Lemon-Pepper Water

My my wonderful, holistic Chiropractor in Wisconsin gave me this original idea, many years ago, for what she felt was the best, healthiest, most cleansing way to start each day. I get lax, fall away from this for a while, but then rush right to the kitchen to make it for times when I ate badly the day before, or like today, my persistent cold or winter allergies just won't quit.  Not a cure, but like Wendy said, a great healthy, cleansing way to start the day and get in 'our ounces' of water.

I've read we should all drink half the number on our scale, in ounces, every day.  So, if you weigh 140#, for example, you need 70oz. / day to keep All Systems Go. Living in Minnesota, what comes out of the tap is ICY cold water from Lake Superior.  Right out of the faucet it's great, but I also know there are impurities we can't taste, so I bought a Big Burkey water filtration system.  

In the morning, fill a container that holds the ounces you need for the day, or one you'd fill twice, or three times, a day to get to that number.  Pour just a little into a heat-proof mug or jar, add some peppercorns, some of the very outer peeled yellow layer, from the lemon, and a big squeeze of lemon juice.  Also a sprinkle of cayenne and, if you're not intermittent fasting,  put in some honey.  You can add the honey to future glasses of this magic drink, during your eating time.  Heat this in the microwave for a minute, stir, then fill with more filtered water from your container.  Do this during the day to continue the cleansing, or just drink the water plain, or use it for tea. . .  

Drink Up Everyone! Your body will thank you. . .Lin

Peppery Dandelion-Lemon Water

1 lg. lemon

a good shake of:

cayenne pepper - and

finely ground black pepper

2-3T dandelion jelly - or honey

Other additions:  Slices of lime or orange, fresh crushed mint, sliced frozen strawberries or dark cherries.

Scrub, juice and slice the lemon into a 2 quart glass pitcher containing the peppers and jelly.  Add 2 cups fresh water that's been heated just a little.  Stir and let stand for a few minutes to bring out all the flavors.

Fill the pitcher with more fresh cold water.  Put it in the sun for a couple hours.  Stir and refrigerate.

Serve over ice or heated in a mug.  This is a wonderful cleansing drink . . . Lin

Spicy, Citrus Cleansing Drink

2T± organic honey

peel from one orange

1 lime - juice and peel

1 lemon - juice and peel

¼-½t± finely ground red and black pepper

Put everything in a covered mixing pitcher and fill with water.  Leave the pitcher in direct sunlight for a couple hours, mixing occasionally.  When the honey is melted and blended in, refrigerate.

This is a great cleansing drink - hot or cold. . .Lin

Another First-Thing-In-The-Morning Drink

1 lg. juicy lemon

1-2t organic honey

1lg. pinch of cayenne pepper

1med. pinch of ground black pepper

2-3 cubes candied ginger - diced

While bringing some fresh cold water to a boil, assemble ingredients.  Juice the lemons and remove the seeds.  Pour this into a BIG mug, ( * my favorite) along with a couple cut pieces of the lemon shell.  Add the remaining ingredients.  Pour hot water over all, stir and let stand, a couple times.  This drink is full of great healing properties.  The lemon, while topically and naturally acidic, turns ALKALINE in your stomach.  We all need a more alkaline diet.  Disease thrives and grows in acid!

The honey has a trace of B Vitamins necessary for out bodies to digest sugars.  LOCAL, organic is wonderful if you have any sort of inhalant allergies, since the bees are gathering the pollen to make their honey from the very plants you may be allergic to!  The principle incorporates the same science as allergy shots.  Small introductions can often bring about reduced sensitivity to those particular allergens.  Cayenne pepper stimulates your body's circulation, reduces acidity, will detoxify your body and lower cholesterol.  The little sprinkle of black pepper more efficiently activates the healing-restorative powers in the cayenne.

Ginger...ahhh, the ginger!  I love the flavor of it.  Many people laud it for it's anti-nausea, stomach-settling properties.  Personally, since it has to pass through the esophagus to reach the stomach, it doesn't always work well for me, and I often get heartburn from it.  Give it a try though, it works well for most people.  If you don't like it in this drink, chop some up and add it to your next stir fry with a spoonful of crunchy peanut butter and minced garlic for a great Thai Chicken Stir Fry.  Hmmm. . .this may be my idea for 'what's for dinner' tonight!  Here's wishing you a Very Healthy, Cleansing start to your day 😉 . . .Lin

Lemon Lime Cleansing Drink

This is my variation of an old German recipe that claims it will "cure clogged arteries, fat in the blood, infection and colds."  While it may, or may not, do all that, I think of it more basic terms.  It's a great daily cleansing drink!  The original recipe only used lemon, garlic, ginger and water.  Kale, spinach, celery or cilantro are other good cleansing agents.  In doing a side-by-side comparison of lemons vs. limes I discovered that they're are just packed with nutrients!  Where the lemon scored low, the lime excelled and vise versa, back and forth right down the list!  Now when using them in a lemon or lime recipe, I'll use half of each.

2 lg. lemons

2 lg. limes

1-2" cube of peeled ginger

4 lg. cloves of peeled garlic

a whole bunch of cilantro

1/2 gallon of filtered water

honey-to taste after chilling

Scrub, cube and seed the fruit - interestingly, there wasn't a single seed in any of mine!  Chop the ginger, garlic and thoroughly wash the greens.  Place all in a blender, adding enough water to fill in the air space.  Blend on high a couple minutes before returning the mixture to a 3qt. pan containing the rest of the water.  Heat slowly, while stirring occasionally, to just below the boiling point.  Pour into a large covered container and chill several hours.  Mix, then strain, using a very fine strainer, into a small kettle, add a teaspoon to a tablespoon of raw, organic honey.  Heat and drink.  I would recommend drinking a cup of this first thing in the morning and also an hour before dinner. . .Happy Cleansing. . .Lin

Honey-Lemon-Ginger-Garlic 'Tea'

3 fresh lemons

2” chunk of fresh ginger

3 lg. garlic cloves

3T raw organic crystallized honey

2 quarts of fresh cold water

Zest and halve or quarter the lemons. Peel and thinly slice the ginger. Slice then mince the garlic. Bring the water to a rolling boil then take off the heat.

To the water add: lemon zest, juice, the remains of the lemons, ginger, garlic and honey. Stir. Let stand 20 minutes. Mash everything well with a potato masher, stir again then pour into a covered glass container. Keeps well for several days in the refrigerator. Strain enough to fill a mug, heat and drink. It will develop more flavor as all those ingredients steep together. This is excellent to drink, several mugs a day until it's gone, for a nice gentle cleansing. It's also a really comforting drink for those days when it feels like you're fighting the flu or a cold. Drink up, be well. . .Lin

Footnote:  What I actually ended up doing was to leave the tea and remaining ingredients on the stove.  When I'd pour a mug I just added that amount of water to the pan and heated it again.  Doing this yielded a total of 3-4 quarts of the tea.

Good Morning Sunshine

juice of 1 lemon

1T local, organic honey

dash of cayenne pepper

boiling water

Spring is coming in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, USA! This is a wonderful Spring, and every season, cleansing way to wake up your body. Put all the above in a large mug, stir and drink. You'll feel better and better every day :-) . . .Lin

Cleansing Green Drink

1 mini English cucumber

1 medium carrot

1 clove garlic

½-1 bunch curly parsley

a 1” chunk of peeled ginger

1 lemon – zest and juice

1-2c water

This will kick start any diet or food elimination program you might want to try. It really cleanses your system!

Blend or juice the ingredients. Blended it's a little thick and grassy, but once it's at that stage you can strain it into a big glass to get the same effect as using a juicer. . .Lin

A Cleansing Wake-Up Drink

"It'll Cure What Ailes You!"  As my dad would say about so many things he'd try to get me to eat when I was a little girl - and a very picky eater.  My how times have changed!

I've posted this before but it needed to make another appearance. The ingredients in this drink have amazing properties. Filtered water and lemon juice for an all body cellular-level cleansing, raw honey for it's healing abilities and cayenne for its anti-inflammatory qualities.

In an old stovetop porcelain coffee pot boil 3 mugs of filtered water. Remove from the heat and add 1-2T of raw honey, juice of 1 lemon and a couple sprinkles of cayenne. Stir and drink. This is especially nice after a hard achy night fighting a virus or to counteract the effects of indiscriminate drinking or eating. Start your day this way for a week or so and notice the difference! . . . Lin

Life Can Be Toxic - Detox Whenever Possible

We live in an age that often demands we sleep fast, wake even faster and hit-the-ground-running.  To aid in this we often down half a pot of coffee, strong tea or otherwise break - what was hopefully - a restful sleep cycle, in an unnatural way.  Our bodies adapt to this, but not well.  Once in a while it's good to change that up a bit.

I posted this, as Hot Lemon Water a while ago, but want to bring it to the forefront again as a reminder.  By starting the day this way, it can cleanse the mind, body and create some healing.  Lemon, water and cayenne together make an amazing detoxifier.  It takes a little getting used to, but if you get start the day this way a few times a week, take a shower, read, etc. and relax for an hour - before your usual dive into the coffee pot, you'll notice a difference right away.  Your body will thank you.

Several health-and-wellness professionals I know recommend this in one form of another, this is my version that makes enough for a couple days:

<1 qt. filtered water - bring to a low simmer
1        lemon - juiced
1/2 T  real Maple syrup
a small shake of Cayenne Pepper 

Put last 3 ingredients in a quart jar, add hot water, stir and drink. Start your day this way and you'll be amazed at how good you feel. It's a great whole-body cleanser to get rid of toxins created by bad eating, poor sleep and life stress.  It works well as an appetite suppressant and is great for detoxifying the kidneys and liver (which also makes it a good 'morning-after' drink). . .Lin

Hot Lemon Water

Several 'alternative' health and wellness professionals have recommended this in one form or another. My version is:

1 big mug of VERY hot filtered water
juice of 1/2 a large lemon
drizzle of real maple syrup
cayenne pepper (as much as you can handle —
                             start with a good sprinkle in the mug and increase as desired)

Stir and drink. Start your day this way and you'll be amazed at how great you feel. It's a great whole-body cleanser and works well as an appetite suppresant. It's good for detoxifying the kidneys and liver which makes it a good 'morning-after' drink. . .Lin