Healthy Futures Today » DrinksHealthy Futures Today

Cashew Chai Milk

Chris — Sun, 11 Oct 2015 21:00:09 +0000

This tastes AMAZING! The ginger and spices combined with the cashews create the most delicious “milk” ever. You can turn this into a smoothie by adding bananas and greens, or any fruit of your choice. Stored in an airtight container, the milk will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. For a warm treat, Kris Carr (whose recipe this is) suggests heating up a cup on the stovetop and sprinkling with cinnamon.

Ingredients:

1 cup organic raw cashews, soaked for 2 hours*, rinsed, and drained
1/2-inch piece ginger, peeled
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 to 3 tablespoons maple syrup
3 1/4 cups water

Directions:

In a high-speed blender, blend all ingredients until smooth and creamy.

*Note: you can soak cashews anywhere from 2 – 6 hours. If you want to make this drink in the morning, soak the cashews for 2 hours the night before, drain, rinse and store in the fridge in a glass container.

Adapted from Kris Carr’s Crazy Sexy Juice.

Matcha (Green Tea) Vanilla Smoothie

Chris — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 15:44:44 +0000

This smoothie is a real treat. It’s like a healthy vanilla milkshake. It tastes so good, it’s hard to just sip it. If you’re not familiar with matcha, it’s finely ground, high quality, green tea powder. It’s sweeter than steeped green tea and, because it’s in a concentrated powder form, it’s super healthy due to all of those green tea antioxidants. You can find matcha in the tea section at Whole Foods, or any organic or Asian market. Or you can buy it online. The cost of matcha will vary depending on the quality – more expensive matcha is more mellow, less expensive matcha has more bitterness.

Yield: 2 smoothies

Ingredients:

2 frozen bananas
1 1/2 cups almond milk (preferably homemade)
2 teaspoons matcha powder (can use more or less, depending on your taste)
vanilla bean – a tiny scrape from about 1-inch of the pod
a handful of ice
a splash of honey (optional)

Directions:

Blend everything together. Taste & adjust to your liking.

Note:

If you don’t happen to have a vanilla bean, you can skip it. You can try adding a bit of vanilla extract, but you don’t have to in order for this smoothie to taste good.

Adapted from a recipe on www.loveandlemons.com.

Nut Butter Protein Shake

Chris — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 13:37:39 +0000

Hemp is an incredible multi-purpose plant that can be used for anything from paper, rope, and cloth. It is also one of the most nutritionally well-balanced foods on the planet.

Ingredients:

1 scoop of organic hemp protein powder
1 TB organic natural peanut butter (can use almond butter instead)
1 cup of almond milk or hemp milk
1/2 banana (preferably frozen)
3-5 ice cubes

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a blender and enjoy…

Courtesy of Good Hemp Nutrition.

Berry Green Smoothie

Chris — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:30:24 +0000

Now that berries will soon be coming into season, here’s a great way to put them to use. Did you know that berries have the lowest glycemic load of all other fruits? That means they have a low carb content and won’t make your blood sugar levels rise too much. Just make sure you choose organic berries – particularly strawberries – they are on the dirty dozen list of foods grown with the most pesticides.

So grab your blender and whip up this delicious, healthy smoothie.

Yield: about 16 oz.

Ingredients:

handful of strawberries
handful of blueberries
1 banana
2 cups almond milk
handful of spinach (or kale – whichever you prefer)
1 tablespoon almond butter
1 tablespoon or more chia seeds (or ground flax seeds)
4 or 5 ice cubes

Directions:

Put all the fruit and the almond milk in the blender and blend on low power for a few seconds
Add the spinach, almond butter, chia seeds, and ice cubes and blend until smooth.

Yummy Beet Juice

Chris — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 19:10:49 +0000

Beet juice has a whole host of health benefits. Also know as beetroot juice, beet juice is best known as a blood purifier and blood builder that helps in the creation of red blood cells. Athletes love it because it helps muscles use oxygen more efficiently. Beets are loaded with vitamins and minerals including Vitamins A and C, folate, magnesium, potassium, iron, calcium and many more. Beet juice has been proven to lower blood pressure and help with anemia, digestion, regulating metabolism, liver cleansing…the list goes on. So now that we know beets are a super food, try juicing them. Your body can get a direct shot of these amazing nutrients by making beet juice.

Yield: about 8 ounces juice

Ingredients:

1 raw beet, washed and ends cut off*
3 organic kale leaves
1 thumb size piece of fresh ginger root
1 organic apple

Juice all ingredients and drink up.

You can easily double this if making the juice for two. Beets also work well with carrots and celery.

*You don’t need to peel the beet unless it has a very thick peel. Just make sure to clean it well and cut the green ends off.

Oh So Refreshing Green Juice

Chris — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 18:25:33 +0000

I finally broke down and bought a juicer. I’m not sure why I held out for so long. I think I wanted to make sure I would put it to good use. And I have to say, so far so good. Every time I drink one of my new juice concoctions, I feel like I’m giving my body exactly what it needs and deserves. I feel very green and clean inside. If nothing else, the psychological effect is huge!

Here is one of my favorite juices so far:

Yield: about 16 ounces juice

Ingredients:

1 whole cucumber (peeled if not organic)
2 stalks organic celery
2 leaves organic kale
1/2 lemon (unpeeled)
1 thumb size piece of fresh ginger (more or less, depending on your affinity for ginger)
1 pear (or apple)

Juice all ingredients and drink up. You will love this oh so refreshing drink!

Ginger Smoothie

Chris — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 19:58:12 +0000

This is my new favorite drink. It has a tangy/sweet flavor that is incredibly refreshing. The ginger gives this juice a real zing. Ginger is best known for calming upset stomachs. It contains enzymes responsible for catalyzing the proteins in your food, thus aiding in digestion and the prevention of cramps. Ginger can also provide relief for bloating and gas.

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

1 banana
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
1 cup orange juice (fresh squeezed is better)
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup ice

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a blender; blend until smooth.

Cacao Smoothie

Chris — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 22:03:51 +0000

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups almond milk
1 frozen banana
1 Tablespoon raw cacao powder
1 teaspoon mesquite (optional)
1 or more teaspoons cinnamon
3 -5 ice cubes

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a Vitamix or blender and blend until smooth.

Peachy Green Smoothie

admin — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 23:13:06 +0000

Prep time: 5 minutes
Serves: 2 people

Ingredients:

1 – 2 cups frozen organic peaches
1 cup almond milk
1 cup filtered water
1 – 2 cups spinach (or kale)
1 frozen banana
1 or 2 tablespoons chia seeds

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a blender or Vitamix and blend until smooth. If you want your smoothie a little sweeter, you can add a bit of maple syrup or a pitted date or two.

Notes:

optional: you may add other ingredients for added nutrition such as hemp protein powder, bee pollen, flaxseed oil, spirulina powder, etc.