12 of the Best Health Promoting Summertime Treats to Cool You Off
Summertime and the Living is Easy!
This blog post is a summer food fun post because I love summer! When I started my healthy lifestyle, I realized how often I felt deprived of eating yummy food. So often we are bombarded with sugary, processed, or otherwise unhealthy treats. It seriously does not have to be that way! We can eat healthy treats without feeling cheated! We can even eat sweet treats! We can even thrive on these foods, as each ingredient I have chosen is health-promoting.
Besides plain fruit or veggies, there are some really refreshing and tasty treats that we can have.
In this post, I have added both sweet and savory treats to keep the oven off and keep you cool this summer!
Filtered Water
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There is nothing more cooling in the summer than a nice cold glass of filtered water. Water is essential to the human body. Every cell, tissue, and organ in your body needs water to work properly. For example, water:
- lubricates and cushions joints
- regulates body temperature
- gets rid of waste through sweating, urination, and defecation
- helps move toxins out of your body
- moistens air for easier breathing
- protects sensitive tissues
- helps dissolve minerals and nutrients to make them accessible to the body
- transports oxygen and nutrients to cells
- forms the basis of saliva
- cools your body down
Staying hydrated is crucial to keeping your body functioning correctly. So how much water should you drink every day? The Institute of Medicine recommends that men consume 3.7 liters (about 15.5 cups) of water per day, and women consume 2.7 liters (about 11.5 cups). However, many factors can affect how much water you need, such as exercise, climate, and overall health.
You can add fruit to your filtered water. I love adding cucumber and mint. Strawberries and oranges are really good too. I am not a fan, but some people even add melon to their water. Most fruit is at its peak after sitting in water for 3-4 hours in the refrigerator. Citrus fruit gets very bitter after 5 hours or so. I like to start my water concoctions first thing in the morning; then, when it gets warmer outside, I take it out of the refrigerator and drink it throughout the day.
If you are in the market for a juicer you can always check out this blog post for the best recommendations.
Refreshing Lemonade
Ingredients
1 large lemon
3 Granny Smith apples
3 Red apples
1 knob of ginger if desired. I have also juiced a bit of fennel with this.
1 sprig of mint for decoration
You can also add a few strawberries to the juicer for strawberry lemonade. Or try raspberry!!
I do suggest playing around with the number of red apples. That is where the sweetness will come from. I don’t usually need 3, but I am used to not having a lot of sweetness. I doubt that it is possible to ruin this juice.
Instructions
Juice all ingredients together. Pour into a tall glass, and add a sprig of mint. Or add a sliced strawberry for fun.
Healthy Refreshing Green Drink
Ingredients
1/2 Fennel Bulb
1 Granny Smith Apple
1 Lemon (peeled…whole would make it bitter, but bitter is great for healing too)!
1 Knuckle sized Knob of Ginger
3 Celery Sticks
Handful of Parsley
Instructions
Just put it all in the juicer. This juice is a little chunky, so if you don’t like pulp in your juice you can strain it in a cheesecloth. When done juicing, pour over ice in an 8 oz. glass. I like to add a couple of sprigs of mint to mine.
Pina Colada Mocktail
This Healthy Pina Colada is a refreshing drink the whole family will love. Made rich and sweet with coconut cream and frozen pineapple, this Healthy Pina Colada Mocktail is decadent enough for special occasions, yet healthy enough for breakfast!
Ingredients
¼ cup coconut cream
2 tbs pineapple juice
1 cup frozen pineapple chunks slightly thawed and chopped
½ cup cold water (for an even richer beverage, use coconut milk in place of water)
Instructions
Add all ingredients to the Nutr Machine and run through one “Room Temp” cycle. Pour the healthy pina colada mocktail into a fun cocktail glass and top with a pineapple wedge and a cherry! I got the recipe from here. You can click the upper right-hand recipes link for more ideas.
This is such a sleek-looking Nut Milk Machine!
Vegetables with Nutritious Yeast Dip
Ingredients
1 cup hemp seeds
1/3 cup water
1 clove garlic
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
1 cup red bell pepper
2 1/2 tbs nutritious yeast flakes
1 tbs chili powder
2 tsp coconut aminos
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tsp sea salt
Instructions
Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Dip crackers or veggies for a cool morning or afternoon snack.
Grain-Free Crackers and Garlic Hummus
Ingredients
1 13 oz jar of chickpeas
4 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup of lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Paprika
Instructions
Blend all ingredients except the paprika until smooth. Sprinkle paprika on top.
Fruit Kabobs with Creamy Cashew Cinnamon Dip
Ingredients
1 cup of raw cashews
1 cup of almond milk
1 tbs of date syrup
1-2 tsp of vanilla
2 tsp of cinnamon
1 pinch of sea salt
Instructions
Soak 1 cup of raw cashews overnight. Rinse and drain. Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend until creamy. Chill in refrigerator for about 2 hours before serving.
Gazpacho
Ingredients
12 whole tomatoes
1 yellow onion
1 cucumber
1 large onion diced
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cayenne pepper
Instructions
Chop the tomatoes, onion, cucumber, and pepper. Add all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Pulse until just chunky. You can keep processing until smooth and creamy if you like. I prefer chunky gazpacho.
Pour into a glass storage container until cold and ready to serve. Or if you prefer you can eat it right away.
Pour into serving dishes, and garnish with microgreens or chopped green onions.
Makes 6 servings.
Cucumber Soup
Ingredients
2 medium cucumbers
1/2 avocado
1 handful of fresh basil
1/2 cup almond milk
1 tbs cold-pressed oil of choice
1 tbs lime juice
1/4 cup dill or cilantro
1/2 -1 jalapeno
2 celery stalks
Ideas for Garnishing
Pumpkin seeds
Any fresh herbs (Parsley, Sage ,Rosemary, Thyme)
Avocado
Cucumber
Mint
Drizzle of cold-pressed oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
Blend all ingredients together, and chill. Pour into dish/dishes and garnishes. Serves 1-2 people.
Chia Bowls
Ingredients
3/4 cups nut milk of choice
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbs chia seeds
Instructions
Stir nut milk and chia together. Pour into bowls or glass jars, and refrigerate covered overnight. In the morning add fresh fruit and a garnish if you desire. There is something so appetizing about food that looks nice!
You can make as much or as little as you like. I recommend using 1 tbs of chia for every 1/4 cup of nut milk. This recipe serves 2 people.
Yonanas
You start by cutting up your fruit to fit into the chute. Freeze the fruit.
Next, you will thaw the fruit for about 7-10 minutes (according to Yonanas)
Then put the fruit into the Yonanas Machine.
Put a bowl underneath the chute and start adding in your fruit to the chute.
At first, the fruit will be a bit chunky, but as it warms up a bit you should get a sorbet or soft-serve texture to your nice cream.
Below I will include a couple of recipes that I have made and loved. Keep in mind that you can actually add any frozen fruit to a Yonanas, and I am just adding in ideas. Be creative!
I got this Chai Nice Cream recipe from the Yonanas website.
Chai Spice Yonanas (my favorite)
Chai Spice Yonanas
Warm and fragrant spices from cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger make this creamy chai Yonanas recipe a cool, dairy-free chai-tea-like experience.
Ingredients
1. 2 frozen over-ripe bananas
2. 1 teaspoon garam masala (North Indian spice blend found in natural and specialty food stores - Garam Masala may include a blend of cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, clove, and nutmeg).
Instructions
1. Slightly thaw your frozen fruit prior to putting through your Yonanas maker.
2. Sprinkle garam masala spice over bananas
3. Insert frozen bananas
Raspberry Strawberry Sorbet
Ingredients
2 ripe bananas
1/2 cup raspberries
1/3 cup strawberries
Instructions
Nice cream doesn’t get any easier than this. Just alternate the fruit as you are feeding it into your Yonanas. Sometimes I only do raspberries with my bananas.
This is such a simple way to get flavorful healthy treats, that are sure to cool you off. Bonus: No more chemical-laden ice creams! My Yonanas lives on my countertop in the summertime!
Chocolate Chip Ingredients!!
Super Healthy Chocolate Sauce
Ingredients
1 cup HU chocolate chips
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
Instructions
Melt the coconut oil and chocolate chips in a small saucepan. Let sit for a minute or so, but don’t let it harden. You want it cool enough so it won’t melt the nice cream. Once cooled a bit, then pour onto your nice cream. It should create a hard shell. Tastes so good on the raspberry sorbet.
Orange Coconut Creamsicles
I seriously saved the best for last. I created this recipe years ago as a smoothie to go with my orange vitamin C. It has since evolved into the best popsicles I have ever eaten! If you don’t want to swing for the vitamin C, these are still really tasty without! The vitamin C just gives it that extra power kick, and tastes marvelous! And of course, you can still use this as a smoothie too.
Ingredients
1 can of coconut milk
1 bag of frozen pineapple
1 bag of frozen mango
1 orange
1 banana
2 tbs liposomal vitamin C
Instructions
Blend all together in a blender. Pour into popsicle molds. Let freeze. If you can’t get them out of the molds, run for a bit under lukewarm water. So tropical!!
Please comment below if you appreciated this post, have used any of the recipes, or if you just want to say, “hi!”
