Spring is the perfect time of year to re-set and re-fresh. For me that includes refreshing the house with some bright flowers and maybe some furniture re-arranging; starting to get the patio in shape for many nights outdoors. It also means a re-fresh for my body and soul. Take a look at my post on the top 5 self-help books I recommend. This is the time of year I get extra-interested in making some changes to things inside and out.

My energy is pretty low in the winter when I’m hibernating in the house, weighed down by coats and heavy food.  You want to be comforted at that time of year, but as Spring rolls around I love the re-birth, re- excitement it brings. In the Spring I really benefit from juicing, and making smoothies and detox drinks. I feel SO much better when I incorporate one of these into my diet each day. You get the natural vitamins from fruits and vegetables in an easy and palatable way.

Drinking these and doing some fasting is a great way to cleanse an over-worked liver, which is so important for digestion and energy. So many people suffer with these ailments these days…our diets have too much processed food and red meat. Give your body a break for a few days at least! 

My daughter drinks a spinach and kale drink with nothing but the vegetables and water. (see my post on menu planning when kids are home). She claims it helps her complexion, so is willing to drink this concoction almost every day! I personally cannot forego taste for nutrition. So the drinks I make (and buy) here are designed to taste pretty good while packing a punch for your health and energy. Using ingredients like lemon, turmeric, and apple cider vinegar (ACV), along with fruits and veggies, is the key to their amazing health benefits. Try them!

Making Them

You can either make these with a juicer or a good, high-powered blender. It honestly depends on how ‘chunky’ you like your drinks. I have a juicing attachment for this blender, but it really does a good job on it’s own, and I tend to think leaving the pulp in my drinks is healthier since you’re getting that good fiber, too. It’s up to you!

Greens. This is a variation on my daughter’s drink, since I also use spinach or kale as my base. I add to that a bunch of celery, cucumber, lemon and cayenne pepper. I cover the veggies with coconut water and blend. I love the strong taste of celery and kick of the pepper in this drink. You may want to add a bit of salt or other seasoning to taste.

Citrus. Oranges are the base for this one. Since I like the fiber, I actually throw whole peeled oranges in there- they’re mostly water and blend easily. Because I use the whole orange, I use the small cuties that peel SO easily. I use three or four of these, then the juice of a lemon, a shake or two of turmeric, cayenne, and ginger. I use this bottled ginger (see photo below), because I find working with real ginger to be a huge pain! A squirt of this gives you the same results.

The combo of citrus and ginger is yummy, and again a hit of heat. Any pepper will work too, depending on the level of spice you like. I love cayenne, but chipotle works, and also red pepper flakes. Grow and dry them yourself and you always have them fresh on-hand! (see my post on homemade gifts).

Gazpacho. I love the taste of this one the best, although the color is a bit funky- see the bottles below. Because you use red tomato juice and green veggies- it kind of comes out gray, so based on that you might THINK it’s not appetizing, but you’d be wrong! This is a play on the soup I make in the summer when I can use home-grown vegetables. Use Spicy V8 juice as the base. Add to that a tomato, a poblano pepper and plenty of cucumbers. Red pepper flakes, a clove of garlic, and a dash of apple cider vinegar. This one definitely needs a touch of salt to taste, to bring out the flavors. 

I love how all of these home-made juices taste, and just seeing beautiful, colorful bottles in the refrigerator every day gives me a lift and encourages me to drink one. But if you don’t have the time or interest in making them, there are some good options for drinks you can purchase that give you the same vitamin-packed shot of energy.

Buying Them

Shots. These seem to be pretty popular now, and there are many brands, flavors and purposes. I bought this Vive brand that touts a boost to your immunity. Why not? This is a cayenne and turmeric variety which was VERY hot. You would need to experiment (maybe try a variety pack?) to see what you prefer best.

Suja Juice.

I will admit I hadn’t heard of this juice, until my daughter’s boyfriend introduced us to it as a punishment as part of our Biggest Loser Challenge (see my post on how we did this!). Since I live basically in the mountains, we don’t exactly have higher end grocery stores, like he does in NJ. But when I was last in Philadelphia, I saw it at the store and had to try it. It doesn’t need to be a punishment! The variety I got (in photo) tasted almost identical to the green drink I make, above. If you like a lot of celery like I do, this is tasty. These juices are fresh pressed and somewhat expensive, but I am interested in trying other flavors now.

Poppi. A ‘soda’ with ACV?? I got turned on to this because it has ONE point on WW, and claims to be a ‘prebiotic’. It uses natural sweeteners like agave and stevia, and the addition of the vinegar gives it a bit of a sour flavor, which I personally love.

Tea. If you like it, there are a lot of great detoxing teas out there, to make hot or cold. This company “Traditional Medicines” makes some good ones, like Every Day Detox and Dandelion Leaf & Root. You will be right if you guessed that they don’t taste so good, so if you’re interested in trying them, I’d be prepared to add a little honey or sweetener.

Trader Joes (one of my all-time favorite grocery stores for many reasons) makes a bunch of their own teas. I think all their teas (Winter Tea especially) taste great! The Ginger Turmeric is a great one for detoxing too.

Just drinking more water than you might ordinarily drink is a great way to detox and energize. I have some of those crazy popular Stanley thermoses, and keep the larger one full in the house and the smaller one in the car. But a) I don’t love drinking plain water, and b) even if I did, I find it pretty hard to finish the big one. So a trick I found is to use hydration sticks. Liquid IV is a popular brand, but there are cheaper ones at the Dollar Store, FYI! I like flavors like watermelon and grape, and it makes drinking water SO much easier!

Do you have any other drinks you make or buy to re-fresh and boost immunity and energy? Kombucha is another one that comes to mind, that can be found pretty widely in stores more than ever now. Let me know how you get healthy for the new season!