iced_herbal_tea

It is getting hot here in Arizona. After an amazing winter, it seems the lovely days are diminishing. Now I love a nice hot cup of herbal tea, but lately, the last thing I want is to get warmer. So, I’ve been making my own brew that is cool and refreshing. I found on pinterest a recipe from a southern gal (being from the south means she must know about iced tea, right?) with a secret ingredient, I incorporated into mine, and she’s right, it’s so silky smooth. That’s where I stopped, though. My tea is herbal, I actually don’t drink any real tea. I also sweetened my iced tea with raw local honey, not sugar. Good honey that is local, raw, and minimally processed, has lots of antioxidants and minerals. It has even been touted to help with local allergies. My kids love this tea so much. It seems they think it is cranberry juice cocktail or something. 

honey sweet iced herbal tea
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Ingredients
4 cups boiling water
3-4 tablespoons loose tea leaves (you could substitue for 8-10 tea bags)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup honey (good honey)
8 cups cool water, divided
lemon, optional
Instructions
Add tea to boiling water. Allow to steep for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine honey and 1 cup water in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook until honey has completely dissolved into the water. Remove from heat.
Strain tea leaves from the tea and pour the hot tea into a large pitcher. Stir in baking soda. Stir in the honey water syrup. Stir in the remaining 7 cups of cool water. Add the juice of 1/2 lemon if desired. Slice the lemon rind and add in, if desired.
Refrigerate unto cold. Best served very cold (like over lots of ice).
My Green Diet http://mygreendiet.com/
honey_sweet_tea TEA NOTES: 

My very favorite tea is Teavana. It is amazing, but also expensive. For this batch of tea I used about 2/3 Teavana’s Sweet Fruit Garden Blend and 1/3 of a hibiscus blend. I did find on Teavana that they are having a promotion. Get FREE SHIPPING Sitewide & a Free Sample of Youthberry/Wild Orange Tea Blend on all Orders at Teavana.com! *Valid only 4/29/13 until 5/01/13! If you want to give this tea a try, that would be a great way. I only go for the herbal teas. I don’t drink any black, white, green, red, or oolong. 

There are also lots of other good brands and sometimes I order some with my Green Polka Dot Box. Yes, I totally order groceries online and love it. 

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juice-cleanse Happy Spring Cleaning!

Of course by that I don’t mean vacuuming your mattress (a good idea, though). I am talking about getting your body feeling great and looking great and charged for swimsuit season. I read on one of my favorite blogs, my new roots, that the best time to do a juice cleanse is during the change of seasons. She says,”This is a good time of year to go on a juice diet because the weather is warming up so our bodies can take more raw foods, fruits and veggies are coming into season, and as the seasons make their transition outside, it feels so right to make one inside.” It’s not scientific, but it sounds nice and I’m going with it. ;)

Why Cleanse? Well, many claim that during a juice cleanse, you ease the digestive process by replacing regular meals with delicious, cold-pressed vegetable and fruit juices, raw coconut water elixirs and silky smooth nut milk blends. Consuming only liquids for a few days frees energy in the body, which can then return to the essential jobs of deep inner cleansing and healing. 

When you feel better on the inside, you look better on the outside. Glowing skin, bright eyes, the disappearance of hard-to-lose pounds, as well as a newfound sense of optimism and enjoyment of life, are all common results of juice cleansing.

Disclaimer: this is only my second juice cleanse. I posted here about my first one back in 2011. I don’t know why it took me so long to do it again. I really enjoyed it (esp as soon as it was over) and I know it helped me cut back on sugar and meats. For me it felt a bit like recalibrating my appetite. I posted a picture on Instagram today of my juices and realized from the comments, a blog post might be helpful. 

Today is my 1st day of my 3 day cleanse. To be honest, I’m feeling it. I’m a bit tired and distracted. At least I’m not hungry, yet and the juices are yummy. 

If you decide to try it out, and I hope you do, remember to start small and be kind to yourself, always. A good way to start might be to do 1 or 2 days and see how you like it. 

Since I have done this cleanse before, I knew I loved the taste of their juice, but there are lots of other good looking cleanses out there. I really want to try the yummy looking Suja Cleanse. All their juices are different and they are more reasonably priced. So pretty! 

SUJA-Cleanse_1_large

Any other good ones you love?

Preparation for the cleanse is important. In fact, Blue Print sent me a helpful email a few days ago:

PREPARE FOR YOUR CLEANSE

Prepare, prepare, prepare – we can’t stress this enough. The more prepared you are before your cleanse, the smoother your transition will be. This means: starting today, cut down on all those delicious indulgences we love to love… phase out the coffee, the sugar, the meat and the dairy, and add fresh fruit and veggies at every meal. 

LISTEN UP! NO farewell-to-solid-foods-with-a-steak-and-martini dinner the night before you start. You will NOT be a happy camper by the end of Day One. And that’s a promise. So start now!

A sample prep menu:

Think raw. Think vegan. Think fruits & veggies.

  • - Breakfast: Fruit – melon, mango, watermelon or other fruit (try not to mix fruits as it gives your digestive system extra work!). 
  • - Lunch: Fruit again or any combination of the following: cucumber, avocado, leafy greens, celery – add some lemon juice & olive oil to make a salad. 
  • - Dinner: Warm vegetable broth (low-sodium!) cucumber or avocado salad, mixed greens salad, arugula or spinach salad, lemon juice, olive oil (you get the picture). 

Now tell me, what do you think of cleansing?

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basic-banana-bread I had the good fortune of going to New York this last weekend. It was wonderful. The weather was great. The shops were beautiful. And, the food was amazing! I have limited self control when it comes to amazing food, so I will be doing a cleanse over the next week or so. It is time for a body systems spring clean. However, before I get to excavating my bad eating habits, I had to do something with the bananas on the counter when I got home. I love banana bread and this recipe is delicious. I love incorporating the coconut oil for added health benefits and a rich velvety flavor. 

 

banana bread with coconut oil
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Ingredients
1 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour, or spelt flour (or whatever flour you want)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup mashed ripe bananas (2-3 bananas)
3/4 cup melted coconut oil
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk eggs, sugar, bananas, and oil in a large bowl until quite smooth. Add dry ingredients to banana mixture and stir just until combined. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top.
Bake until a tester inserted into the center of bread comes out clean, 60-70 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let bread cool in pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around inside of pan to release the bread. Turn out onto rack and let cool completely. Store airtight at room temperature for up to 4 days.
My Green Diet http://mygreendiet.com/
healthy-banana-bread

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spinach eggs

Quiche goes back a long time for me. My mother used to make traditional spinach quiche with the pie crust and I loved it. This is a tribute to that childhood favorite, but without the pastry. My kids prefer the savory potatoes to the sweet pie crust, anyway. This tastes a lot like what some might call an egg casserole. I suppose you could add bits of bacon or onion or mushrooms, anything you like really. I love the spinach. I don’t use much cheese, but feel free to do as much as you like. I use whole milk because I think it’s healthier than lower fat varieties. It’s more a “whole food”. It’s less processed and we’ve already discussed how important fat is! This can be made a bit ahead. I like it warm, but traditionally, it is served at room temperature. 

spinach quiche with a hash brown crust
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Ingredients
2 small russet potatoes or 1 large ( or about 3 cups shredded potatoes)
1 tablespoon butter
1 package frozen spinach, thawed.
1/3-1/2 cup cheddar cheese (optional)
4 eggs
1 tablespoon flour
salt and pepper
3/4 cup whole milk
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease pie dish with butter.
Wash potatoes and shred. I buy organic and leave the peel on, but that's up to you. I just zip them though the food processor with the shredder attachment.
Rinse shredded potatoes well. Wrap potatoes in a clean kitchen towel or paper towel and wring dry.
Spread potatoes out in an even layer in the pie dish going up the sides as well. Press into dish firmly. The shredded potatoes are acting as a pie crust would. Sprinkle with salt and fresh black pepper.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until potatoes are just starting to color.
Remove from oven and spread cheese if using over the potatoes. Wring the thawed spinach out in a towel as you did with the potatoes to get out any moisture. Spread spinach out over cheese.
Whisk the milk, eggs, flour, teaspoon salt, and fresh pepper together. Pour mixture over spinach.
Cook again for about 30-40 minutes or until eggs are set and no longer move when dish is jostled.
My Green Diet http://mygreendiet.com/
  spinachquiche

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raw-chocolate-bars

Hello, Hello! I am back, finally! It was a wonderful trip to Italy, but as expected, it is very good to be home. As penance for eating so much gelato, pastries, and pizza (no regrets), I am really cracking down on my eating right now. No more sugar or junk for me for a while. It feels so good to be waking up to either green juice or a green smoothie and sprouted wheat or homemade granola for breakfast. It’s veggie sandwiches and salads for lunch and simple vegetable heavy dinners for me this week. Since I’m not allowing myself any sugar, I wanted a little something to take the edge off while my cravings go away. These are the perfect thing to satisfy and they are full of the healthy coconut oil we all should eat plenty of.

I know I have really been pounding the table lately about coconut oil, but I really can’t say enough good about it. I hope you have all purchased a jar by now. If you are looking for a good brand, I really love Tropical Traditions. Their Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil is fantastic. No chemicals or heat are used on these organic coconuts. You can get the coconut creme concentrate from them as well. They are a great company with lots of natural and healthy products (they even sell grass-fed meats). Anyway, what ever brand you like, you will love this chocolate.  

raw chocolate bars
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Ingredients
1 1/2 cups coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup coconut butter or coconut cream concentrate
1 cup raw cocoa powder
1/3 cup raw honey
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup walnuts
Instructions
Blend coconut oil, coconut cream concentrate, cocoa powder, and honey in a food processor. Add remaining ingredients until combined, but before the nuts become completed pureed. Pour into a 8x8 pan lined with parchment paper. Place in the fridge until hard. Turn out onto a cutting board and cut coconut into bite size pieces. Store in the fridge or freezer in an airtight container.
My Green Diet http://mygreendiet.com/
Proof that I was really out of the country and not just neglecting you… 

gelato

tuscany

florence

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