citrus & green tea detox smoothie

When I think of summer, so many thoughts come to mind;

refreshing drinks

picnics

being outdoors

lots of SPF (have to keep my skin healthy too!)

sundresses

big beach hats

light & nutritious foods

taking photos with friends

my birthday (July 30th for those who wonder ;))

It's the most a wonderful time of the year. the most wonderful time to me starts when fall turns into winter.

Even though I'm an October-November-December kinda gal, I've come to appreciate all that summer offers. I think it's all of the fresh, in-season produce available.

I also think it's the feeling of having motivation to stay in shape and be healthy. It's natural to want to feel good about yourself, especially during these months.

In my usual diet, I try to eat fresh berries at least every other day. They are full of antioxidants that scavenge the harmful free radicals in our bodies. 

These days, it seems that almost anything can be carcinogenic, so I always try to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables in order to make-up for that, so-to-speak.

As you may know, the color of fruits and vegetables can be an indicator of the kind of antioxidants found in them. For example, if you're looking for sources of beta-carotene (vitamin A), a good place to look would be orange fruits or vegetables, such as carrots.

The class of fruits or vegetables may also be an indicator.

Take citrus fruits, for example. They are full of vitamin C as well as ascorbic acid, which inhibits formation of cancer-causing compounds.

Foods that have the ability to "cleanse" your body, or liver, are known as detoxifying. I noticed that it is starting to be a growing trend in the food world, so I thought I'd give my usual berry smoothie (though very healthy) a break and try making a smoothie that embraces all of the benefits of citrus fruits.

Green tea is also a good source of antioxidants known as catechins.

citrus + green tea = happy me

citrus & green tea detox smoothie

 

The idea of a detox smoothie is to feel cleansed, so I've only

added a small amount of honey for sweetness. I prefer it this way, as it

feels more natural and healthful. The citrus flavor is mild, believe it or not,

but it is very refreshing & doing great things for your body!

yield: ~3 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

1 navel orange
1 grapefruit

the juice of half a lemon

1/2 cup of unsweetened green tea, chilled

1/2 cup of nonfat Greek yogurt

1/2 a frozen banana

1 cup of ice

1/2 tbsp honey

*optional garnishes:

more citrus segments to add in your finished smoothie

orange/grapefruit/lemon zest on top

(refer to last photo)

Steps:

Brew a cup of green tea, let it cool a bit, then put it in the fridge to get nice and cold.

Peel and segment the orange and grapefruit, and add to the blender with the lemon juice, green tea, Greek yogurt, honey, and frozen banana.

Blend until just combined.

Add the ice and blend until fully crushed.

Taste-test to see if it is sweet enough for you. If not, add some more honey or agave :)

*Note: This is not a "detox diet," nor do I know much about those. I do know that there are foods you can eat daily to gently detox your body, and citrus fruits are included. 

 

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I love the idea of fancying up a sliced lemon by using a channel knife. A very good friend of mine recently
gifted me a Wolfgang Puck Garnishing Set, and the channel knife was included. You can also make
swirls out of the zest! Can't wait to put it to more use!

grapefruit is delicious!! I don't regularly buy it, but I think I will start to :)

I added an orange segment and some orange zest on top for a garnish as well for added flavor. You could do this with any of the citrus, or even all of them. It saddens me when my smoothie is all gone, but it excites me when I find an orange segment at the bottom :)

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Did you know you can reuse tea bags for other purposes?

I didn't know that until a few months ago, but I was elated when I read that! There was a point in time where I was going through green tea bags quicker than I can recall quotes from FRIENDS episodes.

THAT is saying something.

Me being my earth-friendly, reduce-reuse-recycle self, couldn't resist at the idea of saving my tea bags!

So, I started collected them and saving them in a container in the fridge. Until I stopped drinking insane amounts of tea (I miss those days...), and then forgot about the container, which led to me eventually throwing them all away a month or so later... (so much for that idea.)

But as I start to incorporate tea, especially green, back into my diet, albeit cold tea, I really want to try to reuse the tea bags this time.

Here are some ways you can re-use them if you're interested:

In your garden

you can add the tea bag to your compost bin, directly into the soil (the bag will decompose), or even water the soil with water that has been just barely infused with the tea (water turns color slightly)

Beauty Regimen

 {tackle those dark & puffy under-eye circles}

green tea contains caffeine & EGCG, which both work as an anti-inflammatory to reduce the fluid build-up under your eyes. Be sure to chill your green tea bags first!

*this article discusses some more benefits of using caffeine for skin care

{bathing}

brew a tea bath & let cool to sooth sunburned or even razor-burned skin. I don't see why

you couldn't take a tea bath just for the sake of it being good for your skin in general :)

*this article discusses more (and awesome!) ways to incorporate tea bags

into your beauty regimen

DIY projects

 apparently the dye in green tea can stain furniture to give it an antique look! that is definitely something I would try.

Source: http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/reuses-tea-bags.htm

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What do you love most about summer? And have you ever re-used tea bags before?

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