Every year a few weeks before Thanksgiving, I get the same text from my mother. “What do you want to eat for Thanksgiving dinner?” She asks each of us this question because she knows that we all have different eating styles, habits, preferences, and she’s just all around the best mom ever and wants to accommodate everyone. 
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drinks
Tea Time with Adagio Teas
I drink tea daily. Sometimes multiple times per day. I put yerba mate in my version of Healthful Pursuit’s Rocket Fuel Latte and I’ve even started making it with matcha green tea. And I like all types of tea. Green, black, herbal, oolong, chai, white, rooibos… it’s all good. So when I got an email from Adagio Tea asking if I would like to try some of their tea I was all about that.
Bring on the tea! 
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What To Drink
Go to any health site or read any healthy blog/article and one of the first tips to lose weight is drink more water. It’s good advice because you’re pretty much almost all water. Water literally powers most of your bodily functions and you’re constantly losing water by sweating and even exhaling. But I’m going to say what you should never say about water:
It’s boring and I just don’t like it. 
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DIY Wednesday: Coconut Milk
I use coconut milk a lot. In curries, creamy sauces, my daily smoothie bowl, for baking, in dressings, in my coffee…. You get the picture. There are plenty of options for coconut milk in the store and some of them are actually a pretty good deal. I can get a 1-quart carton of So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk at my Wal-mart for $1.98. But the price isn’t what’s driving this DIY post. 
Pretty much every brand of coconut milk has some type of thickener or “gum” added to make it that thick and creamy milk we all enjoy. Some brands have even worse things added but I avoid those. While the So Delicious brand is good, it still has guar gum added and while in small doses guar gum isn’t horrible, too much can cause some gastrointestinal issues.
Since I use coconut milk pretty much every day, I decided to try making my own. You guys, this is like the easiest homemade alternative milk that I have ever done. Nut milks aren’t super hard to make, but if you don’t have a fancy blender it can be time-consuming. Coconut milk is quick, simple, and pretty much any blender can handle it. Even an immersion blender. Oh yes, I tried it. 
Even better, it’s also a cheap way to make coconut milk especially if you can buy your coconut shreds in bulk. So if you’re looking for a simple way to make coconut milk, look no further!
Just a heads up, though, you will need a nut milk bag or cheese cloth but that’s the only “special” equipment required for this milk. You could even get away with using a mesh sieve or strainer.
Homemade Coconut Milk
- 1 package unsweetened coconut shreds, 8 oz
- 4 cups boiling water
- 1-2 tsp sweetener of choice, optional (I left it unsweetened)
- Get out a large bowl and layer your cheese cloth or nut milk bag over it. Boil the 4 cups of water.
- Meanwhile, measure out 8 oz of coconut shreds and put them into your blender. Pour the boiling water over the coconut and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes to soften up.
- Blend everything together. If you have a high-speed blender (jealous) this will take you literally 30 seconds maybe a minute. My blender took about 2 minutes. It won’t be completely smooth but you want a thick consistency.
- Pour the milk into the bowl with the bag or cheese cloth. Squeeze out all of the milk (careful if it’s still hot from the boiling water part) and transfer the milk to a pitcher or other container. It will keep in your fridge for 3 to 4 days.
Two things to note, DON’T throw away the coconut pulp! You can dry it out and use it in baking or cooking. Also, the milk will get a hard crust on it while it’s in the fridge. That’s totally fine. Just break it up and stir or shake the milk and it will be good to go! 
Watermelon Soda
It was hot last weekend and I felt like having soda. I haven’t had soda in years because who needs to be drinking all that sugar or chemicals? But I have seen recipes for “healthy” sodas and thought that I would give it a try. I had a bunch of watermelon that I needed to use up and all I really had to get for this was the sparkling water. You can use whatever fruit you would like, but I think that watermelon works well because of it’s high water content. So if you’re looking for a tasty and refreshing way to cool off without overindulging, give this watermelon soda a try!
Watermelon Soda
- 3-4 cups watermelon, cubed
- 1-2 cups sparkling water (make sure that has no added flavors, just water and CO2)
- 2-3 tbsp lime juice
1. Place watermelon into a blender and blend for a few minutes until it is liquified. Now, if you want to have a more slushie type drink leave as is and pour watermelon juice into a pitcher. Otherwise, place a sieve or fine mesh colander over your pitcher and pour the watermelon juice through.
2. Add sparkling water and lime juice to the pitcher and stir together. If your watermelon and sparkling water was cold when you made this, serve right away. If not just chill in the fridge for a few hours before serving.
That’s it! Pretty simple right? I left my soda as more of a slushie and it was delicious! I recommend drinking this right away as it will get less fizzy and fresh as the days go by. You could even make this an adult beverage and add rum or maybe gin. It would be a fun drink to serve at a BBQ or party!
Life Healthfully Lived 