Happy Wednesday folks and good day to you!  The time is upon us where the heat is coming and the energy to cook is slowly going down in some peoples kitchens.  Juices are a great way to have a quick snack or even as a light dinner.  Pair them with a fresh granola bar, maybe left over salad and you are ready to beat the heat and stay healthy.  I am sure you all remember about my juicer from the past posts but I wanted to talk specific about juicer recipes and the benefits of juice.  Now with juicer recipes, of course the one tool you will need is a juicer.

The nutritional benefits of drinking a glass of fresh juice far outweigh that which you get by drinking packaged juice, so make the effort to go for fresh juice.  When should you drink juice? Ideally, the best time to drink a glass of juice would be a minimum of 20 minutes before a meal. Don’t gulp it down. Juices should be sipped slowly as the enzymes in our saliva digest the carbohydrates present in our juices.

So let’s get right to it and talk about some juicer recipes.

Juicer Recipes

Orange Carrot

• 8 Large Fresh Cleaned Carrots
• 2 Large Fresh Peeled Oranges

Using electric juice extractor, press carrots and oranges. Whisk to combine.

A Beet Beauty – The color of this one alone will make your smile even larger.  This is packed with flavor and will keep you coming back for more.

• 2 beets, (including greens optional)
• 2 carrots
• 1 apple, quartered and cored
• 1″ ginger

Using electric juice extractor, press beets, beet greens (if using), carrots, apple and ginger. Whisk to combine.

Apple Green Grape – Simply delicious!  These flavors were made to be together.  The combination of grapes and apples is one of my favorites.  When you were a kid, what was your favorite color Kool-Aid?

• 3 Granny Smith apples, quartered and cored
• 1 Cup seedless green grapes
• 1 Thin wedge lemon, peeled

Using electric juice extractor, press apples, grapes and lemon. Whisk to combine.

Pure Orange

• 4 Large Fresh Peeled Oranges

Using electric juice extractor, press oranges. Add a shot of sugar if you feel it needs some sweetness.  Top with a slice of orange.

The Red Racer – This one will be a great treat for those sweet tooth’s out there like me.  Consumption of these berries will reduce your cravings for the unhealthy sweets.  Or so that is what I find with me.

• 1 Cup raspberries
• 1 Cup Strawberries
• 2 Oranges
• 2 Apples

Using electric juice extractor, press all ingredients in the juicer. Whisk to combine.

The Green Carrot – Juice cucumbers with their skins on. The dark green skin is a great source of chlorophyll that can help build red blood cells

• 1 Cup of spinach
• 1/2 Cucumber
• 2 Stalks of celery including leaves
• 3 Carrots
• 1/2 Apple

Using electric juice extractor, press all ingredients in the juicer. Whisk to combine. 

Cuc-Apple Zinger – One of my favorites for a quick wake me up and great flavor.

• 2 1/2 Apples
• 1/2 Cucumber
• 1″ of Ginger

Using electric juice extractor, press all ingredients in the juicer. Whisk to combine.

Green Energizer Bunny – This one will keep you on your toes for hours!

• 2 Apples
• 1/2 Cucumber
• 1/2 Lemon (peeled)
• 1/2 Cup of kale
• 1/2 Cup of spinach
• 1/4 Bunch of celery
• 1/4 Bulb of fennel
• 1″ of Ginger
• 1/4 Head of romaine lettuce

Using electric juice extractor, press all ingredients in the juicer. Whisk to combine.

The Hangover Juice – Calcium and magnesium (from both cauliflower and broccoli) are an essential combination that can help prevent and relieve headaches.  If you encounter a hangover headache the next day, juice and drink the above combination two or three times or until the headache subsides.  Vitamin C is needed to continually detoxify your system.

• 1 Cup cauliflower
• 1 Cup broccoli
• 1 Apple

Using electric juice extractor, press all ingredients in the juicer. Whisk to combine.

Heartburn Reliever – This combination is very efficient in soothing the pain of heartburn. These highly alkaline produce neutralize the acidic environment, are very cleansing and building.

• 1 Cup Spinach
• 6 Carrots

Using electric juice extractor, press all ingredients in the juicer. Whisk to combine.

Juicer Recipe Recap

Now for me – juicer recipes are simply fun and a total experiment.  I mostly just make the recipes by trying whatever I have around in the fridge and seeing what they taste like.  One thing I am not a huge fan of when it comes to fresh juice ( it can be warm!)   For this issue, I usually serve it over ice because I do not like having it sit in the fridge for any length of time.

Let me know your thoughts on these juicer recipes but more importantly – tell me your favorite juicer recipe.  Have a great Monday and I will talk to you tomorrow.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Holy Snow! The weather has been a little on the snowy side the last couple of days and the wind – well just nuts. I don’t have a lot of time to spend with you today but I o have a couple of things to note. I am buying a new lens for my SLR camera which makes me excited. I am picking up the Canon 50 mm f/1.8 lens as well as buying an umbrella lighting kit.  Trying to fool around with my pictures and stay on top of my game.

I have been noticing my pictures are somewhat boring and drab as of late.  Speaking of pictures… I was playing around with the camera yesterday as you can see below just practicing different settings and techniques.  I made this awesome smoothie using up some fruit that we bought over the weekend.

I prefer fruit smoothies over veggie smoothies but I will drink both. This one was packed with blueberries, raspberries, and cherries!

I know….. cherries – they took a bit of work to remove the pits but added a nice flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Raspberries
• 1 Cup Blueberries
• 1 Cup Cherries ( pit removed )
• 1 Scoop Protein powder
• 2 Tbsp. Flax seed
• 1/2 Cup Astro Plain Yogurt
• Drizzle of Agave Syrup
• 1/2 Cup Skim milk or Soy Milk

Method

1. Add yogurt, milk, berries, protein powder, syrup and flax.
2. Blend together adding more yogurt or milk if needed.
3. ENJOY!

Enjoy the day where ever you are in the world and I will see you on Friday.  Oh before I go, I have a question to ask you regarding smoothies.  What is your go to ingredient when it comes to smoothies?  Are you a creamy smoothie person or do you prefer them juicy? Just curious really.    I find myself always going back to the Juicer recipes just because I can drink them faster.  The only problem with that is I get a brain freeze and the juicer takes longer to clean.  Have a super Wednesday.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Guess what’s back!!  You guessed it.  Another round of chocolate cream cheese cupcakes.  You cannot go too many months without baking these again if you can even survive that long.  It is a sun-filled day today so I thought I would share with you a baking recap from a few nights ago.  I made these last year at the zesty in laws in the summer and they are always a huge hit.

Can you really beat chocolate, cream cheese and to top it all off in bite size cupcake form?

So before we begin with the amazing recipe and picture overload

Ingredients

Cream Cheese Topping

• 8 Oz. Cream Cheese
• 1 Egg
• 1/3 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 Tsp. Salt
• 1 Cup Chocolate Chips

Dry Batter

• 1 1/2 Cup Flour
• 1 Cup White Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Cocoa
• 1 Tsp. Baking Soda
• 1/2 Tsp. Salt

Liquid Items

• 1 Cup Water
• 1/3 Cup Canola Oil
• 1 Tsp. White Vinegar
• 1 Tsp. Vanilla

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees and spray muffin tins with cooking spray.
2. Stir the cream  cheese to a creamy, smooth consistency.  Add egg, sugar and salt and stir  (blend) (cream) to uniform smooth consistency.













3. Stir in the chocolate chips.



4. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl,  form a “well ” and set aside.









5. Combine liquid ingredients  in another  bowl.





6. Stir liquid ingredients into dry ingredients.  Be sure not to over mix.





7. Spoon chocolate mixture into muffin tins until about 2/3 full.



8. Top each muffin with a tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture (Do note the spoon technique).





9. Bake small muffin tins for  9 -11 minutes and regular muffin tins for 20-25 minutes.





10. Remove from oven and let cool.



11. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: If you need to take these special treats with you to a party, you can make 1.5 times the batter portion. You will have lots of cream cheese topping.  Also note that these cupcakes freeze well and are good warm or cold.

So now after all this, I have to hear what you think about these cupcakes.  When you pop one in your mouth you automatically step away from reality and fall in love with the texture and flavor.  Lately I have been hooked on home juice with chocolate treats.  I know it sounds crazy – but I have been trying out different juicer recipes for the last couple of weeks and I think I am addicted.  Usually I am a milk and chocolate guy all the way.

Have a great Friday and be on the lookout for another great treat from our baking excursion the other night.

Take care

zesty

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Happy Friday to you!  Sorry for the premature announcement yesterday as my Quaker/Goodbite debut doesn’t take place until next Friday October 23rd.

I have been drinking POM Juice and Tea for quite a while and I have been reading a lot lately about it.  When I received some giveaway coupons from POM Wonderful I read through some of the literature and I was very impressed.

I was browsing the POM website and decided to try one of the recipes.

It is called a Pomegranate Mocktail.  Fairly simple so I thought I would give it a whirl.  Turned out great.  Have a look.

Ingredients

• 3/8 cup freshly squeezed pomegranate juice* or POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice
• 3/8 cup fresh lemonade
• 1-1/2 oz. sparkling water

Method

1. Fill a tall tumbler glass a little more than halfway with ice cubes.
2. Pour 3/8 cup fresh lemonade into the glass, up to the halfway mark.
3. Slowly add pomegranate juice. (The goal is to create a mix of half lemonade and half pomegranate juice, so adjust accordingly for the size of your glass.)
4. Add sparkling water.
5. Stir and serve.



6. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Try and keep the juices you consume as all natural as possible.   I find that way you are not wasting as many calories with unwanted sweeteners in your drinks.

Have a great Friday and a great weekend.  I am working at the house today getting it ready for drywall.  Mrs. Zesty is running a Half Marathon on Sunday so I will be going out in full support with the kiddies.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Happy Tuesday!  As I was eating pizza on Saturday night after taking a break from packing, I tuned into the food network where there was an episode on cranberry harvesting.  I was very intrigued.  I never really payed much attention to the harvesting of cranberries before, I just know that I love to eat them.  Whether they are fresh, frozen or in cranberry juice – I am a huge fan.

So after watching the episode I learned a great deal on the process of harvesting cranberries.

Did you know?

Cranberries are harvested in the fall when the fruit takes on its distinctive deep red color. This is usually in late September or early October. To harvest cranberries, the beds are flooded with six to eight inches of water above the vines. A harvester is driven through the beds to remove the fruit from the vines. For the past 50 years, water reel type harvesters have been used. Harvested cranberries float in the water and can be corralled into a corner of the bed and conveyed or pumped from the bed. From the farm, cranberries are taken to receiving stations where they are cleaned, sorted, and stored prior to packaging or processing.

Although most cranberries are wet-picked as described above, 5-10% of the US crop is still dry-picked. This entails higher labor costs and lower yield, but dry-picked berries are less bruised and can be sold as fresh fruit instead of having to be immediately frozen or processed. Originally performed with two-handed comb scoops, dry picking is today accomplished by motorized, walk-behind harvesters which must be small enough to traverse beds without damaging the vines.

White cranberry juice drinks are made from regular cranberries that have been harvested after the fruits are mature, but before they have attained their characteristic dark red color. Yields are lower on beds harvested early and the early flooding tends to damage vines, but not severely.

About 95% of cranberries are processed into products such as juice drinks, sauce, and sweetened dried cranberries. The remaining 5% is sold fresh to consumers. Cranberries destined for processing are usually frozen in bulk containers shortly after arriving at a receiving station. To allow air movement deterring decay, cranberries for fresh market are stored in shallow bins or boxes with perforated or slatted bottoms. Because harvest occurs in late autumn, cranberries for fresh market are frequently stored in thick walled barns without mechanical refrigeration. Temperatures are regulated by opening and closing vents in the barn as needed.

Information taken form both the food network tv show and Wikipedia.

Cranberry Sizzler

In honor of the cranberry, I thought I would make you my version of what I call the cranberry sizzler.  This high impact drink contains frozen cranberries and gives off a lot of attitude.  The tartness  of the cranberries really wake you up.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup frozen cranberries
• 1/2 Cup Apple slices
• 1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
• 1 Tbsp. Flax Seed
• 1/2 Cup Raspberries
• 1 Scoop of Protein Powder

Method

1. Add all ingredients to blender and mix until smooth
2. Pour into your favorite glass
3. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When blending frozen fruit it is best to put liquid at the bottom of the blender if possible to avoid the fruit from stopping the blender and getting stuck.  If you have a high powered blender you have nothing to worry about.

If you have not already entered the latest zesty blog giveaway – do so right this second!  I cannot wait to reveal the winner on June 8th.  Have a great Tuesday and see you tomorrow.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty