Cranberry Carrot Juice

I love this vibrant refreshing juice! My kids? Not so much! In the juices defense, I think it was the ginger they couldn't handle. My three year old took one sip and coughed like crazy...so I drank the rest of hers. The boys liked it but couldn't handle too much of it. Which is actually pretty strange because they love ginger. I guess when it's juiced it burns more. The funny thing is, I added half the amount of ginger, tasted it, and then added the rest, seemed fine to me. Oh well, oops. So my suggestion, if you are serving this to kids, only put about half the ginger in.

Cranberry Carrot Juice
by Amanda @ Natural and Organic Lifestyle
Inspired by VegVivaciously

Makes about 48 ounces

5 lbs organic carrots
8 oz organic cranberries (mine were frozen and still juiced well)
3 large organic apples
1 inch piece of ginger (or to taste)

Process through your juicer and stir. Enjoy!

Mommy-ade (homemade gatorade)

Mommy-ade was lovingly named by my husband, since I make it, and I'm the mommy =) Sometimes you just need a thirst quenching, electrolyte replacing, yummy drink. Most would reach for Gatorade, or the more "natural" version Recharge. This home version is much healthier with natural ingredients, no food dyes, and doesn't have that silly side effect of the store bought ones that actually can dehydrate you. Weird, huh. Do not under any circumstances use iodized table salt (for real, don't use it EVER, but here would totally defeat the purpose and would probably dehydrate you). We use this for the days when you are working hard and need a lift, especially if it's hot out (Ahhh, hot out, oh how I dream of hot weather knee deep in February). We use it for sporting events, brought it to soccer, baseball, and especially wrestling tournaments that are ALL day draining events. I like it especially in the winter when the dryness is overwhelming and I have days where I just cannot consume enough water. This little drink does the trick! Puking bug visiting, works great!
My suggestion on the lemon and lime is to do it by taste, start with less and if you want more flavor, add more. I do that every time because you never know how flavorful a lemon or lime is going to be.

This recipe makes a half gallon. You can multiply it as needed.

Ingredients:

1/2-1 cup lemon juice, I use about 5 lemons to start
2 tablespoons lime juice , 1-2 limes
1/4 cup sucanat (or 1/3 cup honey, or maple syrup) Start with less and then add more to taste
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Water to make 1/2 gallon, and ice if needed

This is my starting point. With the lemons, limes, and sugar/honey, I taste it and then add more if needed to get a good taste. 

Mix all together in a half gallon container.

Kiwi-Dew Juice

Makes approximately 2-3 cups juice. Very light and refreshing!

1 small honeydew, or half a large
2 kiwi
1 organic apple (green would be best, but any kind will work)

Run fruit through a juicer, minus the skin on kiwi and skin and seeds from honeydew. Pour, serve, and Enjoy!

Berry lemonade

So what if it's 30 degrees outside and this should be more of a summer drink....drink this and dream of summertime! Super yummy, and good for you too!

Ingredients:
2 whole lemons, peeled
1 cup mixed organic berries, frozen or fresh
2 tb organic raw honey
Water

Place all ingredients in the blender with enough water to cover them. Blend for a minute and enjoy! A nice vitamin packed drink!

Banana Bread Breakfast Smoothie

This is a great smoothie to start off your day or a mid-day power packed snack. The first thing my husband said about it was "It tastes like banana bread!" There originated the name! My kids slurped this down in minutes.

Makes 4 servings:

Ingredients:
3 cups organic raw milk, or almond milk (coconut milk might be yummy too!)
2 frozen bananas
2 shakes organic cinamon
2 ts raw organic honey
1 avocado
1 cup organic granola, or "grainy" type cereal. (I used Cinnamon Raisin Ezekiel 4:9 cereal)

Blend all ingredients for a minute. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie Latte

Why pay for a high price and high calorie pumpkin coffee from a coffee shop when you can make one at home for a fraction of the cost and calories! Enjoy fall with this wonderful coffee!

Ingredients:
1 cup of organic coffee
4 oz organic milk or cream
2 ts organic sugar, brown would add a nice taste
2 TB pureed organic pumpkin (canned is fine)
1/2 ts organic cinamon
Dash each of organic nutmeg, ginger, and ground cloves

Whisk all ingredients together. Top with a scoop of homemade whipped cream if you desire. Enjoy!

Naturally flavor your coffee

Store bought flavored creamers aren't the only option for a yummy coffee treat. Not to mention if you read the labels on those creamers you are getting way more than just flavored coffee. Some have partially hydrogenated oils, some have high fructose corn syrup, and all have a bunch of ingredients most people can't pronounce. I'm a strong believer that if you can't pronounce the ingredient, then you shouldn't be eating it. Most of these would be "too taste", so play with them and figure out what's the best for you. But these are good starting points.

Mocha Coffee
Coffee
(Shot of espresso if you have it, but not necessary)
1-2 ts organic sugar ( Sucanat is the best option for sugar)
or 1/2 ts agave (Be careful with agave, a lot of them are synthetically made and terribly bad for you. Wholesome foods makes a good quality one.)
or 1 ts organic honey
1-2 ts organic cocoa powder
Organic milk or cream to taste, preferably raw

Vanilla Coffee
Coffee
Same sweetener options as above (If you can get vanilla flavored agave, that's super yummy)
A splash of organic vanilla extract
Organic milk or cream to taste, preferably raw

Chocolate Mint Dream
Coffee
Same sweetener options as above
1 ts organic cocoa powder
A splash of organic peppermint flavoring
Organic milk or cream to taste

Mint Dream
Same as Chocolate Mint Dream above, just omit the cocoa powder

Amaretto
Coffee
Same sweeteners as above
Splash of organic almond extract
Organic milk or cream to taste

Caramel Delight
Coffee
Sparingly use a sweetener, doesn't need as much as others
3 ts organic caramel syrup, or more to taste
Organic milk or cream to taste

Chocolate Covered Caramel
Same as Caramel Delight but add 2 ts cocoa powder