My summertime Green Smoothie

I have really gotten hooked on these green smoothies since I tried them a few months ago and pretty much drink them near 4-7 times a week.    They really make me feel like I'm giving my body a gift of pure vitamins and hydration.  And no matter what kind of diet one is on, they all promotes getting more greens in, right?

So for the summertime I discovered this new combo--spinach, kale, watermelon, half a pear, and of course about a cup of water:

I love it!  I've noticed that an apple or pear really keeps the smoothie body together.  It's kind of a bummer when it separates into green water and mossy thickness on top, so I've been adding at least half and apple or pear to these.

Look at this deep green loveliness! And they don't taste like heavy bitter greens--the fruit and water really make this drink refreshing. Plus I really like that unlike juicers, I'm consuming the whole greens and fruit and not wasting any. Anybody else trying these?

Chamomile Iced Tea aka Sweet Honey Iced Tea

Anybody else trying to lighten up on soda and caffeine? I scanned the cupboards and came across a fairly full box of chamomile tea from my detox at the beginning of the year. It's an herbal tea with a really mild pleasant flavor so I decided to try making iced tea from it.

I followed the conventional iced tea wisdom of brewing a strong batch, so I steeped 8 bags with a quart of hot water:

Then I sweetened with some honey for flavor:

And some agave nectar for sweetness:

Then I let it cool in the fridge for a couple of hours and then poured over ice:

It's a really pleasant cool drink--very inoffensive but won't necessarily knock your socks off. Because of the mild flavor of the chamomile tea, the sweet honey is the dominant flavor. So I gave it the alternate name of Sweet Honey Tea. Or maybe next time I should steep some extra bags of chamomile tea. With plenty of hot summer left here in South Carolina, I'm sure I'll be doing some more experimenting...