Top Five Non-Alcoholic Summer Drinks

By Suzy O'Connor 

Summer is a great time to relax outside with a long, cool drink and while alcohol can be an option if you don't need to drive, it can leave you dehydrated and tired. We have come up with our top five alcohol free favourites for those afternoons around the BBQ with friends.

Pink lemonade - A traditional favourite.

1 unwaxed lime (chopped)
4 unwaxed lemons (chopped)
1 cup fresh raspberries
200g golden caster sugar
1 pint spring water
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger root

Add your fruit, ginger and a handful of ice cubes to the blender with 500ml of the water and 100g of the sugar, blitz this mixture and strain the juice into a jug. Return the fruit and ginger pulp to the blender with the rest of your sugar and water and repeat the process this time discarding the pulp. Serve with more ice cubes and a sprig of fresh mint.

Apple and honey iced tea - Refreshing and tasty.

500ml apple juice
500ml boiling water
4 x teabags of choice
3 tablespoons of honey

Place your teabags into a jug, add the boiling water land leave to brew for five minutes.
Remove the teabags and add the honey, stirring until completely dissolved. Add the apple juice and chill. Serve with lots of ice.

Sparkling spring water with cordial of choice

Easy, inexpensive, 'lo-cal', refreshing and any flavour you choose! Add sparkling water and lots of ice to your favourite cordial for the best thing since soda streams were invented!

Alcohol free Pina Colada

Pina Colada is a great taste for summer and the kids can enjoy this one too. Combine the ingredients below with ice cubes and blend for a jug of heaven:

The juice of 2 limes
The flesh of half a fresh pineapple
400ml of pineapple juice
200ml of coconut milk

Black Forest milkshake - Naughty but nice!

1 litre milk
1 cup maraschino cherries
4 scoops chocolate ice cream
2 x tablespoons of chocolate sauce
Whipping cream, cherry and cocoa powder to serve

Blend the ingredients to a smooth consistency and top with whipped cream, a sprinkling of cocoa powder and a cherry. Yum!

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Suzy_O'Connor/386763

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Light Salad Meals for Summer

By Laura Cockerell 

Light salad meals are a great idea for hot weather menu planning. With just a few fresh ingredients you can make a meal quickly and easily. I like having a few standby recipes for those warm summer-like days. Here are a few of my favourite easy salad meals.

These easy salad recipes can be served in a variety of ways so you can always have a variety of meal ideas that are simple to make.

I love the creaminess of cottage cheese and here is a really simple salad with just four ingredients. This is a great salad to serve as a wrap sandwich or even a cold pasta topper. This recipe make 3 to 4 servings.

Ingredients:

cottage cheese - 1 (16oz) container

marinated artichoke hearts - 1 cup chopped

sun-dried tomatoes in oil - 1/4 cup chopped

pitted oil-cured black olives - 1/4 cup finely diced

(you can use regular black pitted olives if you prefer)

Directions:

- Simply place all the ingredients in a bowl and toss to combine completely.

Easy Salad Meal Ideas:

·       Layered Wrap Sandwich: Serve this cheese salad as a layered wrap sandwich. Take a soft tortilla shell and layer it with washed spinach or lettuce leaves. Next place the cottage cheese salad on top of the greens. Then place any of the following on top of the cheese salad; strips of thinly sliced avocado sections, deli ham, chicken or roast beef slices. Roll up the wrap and enjoy.

·       Stuffed Potatoes: Make a quick salad meal by using this creamy salad as a topping for baked potatoes. Serve along with steamed and chilled asparagus drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice.

·       Pasta Topper: Another idea for a light salad meal is to serve this cheese salad recipe over whole grain cooked and chilled pasta such as rotini, elbow macaroni or farfalle. I like to serve this with warm garlic bread slices on the side.

Here is another four ingredient recipe that make a delicious light salad meal. It is a refreshing crab salad that is packed with flavor. This recipe makes two servings but you can simply double the ingredients to make four servings.

Ingredients:

cooked crabmeat - 2 cups (flaked or lump - broken into pieces)

dressing of your choice - 3 to 4 tbsp (Italian, French, or Caesar are good choices)

marinated artichoke hearts - 1 jar (7.5 oz) (drained and cut into small chunks)

fresh watercress - 2 cups (washed and chopped)

Directions:

- Break the crabmeat into pieces and marinate in a bowl with the salad dressing for one hour.

- After one hour, add all the other ingredients and toss seafood salad well to coat.

Easy Salad Meal Ideas:

·       Crab Salad with Roasted Veggies: Serve this quick crab salad recipe on top of romaine lettuce with a side of roasted vegetables.

·       Crab Stuffed Avocados: Another easy idea is to serve this delicious salad scooped into an avocado half and serve along with rye toast with melted cheese on top for a quick meal.

·       Layered Crab Salad: You can also serve this as a layered salad by layering the crab salad into parfait glasses alternating between layers of peeled orange segments and the crab salad.

Try this simple chicken salad that is filled with great depth of flavor created with chicken, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and more.

Ingredients:

chicken - 2 cups cooked, cooled and cubed

garlic - 2 cloves finely chopped

sun-dried tomatoes in oil - 1/3 cup chopped (use oil for dressing)

broccoli - 1 1/2 cups chopped (raw or steamed)

fresh squeezed lime juice - 1 tbsp

Note: If you do not like raw broccoli, you may steam it lightly before adding to salad.

Directions:

- In a mixing bowl, add the chicken, garlic, tomatoes, broccoli, lime juice and the oil from the tomatoes. Toss well to combine.

Easy Salad Meals:

·       Chicken Salad with Udon Noodles: Serve this easy chicken salad over udon noodles with peach and cucumber slices on the side.

·       Easy Garlic Chicken Salad: Serve chicken salad over a bed of spinach leaves and shredded cabbage with a bowl of cold tomato soup and whole grain crackers.

·       Chicken Salad with Rolls: Another quick light summer meal recipe is to serve this garlic lime chicken salad with whole grain rolls or corn muffins.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Laura_Cockerell/271871

http://ezinearticles.com/?Light-Salad-Meals-for-Summer&id=7149949 

Acid-Alkaline Food Chart Benefits-Where to Search for it and what are in its list   

by Eva Grace Montemayor

Acid-alkaline food chart is a chart of almost all food listings available. There are the positive foods and the negative foods. The foods with positive signs are those foods with high acid content while the negatively signed foods are those that are high in alkalinity. The main purpose of this chart is for you to know the food that you're eating and eat more foods that have more alkaline level. 

Our body maintains a pH level of 7.4 and if it goes up then it means danger. Degeneration of cells begins and diseases start to occur. Helping your body attain a very high alkalinity is for you to follow strictly the acid-alkaline food chart. Eating foods that are in the alkaline food list is very helpful in fighting diseases such as colds, flu and even chronic diseases, depressions and fatigue. The chart can actually help you save your life.
If you are new to this diet, you will have a hard time knowing what foods to eat and what are not to eat because you don't have a food chart. This food chart includes an alkaline food list to help you better understand the diet and choose the right foods to keep you healthy.
The internet is teeming with different acid-alkaline food charts but how are you going to identify it as the right one? There are food charts that are ineffective and lack the proper information. They sometimes are not updated. You should look for a very precise yet effective food chart. It doesn't need to be 30 pages long. It can only have 1 page that you can hang into your refrigerator or bring with you to the grocery. The food chart that you can easily identify as to how much alkalinity it will give you by the color coding and star ratings of the foods on the list. 

Everybody loves to have a fair glowing skin, long shiny black hair, hard nails and disease free. All of these you can achieve by strictly following your diet on the acid-alkaline food chart. The alkaline food list can give you all the foods that you need to eat to have a healthy body. People with high tendency of fatigue and depression can hold on to the diet too. Diseases will appear if you have an increased acid level in your body. Eating high alkaline foods can keep your body's natural pH level so all the faculties in your body can do their functions well.
The alkaline food list includes fruits and vegetables. Green vegetables have more alkaline and they ranked high on the chart. These veggies are asparagus, onions, cabbage, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, wheat grass and many others. Tomatoes, eggplants and other non-green vegetables are also rich in alkaline. Fruits like figs, melons, dates, apples, bananas, grapes and mangoes are alkaline foods. All fruits that are sweet are all alkaline rich fruits. But lemons and lime leave an alkaline food ash when digested so they are still high in alkaline content and they are very high on the chart.
If you want to live longer and you haven't bought your dream house yet, then the time has come. Stock your fridge and homes with these alkaline rich foods and reap the fruits!

http://goarticles.com/article/Acid-Alkaline-Food-Chart-Benefits-Where-to-Search-for-it-and-what-are-in-its-list/3678707/