Summer is full of fresh and beautiful fruits and vegetables. It’s also a great time to focus on eating an abundance of them. Every summer I do a summer beauty detox. Last year, I drank only juices from Organic Avenue and, while this was great, this year I wanted to try my own recipes in the comfort of my house. So for 30 days (yes, I’m human and cheated a few times), I challenged myself to live a raw and blended life.
Basically, I only drank juices, smoothies and soups I made in my Vitamix. I also made an array of salads with ingredients I got from my local farmers’ market or grew myself indoors using AeroGarden. I also dehydrated many fruits to make wonderful powders that can be added to smoothies and soups. Another great idea is to use leftover dried and fresh ingredients to make toners and masks. Here are some tips and suggestions for you to try this summer:
Things you will need:
Vitamix I thought all blenders were created equal, but that is not the truth! The Vitamix allows you to prepare healthy, whole-food meals quickly and easily. This machine goes from a kitten on its lowest setting to a lion on its highest. They also have wonderful and inspiring online recipes.
Aerogarden is a dirt-free, indoor garden that makes growing an array of herbs, vegetables and fruits easy and fun. It comes with its own grow lights and is computerized, telling you when to add water and nutrients. You will never be without basil again.
Excalibur Food Dehydrator This machine dehydrates fruits, vegetables and meats at a low temperature. Perfect for making kale chips and dried fruits—they will still retain all of their nutrients. Dehydrated fruits and vegetables cooked under 118 degrees are considered raw.
Kitchen Aid Coffee Grinder I love this coffee grinder for grinding all of my dehydrated ingredients.
This summer I really tried to start with fruits and vegetables that have high water content and were in season as a base, such as cucumber, watermelon, mangos and pineapple.
#1 Watermelon Cucumber and Mint Smoothie: ½ cup watermelon, 1 cucumber peeled and a few swigs of fresh mint. Blend in Vitamix.
#2 Pineapple and Sage Smoothie: ½ cup fresh pineapple, ½ frozen banana, ½ cup coconut or rice milk, 2 swigs of sage. Blend in Vitamix.
#3 Morning Mango: 1 cup frozen mango, 1 cup coconut water, 1 tablespoon turmeric, ½ table spoon cinnamon.
#4 Bloody Mary: 1 cucumber, 2 organic celery stalks, 3 organic tomatoes (cut and put in freezer for 2 hours), a few leaves of Thai basil, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, ½ tea spoon organic paprika, sea salt and green Tabasco sauce to taste.
I tried to combine both fruits and vegetables in a lot of my salads. I also add dehydrated ingredients like kale, spinach and pineapples to make great powders for soup, salad and smoothie recipes.
#1 Kale and Spinach Powder: Take fresh kale and spinach, and place them into a food dehydrator for 8 hours. Put them into a grinder and store frozen in zip lock bag. Add to smoothies, coconut water or soup.
#2 Dehydrated Oranges and Lemons: Dehydrate fresh fruits of your choice for 20 to 24 hours—great to snack on at the beach!
#3 Spinach and Peach Salad: This salad of fresh, organic spinach mixed with summer peaches is yummy! Add peanuts or walnuts.
#4 Arugula, Strawberry, Mint and Granola Salad: This blend of fresh seasonal strawberries and arugula tastes amazing. Add a few sprigs of mint and top with granola.
I hope you enjoyed my recipes. My goal was to be creative and find different ways to enjoy raw food. I also took a lot of the ingredients to make beauty products. A cucumber toner is great for the beach and helps with sunburn. I mixed my kale and spinach powder with my bentonite clay and made a great mask.
Enjoy and celebrate your beauty!
Connect with Karim @karimorange