Sweet Berry & Mint Lemonade {refreshing}

I am very stingy when it comes to keeping flavored drinks around the house. We rarely drink sodas, and when we do it's usually ginger ale, sprite, and on occasion root beer. When I go grocery shopping I tend to only buy two containers of fresh apple juice and maybe a half gallon of orange juice for breakfast. Other than that we usually have a small choice of water, tea, or lemonade. So as I went into the kitchen to fix a glass of water, I was struck with the taste of something cool and refreshing (yes, I do realize that it is not summer and it's freezing outside..lol), so, what to do? Well, when you have 3 lemons...make 3 glasses of pretty lemonade!



Sweet Berry & Mint Lemonade
serves 3-4

Ingredients
12 Strawberries, washed, and cut into chunks
1/2 C. plus 2 T. Sugar
Juice from 3 Lemons, without seeds
1 T. Mint Leaves chopped, plus a few sprigs for garnish
Blueberries - for garnish
Handful of Ice Cubes
3 C. Cold Water

Directions: In your blender place your lemon juice, strawberries, sugar, chopped mint leaves, ice, and water. Using the Ice Crusher setting, pulse your mixture until your berries have become smaller and your liquid turns a nice pink. Place a few ice cubes into your glasses. Pour desired amount into glass. Stir & Garnish with fresh blueberries, a sprig of mint and a lemon wedge!

Tip The Cook: feel free to use Agave nectar in the place of sugar..it will taste just as good and add a kick of health!

Cherry Berry Plum Water? {simply refreshed}

You know the flavored waters that you buy at the market? So many of them are packed with ingredients that I would rather not digest and there is enough sugar in them to raise your insulin level..LOL. Not to mention all of the food coloring and artificial flavorings that are added. Ok, so to make a long story short I decided to make my own version of flavored water with fresh cherries, plums, and strawberries. It's light, it's refreshing, and delicately sweet!



Cherry Berry Plum Water
6 Strawberries, diced
1 Plum, diced
18 Cherries, pitted
4 C. Filtered Water
2-3 Tbsp. Agave Nectar or Honey
Mesh Strainer

Directions: Simply blend/liquify your fruit in your blender along with your water. Strain into a medium sized bowl. Be sure to press out the juice from the pulp with a spoon to get as much juice out of the pulp. Sweeten your water with agave nectar or honey. Serve chilled or over ice cubes. Garnish each glass with whole cherries!

Indian Summer Mint Julep

Would you care for a little taste of India? This blend that I concocted out of pure desperateness of a smoothie blends lots of sweet spices and cool coconut milk. It's my Eastern version of the classic Mint Julep...only creamier, a lot more aromatic, and has zero alcohol!

Indian Summer Mint Julep - non alcoholic
1 Coconut Milk
1 Mango, peeled & diced, keep a few pieces for garnish
1 Heaping Tbsp. or 2 Sprigs of Fresh Mint, chopped
1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
2/4 tsp. Cardamom
2 tsp. Agave Nectar
2/3 C. Water
Ice (a couple of handfuls)

Directions: Simply blend all of your ingredients together. Place a sprig of mint in your glass and then pour a few ice cubes in to keep it in place. Pour over ice and garnish with a few pieces of sliced mango. Hit it with a drizzle of agave nectar.

Vanilla Almond Milk [easy as 1-2-3]

Recently my husband brought home 3 pounds of almonds...so what's a girl to do? Make many batches of almond milk..that's what she does! While for the most part, it may be cheaper to just buy almond milk already prepared and packaged, I must say that it was quite exciting and super easy to make my own. Here is what you will need to make approximately 32oz, which is the same size as one Blue Diamond Almond Milk containers:

Almond Milk
1 1/2 - 2C. Raw Almonds, soaked for at least 6 hours or overnight
1/2oz. Raisins or Chopped Dates, soaked for at least 6 hours or overnight
5C. Filtered Water
1/8 tsp. salt
2/4tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract or one Vanilla Bean
4-6tsp. Agave Nectar
Mesh Strainer
2 Large Bowls
Cheesecloth or any kind of thin fabric

Directions:
1. Place all of your almonds, raisins, and water into your blender and blend until there are no large almond pieces left(you will have small granules). Using your strainer, strain the almond milk into your bowl. At this point you can store your almond pulp in a sandwich bag for baking sweet breads or muffins...it adds great moisture.

2. Now place your cheesecloth over your other bowl and pour all of the strained almond milk over the cloth. This step will catch all of the fine almond granules that believe me, you do not want in your milk! Squeeze any remaining milk out of cloth and throw away the remaining pulp.

3. Flavor your milk with the salt, vanilla, and agave nectar. You can add or take away the amount of agave nectar recommended for a milder or sweeter milk. I like mine somewhere in the middle and 4 teaspoons of nectar usually satisfies my taste. You can also sweeten your milk with regular sugar,, but it would add a lot more calories...we don't want that now do we! The agave nectar in my opinion is the perfect sweetener..not too sweet and it does not have that pungent after taste that honey leaves.