This post contains affiliate links. We will be compensated for any purchases you make at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support! To say that it is hot here in Phoenix is an understatement! Look at this meme that my son posted the other day: That just about says it all! We are all about finding the things that make us cooler. We have spent a lot of time in the water already this Summer, and in between we are drinking as many cooling drinks as possible. We have shared a number of our cold beverage concoctions here on the blog in the past. Here are some favorites that you can click on to try out if you are suffering as much as we are! Years ago when my brother was a teenager, and I was much younger, he got a job at one of the first Orange Julius Shops that we had ever heard of in our town! (Although, they have been in business since the 1920s.) We loved those things, and still do. But, I think the recipe has changed since all of those years ago. The recipe that I've been making is more reminiscent of the original one that I remember so fondly! It is such a great way to get cooled off with a thirst quenching beverage! The ingredients are simple and you may already have them all on hand. My blender is so great at crushing up the ice cubes that the texture is perfect. (Right now, the price on Amazon is amazing!) The other night we were all feeling so hot! I asked, "Who wants an Orange Julius?" Everyone responded with a resounding yes! I whipped some up for everyone in the blender and I have to tell you that the coolness and bright flavor of this drink was just so wonderful and cooling that I am going to run out and pick up more frozen concentrate as soon as possible to make this our summer beverage of choice! More healthy than soda, cold and delicious, you can't go wrong. Let me know if you give it a try!
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This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. Thanks for your support! Everyone knows that lemon and blueberries go great together when you are cooking. But aside from the taste, did you know that there are some tremendous health benefits that come from those two fruits? Here are a few of them: Lemons:
Blueberries:
(Source info from Healthline) Learning all of this about the benefits of these fruits inspired me to come up with this Blueberry/Lemonade drink to give my husband and I a boost as we were working on projects around our house! I had seen a recipe from my friend and Doterra consultant for a morning detox drink containing warm water, lemon oil and honey. It seemed like a great idea, but I didn't want a warm drink and I thought about the blueberries in my fridge and decided to make a Blueberry Lemonade using my lemon essential oils. It came out pretty good, but since then, I tweaked it and it is even better now. Drinking that cool and refreshing drink, knowing that everything in it was good for me felt so good after working hard all morning and gave me a boost for the rest of the day! Essential Oils I generally use essential oils topically and as aroma therapy. There are very few that I feel comfortable ingesting, but lemon is one that I trust. If you feel uncomfortable using the essential oil in this recipe, you can substitute the juice from one lemon and maybe some zest as well. Always store essential oils out of the reach of children. They are potent ingredients and need to be handled with care. Oils can burn skin and eyes and cause severe illness if ingested incorrectly. While I find oils to be a wonderful tool in my well being, it is important to learn about them and to know how to use them carefully. I am definitely not an expert but I value the expert advice that I have been learning from many sources. Always do your homework! So, here it is, my simple recipe for a Blueberry Lemonade De-Tox Refresher! Be sure to use a blender that is good at breaking up ice cubes! There you go! Super simple! Bottoms Up! *Just to be clear, Lemon essential oil comes from the skin of the lemon, so there will not be the added benefit of fiber in this smoothie when you use the essential oil. There will be if you use a regular lemon. Other ways I have used essential oils: Other healthy and delicious drinks and smoothies:
This post contains affiliate links. We will be compensated for any purchases you make at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support! With the year coming to its end, I'm in a contemplative mood reflecting on the happenings of the past year. I feel like it's a perfect time to journal. I've been journalling my whole life (since 2nd grade). I don't do any of the cool bullet journalling, though I love to admire it. No, I'm more of a spill my guts on the page type of girl. But sometimes it can be hard for me to think of what to write. In fact, when I was 21, I had a goal to write in my journal everyday, which I accomplished but some of my entries literally said "I'm tired. Today was boring" and that's it! So I accomplished my goal but maybe without the best results. Recently, with quarantining and staying home it's seemed like days blend together and I'm not sure what I could write about each day that would be different. For this reason my journaling has, sadly, fallen behind. 24 Journal PromptsTo take my journalling to the next level I decided to create prompts that I can use over and over again but what I'm writing won't be the same every day. I took 4 different types of days we all have; great, bad, boring, and days when you're feeling nostalgic and I wrote 6 different prompts for each day. I put them on little cards I can keep in my journal and use as a jumping off point to help me get my writing started and have it be a bit more thoughtful and interesting. As I wrote the prompts I wanted to make sure they were geared to positivity but realistic in expectations of what could be written. For example, on the bad day prompts I have "Vent about your day" but I also ask "Who put a smile on your face today?" I am a big believer in looking for the good and for those who help us out. I also have prompts that may seem like they're only good for one use like "Describe the best meal you've ever had," but that could become "Describe the best dessert you've ever had," "Describe the best day you've ever had," etc. Make the prompts work best for you! To get the cards just click the button below to download them! Why Journal?I love journaling. It helps me clear my head and gain new perspectives. I also love that I can go back and read about my own life and it's easier for me to remember lessons I've learned. Sometimes reading what I wrote when I was younger makes me cringe, but it's all part of growing up and it's what has made me who I am today! A journal is most effective when you try to be as honest as possible. That's what I've tried to steer towards with these journal prompts and what makes me excited to use them. I like to think of my journal as a friend who only listens without judgement. This way I can gain more insight into my own life. Another thing that makes journaling effective is having journaling supplies you love. I found these vegan leather journals on Etsy that are amazing. I personally like using fine liner pens to write in my journal. But find the supplies that you like best. If you want more of my recommendations you can check out this post where I tell all my favorites. If journaling is a goal you have this coming new year, I know that these prompt cards would be great to keep with your journal and help on days you're just not quite sure what to write about. If you liked this post you may also likeThis post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated for purchases made through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support. Have you ever been browsing Pinterest and been overwhelmed with trying to recreate on there? Or by the cost of trying to get the look you want? Honestly that's how I was feeling with this post. So I decided to set some limits for myself. Sometimes working within limitations can help get the creative juices flowing. I decided I wanted to spend no more than $10, and that it would be something I could put together in no more than 15 minutes. Because, let's be honest, with everything going on Thanksgiving Day, who wants to spend tons of time getting the table ready? And in the end I think my centerpiece ended up being beautiful! (If you're worried about timing for Thanksgiving be sure to check out our 'Thanksgiving Prep 101' post which gives you a timeline from a month in advance on how to prepare for Thanksgiving with a printable checklist to hang on your fridge!) Easy & Affordable Thanksgiving CenterpieceI made this little video showing you how I put my centerpiece together. It's really that simple! Feel free to pause it if it goes too fast for you. Below I'll list the supplies I used.
Tips for Making a Thanksgiving CenterpieceIf you're wondering how I got all these for less than $10 the answer is after Halloween Clearance! Once Halloween is over stores basically start moving on to Christmas and heavily discount their fall merchandise. The 3 picks were $2 each! And my pack of leaves, pinecones, and little pumpkins were $0.25 each. So check out your bargain bins. If you can't find any around you here's some similar I found on Etsy. I already had some of the supplies in my home. I had some extra greenery from an old wreath I used to fill in gaps. We grew pumpkins in my garden this year so my centerpiece pumpkin and one of the mini orange pumpkins are from my garden. I know most people don't grow pumpkins so a pie pumpkin or two from the grocery store would also look cute in the center. You could also go on a pinecone hunt outside to help decorate your table. Just be sure to clean them off before using them. Here's some more tips for making your easy and affordable Thanksgiving centerpiece:
I hope that these tips and tutorial can help you to create your own beautiful Thanksgiving centerpiece. Don't let Pinterest overwhelm you, if you do use our tips to make your own centerpiece, tag us in your picture so we can share! Other Thanksgiving Posts you Might Enjoy |
Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
May 2024
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