Kale, Apple & Ginger Juice

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Gina Marie

Kale, Apple & Ginger Juice | So... Let's Hang Out

You know it’s spring when…

You wake drowsily at 9:00am because you were forced to take a powerful antihistamine the night before. You took this antihistamine because of all of the mosquito bites that you have managed to acquire. They itch. You have a particularly gnarly one on your stomach, which proves curious since you don’t remember wearing anything resembling a crop-top. You’ve been spending a lot of time outside. Even at night. This is where all of those rosy mosquito bites came from. It’s been sunshine on sunshine on sunshine. You’ve been sporting a tank top and frolicking in the outdoors despite your allergies. Your eyes are swelling slightly? You can’t breathe? We should probably go inside…BUT IT’S JUST SO GOSH DARN SUNNY! Your body craves this wicked vitamin D festival, so you ignore your allergies, eat some local honey, inhale some prescription nose spray and get real about eye-drops. You start scoping out and trying to guesstimate how much of your backyard your next door neighbors can see through their kitchen window. Obviously this is because you would like to read a good book while wearing your birthday suit. You surmise the neighbors can see way too much. You also surmise that they’ve already seen way too much. Why did you not check this out before you decided to go out into the yard in your underpants (MULTIPLE times)? Not sure. Oh well. You find yourself out at farmer’s markets. You find yourself paying $7.50 for a green juice. You know this is expensive, but you can’t help it. It looks so good. You suck down $7.50 worth of fruits and veggies in a flash. You try to be mad about the price, but you can’t because it tastes too good, although once it is gone you find yourself tinged with a bit of regret. You have an awesome juicer. You could have made three green juices at that price. Sheesh. Also, you should put sunscreen on your husband’s neck, it’s about to burn. This is our real life.

Kale, Apple & Ginger Juice | So... Let's Hang Out

Spring is MADE for green juice. I will admit to you in the last weeks of winter my juicer took a nap. Something about rain and having to wear a sweater inside made it hard for me to want to spend a chunk of time making a cold glass of veggies. I made lots of soup. I baked too many cookies. But, Friends! I am so jazzed on juice and smoothies right now (oh, and cocktails too). The sun is back, the flowers are blooming (just ask that tickle in your nose!) and it’s time to flood our bodies with things that are good and green. It might also be time to plant a tree in front of the neighbors kitchen window. Just sayin’.

I try to get creative with my juicing, especially when it’s a recipe I share with all of you lovelies I realized in all of the juice recipes I have shared with you , I have never shared my go to green drink. This juice is something I could drink every single day. It’s simple, delicious and packed with tons of nutrition! Plus, I tend to have all of these ingredients on hand in my fridge. That is always a plus, right? Affirmative.

I hope you are enjoying all the loveliness of spring with 100% less mosquito bites! Dust of your juicers… ready…set…GO! xoxo

Kale, Apple & Ginger Juice

Yield: 4 cups of juice

Ingredients

1 English cucumber, peeled
1 Meyer lemon, peeled
1 bunch of celery
2 Gala apples, chopped
1 inch of ginger root
8 Lacinato kale leaves
1-2 Romaine hearts

Instructions

Wash and prep all of your fruits and veggies.
Run them through the juicer.
Enjoy immediately or bottle it up for later. Store in an airtight container such as a mason jar for up to 48 hours. Try to fill your mason jars as close to the top as possible so that there is the least amount of air between your juice and the tight fitting lid.
Enjoy!

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Orange & Ginger Creamsicle Smoothie

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Gina Marie

Orange & Ginger Creamsicle Smoothie | So... Let's Hang Out

When you are a kid, there’s pretty much no vehicle more awesome than an ice cream truck. It’s sugar on wheels. I remember the ice cream truck targeting our neighborhood since it was filled with kids. My brother and I would perk up, then in a joint effort run to our parents. “Can we PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE get some ice cream?!” It was as if nothing else mattered and maybe we could possibly die if ice-creamy goodness did not hit our lips in the next two minutes. Sometimes the ice cream truck would travel to our house close to dinner time, and the answer would be no. In these cases I remember the world ending a little bit. There was some light pouting, maybe some foot stomping. My brother, who is six years younger than myself, would either follow my pout-y lead, or in a true act of excellence THROW himself on the floor. We were dramatic. Mom ignored it. Good move, mom. Imagine what we could do if we had an audience!

But sometimes, just sometimes, the ice cream truck would roll around in the early afternoon. This, my friends, was destiny. I remember the selection being a hard one to make. Should I go Drumstick? Flintstones Push-Up Pop? Ice Cream Sandwich? Maybe something that tastes like bubblegum (because I am a kid and bubblegum flavored things seem like a good idea and don’t make me gag. Obviously, I have not developed proper taste buds). Or… how about a Creamsicle? Who doesn’t love a Creamsicle? I would never pick out an orange flavored popsicle, but when you add vanilla ice cream into the middle, magic happens. It’s never a bad move.

You know what else isn’t a bad move? How about the delightful flavors of a Creamsicle for breakfast? There will be no pouting and definitely no throwing ones self on the floor. It’s like drinking ice cream for breakfast! Pure nostalgia.

Of course, I’m not actually feeding you ice cream. Instead Greek yogurt mingles with honey and fresh squeezed orange juice. There is some almond milk that adds creaminess and a frozen banana that adds body and some extra sweetness. Did I mention some freshly-grated ginger? The spiciness of the ginger makes this more of a grown-up Creamsicle. There are no handfuls of spinach. There are no kale leaves. There are no flax seeds. Of course, you could add in ALL of those things and it would still be delicious, but sometimes you just want to keep it simple.

Orange & Ginger Creamsicle Smoothie | So... Let's Hang Out

Enjoy, Friends! Happy Monday!

DISCLAIMER: THE NICE PEOPLE AT CHOBANI SENT ME SOME OF THEIR PRODUCT FOR RECIPE TESTING AND DEVELOPMENT. HOWEVER, ALL OPINIONS ARE MY OWN.

Orange & Ginger Creamsicle Smoothie

Ingredients

1 6oz container of Chobani 0% plain Greek yogurt
Juice from 2 oranges
1/2 frozen banana
3/4 cup almond milk
1/2 inch of freshly grated ginger
1 tbs of honey
3-4 ice cubes

Instructions

Add all of your ingredients into your blender and process on high until smooth.
If you desire a thicker smoothie, add a bit more ice and blend again until smooth.
Pour into a glass and enjoy immediately!

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Carrot, Apple & Ginger Juice

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Gina Marie

Carrot, Apple & Ginger Juice | So... Let's Hang Out

It’s juice time again.

I like ‘em real thick and juicy.

That actually does not pertain to how I feel about my juice, I have just been listening to a lot of 90′s music lately. Like…a lot. Like…I might have spent over an hour looking up music videos from the 90′s on YouTube last Friday. No big deal. Subsequently, I have had the song Baby Got Back stuck in my head for days. This only becomes awkward when you start singing it subconsciously in the checkout line at the grocery store. The woman in front of you turns around after you get to the “L.A. face with a Oakland Booty” part of the tune. You make eye contact. You stop singing. You think about winking at her but realize that just perpetuates the weirdness. Don’t make it weirder. It’s too late, you already winked. She probably thinks you’re hitting on her. Oh man, you can’t recover from this one. Not. At. All. You could try to explain that you have just been listening to a whole lot of 90′s music lately, and you were not singing the song directly to her. You could try to explain that you sometimes just wink in awkward situations, or you could lie and say you had something in your eye. The explanation of your behavior will only make things weirder. You grab your groceries and pretend like you forgot something in the produce section. You wait until this person leaves and find another check out line. Whew. Yikes. Get out of there.

So, besides being the town creep, I have managed to make some juice today in the privacy of my own kitchen. My own kitchen is safe. I can sing at the top of my lungs. I can wink freely. It’s a good place.

In other less painfully awkward news…

I have been nominated for The Best Food Photography On A Blog category in this years The Homies blogging contest. Isn’t that neat? If you are a So…Let’s Hang Out fan you can pop on over to The Kitchn and vote! It only takes a minute! It’s a fabulous collection of food bloggers that are nominated, if you pop over there you might find some really cool new bloggers to add to your blog reading list! The link is below. Vote away, Friends! I heart you.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!

Now, back to your regularly scheduled juicing recipe…

This juice is a sweet treat! Look at all these pretty ingredients!

Cucumber and romaine serve as a nice base to all of the sweetness from the apples and the carrots. The lemon brings some brightness and acidity and the ginger gives it a nice flavor. It’s not the greenest of juices, but it is still packed with a lot of valuable nutrients. Yum. Did you know that carrots are good for calming your nerves? I just love veggies.

Hope you are having the juiciest of days! Wink, wink!

Carrot, Apple & Ginger Juice

Ingredients

4 carrots
3 small Pink Lady apples, chopped
1 Meyer lemon, peeled
1 English cucumber, peeled
1 head of Romaine lettuce
1 inch piece of ginger root

Instructions

Wash and prepare all of your veggies.
Juice all of the veggies in accordance with your juicer's settings.
Drink immediately, or put in an airtight container such as a mason jar and store in the fridge for later. You should drink your juice within 48 hours in order to get the most benefit from all of the nutrients. Make sure to store your juice with as little air as possible in your jars (so fill them close to the top!) so that the nutrients do not break down too quickly! Happy Juicing!

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Rainbow Veggie Juice | Juice Of The Week

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Gina Marie

I started this morning with a cookie in my hand.

How does that happen?

You wake up, you put on some work out gear, and you go to head out the door. When I bent down to tie up my sneakers I realized that I was halfway through a cookie. What? Where did that come from?

How are these cookies even still on my counter? I asked my husband to take them to work (turns out he filled up the biggest Tupperware he could find and left the rest).

Creepy, unconscious phantom cookie-eating. It happens. It’s spooky. It’s also kind of delicious, I won’t lie to you.

These cookies I speak of are pretty amazing and will be making an appearance here very soon. But still. The first thing I did this morning besides push a 14 pound cat off of my stomach, grumble and throw on some stretch pants was shove a cookie in my face. I can do better. So, I did. After I finished that cookie.

I walked and I walked. I rocked out to some old-school, early 90′s rap, and then followed it up with one of my fave podcasts. It was so nice to feel the freezing early morning air on my face as I cut through it with my strides.

I then came home and put THIS juice into my body. It’s totally more nutritious than cookies, and turns out it too is delicious.

This year I am going to try to post a juicing recipe a week. It will help me keep striving to drink these fruits and veggies. This week we have a RAINBOW veggie juice. Just look at all those colors!! It’s like Rainbow Bright meets the Care Bear Stare. Yes, you just got 80′s-ed.

As it happens, in real life, “tasting the rainbow” does not taste like Skittles. This is okay. Nothing natural should taste like Skittles. That would be unsettling. Instead, it’s both sweet and a little bit spicy. If you like V8 you will most likely love this. Truth, I don’t like V8 and I love this.

Have you ever juiced red peppers? They are so flavorful and full of yummy sweetness! They are also a great source of vitamin C (more so than oranges!) and the internet says that they are good for my complexion. Awesome. I also crammed parsley and cilantro down my juicing shoot. Both of these herbs help aid in detoxification. If you are not a cilantro fan, just leave it out. You can add either more parsley or sub in something else that you love. That is part of the fun of juicing… there are no rules. It’s not like a cake. If you leave out an ingredient it will still be delicious (I once made a cake and forgot BOTH baking soda and sugar. I was distracted by a Real Housewives of Orange County Marathon. That was not delicious. Also, that might be the worst reason EVER to have messed up a cake. Shame.).

So, here we go. Off to the juicer. This recipe will make approximately 3 pints.

Ingredients:

1-2 red bell peppers, seeded and sliced

4 tomatoes, sliced

3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced

2 heads of romaine lettuce

1 bunch of celery

large handful of parsley

large handful of cilantro

1 English cucumber, peeled and chopped

2 meyer lemons, peeled

1 inch of ginger root

Juice all of your lovely veggies. Give your juice a good stir. Put it in mason jars. Drink it as soon as possible, not waiting longer than 48 hours! Simple, simple.

Enjoy!

Sweet & Sour Greens | A Juicing Recipe

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Gina Marie

Start your engines, Friends!

It’s a new year and it’s time to get juicy.

I hope you all had a great New Year’s Eve, and a rocking start to ~~2012~~ 2013. (I keep on typing and typing 2012. AHHHH! Here we go again. Well played, new year, you get me every time). We had a nice and quiet NYE. There were pajamas, a Homeland marathon, an eggplant parmesan and a bottle of champagne.

So while it’s 2013, I can’t help but look back at the past year. I don’t know about you, but my instagram feed has been looking something like this: dog photo, dog photo, green juice, cookies, peppermint bark, green juice, dog photo, dog photo, chocolate, booze, dog photo, green juice with explanation of how I failed to eat nothing but cookies the day before, dog photo, dog photo, cat photo, dog photo, artsy photo of my shoes and some leaves, dog photo.

I take a lot of photos of my dog. It’s a thing.

The rest has been an unintentional yet awkward public journal of me trying to correct my holiday eating choices.

Like everyone else in the new year, I have made promises that I will be kinder to my body, drink more veggies, and try to shake my butt on the daily. Break a sweat, tear myself away from the computer, and engage in some real life with nature and fresh air.

Maybe my 2013 instagram feed will look like this: dog photo, dog photo, dog photo, running shoes, green juice, awkward bathroom mirror self portrait, vintage picture of salad, green juice, cookies (no one is perfect), dog photo, cat photo, dog photo, vintage effected picture of a sunrise.

I can strive.

Here is one of the green juice batches that I whipped up recently with my brand new juicer! (Thanks, Santa!)

It’s simultaneously sweet and sour with a hint of ginger. I have been putting ginger in nearly all of my juices lately. I am obsessed. It feels calming, and makes me smiley and warm inside. It’s like whiskey, but for the daytime. Plus, ginger helps to settle your digestive system, fights off colds or pesky flus, and helps to cut down on inflammation in the body. These are just a few benefits of this magical root. That’s more than I can say for whiskey.

Ingredients:

1 large cucumber, peeled

1 head of romaine lettuce, washed

1 large handful of parsley, washed

2 meyer lemons, peeled

1 medium apple, washed and chopped

1 inch of ginger root

Juice your ingredients and enjoy!

Drink immediately, or seal in an airtight container such as a mason jar. Make sure you fill your jar all the way to the top so that there is little to no oxygen breaking down your juice nutrients. Drink within 48 hours for maximum nutritional benefits.

Cranberry Ginger Simple Syrup | A New Year’s Eve Cocktail

Posted on December 30, 2012 by Gina Marie

It’s nearly New Year’s Eve and although I don’t have any fancy plans, I DO intend to be holding a fancy drink when the clock strikes twelve (Midnight. Not noon. Unless I have one at noon. It’s a holiday)

I’ve made you a cranberry and ginger simple syrup and cocktail to match. Actually, I kind of made it for me. I am currently sipping on the one pictured above. I had to test it for you. Make sure it wasn’t awful (It’s not.). You’re safe. Drink away.

I had never made my own infused simple syrup before, and it turns out it’s totally easy (perhaps this is why they call it “simple” syrup). Boil some water and sugar, add your desired infusing ingredients, let it all cool and you are in business. It’s not a lot of work, and you will seem super fancy. Nay, you ARE super fancy. No seeming about it.

Let’s make some simple syrup!

Cranberry Ginger Simple Syrup:

2 cups granulated sugar

3 cups water

2 cups fresh cranberries

1 inch of ginger root, peeled and thinly sliced

Add your water and sugar into a pot over medium heat.

Bring it to a boil. Let it bubble together until the sugar dissolves into the water and it becomes thicker. Stir it occasionally. The whole process will take around ten minutes.

Once it has come to a boil, add in your ginger and your cranberries and reduce the heat.

Allow it to simmer for an additional five minutes over low heat.

Once five minutes have passed, turn off your flame, remove the pot from the heat and stir.

Allow your mixture to cool completely and then bottle it.

You can use a fun bottle or keep it simple and use a mason jar.

It should last for a few months in the refrigerator.

Now… it’s cocktail time! There are tons of possibilities with this simple syrup! I suspect that it would be very tasty with your champagne. I, however, threw it in some vodka, shook it up, and it turned out pretty darn delicious.

Cranberry and Ginger Fizz

4 shots of vodka

4 tbs of cranberry ginger simple syrup

Soda water (I used water from my Sodastream)

Ice

Sugar, for garnish

Lime, for garnish

First, take your martini glasses and using a lime wedge, wet the rim of your glass.

Place your glass rim down in a shallow dish of sugar.

Now you have a fancy sugared rim! How festive!

Add your ice, vodka and simple syrup to your martini shaker… and, you guessed it, SHAKE!!

Pour your mixture into the martini glass until it is a little more than half way full.

Add in some sparkling water.

Garnish with a lime.

Note: No matter how much your husband insists that it is okay to SHAKE your fizzy water vigorously in your cocktail shaker, don’t believe him. There is a reason we don’t shake soda. This reason is currently all over the top of my dress and my counters. Just add it in later.

A toast to you, my friends!

Wishing you love, happiness, and all that is good this new year! Once again, thank you for making 2012 so major. How do you say? Oh yes. You are all the cat’s pajamas. The snake’s hips. The polar bear’s top hat. I might have fabricated that last one… but if you know me, you know I love nothing more than a polar bear dressed up festively. Cheers!

So…Let's Hang Out

Tag Archives: ginger

Kale, Apple & Ginger Juice

Orange & Ginger Creamsicle Smoothie

DISCLAIMER: THE NICE PEOPLE AT CHOBANI SENT ME SOME OF THEIR PRODUCT FOR RECIPE TESTING AND DEVELOPMENT. HOWEVER, ALL OPINIONS ARE MY OWN.

Carrot, Apple & Ginger Juice

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!

Rainbow Veggie Juice | Juice Of The Week

Sweet & Sour Greens | A Juicing Recipe

Cranberry Ginger Simple Syrup | A New Year’s Eve Cocktail