Fresh Raspberry Soda

Last time I tried to give blood, Diet Dr. Pepper spewed forth from my veins. On my quest to healthier insides, I began replacing some of my soda with...soda. Fruity, pink, good for you soda. Grab a sieve and let's get girly.

Gather:
1 cup raspberries
1 tsp lime juice
2 tsp agave nectar
1 cup soda water
Optional: splash of vodka

• Place sieve over a bowl and & drop raspberries in. Mash the berries with the back of a spoon so that juice flows through the sieve into the bowl. 
• Mix raspberry juice, lime juice and agave nectar in a glass and add a few cubes of ice.
• Grab the sieve full of raspberry bits and hold it over the glass of mixed juices and nectar. Pour soda water over raspberry bits and allow it to drain through sieve into your glass. 
• Add a splash (or two) of vodka if you so desire.

Recipe: Watermelon Gazpacho

There is only one thing better than picking vegetables from your very own garden when you are eating fresh - picking vegetables from someone else's garden. Enter my pops. He grows a terrific garden every year. And it's only a couple minutes away from my house. 

If you have two minutes, hang in the garden with me. If you hate relaxing things like nature scenes and bird songs, skip to the recipe.

A decorating blog I read on the regular, Decor8, features Liz and Jewels, two girls who cook on two continents, once a month. Jewels just posted about Watermelon Gazpacho on Decor8. That's a bit of a web to weave but hopefully it's not too tangled. I'm not a huge fan of watermelon (texture issues, I got 'em) or gazpacho, but something about this recipe made me want to give it a try. 

Jewels says to use any colorful vegetable you desire in the recipe. So I did. Let's get processing!

Watermelon Gazpacho (adapted from Decor8)

3 slices watermelon (I'll add more next time, I was a bit watermelon shy. Don't be like me.)

1/2 each of green, red and yellow bell pepper

1 cucumber

1 large tomato

1/4 red onion

1/2 cup chopped eggplant

generous handful of cilantro 

juice of one lemon

dash of salt 

goat cheese, crumbled

Throw everything except the goat cheese into a food processor (or blender) and process the heck out of it. When you reach the desired consistency, serve it up and throw a little pico de gallo (made from the left-over pieces of vege for the gazpacho), cilantro and goat cheese on top. Eat!

**Also, sorry I stopped blogging for 1.5 months. I'll not do that again.