JuBella.com – Get Your Creative Dose

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!

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.

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!

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.

Hi Everybody! So, I was up late and had a major craving for a cool smoothie, but since I did not want to wake everyone in the house up with my incredibly loud blender, I changed my mood to something warm. Anyhow, I came up with this super easy and quite delightful chai inspired recipe. Its made with sweet & spicy spices and a dash of cocoa which leaves a silky, smooth, sweet, & chocolate aftertaste! Ok, have I convinced you enough to try it? Here is the recipe.

Tip: You can cool this recipe off by chilling it in the fridge and garnishing it with some shaved chocolate and whip cream or serve along side a scone, or biscotti, or a light shortbread cookie!

For The Spiced Tea Bags:

1/4 tsp: of: Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger, Black Pepper, and Fennel Seeds

2/4 tsp. Cardamon

1 clove

2 Pieces of Muslin or Light Cotton, cut into squares

Cotton String

For The Tea Base:

2 C. Sweetened Vanilla Almond Milk (I used the Blue Diamond Brand)

1 small Black Tea Bag

1/4 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract

1/4 tsp. Unsweetened Cocoa

2 tsp. Sugar

Directions: Take your first cloth square and place all of your spices except your cardamon in the center. Pull up the sides and tightly tie a piece of string around the top to close(as seen in the photo above). Do the same with your other piece of cloth for your cardamon. Make sure you have your cloth tied tightly as you do not want any spices coming out.

Now take a saucepan and pour in your milk, put in your small black tea bag, your two handmade spiced tea bags, and your vanilla. bring to a light boil. bring it down to a simmer and let your tea steep for at least 15-20 minutes. For a stronger blend, you can let your tea steep much longer . Now whisk in your sugar and cocoa until both have dissolved. Pour into your favorite tea cup and enjoy!

Tip: if you want a spicier tea, simply add more ginger to your spiced tea bag.

Good morning everybody! How was your weekend? Mine was pretty good, rather relaxing, although I could have used a couple of naps in between running all of our weekend errands!

When I am in need of a boost of energy as well as a boost in vitamins to my system, I love to start off the mornings with fresh fruit juice. My absolute favorite blend is: spinach, sweet mangoes, and apples as seen above. It’s super delicious and has a great texture. I use a Champion juicer along with fresh spinach and fresh fruit. Serve with some sliced and chilled mangoes or a cool fruit salad, and you have got yourself a delightful start to a fresh morning! You really cannot go wrong with your fruit blends(you can use grapes, oranges, sweet peaches…whatever you like). As long as you have at least one sweet fruit, then the flavor should come out just fine. I always use a huge handful of fresh spinach, and I usually get plenty of juice from it. Do any of you juice? If so, share your favorite blends by leaving a comment!

So, how are you all feeling creatively? Do you have any special projects that you are working on or that you would like to start? The holidays are quickly approaching and if you are like me then you have a running list of crafty projects that you are dying to finish or at least get started on. In due time I suppose, but to get some creative juices flowing I will be posting a simple little DIY project tomorrow! Ok, that’s all for now, I will be back soon with your creative dose!