How To: Homemade Green Juice

I'm a BIG fan of green juices,

but I'm not a fan of paying 7+ dollars for one.

Yes, I do so from time to time because it's easy,

but it's just as easy to make one at home if you plan ahead!

And since it's so easy, I figured I'd show you how to do it yourself today!

I've used both a blender and a juicer to make green juice,

but today I'm showing you how to use your blender.

You can use whatever fruits and vegetables you'd like,

but below is one of my FAVORITE green juices to date!

The Goods:

Kale

Romaine

Parsley

Green Apple

Pear

Kiwi

Ginger

Orange

Lemon

Lime

Squeeze your citrus juices, then add all the other ingredients to the blender.

I use the liquefy setting on my blender, because I want it as smooth as possible.

You can add a little water or some ice to thin it out if needed.

Once blended, you can either drink as is and get a TON of fiber...

Or you can use a fine mesh strainer to separate the liquid from the pulp.

I just use a rubber spatula to help push the juices through.

And you're left with a delicious and refreshing glass of green juice!

And of course a TON of fiber that you can toss or use in a compost!

That's it folks!

Super easy.

Super yummy.

Super good for ya!

Hosting My FIRST Thanksgiving!

I usually travel to see family for Thanksgiving, but this year I invited my parents to come visit me! They accepted and I was more than thrilled. I don't have a HUGE place, so I couldn't host too many people, but I decided to invite my grandma and cousin to come up as well!

The table all set.

In addition to hosting Thanksgiving, I did all the prep work and almost all of the cooking. It was a lot of work, but completely worth it! I have to give my mom the credit for the yummy gravy, and my grandma mashed the potatoes with some butter, milk, sour cream and seasoning.

ALL the yummy food!

Roasted Butternut Squash

French Bread Stuffing with Bacon

I LOVE stuffing...

but now I love it with bacon even more!

Cranberry Orange Sauce

Roasted Turkey Breast

It was SO moist and delicious! 

Green Bean Casserole

No Knead Clover Rolls.

I halved the recipe and STILL had a ton!!!

Potatoes Mashed by Grandma!

And Gravy made by Mom!

A holiday meal isn't complete without a Relish Tray.

My plate - YUM!!!

All in all, it was a VERY tasty meal and I can honestly say I look forward to doing it again!  Besides all the amazing food, I had one of the BEST Thanksgivings I've had in a long time.

My wonderful Thanksgiving guests!

Brining A Turkey

I know it's over a week after Thanksgiving, but I don't care because this Turkey Brine is SOOOOO amazing I just had to share! The recipe comes from The Pioneer Woman, so I'm not that surprised I liked it so much! I've always been very happy with the outcome of the recipes I get from her website and cookbook.  

Since I was so impressed with the outcome, I'll probably end up doing it other times throughout the year instead of just around Thanksgiving. Who doesn't love having amazing fresh roasted turkey anyway???? It's so tasty alone, on sandwiches (see below) and used in other recipes (see post coming soon!). Oh and you could even freeze some too to use later. 

Here's my little trick though... I roast JUST the turkey breast instead of the whole turkey. Why? Well mostly because I really only like the white meat, but also because it's a much smaller portion!

So now that I've ramble about how amazing this brine is - let me show you how to make it!  

The Goods

(Minus the Turkey Breast!)

I halved the original recipe in the link above

since my bird was only a lil over 5 pounds!

Orange Peel!

Coming to a boil.

Turkey Breast In A BAGGGGG.

So I forgot to take a few pictures...

Like the brine over the turkey.

Or the turkey in the brine in the pot chilling for 20 hours.

SORRY!

After bringing and rinsing - I stuffed the cavity with sliced oranges.

And roasted it in a bag!

Roasted bird!

After roasting for about 2 or so hours and cooling,

I pulled the delicious meat off the bone and it was SO moist!

And I ate simple turkey sandwiches like this for the next few days!

THIS is the main reason I roasted the turkey breast...

And I will be doing this again next year. Brine included. Heck - this was so tasty I may make brined turkey breast a lot more often. In fact, I don't think I'll ever make one and not brine it!