BLUEBERRIES!

As blueberry season finishes up, I wanted to make a post highlighting these delicious things and giving you one of my favorite, quick recipes for making an herbal blueberry tea.

In an attempt to hoard these suckers for the winter, I went to a local farm and picked up two frozen 5 pound bags. It was pretty expensive ($40), but I’m calling it an investment. Besides, given that I blew $30 on a few drinks and sushi last weekend, I call this “making good choices”.

Blueberries are what a lot of people would consider a superfood. They’re low on the glycemic index (meaning they don’t spike your blood sugar/insulin levels), have a ton of antioxidants/phytoflavinoids, pack a bunch of potassium and vitamin C, and they’re an ANTI INFLAMMATORY. This is super important for people struggling with skin issues!

Trying to find more ways to add blueberries to my diet, I’ve started to make myself an easy herbal brew almost every night, made from blueberries, ginger, mint, and honey (optional). Ginger is great for gut health, while mint helps to aromatically relieve stress while also giving you a vitamin A boost which is necessary for good skin.

All you’ll need is:

• 5-7 leaves of mint (mine grows as a weed in my garden!)
• handful of blueberries (frozen or fresh)
• 2-4 slices of ginger, to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon of honey
• 8 oz. boiling water

Mix all of the ingredients into a cup, and then pour the boiling water over the contents. Let the mixture sit for about 10 minutes, which gives the ginger time to steep. Then, squish a few (or all) of the blueberries so that they release their juice and make the herbal blend taste fruitier.

YUM! Enjoy. 🙂

Brew Dr.’s Kombucha

While grocery shopping yesterday at my local Safeway (for those of you not from the pacific northwest, read: generic grocery store) I stumbled upon a Kombucha that I hadn’t tried before called Dr. Brew’s. The store had just gotten the product in, and I was enticed by all of the flavors that they carried (clear mind, nutritonic, superberry, white rose, spiced apple kava, lemon ginger cayenne, and love). I went ahead and picked up the White Rose, since I’ve got a weird thing for foods that taste like flowers. My reaction: it’s pretty delicious!

The bottle makes it a point to let you know that it uses organic ingredients: organic tea, organic herbs, and organic sugar. I’m not a big stickler for organic foods (poor college student here, in case you forgot), but they certainly don’t hurt. The White Rose flavor also lists rose petals, hibiscus flowers, and rose essence in it’s ingredients. YUM.

 

To give you a better idea of the taste, I had two of my close friends try it that have never had kombucha before. Although both of them seemed pretty hesitant to try it, one of them really liked it and said it just tasted like juice. This can be a good thing, since some people don’t like the thought of drinking something that’s fermented.
So, why am I willing to spend almost $4 for a 14 oz. bottle of this stuff? Because, of course, kombucha (and other fermented foods) contain probiotics, which help to regulate the gut by supporting all of the billions of friendly bacteria that live there. You can learn more about that here at this Women’s Health Magazine article, which also tells us that “Friendly bacteria are making the leap from yogurt to skin creams, gels, and makeup, thanks to research that shows probiotics hold promise for warding off acne and eczema and may even have anti-aging properties.” Get the full benefit by using probiotics both internally and externally.

This bottle of kombucha in particular contains 2.2 billion organisms. Make sure that you’re checking your labels to see whether or not the product actually contains live, raw cultures.

Other good foods to consider if you’re looking to increase your probiotic intake: kimchi, saurkraut, pickles, miso soup (it comes in easy to make packets!), tempeh, and also kefir and yogurt if you’re not avoiding dairy.

Learn more about Brew Dr. at http://www.brewdrkombucha.com/

OR

Learn how to make your own kombucha at http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-kombucha-tea-at-home-173858