Recipe: Simply Sparkling Cranberry Apple Punch

This simple and delicious drink is packed with the tangy flavors of fall, but it's great any time of year!  From a holiday or special occasion, to a summer evening sipping on the patio, this one is sure to please the palate of just about anyone. The cranberry lends a beautiful color, and the soda gives it a festive flair. For the ultimate in freshness and nutrition, make your own fresh juices. It's really easy with a good juicer, like the one we reviewed on Wednesday.  Just juice, mix, pour, and sip away!

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Simply Sparkling Cranberry Apple Punch
(Serves 2-4.)

Ingredients:

2 cups cranberry juice
2 cups apple juice
1 1/2 cups orange juice
2 cups Club soda
ice cubes
orange slices for garnish

Directions:

• Pour the three juices into a large punch bowl or pitcher and lightly stir to combine.
• To serve: Pour the Club soda in and stir, then pour into glasses with a few ice cubes and float an orange slice on top for garnish.

Review: Breville BJE200XL 700-Watt Compact Juice Fountain

Juicing is delicious and healthy and all you need is a high quality juicer to give your overall well being a boost with delicious vegetable and fruit juices. The combinations of juices from fruits and vegetables are practically endless and just about anyone can make a juice that is to their taste.

Breville BJE200XL Compact Juice Fountain (Photo credits: Best Buy)

The Breville BJE200XL Compact Juice Fountain is a powerful device that juices quickly and efficiently. Whether you are trying to juice pineapple (with the rind still on), carrots, or apples, you'll have a delicious drink in no time flat, and you can extract much of the nutrition which is in the peels as well, which sometimes makes the juice even healthier than just eating the fruit. (However, be sure to only use organically grown fruits and vegetables if you are juicing with the peels on.)

The machine is straight-forward to clean, with some parts being dishwasher-safe. A helpful cleaning brush also comes with the machine. It is highly reviewed by users, and is one of the most popular and well-liked juicers on the market today. The Juice Fountain has a centered knife-blade assembly and cuts the fruit and vegetables into tiny bits before pressing them through the stainless-steel micro-mesh filter. The end product is healthy, delicious and nutritious juices for the whole family. Drink them plain or mix with sparkling water for a refreshing soda-like beverage.

Overall, if you are looking for a good quality but relatively inexpensive juicer, this one is a great choice

Where to buy: www.amazon.com 

Healthy Homemade Drinks That Keep You Hydrated

When the weather is warm it's important to make sure that you have the proper fluid intake. But drinking too many of the wrong fluids can actually make you more thirsty. Here are some homemade drinks you can make that taste good and keep you full and cool.

What is it about drinks? We feel thirsty so we grab all manner of wet liquids, but they all aren’t created the same. And many people forget to count their drinks when they are adding up calories in their day.

Here is an eye-opener. One glass of soda is one cup or 8 ounces. With one of those large 24-ounce bottles, that would equal three servings. If each serving is about 120 calories, then drinking the whole bottle means you’ve just consumed 360 empty calories (not to mention all the chemical additives you just consumed). That could be the better part of a meal that would have kept you full. Instead, it’s a soda that will leave you hungry in 20 minutes.

Healthy Drinks

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What we need is a drink makeover. Separate the hydration drinks from the non-hydration drinks. Sodas are definitely non-hydration drinks. This means that while they may taste good, they are not meeting the thirst need.

In your body, all of that extra sugar is actually causing more water to be pulled out of the cells. The same thing happens with caffeinated drinks. So, caffeine drinks and sugar-filled drinks are not what you want to drink if you need to stay hydrated.

Here are some drinks that you can make at home that will fit the bill. Obviously the best hydration drink is water but sometimes you need a change. Many other healthy foods contain water and you can use that to your advantage.

* Smoothies – Fruit contains natural sugars and also a lot of water. Use fiber-filled fruits like mangoes, bananas, strawberries and blueberries. Mix with vanilla or plain yogurt and some ice cubes or fruit juice. If you need to, add a little honey to taste. Mix well in a blender. (I do this pretty much every morning for breakfast throughout the summer when I want something cool and fresh to start the day. I also add a tablespoon or so of organic virgin coconut oil for a bit of healthy fat and it really does keep me full until lunchtime.)

* Lemonade – Instead of using those drink mixes, make your own. Juice six to eight lemons. Add the juice to a large pitcher. Fill to near the top with water. For sweetness, instead of adding sugar, try a natural sugar substitute like Stevia or honey or agave nectar. Mix well. Allow to chill in the fridge. Serve over ice.

* Fruit teas – Start with your favorite flavored tea or herbal infusion. Be sure that it is decaffeinated. Steep the tea bags in a pot of boiling water. For taste, add some honey. You can also add some fruit juice concentrate to further sweeten the taste.

If you like soda, for any drink that you make at home like lemonades or teas, you can mix with equal parts seltzer water for a bubbly refreshing take on soda without all the extra calories. Or use one of the popular soda maker machines to turn just about any beverage into a sparkling drink.

Drink to your health this summer and stay hydrated with these healthy and refreshing drink ideas.

Recipe - Summer Berry Breakfast Smoothie

For nearly the past 10 years, throughout the summer, I have smoothies for breakfast almost every day. I got into the habit when I lived in Texas, and the bounty of fresh fruit was nearly continual (I often had smoothies year-round there). After I moved to Ohio, fruit was less plentiful, but still abundant in the summer, so this became my summer routine. As are most of my "recipes" that I have come up with myself, measurements are merely figurative, and ingredients can vary widely.

Image via WikipediaBelow is a basic idea of my "typical" summer breakfast, but feel free to make your own additions, subtractions, and substitutions, and adjust quantities as desired. I use different types of berries on a regular basis, or sometimes combine several. Before peach season, I leave out the peach and add more berries. Depending on the size and amount of the fruit used, this can make anywhere from 2 1/2 to 4 cups, but usually runs right about 20 fl oz, or just under 3 cups. You can also use frozen fruit (I often use a combination of fresh and frozen - e.g. fresh banana and peach with frozen berries.) - I will often stock up on berries when they are on sale, and wash and freeze them in ziplock bags so I can easily pop them in smoothies later.

For those who want more bulk to their breakfast, you might try adding flax or chia seeds, protein powder, or more coconut oil. I am not big on breakfast anyway, and sometimes it is all I can do just to drink the whole thing, so this is plenty for me, and I don't get hungry until right around lunchtime.

Summer Berry Breakfast Smoothie (serves 1 -- or 2 small eaters)

Banana, peach, and strawberry.

Ingredients:
1 ripe banana
1 ripe peach
5-6 large ripe strawberries
1-2 handfuls blueberries or blackberries (optional)
6 oz plain yogurt (I use my own home-made, from fresh, non-homogenized milk I get in my CSA share)
1-2 TB honey or agave sweetener
1 TB organic extra-virgin coconut oil (or more, as desired)
1 TB chia seeds (optional)
6 oz fruit juice (I have used everything from orange to grape, but my favorite is orange-pineapple combo)

Directions:

• Peel banana, break into sections, and place in bottom of blender or food processor.
• Wash peach well, cut into segments, and place on top of banana.
• Wash berries well, remove stems/hulls (if applicable), and add to container.
• Add yogurt, honey, coconut oil, chia seeds (if using), and juice. Add more juice if desired. I like to add juice just until it fills up all the air holes in the container, but doesn't cover the fruit entirely.
• Blend/process until smooth (I use a nifty contraption called a Ninja - which I LOVE! It is much faster, neater, and easier to clean than a blender. Plus it's not as noisy, and does a better job - you don't have chunks left over like some blenders leave behind in the bottom.)
• Pour into a glass and drink immediately. (These don't seem to taste very good after refrigeration - you need to prepare right before drinking. I haven't tried freezing them, but might be tasty.)

Let me know what you think, and feel free to suggest your own additions below!

How to Choose a Good Juicer

If you’re eating more raw foods and making that important lifestyle change, at some point you’ll need to consider investing in a juicer. A blender is NOT the same thing. To get all the benefits of juicing fruits and vegetables, you need to be able to process every part of the food – seeds, stems, peels and pulp. That’s where all the vitamins are. A blender just can’t do that effectively. A juicer will extract all the nutrients from fruit or vegetable - even more so than just chewing and swallowing your food.

Juicers routinely used to cost $300-$400 and more. The best ones still do, but if you’re just getting into juicing, there are many less expensive styles on the market as well. Here are a few you can research to find the best one for you. Natural food stores and cooking catalogues like Williams-Sonoma also carry juicers, and many can also be found online such as at Amazon.com.

Here are some reasonably priced but highly effective juicers to consider: 

Omega 1000 – Makes good, virtually pulp-free juice. It’s a high-yield juicer but not good for juicing leafy greens. This juicer will not process wheatgrass. Price $150-$300

Commercial Champion – Better juice quality, pulpy with good nutritional value. Also a multi-purpose machine that grates and churns and can make nut butters. A good heavy-duty juicer, high volume, good for families. Does not process wheatgrass. Price $230-$300.

Solo Star – Creates a pulpy juice, but very high nutrient value because the motor is a lower RPM. This is a multi-purpose machine that can grate, churn, make nut butters and extrude pasta. It can also process wheatgrass. Price $190 - $300.

Green Power – A premium juicer, although a more complicated machine with more parts that need to be cleaned. Creates the least pulp with more nutrients. It is a Twin Screw Press type of juicer that is superior to masticating or centrifugal juicers. It will process wheatgrass. Also a multi-purpose machine. Pricey, but may be well worth it. Some models come with a 10-year warranty, which speaks to the quality. Price $450 - $650

Examples of Good Juicers:
   

The Benefits of Juice

This week we are continuing our raw food series, in a different vein. For many, it can be hard to become a total raw-foodist, so we are offering some more suggestions for incorporating raw foods into your diet. One of the best ways is juicing.

Eating raw foods is a way to give your body some of the nutrition it desperately needs. Many of us in America are at least slightly overweight, and even the morbidly obese are starving for essential proteins and amino acids. All the processed, cooked foods we eat give us only a small percentage of what we need. Consequently, we eat and eat and yet we’re still not nourished. Psychologists try to tell us we’re eating to make up for an emptiness in our souls. Wrong! Our bodies our empty of nutrients and trying to tell us so.

Image via Wikipedia

Eating raw foods is good for us on so many levels. It’s satisfying to eat them. They take more time to chew and swallow, so we don’t eat as fast. And we’re getting so much more in the way of nutrition - enzymes, vitamins, minerals, etc. - by consuming fruits, vegetables, nuts and sprouts.

It can take time to prepare raw foods, however. Which is why a juicer is an important addition to your kitchen once your start to be serious about raw foods. A good juicer can process an entire apple – seeds, stems, peel, pulp and all – and turn all that into a healthy, nutritious juice.

Buying apple juice is NOT the same thing!!! Don’t even look at apple juices or even ciders in the grocery store. Put that $2 or $3 aside for a few months and save up for a juicer. Buy bags of apples, orange, bananas, carrots and make your own juices Image via Wikipedia
to get everything from the fruit that you’d get by eating it raw. Now you’re getting juice that’s as fresh as the fruit or vegetable you made it from. No preservatives, no processing that strips most of the energy from the fruit. And think of all the delicious combinations you can make with the many tropical fruits that are available now in most grocery stores. You can customize your fruits and add non-typical ingredients like pumpkin to an orange juice. Now that’s a powerhouse of a juice!