Watermelon Lemonade

Watermelon Lemonade. While the concept is so simple, I feel like we don't see this option enough. It's summertime, the official season of lemonade, yet we almost only ever see the classic lemon rendition, but what about all of the other flavors in the world? Peach, blueberry, and today's twist, watermelon all come to mind when I think of flavored lemonade. So today I'm bringing you my simple no-fuss version, feel free to serve as is, or spiked with a little vodka when you're feeling extra dangerous! Cheers.

Watermelon Lemonade

Ingredients:

• 4 lemons, juiced
• 3 cups watermelon juice (I used my juicer, or you can use your blender and then pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve)
• 1/3 cup find granulated sugar
• 2 cups water
• ice
• fresh mint leaves for garnish

 

In a large pitcher, mix together the lemon juice, watermelon juice, sugar and water. Stir, allowing the sugar to dissolve into the liquid.

Fill glassware with ice and top with lemonade. Garnish with mint leaves. 

Watermelon Kiwi Lime Juice

Normally I juice for breakfast a few times a week, making an extra large batch and drinking half in the morning, and another half as my 3pm snack (pretending it's gummy bears or salty chips) before leaving the office and heading to the gym. Something about this watermelon kiwi juice makes me want to spike it with some tequila... or vodka... or gin! It's so super summery, and it makes you feel like you're beach-side. All that's missing is the little umbrella. So if you have one, definitely add it! Otherwise, just make this for breakfast and play pretend.

Watermelon Kiwi Lime Juice

Ingredients:

• 4 cups watermelon, rind removed
• 4 kiwis, peeled
• 1 lime, halved

Process the watermelon and kiwi through your juicer in the order suggested. Squeeze the lime juice in at the end (I prefer not to send it through the juicer because the rind is hard to remove and can taste bitter if you don't remove it). Serve immediately for best results, or keep in an airtight container in the fridge. Hint: the longer you wait to consume the more oxidized it will get, losing its key elements!

Summer Lovin' Juice

Yellow like the sun. That's what this juice is.  And doesn't bright yellow and fresh fruit just scream summer?! After purchasing the world's single largest golden beet (larger than my head, no joke) at the farmer's market, I knew that it was destined for my juicer. While I don't have a major sweet tooth, I do need a little bit of sweet to wash down the earthy flavor of the beet. So I added in naturally sweet pineapple and mango (more fun yellow colors, yay!), plus some fresh ginger and turmeric for anti-inflammatory and digestion benefits, bonus! Perfect way to start the day during these hot and sunny summer months.

Summer Lovin' Juice

Ingredients:

• 2 golden beets
• 1 medium pineapple, trimmed and cored
• 1 mango, peeled and cored
• 1-inch knob fresh ginger
• 1-inch knob fresh turmeric

Wash all of the produce and peel the beet of it's skin. Process the produce through your juicer in the order suggested. Serve immediately for best results, or keep in an airtight container in the fridge. Hint: the longer you wait to consume the more oxidized it will get, losing its key elements!

Watermelon Cucumber Mint Juice

Who doesn't love watermelon? It's basically summer's mascot, and can be inserted into basically any meal of the day. Juice it for breakfast. Pile some atop your salad for lunch. Or grill it along with some chicken for dinner. Triple threat. Today I share with you one of my favorite breakfast juices, pairing sweet, ripe watermelon with some fresh mint to brighten up your morning! This makes enough for 2 24-oz. juices, so have it twice in a day, or share one with a friend.

Watermelon Cucumber Mint Juice

Ingredients:

• 6 cups watermelon
• 1 large cucumber
• 1/2-inch knob of fresh ginger
• 15-20 fresh mint leaves
• 1 lime

Wash all of the produce well before juicing. You can either peel the lime and send it through the juicer, or simply cut in half and squeeze it in at the end. Process the produce through your juicer in the order suggested by your juicer's instructions. Serve immediately for best results, or keep in an airtight container in the fridge. Hint: the longer you wait to consume the more oxidized it will get, losing its key elements!

Fresh Citrus Beet Juice

Arizona loves to do this thing where we skip right from 70-degree spring days into full-fledged 100+ degree summer days within about a week. Case in point, Thursday was a high of 101, and then Sunday night we had torrential downpour and now it's cold again. This usually means that people will be getting sick from the sudden surge in temperatures, and to combat any such option I have been juicing my little heart out. It's no secret that my new favorite place to go is the Uptown Farmer's Market here in Phoenix, grabbing as much fresh and local produce as I can to put into my morning juice. This weeks loot included red beets, carrots, oranges, lemons, mango, cucumber, and ginger. I added a fresh knob of turmeric for added antioxidants, and has been known to aid in curbing joint pain, tame heartburn and upset stomach, as well as protect the brain by repairing stem cells. And well, I'm no scientist, but those are enough reasons for me to add a bit to my morning routine! 

Fresh Citrus Beet Juice

Ingredients:

• 1 large red beet, stems removed and saved for another use (this salad)
• 5 large carrots
• 1 large cucumber
• 1 large orange
• 1 lemon
• 1 mango
• 1-inch knob of fresh ginger
• 1-inch knob of fresh turmeric

Wash all of the produce and peel the orange, lemon, and mango of their rinds and seed the mango. Process the produce through your juicer in the order suggested. Serve immediately for best results, or keep in an airtight container in the fridge. Hint: the longer you wait to consume the more oxidized it will get, losing its key elements!

Sweet Beet Sunrise Juice

I recently received the cutest little cookbook from my secret santa at work called "Eat the Year". It's basically 365 days of food. Welcome to my personal heaven. Each page shares the National Food Day that happens to fall on that date, along with little anecdotes and recipes. January 15th is National Fresh Squeezed Juice Day. Thus, this sweet beet juice. I am striving to try new things in 2015, including baking more, perfecting difficult culinary techniques (damn you poached eggs), and trying out some quirky recipes for National Food Days. This is just the start of my 2015 recipe train, so buckle up, it's going to be a delicious ride!

Sweet Beet Sunrise Juice

Ingredients:

• 1 green apple
• 2 large carrots
• 1/2 red beet
• 1 large orange

Wash your produce well before juicing. Run the apple, carrots, beet, and orange through your juicer in order according to your machine's protocol.

Drink juice immediately to consume the maximum nutrients. Makes about 1 1/2 cups of juice.

Skinny Jeans Juice

I have brought you many juices so far this year since getting my Breville for Christmas. And after trying out dozens of different recipes. Some on purpose. Some by accident. I have found my go-to juice that I drink about 5 days a week. It's lean. It's green. And it's delicious. Sometimes I like to add a little knob of ginger to give it a little kick. This is a great base juice to start the day off on the right foot. And to help you fit into those skinny jeans this summer!

Don't forget to vote for HDFB in the Battle of the Blogs on AZ Foothills. Votes are unlimited!:

http://www.arizonafoothillsmagazine.com/battle-of-the-blogs.html

Skinny Jeans Juice

Ingredients:

• 2 green apples
• 1 cucumber
• 1 cup spinach
• 1 lemon

Juice all ingredients according to the order of your juicer's instructions. Drink cold neat or over ice.

The name is inspired by the Agave Spa at The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, where they are selling freshly pressed juices daily!

Carrot Lemonade

If I would have posted this on Thursday morning like I had planned to, then my post would have read something like this:

"It's currently 4:30am as I post this recipe today, but I can't complain because I am on my way to NYC baby! A quick cab ride, 2 over-stuffed carry-on bags, and 1 smoking hot boyfriend later we are at the airport in search of any place that will give us coffee in exchange for money. We also may or may not have packed turkey sandwiches, hot tamales, jolly ranchers, and chex mix in our bags for the flight. I get antsy on planes. I also get hangry if I'm not fed. I'm 12 years old. Anyways, while we jet set for the weekend I wanted to make sure I shared this with you all before I go. Because it's amazing. Carrot Lemonade is my new favorite bevy. It's sweet, it's flavorful, and it's not full of processed sugars and such like powdered lemonade. I made an extra large batch that lasted me a couple of days. For once I used self control and didn't drink the entire mason jar in one day. I can't promise I'll be able to do it again though."

But since 4:30am came so damn early, I wrote the post and then forgot to hit the publish button. Can you blame me? Anyways, here is the recipe as promised!

Carrot Lemonade

Ingredients:

• 1 pound carrots
• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Wash and juice your carrots in a juicer. Then simply mix together the carrot juice, pineapple juice, water, and lemon juice together. Serve cold over ice.

Watermelon Coconut Cooler

Okay, so as promised, here is the second part of yesterday's Strawberry Watermelon Juice recipe that I promised you all! Because I had so much juice, and I had a tray of coconut water frozen into ice cube trays, I figured a cooling coconut water slushie after a quick workout at the gym was the best way to stay hydrated. If I had popsicle molds I probably would have frozen this mixture in them to create a great and healthy snack! This only takes 2 minutes to whip up. Plus, it's pink!

Watermelon Coconut Cooler

Ingredients:

• 1/2 batch strawberry watermelon juice
• handful of frozen coconut water cubes

Add ingredients to a blender. Whirl until smooth and frothy. Drink cold.

Strawberry Watermelon Juice

You guys. I have a confession to make. While normally I keep my blog mostly about food, and only a little about my personal life, I just had to share and give some big kudos to my boyfriend. To say I've been a little stressed since we put my house up for sale is the understatement of the century. And no matter what little thing sets me off, Andrew is always there reminding me that we can get through anything together. How is he so calm all of the time? I must find out his secret. But after worrying day after day about my roof top deck that needed painting, and getting quotes for upwards of $800, I came home Friday afternoon to find that he had gone up and painted it himself. I could have cried. It really took the biggest weight off of my shoulder and allowed me to really let loose and play a mean game of Cards Against Humanity with friends that night. We won't even go there. We have the sickest senses of humor. But I guess what I am trying to say is that I am so lucky and so thankful, and just had to give credit where credit is due. Now, on to food!

Today's recipe is a 2-parter! On a recent trip to the store I found both strawberries and watermelon for under $1 each! If you need tips on how to navigate your way through the grocery store, be sure to check out my pointer's on tackling the grocery store here. I headed home and proceeded to juice 1/2 of my watermelon and 1 of the 4 pints of strawberries that I picked up. Seeing as it is reaching 108 degrees here in Phoenix already I needed a nice cool juice to keep me refreshed. Since this recipe ended up making more juice than I could have drank in 1 day, I decided to add it into a slushie, which I will post tomorrow! (hint: the only extra ingredient you need is coconut water for tomorrow's recipe)

Strawberry Watermelon Juice

Ingredients:

• 1/2 watermelon, rind removed
• 1 pint strawberries, greens removed
• 1/2 cucumber

Wash the strawberries and cucumber well before juicing. Run the produce through your juicer in order according to your machine's protocol. 

Makes about 3 cups of juice.

Raspberry Chia Seed Lemonade

Pinterest. How I love to hate you. Case in point being that the second I saw this recipe online, I HAD to make it. I mean, come on. Raspberry lemonade for one is delicious. Then add in some chia seeds and coconut water. Perfection. Now, if you are a texture person, this might not be for you. You could omit the chia seeds completely to avoid the tapioca-ish feel of this. But I for one am a strong advocate of the chia. With the 3-day weekend behind us, it is officially summer time. And what's summer without some homemade lemonade?!

Raspberry Chia Seed Lemonade

Ingredients:

• 1 cup raspberries
• 2 cups coconut water
• 4 tbsp. chia seeds
•  1/2 cup lemon juice
•  1 tbsp. honey

Place the raspberries in a food processor (or muddle by hand) until smooth. Add the pureed raspberries, lemon juice, coconut water, and chia seeds into a large pitcher or mason jar. Shake well until combined. Place in the fridge and allow the chia seeds to absorb some of the liquid, becoming soft, for at least 30 minutes. Drink cold. Can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week. 

Carrot, Mango, Kiwi Smoothies

How many of you have been to Cost Plus World Market? Is that place the heaven that I created in my my own mind? Right when I walked in yesterday I was greeted by incredible summer beach tablescapes with seahorse salad tongs, starfish placemats, and hand-blown glass tumblers. Oh, and like 70% of everything was teal and orange. My newest obsession. Hence the straw and the color of this incredible smoothie! It's half fresh juice and half fresh fruit, pureed into a perfect summer smoothie. And unlike most juice based smoothies, this isn't gull of artificial sugars, and just the right amount of sweet!

Carrot, Mango, Kiwi Smoothies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup carrot juice (I juiced mine in my juicer, but you could buy bottled carrot juice)
• 1 cup frozen mango chunks
• 2 kiwis, peeled and halved

Add all ingredients to a blender and puree until smooth. Serve cold. This recipe will make 2 small smoothies, or 1 large smoothie.

Mango Carrot Juice

Happy Monday! Welcome to Hot Dog! It's a Food Blog 2.0! I am excited to share with you all my new look, new logo, and especially new recipes! Thanks to my amazing friend Jennica for helping me with this new layout. I am completely in love, and am so excited to share even more new features with you all soon! 

Did we all survive the Superbowl last night? Are you in a pizza-wings-taco-chips-salsa-mac-and-cheese-ball-beer-food coma like me? Did you just answer yes? Good. Let's just all detox together. Okay? It's as simple as this. Mango. Carrot. My kind of math. Easy addition. 1 mango + 2 carrots = a deliciously sweet snack that packs a healthy punch. Plus, the color of this juice reminds me of spring time. Bright tangerine and full of life. Just the way I like it. My boyfriend brought home some mango for me, knowing I'm obsessed with my juicer, so I made sure to share with him, even though it was tempting to hog it all to myself. It's that good.

Mango Carrot Juice

Ingredients:

• 1 large mango, peeled and pitted
• 2 large carrots

Wash the carrots well before juicing. Run the pitted mango and carrots through your juicer in order according to your machine's protocol. 

Drink juice immediately to consume the maximum nutrients. Makes 1 cup of juice.

Green Machine Juice

I feel like everyone who juices has their go to green juice. And I have finally perfected mine. While it may look and smell like fresh cut grass after the landscapers come, it tastes so fresh and it's like you can feel yourself getting healthier and skinnier with every sip. This makes two servings of juice since I like to drink mine throughout the morning to keep me satiated. Noon just seems like light years away when you get into the office before 7am.

Green Machine

Ingredients:

• 2 green apples
• 1 large cucumber
• 5 celery stalks
• 2 limes
• 1 bunch kale
• 1-inch ginger root

Wash all of your fruit and veggies well before juicing. Juice in order according to your juicer directions. 

Drink immediately to get the most nutrients from the juice, but can be enjoyed for up to 24 hours after juiing. This recipe makes 2 large servings.

*Tip: tightly roll the kale leaves up in a tight bunch and juice between 2 apple slices to get the most juice from the kale.

ABC Juice

This juice can't be beet. Get it? Okay, sorry. That was lame. But it's corny punch line has been running through my head ever since I made this juice last week. It gets it's name, ABC Juice, from it's components; apple, beet, and carrot. So simple. And surprisingly delicious. If you missed my introduction to juicing, check here. I have been on the fence about beets up until recently, but I quickly became a strong advocate for these bright delights. 1) Because I know how healthy they are for you. 2) My boyfriend loves beets. And 3) They have such an amazing color that I am obsessing over. In the past week I have juiced them multiple times, and even roasted them and used their green stems to make a beet green salad. To die for. Recipe to follow. Any who, here is my latest and greatest juice recipe. The ABC.

ABC Juice

Ingredients:

• 1 beet, stems removed
• 1 green apple
• 2 large carrots

Wash all of your fruits and veggies before starting and remove any skins that your juicer cannot process. Follow the instructions for your particular juicer and juice them in order accordingly. 

Enjoy your juice immediately to obtain the maximum nutrients.

Introducing: Juicing

So, I have contemplated for a couple of weeks now whether or not to post about my adventures in juicing. I know that not a lot of people have access to a juicer, so that could turn some of you away. But at the same time, I am in love. And I want to share that love with the world. Or at least those of you who are reading this. 

My boyfriend got a thousand gold stars for gifting me a juicer (Breville Juice Extractor Elite) of my very own for Christmas this year. And I have been putting some good hours in on that bad boy. I have searched the Pinterest blogosphere for every and any juicing recipes I can find, however; I have found that I enjoy making up my own concoctions better! I've been playing around with flavors, and I finally created one that I wanted to share with you. 

This mixture of sweet potato, carrot, green apple, and ginger is simple, sweet, and incredibly crave-able. Juicing allows you to take in more vitamins and nutrients than you would be able to physically chew sitting at the dining room table. Think about trying to eat a whole sweet potato, 2 large green apples, 4 carrots, and some ginger in one sitting. Your jaw would be pretty mad at you. But juicing allows you to get all of those fruits and veggies in one serving, which fills you up, helps make your skin glow, hydrates you, and gives you tons of energy! Now I am in no means going on a juice cleanse or diet (diet is like a curse word to me, no thank you), but I simply add juices to my daily routine, which helps me to make healthier choices through my day.

Sweet Potato Juice:

Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet potato
• 2 large green apples
• 4 large carrots
• 1/2-inch piece of ginger root

Wash all fruits and veggies well before you juice. Follow the instructions according to your juicer for preparation, speed, what order to juice these, etc. 

Serve the juice immediately to obtain maximum nutrients before the juice starts to oxidize. Oxidation occurs when you break open the cell wall of a fruit or vegetable. For example, when you cut open an apple and it begins to turn brown. Do you have any yummy juices you love to make? Send 'em to me! I'd love to feature them.