Tidbit Tuesday - Drink Up, Creamsicle Recipe

 ~ beverage of choice ~

So, how much water do you drink? Do you know your body weight in water? Are you drinking sixty-four ounces of water each and every day? Or, to make it easier, take your body weight, divide in half and that's how many ounces of water you should drink. Hmmm...for me, it makes sixty-four ounces way more likely to happen; after all, I'm built for comfort, not for speed -grin-.

Most of us aren't drinking enough water and, if we wait until we're thirsty to drink water, we're already dehydrated. Recently, at the hospital, I heard, "well, drinking coffee, soda, milk, etc. counts as drinking water." Now, I've never pretended to have M.D. or R.N. after my name but I do know water is water and if it's not water, it ain't. Water doesn't have a diuretic effect while most everything else is a diuretic and it takes eight ounces of water to break down one ounce of alcohol. Our bodies are approximately seventy percent water and in order to operate efficiently, our bodies need water. About one hundred pounds of water is in the average one hundred eighty pound adult; the brain is seventy-six percent and lungs are eighty-six percent water. Water is to our body as oil to a vehicle. 

Those commercials on television make me laugh...are you going to the bathroom too frequently? If so, take our little pill. Hello Nimrod! If we're drinking sixty-four ounces of water a day, we're going to go to the bathroom! It's Gods way of flushing toxins, preventing constipation, dizziness, headaches and a slew of other good things for the body. If we're exercising properly, we're going to be ridding ourselves of both excess fluid and toxins. BTW, prior to exercising, please drink about two cups of water two hours prior to beginning any exercise routine. 

 

When we drink twelve ounces of water, we absorb about eight ounces. When we drink a regular soft drink, non-diet, our body absorbs about one ounce of water. Our farm well is about six hundred feet deep and, we think, we might have hit an artisan aquifer. Our water is crystal clear and, because it runs through limestone, is sweet and, I truly do believe, when I drink a glass, I can feel it sourcing throughout my body, rejuvinating me and giving me the sweet kiss of life. Fanciful? Maybe, maybe not and, even so, I always let the water run for a minute before drinking first glass in the morning. No sense in drinking pipe water when I want to drink pure water and that pipe water is saved to pour on my flowers and herbs. I prefer cold water and while it does quench my thirst faster, my body utilizes room temperature water more easily.

Generally, there's a case of bottled water in my car and, while it seems paradoxical, when I'm driving I drink a lot of water. My spring water of choice is, widely available, Deer Park from Maryland. I like 3300 Artesian Springs from next door neighbor Bland County but it's more difficult to find and I couldn't find a website for them either. If you'll check your bottled water, there's a good chance it's recycled tap water but packaged more "sexily"; frankly, I'm more interested in good water than packaging. In the summer, I drink sweet ice tea that I make from tea leaves and a simple syrup but it's not as good for me as pure water. I'm a good Southern gal and drinking sweet tea is my dirty little secret but beats drugs or alcohol, eh? -smile-

For a special any occasion or when children visit, sometimes I'll fix a Creamsicle Punch. Remember those orange Creamsicles? Oh lawz, were/are they ever good!

Creamsicle Punch

8 cups cold orange juice

2 cups milk

6 tablespoons white sugar

2 tablespoons freshly and finely grated orange peel

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 quarts orange sherbet

3 cups club soda

Blend the first six ingredients and refrigerate a day or two to let flavors blend. 

When you're ready to serve, put the sherbet in a large bowl and set aside.

Pour the club soda into the refrigerated mixture, stir until well blended.

Pour this mixture over the sherbet and serve immediately as the carbonation won't last long.

A lot of these tips came from "The Wizard of Food", Dr. Myles H. Bader's 5,001 Mysteries of Liquids and Cooking Secrets while other tips came from some arcane place in my brain, picked up over the decades. All this to say, drink more water; it does a body good!

True confessions and an update: God willing, we're going home Saturday. This week finds me taking Dave to his last doctor appointments, making new appointments with doctors at home, making sure he has his medical needs met to tide him over from Richmond to the farm, etc. Words fail me at saying thank you for your prayers, your kind notes and comments, your good wishes, thoughts, etc. If I appear strong, I assure you, I am not strong but God is strong and He has brought us this far and will be with us as we continue the journey. I don't feel strong; indeed, I feel like a faker who, at times, has lost my temper and been rude to someone who didn't deserve my rudeness, pushed hard for someone to do their job, said an unkind word or thought dark thoughts. Some folks have sent e-mails saying, in effect, 'you don't have it so bad, here's my story' and, you know, they are right, I don't have it so bad but, I'm sorry to say, that's cold comfort. This has been hard and, unless God intervenes, in time will probably get a lot harder for Dave and I. Even so, we trust God; the alternative is too horrible to contemplate.

Blessings ~ water ~ your prayers, kind notes, good wishes and thoughts ~

Soli Deo Gloria,
Sandra