The Juice Journey: More Mint Please!

Hey Folks!  I'm back with another juice recipe that contains mint.  I'm calling it the Cooling Nectar!  The recipe came about when the almost summer heat started pumping and Caleb broke out in a heat rash.  The ingredients are simple and it tastes oh so good! 

Ever heard of the saying: "cool as a cucumber"? I'm sure it came about because cucumbers are full of water, minerals and vitamins that can fuel your system better than an artificial sports drink.  Apples are added to give sweetness and mint has a great cooling capacity.  Lemon balm is in the mint family and is used for insomnia, headaches, nervous indigestion, and curing melancholy or depression.  In the wintertime we drank hot lemon balm tea with honey and hemp seed milk.  It was delicious and had a "sleepy time" effect on Caleb the night owl.  Lemon balm also has a wonderful aroma. Burning lemon balm essential oil can give your home a pleasant boost.  Not only will the juice cool you down it will relax your body and ease digestion...and it tastes great - did I say that already?   Here is the recipe.

Cooling Nectar:
2 large Cucumbers
4 Granny Smith apples
10 stalks of mint
4 stalks of lemon balm

Mint

Lemon balm

Granny Smith apples

Cucumbers

Fruit ready for the juicer!

Apple cucumber juice

For a bigger hit of mint, I juiced the apples and cucumbers first, then blended it with the mint and lemon balm

Add caption

Blended juice

Blended juice - look at all that chlorophyll! Yum!

Also, both the mint and lemon balm cam directly from our back yard which I LOVE!


Ready to cool down? What is your favorite juicing ingredient?

Peace and love,
Zee

Community Supported Agriculture: Summer Fruit Share

Hi Folks - The summer  season is upon us and I've signed up for the Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative fruit share.  Last year I signed up for the fall vegetable share and was quite pleased.  This is the third and best week!  Up until now we were just getting two pints of strawberries a week.  Love me some berries, but I was not happy.  This week we received strawberries, blueberries and cherries! YUM YUM YUM!

Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative fruit share box

The bounty from week #3 - blueberries, cherries and strawberries

Nice and juicy!

I've been putting the strawberries in water, smoothies and juice.  I consumed the cherries in record time (didn't even share with the fam!!) and still have the blueberries to eat. 

If you have the opportunity to join a community supported agriculture coop this summer please do!
As the summer progresses we are slated to get melons, peaches and of course more berries! So excited for what's to come!

What's your favorite summer fruit?

Peace and love,
Zee

The Hair Journey: The fungus is baaa-aaaack!

Howdy folks!  I have some terrible news to share! The fungus is BACK! I'm so disappointed and slightly irritated at my dry flaky scalp.  Even if I apply tea tree oil it seems to get worse.  I have come down from my adulation of being rid of this pesky condition.

One thing I've been doing differently is not using and tea tree or dandruff shampoo.  I've been doing more co-washes because I wanted to stop using shampoos that stripped my hair of moisture and changed my curl pattern.  I used apple cider vinegar and did not see any relief.  So now, I'm experimenting with a home remedy I've "heard of" on social media:  onion and ginger juice!  I added aloe to the party because I'm desperate! Take a look.

My scalp - June 22, 2014.  Not pretty - this is 4 days after co-washing.

Step 1 - make the onion ginger aloe juice concoction: I used my juicer...and cried a lot!! Those freshly juiced onions were serious tear jerkers!

I used 6 -7 inches of ginger and two medium sized yellow onions. 

Step 2 - mix the ginger onion juice with aloe vera juice:

Aloe vera juice, spray bottle and ginger onion juice

Aloe vera juice

Final mixture: ginger, onion and aloe vera juice

Step 3 - Apply to scalp, cover and let the anti-fungal treatment begin!  I left the cap on for about 1 hour.  My hair is so thick, I just parted it and applied the juice to each section.  I was boo hooing the whole time (it's the onions...the onions I say).

After spraying before capping

The treatment was working....I could feel tingling....

Step 4 - rinse hair and style.  My style for the day was a free flow afro.

After rinsing (scalp looks free of debris)

Curl pattern

 

Pomade of choice!  Applied before picking. My favorite styling product and you can pronounce all the ingredients!!!!!!!

Picked out afro...free style...no patting into submission...

Shrinkage!!!! Whoa mama!!

After the treatment..my scalp felt good.  I'm not sure how many times I should repeat the process, but I'll do it as long as it takes.  I'm also researching foods and herbs that help eliminate fungus/dandruff.  I want to do it the natural way.....no chemicals.  Onions are recommended a lot in home remedies for hair,  but I didn't understand why.  Come to find out onions are high in sulpher....our hair is full of di-sulfide bonds...so I can see how it can strengthen hair but still not clear on it's anti-fungal properties.  Aloe and ginger both have antiseptic/anti fungal behavior so I understood the use of those ingredients.

The fungus saga continues..........stay tuned for more updates!

What else can I use to combat my fungus parties???


Peace and love!

The Juice Journey: Mint the Undercover Aphrodisiac

Mint is a common herb.  You find mint flavored toothpaste, candy, floss, gum, tea, and mouth wash in almost every home across the globe.  But there is more to this herb than just being a breath freshener.

 

 

I started using mint in my fresh juices because I liked the flavor it added to my nutritious nectars of love. In my quest to understand and learn more about my nectar ingredients this is what I found out about mint:

1.       There are over 50 species of mint

2.       Menthol (an alcohol) is an active component which contributes to the essence or aroma of mint

3.       In high does mint can act as an aphrodisiac (not sure how high is high...to proceed with caution)

4.       It can eliminate intestinal gas

5.       Can behave as an antiseptic

6.       Can be used in  steam treatment for unclogging nasal passageways

7.       Mint can invigorate your body

8.       Can relieve headaches, migraines and alleviate rheumatic and muscular aches.

Here is a great recipe (one of my favorites – Family approved) using this mighty herb:

Orange Mint Juice:

 8 oranges

1/3 bunch of kale

2 inches of ginger

2 cucumbers

½ cup of pineapple

10 - 12 sprigs of mint

The preparation was a bit different from other juices I’ve made.  In order to get more of a minty punch I juice all the other ingredients and blended the mint in afterwards (see below). 

Juiced ingredients: oranges, pineapple, kale, ginger, cucumbers

 

Adding mint to the blender with juice

 

Mint and juice in blender

 

Orange Mint Juice (YUM - MY!!!)

OOOO WEEE! This was some great juice! One of my favorites!  Try it and tell me what you think!

Peace and love!