Light and Fresh Spring Elixir

Hope you all had a great weekend!  We still have no Internet connection at home, and with the blazing temperatures outside I just can't bring myself to venture out to the free wifi at the pool.  Baby wouldn't like that much, and neither would this mama!  So, sorry for the sporadic posting lately and to come!  Blogging has been taking a hit, but recipe creation has not!  Just need to find time to get some of my tasty new creations posted for you to enjoy!

We're also heading home to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan later this week.  We've been storing almost all of our belongings at my mom's house for the past year while we've been on this "chiropractic journey" as we call it.  In the last year we've lived in 8 different places while training at various clinics around the US and Canada.  It's kind of surreal looking back to think about all the places we've been in such a short time and that we've been living out of a suitcase for that long.  I'll be the first to tell you I am SO EXCITED TO GET OUR STUFF BACK!! :)  We've been using one skillet, one medium sauce pan, 2 bowls and 2 plates for all too long of a time.  I'm ready to get my baking utensils back as well as my KitchenAid stand mixer!  Wahoo!!!  So we'll be on a mini vacation for the rest of this week as we fly up to the U.P. and drive down a moving truck with our stuff.  Hoping the drive back down to Charlotte won't be too brutal.  Baby belly sure is growing by the day it seems, and it's becoming harder to get around and sit or lie down.  Say a little prayer for baby and me on Saturday!

Here is a quick and simple recipe that I am LOVING this summer.  It's sure saving me!  The summer heat calls for drinking even more water every day.  For some people, it's hard to get in the minimum half your body weight in ounces of water daily to stay hydrated.  For pregnant ladies, it's even harder because we have to drink more for baby, and even more if we go outside in the heat!  I've become a bit bored with plain old water, so I've started playing around, adding different fruits and herbs to flavor the water naturally.

I keep a glass pitcher full of this recipe in my fridge and especially enjoy it early and mid-morning.  The cinnamon and ginger help to cleanse out your body and cells naturally, and the sweetness from the citrus is subtly refreshing.

Some other great and simple additions to your water can be sliced or muddled: strawberries, raspberries, kiwi, orange, lemon, mint leaves, pineapple, watermelon, green apple, cucumber, rosemary or grapes.  These and combinations of them have been some of my favorites so far this summer.  And kids LOVE to eat the fruit bits at the bottom of the glass, so it's a great way to encourage your kids to drink all their water, too!  It gives them a goal to reach.

Light & Fresh Spring Elixir

1 liter filtered water
Handful of ice cubes
A couple inches of fresh ginger, chopped into chunks
Handful of fresh mint, slightly crushed
1 cinnamon stick, snapped in half
1 organic orange, lemon, or lime, sliced/wedged

Add all ingredients to a pitcher, stir and enjoy!  Refill pitcher throughout the day as needed, the flavorings will keep on giving!