ginger zest
• squeezed 1/2 inch of aloe vera leaf, a real one, from that aloe plant that's been drying on your windowsill, yep you can totally squeeze the juice out of it, it's got B12, immune boosting power, is anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory, and good for digestion.
• 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon of camu powder (immune booster, hormone balancer, more vitamin c than any other known plant in the world, anti-lots-of-stuff-that's-bad)
• 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon of maca powder (an adaptogen that boosts your body's natural defenses)
• 1/8 - 1/4 magnesium powder - lemon and raspberry flavor (relaxes muscle tension, helps the body absorb calcium, improves circulation, and assists the body in energy production)
• 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon spirulina powder (this is a seaweed powder that is a rich beta-carotene and has many nutritional benefits)
• a few fresh blackberries, blueberries, or raspberries

Blend all that up and try to drink it relatively quick while it's all mixed up and abuzz with flavor, if you put it down and let it sit too long it will start to settle and won't taste as good.

Enjoy!