It's Time to Focus on our Abilities

Mixed Berries and Cream

I have some pretty strong opinions on dairy.  I was a strict Vegan for a period of a little over two years. But I think that on occasion, we do need healthy fat sources.  Most of the time, I try to find it from plant sources, but even when I cave in to the creamy texture that can only can from a cow, I try to find clean whole food sources.  Raw milks and dairy are best in my mind but when it can't be found, I love using the pure vanilla ice cream from Costco.  I'm not advertising for Costco, but that place is Heaven to me.  And their ice cream is delicious.  So my hubby threw some ingredients into the blender today and came up with this:

- 5 scoops of Kirkland brand Vanilla Ice Cream (you'll love the ingredients on the label - easy to read)
- 1/2 Cup of Rice Milk
- 1 Cup of Frozen Mixed Berries from Costco too (Now, I've seen the circulating hype on the berries from Costco being the cause of Hepatitus A.  I think there are many things that contribute to such a complex disease and find it a little bit silly to blame berries for this, when there are probably a number of other factors that have yet to be considered.  Just my two cents on the matter).
- Cherries (To put a cherry on top)

Throw the first three ingredients into your blender and serve into dessert bowls right away.  Throw a cherry on top.  Or more.  Sure hit the spot today.  

Question of the day:
During berry season, do you prefer your berries by the handful or bucketful?  No seriously, I want to know if I'm the only that devours berries any way possible.    

Orange Carrot & Celery Juice (Kids love it!)

Juicing has become a no brainer to me.  I just toss ingredients that are high in vitamins and minerals into a juicer in a fairly yummy tasting combo.  Piece of cake right?  Or should I say, cup of juice?

When doing juice fasts and cleanses, a good rule of thumb is to use variety.  You get different things from different fruits, veggies and greens.  So when I first read that you never want to stick to the same things over and over again, I became somewhat hesitant to juice.  It became rather intimidating to me.  Don't know why.  Maybe because growing up, all I remember juicing with my mom was oranges and carrots.  So that's all I knew how to juice when I first began doing it for myself and my family.  I remember being overwhelmed with the different juice combos and not knowing which recipes to try first.  So here's one of my first no-brainer recipes that tastes yummy, is full of great energy and also has some alkalizing green juice as well.  The best part is, kids love it!  And mom's love that they do.  This is a tribute to remembering some of my first experiences in the juicing world.  

4 big celery stalks

5 carrots 

1-2 oranges.  Depending on size of oranges, you don't need a lot to make it sweet enough.  If it's big, one should be enough.

I prefer the GreenStar masticating juicer.  In my mind, a masticating juicer is better than a centrifugal one.  But juicing is good for you no matter which kind you have.  Don't let it sit long or most of the nutrition is void as more time passes.   I might expound on this in a future post.  For now, you rinse off your ingredients, stick 'em in the juicer and enjoy freshly squeezed valuable nutrition you can't get from juice sitting on the shelf of your local grocery store.  Enjoy!

On a side note: The Green Star juicer also happens to look like Sid the Sloth from Ice Age spitting out his food.  At least that's what my 2 year old noticed when I saw him laughing, pointing, and saying, "Sid spitting out, Mommy.  He's spitting! Hee hee hee!"   Questions of the day: Does your juicer look like a funny character in your home?  And what is your favorite easy and fast juice recipe?