Gluten free - dairy free - grain free - refined sugar free - egg free - nut free - vegetarian
     Here's a quickie for you to try- easy to make up and so good. It's a healthy alternative to juice or soda drinks. Replace one of your glasses of water for the day with this beauty and add even more goodness to your body than water can do alone!   Whilst in winter, my favourite drink for warming me up is a Friendly Hot Chocolate, but this is a Summer favourite. Keep scrolling to read about all the health benefits of this drink!

Ingredients (to make 1 litre of drink):

• 1 L filtered water (about 1 quart) OR 1 cup water and 3/4 cup soda water or sparkling water
• 2 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
• 3 teaspoons raw honey or coconut sugar or rapadura sugar

Method:

• Thoroughly clean a 1 litre sized bottle (wash in boiling, soapy water and rinse thoroughly).
• Place honey or sugar in a saucepan with about a cup of the water and gently heat, stirring, until the honey or sugar is dissolved. Don't heat for any longer than necessary so you don't destroy the great nutrients in the raw honey. 
• Add the apple cider vinegar and ginger and poor into your bottle.  Add the rest of the water.  Leave for at least an hour to let flavours infuse. A whole day is even better.  Alternatively, let the 1 cup with flavours infuse and when ready to drink, top up the rest of the water with soda water or sparkling water for a fizzy drink.
• Pour into glasses through a strainer if you don't want bits of ginger in your drink.
• If you still have any left after 24 hours, strain the ginger out of the bottle so it doesn't go rotten.

Health benefits of ginger (thanks to foodmatters.tv):

• Consume fresh ginger just before a meal to fire up the digestive juices.

• Ginger improves the absorption and assimilation of essential nutrients in the body.
• Ginger clears the ‘micro circulatory channels’ of the body, including the pesky sinuses that tend to flare up from time to time.
  
• Chew on ginger to combat airsickness or nausea (preferably tossed in a little honey).
• Ginger helps reduce flatulence!
• Reduce tummy moaning and groaning under cramps.
• The anti-inflammatory properties of ginger can bring relief for joint pain. Float some ginger essential oil into your bath to help aching muscles and joints.
• Chewing ginger post-surgery can help overcome nausea.
• Stir up some ginger tea to get rid of throat and nose congestion. And when there’s a nip in the air, the warming benefits of this tasty tea are even greater!
• Spice up the bedroom.. Ayurvedic texts credit ginger with aphrodisiac properties.

Health benefits of raw apple cider vinegar (thanks to the Gerson Institute):

• Raw, unpasturised apple cider vinegar is best. You should see some strand-like sediment floating at the bottom. It’s called “the mother”, and it contains raw enzymes and gut-friendly bacteria that promote healing. Possible benefits include:

• lowering glucose levels
• as a weight-loss aid, as it is said to help you feel fuller and eat less.
• The enzymes in apple cider vinegar promote the growth of healthy bacteria in the gut, and can help regulate candida issues.
• Relieving gas, bloating and heartburn
• Promoting alkalinity in the body, which is great for proper digestion and creating an inhospitable environment for cancer.

Health benefits of raw honey (thanks to Modern Alternative Health):
Raw honey is different from other honey because it has not been pasteurized, heated or processed in any way, and therefore contains many valuable benefits.  Raw honey  is full of minerals, vitamins, enzymes, and powerful antioxidants.  It has anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal properties. Some of its benefits can include:

• Helps digestion
• Strengthens immune system
• Eliminates allergies (if you use LOCAL raw honey with local pollens)
• Stabilizes blood pressure
• Balances blood sugar
• Calms nerves
• Relieves pain
• Treats ulcers
• Sore throats
• Colds
• Indigestion

Gluten free - dairy free - sugar free - nut free - egg free - additive free
     Confession: I don't often consume hot drinks, and I don't like coffee. AT. ALL.  "Inconceivable" I hear you cry.  I know. But in chilly, windy winter weather, I sometimes find myself looking for something to warm me up from the inside.  Hot chocolate is usually it.  I have a really simple 'recipe' that I make myself rather than partaking in the pre-made mixes that are full of ridiculous amounts of sugar, and usually dairy milk and other unpleasant additives and flavours. My version is dairy free and refined-sugar free, tastes great and is even Fair Trade- so it's Friendly for everybody!
  You can add your sweetener to your own taste. My hubby actually drinks his straight, with no sweetener at all. But then he also used to be addicted to unsweetened double shot espresso's. My palate doesn't handle that kind of bitterness, so I use a couple of teaspoons of sweet stuff. 

Ingredients and Quick Method:

• Boil 2/3 cup of water per person.
• Place a heaped teaspoon of Fair Trade pure cocoa or cacao powder into a mug
• Pour boiling water over powder till cup is 2/3 full, and stir until completely dissolved
• Fill remaining volume of mug with milk of choice (I prefer almond, but you can use rice, coconut, or organic dairy whole milk)
• Add two teaspoons of honey, pure maple syrup, rice malt syrup, or agave syrup (or amount to your own taste).  Or try one teaspoon of the above and a few drops of liquid Stevia.

Milk- based stove top method:

• If you prefer your hot chocolate to be based on milk alone, then place a cup of milk and a teaspoon of cocoa per person into a saucepan and bring to desired temperature (no need to fully boil) over medium heat, stirring regularly. Pour into mugs and stir in sweetener to taste.  If you tolerate some dairy, finishing this with a big dollop of cream is perfection!

Gluten free - grain free - dairy free - refined sugar free - egg free - nut free
    Sometimes, breakfast for me consists of one of these smoothies and a handful of almonds. They also make a great, filling afternoon tea for the kids. I know there are probably thousands of smoothie recipes on the internet...green smoothies seem to be all the craze. All I know is that my kids like smoothies based on banana, with a few other ingredients, and this is the formula I tend to stick to! I use organic frozen berries.  Berries are one category of food that has a high level of pesticides when not organic, and buying frozen organic berries is MUCH cheaper than fresh! 
    This 'recipe' is just a suggestion, really. Be creative with what you have (the 'browner' smoothie pictured below has less berries and more greens)! You can make double and keep half in the fridge for the next day, saving you that precious time.