Blueberry Pies for Two

Ok y'all here's the recipe for those yummy blueberry pies that I promised! These were soooooooo good and super easy! The original recipe was for apple pies, which are too cute because the apples are the bottom crust! BUT I have an obsession with blueberries, so it was only right to use them!

Here's whatcha need:

• (crust) 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
• (crust) 1 teaspoon organic cane sugar
• (crust) 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
• (crust) 1/4 cup cold unsalted butter
• (crust) 2-3 tablespoons almond milk
• 1 cup blueberries (or more of desired)
• 2 teaspoons organic cane sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Splash of almond milk
• Coconut oil (melted)

What to do:
1. To make the crust, combine the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl.

2. Cut in the butter with a fork. To break the butter up into tiny pieces I like to use a cheese grater.

3. Add one tablespoon of milk at a time, mix the dough until the dough comes together to form a ball. Make sure not to add too much milk, though.

4. Shape the dough into a disk and cover in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours until chilled.

5. Meanwhile rinse the berries then add the 2 teaspoons of sugar and ground cinnamon in a small bowl with the berries. Stir with a splash of milk to combine.

6. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

7. Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick and  use a jar to cut out two circles for the bottom crust, then cut long strips of dough for the top crust.

8. Place the circles in the bottom of your muffin tins or ramekins. Then add the strips of dough into a weaved pattern on top of the berries. Cut excess off.

9. Brush the tops with coconut oil and bake for 30-40 minutes or until tender and golden brown.

10. Enjoy with a special someone or hey eat them both!

Happy cooking!
~ Rissa

DIY Lavender Room Spray

This is the brand of fragrance oil that I used. It's available here

Ok guys! I'm so excited to share this with y'all! For the longest I have been searching for a more natural air freshener option. I've tried several recipes and none have really worked that we'll. But this one, is a winner! The smell actually sort of reminds me of the Abercrombie and Fitch fragrance. So let's get to it.
Here's whatcha need:
°Isopropyl alcohol
°Fabric softener (I used Mrs. Meyers    lavender scented fabric softener)
° Lavender Fragrance oil
° Spray bottle

Mix equal parts alcohol and fabric softener, then add about 5 drops of fragrance oil. Shake the spray bottle well before each use.

I absolutely LOVE this spray! The scent sticks around for a good bit of time also. Give it a try!
Do you make your own room sprays or air fresheners? Leave a comment below with your favorite spray combo.

Happy air freshening!
~ Rissa

Juicing and Blending Tips

Hey y'all!
A rainy Sunday brought on a serious juicing session here in the Cunningham house! Here are the recipes for each juice from left to right!

Red Juice:

• 1 Beet (thoroughly cleaned and peeled)
• 2 Red Apples
• 1 Lemon
• 2 Strawberries (I only used 2 because it was all I had and they were enormous)

Orange Juice:

• 8 Clementines (oranges will work too)
• 3 Carrots
• 1 Lemon
• 1" Ginger (peeled)

Red-Orange Juice:

• Tomatoes (I used cherry tomatoes)
• 2 Celery stalks
• 2 Carrots

Yellow-Green Juice:

• 1 Cucumber (clean thoroughly)
• 1 Lemon
• Fresh Pineapple chunks
• Aloe Vera Juice (just a splash)
• Coconut Water (fill the rest of the jar)

Green Juice:

• 1 Cucumber
• 1 Celery Stalk
• 1-2 Green Apples
• 1 Lemon
• Baby Spinach leaves (a handful or 2)

It is very important to use fresh, organic ingredients when making fresh pressed juices. This allows you to have the best tasting juice as well as obtain all of the nutrients from the fruits and vegetables. If you are unable to use organic ingredients be sure to really give the produce a good washing first.

A quick tip about beets. These can be a lil tricky in my opinion. I made a juice with beets a few days before this batch of juices and it was almost unbearable! I literally had to chug it. But to eliminate the"dirt" taste that beets have, scrub it with a brush or use a rag to clean it. Also to help with peeling, let it soak in warm to hot water for a few minutes then peel it. Oh and be sure to cut the ends off before juicing.

Juicing vs. Blending

So this might be an obvious statement. But just to make sure I want to explain the difference between juicing and blending. A juicer is VERY different from a blender! This is really important to know. Using a blender and adding water to the blend is NOT a juice, it is simply a watered down smoothie. The proper equipment is necessary to enjoy the true benefits of juicing.

 Juicing

Juicing extracts the water and nutrients from fruits and vegetables while discarding the fiber. Some benefits of juicing are:

• without all of the fiber the digestive system doesn't have to work hard
• makes the nutrients more readily available in much larger quantities
• freshly squeezed vegetable juices are most healing and detoxifying because they nourish & restore the body on a cellular level
• the juice is absorbed into the blood stream quickly
• a single juice contains more fruit and vegetable servings than a smoothie does

To make a fresh pressed juice you will need a Juicer. Here is an example of what a juicer will look like.

 A good quality juicer will cost an average of about $150. BUT we found a decent one at for about $40, it was mainly to get us started with juicing. It has lasted about a year and a half now, but it is definitely time to upgrade.
Here are a few tips to follow when purchasing a juicer:

1. Avoid centrifugal juicers because they bring in heat and oxygen which destroys the nutrients
2. Look for a premium cold press or masticating juicer because it extracts more juice and the juicer lasts longer.
3. Make sure the juicer has multiple speeds because some fruits (grapes for example) may need a lower speed than others (like apples).

Blending

Blending consist of the entire fruit or vegetable and contains all of the fiber. Blending does break the fiber apart to make the produce easier to digest. Some benefits of blending are:

• blending creates a slow, even release of nutrients into the blood stream
• smoothies tend to be more filling because of the fiber
• a smoothie can sometimes be faster to make than a juice

When making smoothies you will need to use a blender. It is important to make sure the equipment is good quality and is gentle on the produce, this ensures that the nutrients remain intact. Here is an example of a blender:

Here are some useful links regarding juicing, blending and clean eating:
Go Fully Raw
Reboot With Joe
Food Matters
Food Babe

So, I hope that this was helpful if you are considering juicing and or blending. Leave a comment below if you have any questions, I will be happy to help. Also leave a comment below if you have suggestions, tips or recipes to share!

Happy Juicing!
~Rissa

Mini Tacos

Ingredients:
1 Onion-diced
1 Clove garlic-minced
1/2 Red Pepper-chopped
1/2 Green Pepper-chopped
1 Carrot-finely grated
1/2 Cup salsa
1-2 Tbsps Taco seasoning
1lb Ground Turkey
1 Can black beans-drained
1 Can pinto beans-drained
Flour Tortillas
Grated cheese of choice
Toppings of choice (cherry tomato, sour cream, salsa)

Directions:

1. Heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a pan on medium heat, add garlic and onions to flavor the oil.
2. Add ground turkey, cook until brown and drain if necessary.
3. Season the turkey with taco seasoning and salsa. (I used this homemade taco seasoning recipe.)
4. Add carrots, peppers and beans and cook for about 5 more minutes and adding water or broth as needed.
5. To make the mini tortillas, use a can or cookie cutter the size of a muffin tin cup to cut out the circles.
6. Spray the muffin tin and tortillas with olive oil and assemble your mini tacos as desired.
7. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the tortillas crisp a bit on 350
8. Add your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Happy healthy eating!
~Rissa

Cherry Tootsie Pop Smoothie

Cherry swirl:
1 cup frozen cherries

1/4 cup raspberries
1 cup almond milk
1/4 cup orange juice

1 Tbsp honey

1 cup ice

Chocolate swirl:
1 cup almond milk
1/2 avocado
Handful of ice
Handful of spinach
2 Tbsps almond butter
2 Tbsps cocoa powder
1 Tbsp Honey

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Smoothie

Strawberry swirl:
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup coconut milk
Sweetener to taste (I used honey)

Chocolate swirl:
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 avocado
Handful of ice
Handful of spinach
2 Tbsps almond butter
2 Tbsps cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
Sweetener to taste