Posts tagged as:

Juice

Pineapple Sunshine & A little magnesium juice

by Destini on March 13, 2013

Today I woke up, looked outside and shivered. It is March 13th and I still see A LOT of snow and the temperature has not given up on its cold winter front. I know I live in Winnipeg and try not to complain too much about it, but I am ready…bring on the sunshine! If the weather isn’t going to give it to me, why not make something that makes me think of beaches, little drink umbrellas and a whole bunch of sunshine! A little while ago Natural Vitality contacted me wanting to create a drink for them with some of their products. If you are unfamiliar with them, they make delicious magnesium supplements. I have been told to take magnesium before, but never actually did it(I listen very well apparently) so this gave me a great opportunity to try it out. Well the folks at Natural Vitality gave me all sorts of samples to try and I have been taking the Natural Calm magnesium supplement for almost two weeks now and so far so good.

According to the website, symptoms of magnesium deficiency are:

• Stress
• Fatigue & Low Energy
• Inability to Sleep
• Muscle Tension, Spasms & Cramps
• Anxiousness and Nervousness
• Irritability
• Headaches
• Weakness
• PMS and Hormonal Imbalances
• Weakening Bones
• Abnormal Heart Rhythm
• Calcification of Organs

I can sure say I experience several  of those, but I am sure lot’s of us do and never really know why? This package couldn’t have come at a better time..I get pretty bad PMS and was excited to see if this helped(my husband was too). I can sure say that I did notice that I didn’t have as much irrational behavior as per usual. Maybe I was looking for it? Or thinking about it more because of the Natural Calm, but I will think it was because it was helping! And I needed it!

After trying several of the flavours, the one I drank the most was the Raspberry-Lemon, but all of them are great and PERFECT to mix in my daily juice. No strange after taste. They are sweetened with organic stevia, have no GMO, vegetarian, cruelty free, gluten free & vegan.

Ingredients: Yields 2 drinks

  • 3/4th of a whole pineapple, cut into pieces *see below on how to cut a pineapple*
  • 1 orange
  • half banana
  • 2 servings of Orange Natural Calm
  • ice

Directions: Take 2 servings of the Orange Natural Calm & add 2 oz of hot water(this part is fun to watch the magnesium sizzle!) and put to the side to cool down a little bit.  In a juicer, juice the pineapple & orange.  Transfer juice to a blender, add banana and the ice, blend till smooth, stir in the Orange Natural Calm and serve in two glasses.

Note: To slice a pineapple, first cut off the leafy top and the base. Stand the fruit on one end and slice the thick skin off in strips, from top to bottom. Cut into rounds, or quarter the pineapple and cut out the core. The flesh can be chopped or cut into strips or chunks

To have fun with it add piece of pineapple & drink umbrella, because hey it’s -19c and this girl is tricking her mind thinking she is on a beach!

Do you want to try some of Natural Vitality products? Well here is your chance! The lovely folks at Natural Vitality will be giving ONE of my special readers a $35 e-gift card to the online store!!

It is easy to enter; just do the mandatory entries and if you want to enter more than once do the extra options. This giveaway ends Thursday March 21st @ 12:01am.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tagged as: Juice, magnesium, natural calm, natural vitality, orange, pinapple sunshine, pineapple

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A cold Ninja Juice Recipe

by Destini on January 17, 2013

It’s been awhile, I know. I was looking back through some old posts and noticed this has become too common of a situation. I wish I knew why. I have long lists of upcoming posts and things I want to share, but life sometimes just gets in the way. One of my goals for the New Year is to make this no longer a situation. I often find myself 5ft deep in projects. I love projects…however finishing projects is a different thing, they get done. But not in the time frame I would like.  BAD DESTINI!

As most of you know, there has been some serious bad strains of the cold virus out there. In fact the Public Health Agency of Canada & The CDC have said this influenza has been very aggressive and impacted a HUGE number of us poor humans. YUCK! I have done a surprisingly wonderful job avoiding such virus thus far, however…my coworker who sits near me(love me a cubical office….)has been coughing and sneezing. I seriously wanted to stick the poor boy in a bubble(sorry dude). My husband and I are leaving for Phoenix in just a matter of weeks and I DID NOT want this cold virus to ruin any part of this trip. With all my best efforts to avoid this said virus, I started feeling the symptoms of the dreaded super influenza virus and knew some serious efforts to stop it from spreading were required.

Queue in the Juicer and this wonderful Super Ninja Juice for assistance in keeping this virus at bay. These ingredients all have special cold fighting abilities and together make a pretty darn delicious cold ninja super juice.

Ingredients: Yields 1 serving

  • 3 oranges, remove rind but keep a small piece to put in (more info below)
  • ginger, 1inch piece
  • 1/4 of a lemon(rind removed)
  • pinch of cayenne pepper
  • .5ml Echinamide Anti-Viral(optional)*follow directions on label*

Directions: Juice all fruits including the small piece of orange rind. Stir in cayenne pepper & Echinamide & enjoy!

You might be asking why such ingredients are Ninjas. Let me explain why:

Oranges – As I am sure you know, Oranges are full of Vitamin C . Now how much Vitamin C our bodies will actually intake and not just pee out is a whole different story, but having low levels of Vitamin C may make you more susceptible to illness. So lets have some Vitamin C and plus oranges taste just awesome. Oh and I forgot to mention according to a study sponsored by the American Chemical Society; consuming mandarin oranges and drinking juice cuts the risk of liver cancer. Oh and they are full of antioxidants. The reason for the rind is that it will contain 4 times of the amount of fiber than inside the fruit and they have anti-inflammatory properties.

Ginger – This is one of those situations where the saying “less is more” is a factor for me.  Back in the day this ginger wasn’t very fond of “ginger”, but like most things I never used to like..I love it now! And yes I made a ginger joke.. har har. Ginger has been used in Chinese medicine for over 2 thousand years. They use it for everything. Most often in my household my husband has it in tea to help with upset tummy(lactose issues). It is fantastic for nausea, but also has some other wonderful health benefits. It helps with healthy sweating which is good for colds and flues to assist in detoxification. And that is something you want to have that cold go bye bye.

Lemons – These bitter sweet fruits are often used in cleanses for their ability to kill germs and bacteria. They are also great help with digestion.  They contain a wide variety of vitamins and minerals such as vitamin c, potassium, magnesium and calcium. I always drink water with a slice of lemon. I find it helps with my water intake and that is always a plus!

Cayenne Pepper – Now this is a funny one, before writing this blog post, I had simply included this because my husbands Baba has a teaspoon everyday and swears it the best thing for you. Anytime I have ever had a cold she insists I have some.  Now she is quite the energetic 80 year old and clearly knows something that I don’t, so I listen without question. But for this post I thought I should have some research behind it. Apparently Baba is a smart lady, with some research I found what makes the spice have so much heat is because is contains high amounts of capsaicin. This not only gives it the heat, but it also helps in congestion relief. It will loosen nasal and sinus congestion. So say take that to that stuffy nose. It also contains vitamin A! Vitamin A protects the body when an infection is present.  And if that wasn’t all, this ninja spice also naturally helps reduce your core body temperature and naturally cools the body. I know when I have a fever I am a gonner!

Echinamide – This is optional, I was introduced to this awhile ago at a Green Convention and have used it ever since to help fight off colds. Often when people talk about natural remedies for colds, you will hear “echinacea” in the list of suggestions you can take. This is just a more purified version of it. It does have a spicy flavor, so I always add it to OJ to help break that up. According to WebMD; Echinacea is a herb that is widely used to help fight infections such as the common cold.

I hope this Ninja juice helps aid you in your cold relief. It is a must around here!!

Note: I am not a dietitian, doctor or hold any medical certificate/degree. The information I provided here is with the assistance of some research and of my own personal beliefs. I always say research research research and of course speak with your Doctor.

I have some fun new things that will be happening on the blog soon. Getting more focused and trying to not do so much will help make these things happen. I hope everyone had a great Holiday Season!

Question: What do you find works the best to help prevent or fight a cold/flu?

Tagged as: Cold, Flu, Juice, Recipe

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