Butterflies: The Good, The Bad, and why can't the bad ones be Ugly (and a lemon recipe)

I love the garden in summer, when everything comes alive. However, the joy of the first monarch butterflies is soon followed by the devastation of the white butterflies.









I've been out sprinkling Derris Dust and squirting with organic deterrents... Even the beagles make their lame attempts to catch the white ones.... And on the other hand I have pumpkin for the Monarch butterflies who have destroyed the Swan Plants in their hunger.



The bastards are even in my greenhouse!


However, sitting in he shade, reading, knitting and enjoying a refreshing cool beverage, it's a perfect Sunday. Even better with ingredients from the garden.





Cool Lemon Water

Super simple.... Just have ice and chilled water ready to go.
Fill a glass 3/4 full with chilled water.
Add a few ice cubes.
Pop in a sprig of mint and a slice of lemon.
Squeeze the rest of the juice from the lemon into the glass.

One lemon makes 2 massive glasses.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Juicing for Well-Being

Since the diagnosis (the husband was diagnosed with Stage 3 Colon Cancer about 6 weeks ago, and has since undergone surgery to remove 60cm of his colon) I have been juicing up a storm.

Basically I started juicing fruit and vegetables because he didn't like to eat them... crazy!  I'm a vegetarian, so basically the idea of not eating vegetables is abhorrent to me.  Now he even likes cauliflower... oddly.  Thank goodness for a great doctor, excellent surgeon, and a series of cancer episodes on Doctor Oz.  (In other news, I have been reading and cooking from Anti-cancer cookbooks...)

Anyway, juice is awesome, and pretty darn easy to make.  I actually think it is rather affordable.  We grow a lot of vegetables and the citrus trees are doing really well at the moment.  Almost all the different juices I make have either lemons or celery in at the moment because we have them growing nicely.

Here is one of my favourites at the moment: Pineapple, Lemon and Carrot Juice.

You will need:
4 Carrots
3cm of a Pineapple
1 large Lemon

Wash the carrots, chopping off the top bit where the fronds grow from.  Wash the lemon skin.  Cut a circular round of pineapple about 3cm wide.  Cut the lemon in half and the pineapple section in quarters.  Throw all the bits of fruit, skin still on, into the juicer.  Stir the juice.

This should make about 2 large glasses of juice.  I always serve with 2 ice-cubes.  Drink as soon as possible, but the lemon should prevent discolouration if you have to refrigerate for a bit.

And the benefits... Among others of course, but the reasons I use these are...

Lemon juice is really high in Vitamin C, and is great for moving things through the bowels... as well as having loads of anti-oxidants which help fight cancer. 

Pineapple juice is really good for joint health and mobility (I struggle with my ankle after surgery last year, and basically I'm preparing for surgery next month).  Really good for dealing with disgusting nasties in the digestive and intestinal tracts.   And for sorting out constipation... as our goal here is to have nothing hanging around in the colon, this is excellent....  (you may notice I am trying not to be too specific, as it is all pretty darn gross).

And carrots, oh the super food that is the carrot!  Carrots are high in all the vitamins, especially C and E, really good for clearing the intestines and dealing with harmful bacteria.  Indian healers have been using carrots for thousands of years to help patients recover from illness, so it can't be bad.  That, and I like carrots.