Wow. That was one long semester! Sorry to have fallen off the radar like that. A lot of unexpected things came up in the past few months, and between life and classes, it was sort of like a long, drawn out game of emotional Whack-A-Mole… Only less fun.
The good news is that I survived finals, and the semester is O-V-E-R!!!!! While my body and at least 30% of my brain (look, guys- upper level Anthro classes will FRY the brain…) survived intact, my skin (Oh GOBLINS, and my poor, poor poor face!) did not fare so well. Apparently a solid diet of energy drinks do not do the body good….
In light of this fact, I did the only fairly quick fix for the zombie-finals-of-DOOOOOOM look I was rocking – water.
I know it sounds absolutely ridiculous, but water is really amazing. It helps your body, and your skin, to purge toxins, it helps your blood to flow, it can keep a dehydration migraine at bay, and it improves the overall appearance, texture and tone of skin!
How awesome is that!? Don’t you just LOVE WATER???
…
…I don’t.
I hate the taste. For those of you about to argue that water has no taste, trust me. it has a taste. In Philly, it tastes like a blend of a tin can, salt, a touch of bleach and a little more chlorine than you want to have come out of your tap. Absolutely disgusting.
However, I am pleased to say that I found a way to fix water, so that not only does it still do awesome things for my health and my skin, I can also drink it without mimicking the Mr. Ick sticker.
I’m a little bit behind on the trend, but apparently, it’s called (drum roll, please!)
…. SPA WATER!
::cough:: Okay, so it’s just infused water, and I used to do it when I was a kid, with dried fruit. But I recently learned that in addition to saccharine dried apricots, you can pretty much chuck anything you want into a jug of water (besides maybe a raw steak…. or raw chicken… ) and it will taste amazing!!
This is the blend that’s been chilling in my fridge for the past two days. I have found that as long as the ingredients are really fresh, I can just keep topping off the jug with new filtered water, and it’s fine for about three days. Then it starts to lose it’s flavor, and all the fruits and vegetable and herbs start to look depressed.
I’ll be posting more Spa Water recipes over the course of the summer, but this one is super easy, and you can always find a decently ripe cucumber in the grocery store.
Cucumber Sort-Of-Mojito Spa Water
You will need:
1/2 cucumber, thinly sliced (because it looks prettier in the jug)
1/2 c. fresh cilantro, left whole
3 slices of lime
water
something to put it all in to
All you do is drop the cucumber and lime slices into the container, and stuff in the cilantro on top. The mess of stems and leaves on top will help keep the cucumbers and limes from splashing into your glass when you are pouring your water.
Top the container off with water, let it chill in the fridge for about an hour, and enjoy! Every time you pour a glass, just remember to add more water.
Another option, which works just as well, is to fill empty water bottles with the infused water. Throw a few in your bag every day before you head out the door, to help yourself stay hydrated and happy!
