Fruit Infused Water BLOG

Ingredients:

4 tea bags green tea

1-½ tablespoons agave nectar, to taste
2 cups filtered water (see tips)
6 sprigs fresh mint, + extra for garnish
1-½ cups ice cubes
1 lime, freshly squeezed
1 large watermelon
 

Making iced green tea: 

Finely chop the mint. Heat 2 cups of water until the water is hot, but not more than 160°F. The water should basically be bubbling a little and there should be some steam starting to rise, whereas with black tea, you should reach a roaring boil. Remove from the stove. Immediately place the mint leaves and tea bags into the water. Steep the green tea for about 2 minutes (no longer!).  Add agave nectar. Strain the liquid and discard the tea bags and mint leaves.

Add ice cubes and let cool to room temperature.

What you will need:

water, 500 ml
sugar, 4 tablespoons (100 gr)
mint, 2 sprigs
basil 5 leaves
lime, 1 juice and peel

Ingredients to make aguas frescas:

watermelon
cold water (still or sparkling, as you prefer)
lime, mint and basil syrup
ice cubes to serve
Blend watermelon in a mixer and strain the puree to remove seeds. Combine in a jug watermelon juice, cold water to taste, syrup and ice cubes. Garnish with some mint leaves or lime slices and serve.

A few tips: if you have patience and want to remove manually all the seeds, you can avoid straining the watermelon puree, leaving more substance to drink. You can replace watermelon with any fruit you like, I tried it with peaches and it was just as good! I would suggest adding cucumber, or maybe a few ice cubes made with cucumber juice as I saw a few nights ago on tv.. genious! I think would be  fantastic and refreshing!

Gather together:

box of blackberries
fresh mint leaves
sliced key limes

If you would like it a little sweeter add a

little cane sugar
crushed ice
ginger ale or club soda for bubbles (optional)

pitcher of water

In a pitcher, muddle (or smoosh with the back of a spoon) the blackberries and mint until they make a delicious minty-berry mush. Add some blackerries, sliced key limes, fill with water and let sit in the fridge for a few hours. Stir occasionally. At this point, if you’re feeling fancy, you could garnish your mojito with a half wheel of lime and a sprig of mint. Or if you’re feeling impatient you could just go ahead and drink it.

I made two minuscule changes to the original recipe: used a blood orange instead of a Valencia, and bottled key lime juice instead of fresh since that’s what I had.  Be aware that this drink is not sweet, but it is quite refreshing.

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

1/4 cup key lime juice

Juice of 1 blood orange

4 cups chilled sparkling water

Ice

1.  Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into a small bowl and add the pods as well.  Add the lime juice and blood orange juice.  Cover and steep for anywhere from 2 hours to overnight.

2.  Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a large pitcher.  Add the sparkling water and stir.  Serve in ice-filled glasses.

Adapted from Cool Waters: 50 Refreshing, Healthy Homemade Thirst Quenchers by Brian Preston-Campbell, Harvard Common Press, 2009

Easy!  Fresh Pineapple cut in to squares, A few oranges sliced thin.  A skewer with some extra pineapple on top to nibble on.  I added little tags to all of the pitchers so guests would know what they were.  Used extra bulky yarn to wrap around the pitchers.

What I used:

10 Large Strawberries

2 Whole lemons Sliced

Bay Leaves for aesthetics

Teavana Stawberry Lemonade Tea

Directions:

Boil water and let the tea steep for about 3 minutes.  You just want a hint of the flavor and nothing too strong since you will be adding your own fresh fruit.

Slice the strawberries and lemons and place in to pitcher and chill for about 3 hours

Add Ice and serve!  Enjoy

April 19, 2012 Beauty Solutions

Mojito

About 6 slices of fresh pineapple

1 or 2 slices of fresh ginger

1 handful of fresh mint

Place all of the above ingredients in a clean, glass jug with fresh iced water!

A summer pool party favorite!  Cool and refreshing yet just a touch of sweetness.

Instructions:

Add a few TBSP’s honey to boiling water and stir until well blended and the honey has dissolved. Squeeze in juice from half a lemon Let the water cool to room temperature.

Add sliced lemon and freshly sliced strawberries to the water and refrigerate over night.  Go light on the lemons or else they will dominate the strawberry.

Add ice, a few mint sprigs and serve!

• 2 cups of seedless watermelon, cubed
• Ten to 12 basil leaves
• One half gallon of water

Pour water over melon and basil. Refrigerate for two hours and then serve over ice, garnished with a sprig of basil.

5 very ripe peaches pitted and sliced thinly
8 vanilla beans sliced down the middle
2 tbsp organic honey

Directions:
Warm the honey and stir into the water prior to adding the fruit. Once mixed add in the peaches and vanilla beans in to approximately 2 liters of water. Refrigerate overnight and enjoy!

April 19, 2012 Ricki Altman - Miami Blog

Raspberry Mist

3 cartons raspberries
4 limes, thinly sliced
4 cups ice water

Directions: Layer your beverage pitcher with lime slices and raspberries. Add ice. Repeat until the server is full. Pour water over the ice and fruit.

Note: Frozen raspberries make a better drink, as the flavor is intense, but if you are using a beverage server do not use frozen berries as they tend to break up and clog the spigot.

Add fresh raspberries in your glass for garnish.

1 orange
1 lemon
1 apple (green)
water
1 Slice the orange and the apple.
2 Spread lemon juice on the apple slices.
3 Put the apple slices, orange slices and juice from 1/2 a lemon in a pitcher.
4 Fill with water.
5 Refrigerate for 24 hours before serving.

• 1/4 cup dried rosehips
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup dried raspberry leaves
• 1 1/2 cups naturally sweetened raspberry or cherry juice
• 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
• 4 orange slices, for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. In a large pot bring 4 1/2 cups of water to a boil over high heat. Stir in the rosehips and raisins. Partially cover the pot, lower the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove pot from heat, stir in raspberry leaves, cover, and steep for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, place a large strainer lined with cheesecloth or a damp paper towel over another pot or heatproof bowl. Strain tea, pressing on the herbs to extract all liquid. Add raspberry and orange juices and stir to blend. Let brew cool completely, about 45 minutes. Fill four tall glasses with ice. Pour tea over ice and garnish each with an orange slice, if desired. Serve immediately.

Author: Jolene Hart

Sip this Lemon Ginger Infused Water all day long for a simple beauty drink that greatly benefits your digestion.

Ingredients

• 1 organic lemon
• 3″ peeled ginger root
• 66 oz pure, filtered water

Instructions

1. Slice the lemon into 1/4″thick rounds and drop into a pitcher. If there is any pulp left in the ends of the lemon, squeeze the juice into the pitcher as well. Thinly slice the peeled ginger root and add to the pitcher. Top with filtered water and infuse for 30 minutes or more before drinking.

Slices or cubes of fresh pineapple.  

Watermelon -cubes, balls or a cutout shape (cookie cutters work great)

One lime thinly sliced.  (Not too much as lime is strong)

Fill your pitcher with water and allow to refrigerate overnight.

Recipe Instructions:

2 medium sized oranges sliced

Handful of Cranberries ( I pierce mine down the center)

An herb of your choice  (rosemary, sage,mint,  bay leaves are suggestions)

Place in to a large spa water pitcher or infusion device with approximately 2 liters of water.  Best if you can let it steep over night.  Garnish with herbs or a piece of sliced orange on the side of ht glass for a classy touch.