The Flu Buster Juice

I will always remember January as the month when I couldn't get out of bed for over a week straight. That dang flu bug took me down this year and I fell hard. I honestly haven't been that sick in over six years! 

Since I try to rely on natural remedies as opposed to drug store versions, I tried practically every home remedy I could get my hands on. The winners included gargling with salt water (to ease a sore throat), a hot bath with eucalyptus oil (to clear out the sinuses) and this Flu Buster Juice (to ease general symptoms/immune support). 

I won’t lie: this juice is intense. This juice is a powerful punch of lemon juice, garlic, ginger, and cayenne pepper to top it off. It’s powerful enough that just two ounces will do the trick.  Bottoms up!

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Spiced Orange Cranberry Sauce

I understand that Thanksgiving is over. I know that it's time to move on from lentil loaves, mashed potatoes, and roasted yams. My brain is on board with this. But, my tastebuds? That's a different story.

I made this spiced orange cranberry sauce this year for Thanksgiving and have been indulging myself every day since. I've had this sauce over lentils, spread this on toast, and eaten it after dinner for dessert. If this keeps up, by New Years you might have to send me to cranberry rehab.

In my defense, it's important for you to know that this isn't any ordinary cranberry sauce. This one isn't overly sweet or loaded with refined white sugars like the typical canned cranberry sauce of my youth. Instead, it is sweetened with a few dates and spiced up with ginger, fresh oranges, and zest.

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Rainbow Carrot Immune Booster

Right now I've got a mega-cold, a cat with severe skin allergies, and a cat that's just plain crazy waiting for me at home.  Life is a bit complicated. 

Let's uncomplicate things a bit, shall we?  I think it's time for a fresh juice.  This one is an intense immune-booster.  This healing concoction involves rainbow carrots, garlic, and ginger for a powerful punch.  It's a cure for the common cold, vampires, and crazy cats.  Okay, maybe just the cold.

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Coconut Ginger Smoothie

I can't tell you how many times that I have made this smoothie in the past couple of weeks.  I also can't tell you how many times I have made this smoothie while dancing around to the piña colada song.  Too many times.  That song is now burned into my brain.

Consider this the after-work or weekend drink for those that don't drink cocktails. This smoothie is like a healthy piña colada without the heavy coconut cream or pinapple.  It's sweet with a bit of spiciness from the ginger.  (If you are not a fan of ginger, then you can easily decrease the amount or leave it out entirely.)

This smoothie is wonderful at a mocktail party, for post-workout hydration, or for any time you are in need of a fancy, but-not-so-fancy refreshment.  If you like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain, this one is for you.

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Ginger Orange Carrot Juice

Sometimes, when I am really on top of things in my life, I monitor where web traffic comes from. Most people stumble here through Foodgawker, Pinterest, Finding Vegan, or Google searches. If you do any Google searches for kale smoothies, roasted beets, or kale chips, apparently I'm your gal.

And, as I learned the other day, if you search for "images of nasty looking but good food," you will find your way here as well.  Or more specifically, you will find your way to a very old post where I once made a rather gross-looking, but amazing split pea and yam soup (aka Sexy Ugly Stew) and told some jokes about how Mick Jagger is "sexy ugly." Oh how your internet past will haunt you.

Lucky for me I refuse to make sexy ugly food anymore. Just sexy food. Food that is beautiful and will make you feel beautiful from the inside out.  Hello ginger-carrot-orange goodness...
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Pineapple Fried Quinoa

Here are a few things that no one needs to know about me.

1. I'm in the middle of a nutritional yeast addiction. I have started having popcorn every night after dinner just because I love the taste of nutritional yeast sprinkled over the top. I was in denial until I found myself sprinkling the nutritional yeast directly into my mouth last night. It might be time to get some help.

2. The Village People are on every workout playlist that I have. What can I say? I like lifting weights to Macho Man.

3. If I could have any pet that I wanted, I would get a pig. Why?  They are incredibly intelligent, caring and beautiful creatures.  My adoration of pigs deeply scares my partner so I suppose that I could settle for a pug instead. Pugs are kinda like pig-puppies in my mind. I think it's the tail.

4. I haven't done a fridge deep-cleaning since I moved into my apartment. And that seems like a long time ago...

5. I started watching Lost on Hulu about three weeks ago.  Right now I'm in the nearing the end of season 3.  You do the math of how many hours of television that equals per day.  On second thought, please don't. 

Besides making me want to sit on my couch for hours on end, Lost has also made me want to eat tropical fruit all day long.  I suppose this wouldn't be a huge problem except for the fact that I live in the Pacific Northwest and make it a point to eat locally as much as possible.  This week I finally decided to give in to the craving and help myself to some fresh pineapple.  It may not be local, but it doesn't involve the Village People, barnyard animals, or nutritional yeast.  It's a start.

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(Non-alcoholic) Ginger Spritzer

Here are some places that you should take this spritzer:

• Family gatherings
• New Year's Eve parties
• Any place you are in need of refreshment

Here is one place that you should not take this spritzer:

• Your partner's basketball game at the local community center

Apparently if you sit on the bleachers reading cookbooks and sipping this from a glass jar, it appears that you are sneaking in an alcoholic beverage.  (Believe me, I wish I had... but I totally didn't.)  But, should you find yourself in a situation where you are confronted by community center staff about the beverage in question, simply explain that it is a non-alcoholic ginger spritzer and tell them how you made it. If they're decent folk, instead of kicking you out they'll just ask for the recipe.

This spritzer is totally easy to make, but with a few lemon peel spirals it becomes uber-fancy and party-ready.  All you need is some fresh ginger root, (filtered) tap water, sparkling water, and lemon and ice, if desired.  You'll start by boiling the ginger and tap water to make a concentrated ginger tea.

If you wanted, you could even stop after this step and just enjoy the tea.  Ginger is wonderful for aiding digestion, nausea, and abdominal cramping.  This tea is a bit spicy, but it is one of my favorite treats to have after dinner while eating dark chocolate.

Once you have your ginger tea ready, chill it until serving. Then mix your tea with sparkling water, add ice and lemon, and serve!  I don't typically sweeten mine, but you could easily add some agave syrup or stevia in if desired.  If you are serving this for a crowd, then double or triple this recipe as neccessary. You can also adjust how strong you want the spritzer by adding more or less ginger.  This spritzer is the perfect non-alcoholic refreshment for New Year's and is a healthy, tasty treat that your body will enjoy as much as your taste buds.  Cheers!

Ginger Spritzer
Serves 2

one two-inch piece of fresh ginger root, chopped
1.5 cups of plain (filtered) water
16 oz sparkling water
Ice
Lemon for garnish

Bring water to a boil, add ginger, and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes - 1 hour.  Drain tea and chill in the refrigerator until serving.  Mix tea with sparkling water, add ice and garnish with lemon wedge or spiral.

Zucchini & Ginger Spelt Muffins

Usually about this time of year I try to eat more raw foods like zucchini pasta with carrot-cashew creme sauce, fresh vegetable juices, and caramel and fudge brownies (my favorite!).  But, this weird foggy, drizzly Seattle weather is confusing my senses.  Could this really be July? Or is it somehow already late September?  All I know is that instead of wanting raw foods and light summer lunches I've been craving sweet potatoes, curries, and greens. 

So then, what to do with all these zucchini if I'm not making raw pasta?  Make muffins, of course!

I tend to shy away from baked goods because they're usually loaded with fat and sugar, but these are definitely some of the heathiest and heartiest muffins I've seen.  I love the taste of the spelt flour and it goes together perfectly with the flavors of ginger and zucchini.  I even cut the amount of agave in half for my last batch and they were still super yummy!  These go perfect with a cup of peppermint tea at breakfast or with soup for lunch.  

Zucchini & Ginger Spelt Muffins

From Babycakes by Erin McKenna

Makes 12 muffins

2 cups spelt flour

1/2 cup ground flax seeds

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

1/2 cup coconut oil

3/4 cup agave syrup

3/4 cup rice milk

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups zucchini, shredded

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line muffin tin with liners.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, flax seeds, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Add the ginger, oil, agave, rice milk, and vanilla to the dry ingredients and stir until smooth.  Fold in the zucchini.  Fill the cups evenly with 1/3 cup of batter and bake on the center rack for 22 minutes, rotating the pan 180 degrees after 15 minutes.  

To test the muffins, insert a toothpick into the center.  The muffins are ready when the toothpick comes out clean.  Let stand 15 minutes then transfer and cool.  Store the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. 

Lemon Ginger Tonic

I've been fighting some nasty germs lately (the really mean ones).  Luckily though, I think I'm finally winning.

I don't like being sick.  I hate having to eat "sick food" because everything else makes you nauseous.  Or when your body gets too warm, then too cold, then too warm again.  And that feeling like you need to take a nap every half hour. 

Although it's not fun to be sick, there are a few benefits. Like lying on the couch in a snuggie watching an entire season of Friends while asking your significant other to grab you a sparkling water from the fridge. With exactly eight ice cubes and the juice from half a lemon.

No, wait, a lime.

No, lemon.  Definitely lemon.

With a straw, pretty please?

Yeah, you only get star treatment like this if you're sick.

The only thing that's been saving me the past few days is this drink.  And I'm pretty convinced this is what cured my sore throat and started turning this battle around. 

Now, before we continue, I do have to warn you that there is honey in this tonic.  There are a lot of people who do not consider honey to be vegan and so I have never posted anything with honey on this blog.  However, I'm personally not opposed to using honey and it's an essential part of this drink.  If you are allergic or don't use honey, you can always omit it or sub another sweetener instead.  (Apple juice is perfect in this.) 

The reason I say that honey is essential is because it is a natural immunity booster.  Honey contains antioxidants, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, is a good source of vitamins and minerals, and aids in digestion.  Lemon juice helps to make the body more alkaline and restore pH balance.  Ginger is wonderful for digestion and helps with nausea.  Together this makes a pretty tasty and powerful drink.

Since I have a juicer, I usually juice the lemon (removing the peel first) and ginger.  However, if you do not have a juicer, you can still squeeze the juice from the lemon.  Then you can either zest the ginger and add to the tonic, or, chop up the ginger into chunks and boil in the water for a few minutes then remove. 

I typically drink this hot, but you could also serve it cold or substitute sparking water for tap water. 

 Lemon Ginger Tonic

1 lemon
1 piece of ginger (about the size of your pinky)
1 - 2 Tablespoons of honey
1 cup of boiling water

Juice the lemon and ginger.  Add to your favorite mug with the honey.  Pour in the boiling water and drink as soon as the temperature is suitable. 

Fennel, Ginger, Fruit & Veggie Juice

I'm a big fan of fresh juice. I bought a Juiceman a few years ago and have never regretted it. There is lots of information on the benefits of drinking fresh juice, but from personal experience, I find that juice helps with indigestion and is a great pick-me-up when you're feeling fatigued or your blood sugar is low.

I have some leftover fennel from yesterday's recipe, which is perfect for juicing!

For my juice, I combined a few sprigs of fennel, a small piece of ginger (about the size of your pinky), 1/2 an apple, 1 pear, 3 stalks celery, 4 large kale leaves, and 1 carrot. You can mix and match with your favorite fruits and vegetables. When you are juicing items that will produce little juice, such as the fennel, ginger, and kale, place them between apple slices or pear to make it easier to juice.


Fennel has great health benefits and both fennel and ginger aid in digestion. Celery is very alkalizing so it equalizes the body's PH, which is great if you are prone to acid reflux or get frequent stomach aches. I also recommend cucumber, which is very hydrating in a juice.