I am back! Life on the Mend!

It has meant a lot to me with all you well wishes and get well vibes. I am not 100% but I am feeling so much better. I have not cooked in a week but I plan on getting back on track when we get back from our mini-vacation in Washington, DC on Wednesday!

Here are some food and drink choices that kept me going throughout the last two weeks.

First is a great new Superfruit juice that I was lucky enough to sample, Bossa Nova Juice! I am not normally a juice fan, as I tend to eat my calories instead of drink them. There are a few exceptions to this rule: 1.) A great tasting juice with lots of health benefits and 2.) When I am sick!. Since this sample pack came at a time when it fit both rules of exception I was even more excited.

Acai Juice the Original Flavor

So you are probably asking: Mom on the Run what makes this juice so special or maybe even What is a Superfruit?

So here is the Mom on the Run thoughts about Bossa Nova Juices.

So what is a Superfruit?

I went right to the source to answer this question, The Bossa Nova FAQ website.

“Superfruits are berries and fruits singled out for their remarkably high concentration of nutrient and antioxidants, usually with very low naturally occurring sugar. Bossa Nova’s Superfruits include acai, acerola, mangosteen, and goji berry. Each has a unique antioxidant profile that makes it a valuable part of a health focused approach to life.”

I had heard of all these superfruits but I needed to know more about the specific fruits and what they looked like. Thank goodness for Wikipedia.

Acai-(Pronounced ah-sah-EE)  The fruit, a small, round, black-purple drupe about 1 inch (25 mm) in diameter, similar in appearance and size to a grape but with less pulp, is produced in branched panicles of 700 to 900 fruits.

Acerola- also known as Barbados cherry or wild crapemyrtle, is a tropical fruit-bearing shrub or small tree in the family Malpighiaceae. It ranges from southern Texas south through Mexico and the Caribbean to Peru and Bahia in Brazil. It is also cultivated in India. It grows to 3 m tall, with a dense, thorny crown. The leaves are evergreen, simple ovate-lanceolate, 5-10 cm long, with an entire margin. The flowers are produced in umbels of 2-5 together, each flower 1-1.5 cm diameter, with five pink or red petals. The fruit is bright red, 1.5-2 cm diameter, containing 2-3 hard seeds. It is juicy, often as much sour as sweet in flavor, and very high in vitamin C and other nutrients.

Mangosteen- colloquially known simply as "the mangosteen", is a tropical evergreen tree, believed to have originated in the Sunda Islands and the Moluccas of Indonesia. The tree grows from 7 to 25 m (20-80 ft) tall. The rind (exocarp) of the edible fruit is deep reddish purple when ripe. Botanically an aril, the fragrant edible flesh can be described as sweet and tangy, citrusy with peach flavor and texture.

Goji Berry-As a food, dried wolfberries are traditionally cooked before consumption. Dried wolfberries are often added to rice congee, as well as used in Chinese tonic soups, in combination with chicken or pork, vegetables, and other herbs such as wild yam, Astragalus membranaceus, Codonopsis pilosula, and licorice root. The berries are also boiled as an herbal tea, often along with chrysanthemum flowers and/or red jujubes, or with tea, particularly pu-erh tea,^{[citation needed]} and packaged teas are also available.

Now that I bored you to death with the history of Superfruit, I must talk about this great tasting juice.

There are 10 different flavors of Bossa Nova. I was impressed with the flavor combination they chose to work together. Here are there flavors: Mangosteen Juice with Passion Fruit, Mangosteen Juice with Dragon Fruit, Acerola Juice with Mango, Goji Berry with Tart Cherry, Acai Juice the Original, Acai Juice with Blueberry, Acai Juice with Mango, Acai Juice with Raspberry, Acai Juice with Passion Fruit, and Acerola Juice with Red Peach. All the nutrition information for these juices can be found here. I also love that these juice are all natural and are sweetened with Agave Nectar. There is nothing un-natural in the bottle.

width="184" border="0" /> Mangosteen with Passion Fruit

I do have my favorites which include: Acai Juice with Passion Fruit, Mangosteen Juice with Passion Fruit, Acai Juice with Blueberry, and Acai Juice with Mango.  You can find these juices in many stores that includes Whole Foods Market.

I will post more later as I have a ton to catch up on including some exciting contests:)!

A busy Mom on the Mend!

I am really sick. I was just diagnosed with bronchitis. Just wanted to let you know that as soon as I get better I will be posting again! Your blogs are keeping me entertained now that I am on bed rest

Blogger Recipe Shout Out: Skirt Steak

While reading new blogs this weekend, I came across a lot of good recipes that I wanted to try. I wish I could be more creative and create my own recipes, but I am a busy mom who needs as much structure and guidance as I can get.

I stumbled up a great recipe blog My Italian Grandmother by Michele. The story of Michele’s blog is a tribute to her grandmother who passed away. I am so moved by her passion to keep her grandmother’s recipes alive. She has great recipes that she posts everyday. I decided to try out her recipe for Skirt Steak as I thought it would be a great tasting quick recipe.

My Italian Grandmother’s Skirt Steak

Marinade Ingredients:
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp cumin
t tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp terriyaki sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp honey (I used agave nectar for this)

I combined the above ingredients into a prep bowl.

Once the ingredients were mixed I poured it onto the steak in my Tupperware marinating container.

I let the steak marinate for about 2 hours.

It started to rain just as I was about put the grill on. This has been my luck this week. I decided to broil it instead.

I paired this tasty steak with a lentil pilaf and a salad.

 

What a great dinner! Thank you Michele for posting a great marinade recipe. This was much better than one of those bottles of marinade. It was sweet (probably because of the agave nectar) and tangy.

I am still under the weather. I am really happy for a day off on Friday to get some much needed rest.  I can’t wait to post my Easter Menu and my pictures! Happy Hump Day!!

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