Lemon-Ginger Iced Green Tea

It’s  the middle of Summer and boy is it HOT out there! You may be drinking tons of water everyday to quench your thirst but sometimes plain water gets a little boring. Iced-tea is popular this time of year and I whipped up a recipe that will cool you down and please your taste buds at the same time!

iced-tea (452x800)

 

Ingredients:

2 bags organic green tea

2 bags organic ginger tea

3 cups cold water

6 cups ice

1 lemon, juiced

1 lemon, sliced

2 T. organic maple syrup, optional

 

Method:

1. Boil 3 cups of water in a tea kettle.

2. Steep green tea and ginger tea in 3 cups of water for 1 hour.

3. After tea has steeped for allotted time, mix with another 3 cups of cold water in a 2 quart tea pitcher.

4. Add 6 cups of ice to tea.

5. Stir in lemon juiced and sliced lemon.

6. Sweeten to taste with maple syrup.

Yield: 2 quarts

Five Fun Ways to Keep Your Memory Sharp

If you worry about your memory and want to keep it sharp, here are 5 tips to boost your brain power.

Being an active learner throughout your life is a good way to keep your mind youthful, because maintaining sharp brain health requires constant learning. The more you use your brain, the more brain cells your body will generate. And, experts believe that the more brain cells you have in reserve, the lower your chance of developing age-related cognitive decline.

Here are some fun ways to stimulate and challenge your brain:

Memorize a Poem or Song: This kind of focus and concentration has been shown have positive effects on memory. Pick a favorite poem or song and look at it visually while saying it out loud to help you remember. Repetition is key to remembering something, so say it in the morning when you wake up, and again at night before you go to bed. Before long, you’ll have your favorite poem or song memorized.

Play Card Games Like Concentration: Any card game will help stimulate your brain and keep it working. Concentration is one game that’s great for your memory and can be played either alone or with a group of people. In this game, all of the cards are laid face down on a surface and two cards are flipped face up over each turn. The object of the game is to turn over pairs of matching cards.

Try Brain Teasers: These fun games really challenge your mind to look at something in a different way or focus and concentrate to solve a problem. For example:

Find the Familiar Word

If you cross out five letters in the group of letters below, the remaining letters (in their current order) will spell a popular fruit. What is the word?

B F I A V N E A L E N T T A E R S

(The answer at the bottom of this page)

Have a Chat: If puzzles and games are not your thing, try having a chat with someone. Memory researchers have found that spending just 10 minutes a day talking to another person can support your memory as much as puzzles and games.

Switch your routine. Try using your non-dominant hand to write, brush your teeth, hold your computer mouse, or switch the channels of your TV with your remote control. Yes, it will likely feel a bit awkward. And, it will take more time to do what you are trying to do. But, when you use your non-dominant hand for tasks, you are actually strengthening the pathways in the opposite side of your brain.

Answers to Brain Teaser

Cross out “fi-v-e-le-tt-ers” to make the word BANANA

This article is written by Lauren Kent the writer for Nutri-Health.com, an online High Quality Health Supplements and Health Store.  Assisting people and helping them find quality natural supplements and health products online is what Lauren has been doing for several years.  Nutri-Health.com carries Digestive Supplements to Probiotic Supplements to Joint Health products.

Strawberry & Cucumber Salad with Minty Coconut Dressing

It’s getting hot outside, especially in South Florida! You may already be craving cooling foods like salads and fresh fruit. Sweet strawberries and cooling cucumbers along with this minty fresh coconut milk dressing are sure to satisfy a sweet craving and cool you down all at once. Refreshing! I made the dressing with regular coconut milk but feel free to use light coconut milk.

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Red Velvet Cupcakes {gluten free, vegan}

Red velvet cake is typically loaded up with chemical-laden red food coloring and the frosting is a heavy cream cheese. Eat this and you will feel sugar overload and over processed central.

Enter this simple gluten free cake using beet powder and cocoa powder for that classic red color. If you use baking soda, it will react with the beet powder and the cake will have a more cocoa color but they will rise a bit more. Go without the baking soda for the authentic red velvet color. Either way, this is delicious! Homemade icing made with 3 ingredients: powdered sugar, coconut milk, vanilla. This makes 16 perfect little bites to serve at your next dinner party. Enjoy!

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Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

I don’t care how young or old you are, everyone loves cookies! I posted these on Instagram/Facebook last week and got a lot of requests for the recipe. So here you go my friends!

Easy to make, made with healthy ingredients. I went easy on the sugar, just the right amount. Most cookie recipes have at least a cup, but trust me you only need 1/2 cup.

Enjoy!

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