Juicing – The Healthy Treat

I hate vegetables. This is a fact. I feel terrible as a mom that I cannot stand the good habits I need to teach my daughter so she grows up healthy and strong!

But there is a way around this! Where I CANNOT taste most vegetables but it is SO healthy and everyone enjoys it! Including me! (My daughter is young enough where she will try anything and enjoys just about everything.)

And what is this way, you may ask? JUICING. Yes, the wonderful world of juice!

I could go into this long thing about why I started, the good stuff it has done, the weight I have lost (Yes, I have lost weight from this and let me tell you, with all the stuff I have tried, it is amazing how this natural thing works so much better than anything else), I decided I’ll just stick with writing some “recipes” we have done and love! That way you can try it and like it, THEN find out how awesome it really is!

It’s really easy. If you don’t have a juicer (I highly recommend one. I mean, what’s better than fresh Orange Juice or Apple juice that you make yourself so you know EXACTLY what is going into it?) just get something that basically liquifies the fruits and veggies.

Now, here are some easy Juice mixes I highly recommend. They’re healthy, and boy do they taste good!

My husband and I experiment together, so a lot of these may appear to have a lot of the same things. Mix things up and see what you like. Remember, do fruits AND veggies!

Our all time favorite is:

Kale
Cucumber (1)
Apple (2)
Broccoli (1 steam full or just do a bunch of the actual little things)
Carrots (4)

It gives enough to give us BOTH a full glass!

Now, the reason I didn’t list the amount of Kale is because it is at your discretion. A lot of people do not like the taste, but it is one of the HEALTHIEST things out there for you. Me and my husband, our juice tastes weird if we DON’T taste it.

That’s right, we LIKE Kale. Crazy huh?

Another juice to try:

Kale (Again, use a little, use a lot. Up to you. I recommend adding a little at first, to see how it affects it and adjust)
Apple (1)
Broccoli(1)
Celery (this has  a stronger taste than you’d think. Again, try one stalk, taste, then add more if you’d like)
Pineapple (1/4)
Cucumber (Cucumber adds a bit of juice)

Now, for  a fun juice I call a dessert juice!

Apples
Strawberries
Pineapple
Orange
Carrot

This juice helps curb your sweat tooth and tastes FANTASTIC.

Hope this all helps you like it has me. Just try it. Taste it. Fix it to your own liking. ANOTHER TIP: Apples are your friends. If you don’t like the taste of something, add apples. They tend to cover a lot of tastes that you may not enjoy and make it easier to drink.

Now go on, try it.

Trust the Monkey.

Time For A Spring Mix!

Due to the fact I am feeling inspired by the GORGEOUS weather outside, I thought I’d write about SPRING DECOR! What is funner than the light and bright colors finally making their way back into our lives? But not only decor, but in everything we do? We tend to add light colors to our wardrobe, and even our food. (Winter Steak VS. Spring Salad? I rest my case)

Back to what I am inspired to do, here are some fun suggestions and ideas.

To add Spring to a room is actually a little easier than you may think. You don’t have to repaint your walls, or doing anything too drastic! There are easier ideas to bring COLOR back into your life!

Easiest thing: Rugs, blankets, and little “accessories” for your room will do it! No matter what color your furniture or walls are!  And they do not have to be extreme! For example, here is a rug that I love that I think adds a good amount of “spring” without hurting your eyes with bright colors:

It has those subtle hues of green and blue without being too extreme. It’s a beautiful rug that can go in just about any room! (Loving eSaleRugs.com, so many choices!)

Or a nice light blanket to drape on the side of the sofa or have spread out on the back of it. (Walmart carries this.)

It will do wonders to a room. Even just ad some plants (fake or real works).

And finally, even a bit if DIY items can be fun. This is a neat idea I found on the web while surfing through things to find more inspiration. Click the picture to get a link to the site that has the step by step instructions, or click on the link below the picture to find out how to make the Paint Chip Art Photo shown in the picture! It is easy to make, doesn’t have to cost you a thing, and what’s best, you can chose the COLORS you want in it! You can do it for ANY season!

It’s a unique and beautiful idea that can be found partway down this blog:
http://www.younghouselove.com/2011/08/nine-dolla-pillows-more-free-art/

And as always, I would recommend a spring snack to celebrate the new feeling you have given a room without having to completely redo it! And with this, I leave you to create your new Spring room. (Here’s a recipe inspired by St. Patrick’s Day!)

Ingredients

• 1 Bag yogurt or chocolate covered pretzels
• 1 Cube white Almond Bark
• colored sugar, icing, sprinkles for decoration (optional)

Instructions

1. First you need you melt the white chocolate. This is going to be like the glue that holds it together. I used almond bark. I put it in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring and checking each time. It should take about 60 seconds.
2. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Each shamrock will need 3 whole pretzels and a piece for the stem.
3. You can either dip the pretzel or use something to dab with chocolate on. First take the bottom part of 2 pretzels and dip them chocolate. Lay them on the wax paper with the bottoms touching each other, so it looks like a butterfly. Then take another pretzel and dip the bottom of it in chocolate. Place it on top of the other two, so that all the bottoms are in the center and the looped part of the pretzels are facing out. Now it should look like a shamrock. If you want to add a stem just take a broken piece of pretzel and dip on end in chocolate and attached it.
4. Let cool.
5. You can leave them this way or you can keep decorating! Get creative! If it was up to my kids they would be covered in sprinkles! I took some icing that I dyed green, put it in a sandwich bag with one of the corners snipped off and iced around the outline of the shamrock. I think that it helped it stand out a little.
6. Now all that’s left is to enjoy!