Naked Juice Review

Take your clothes off—you’re about to experience the glory of a Naked Juice. 

Sure it’s upwards of $3. But the pound of juice in every bottle is soooo good.

The all-natural, no-sugar, no-preservative, funny-as-hell juice company began in Santa Monica, California in 1983 with just a blender and a backpack of ice.  Over the next 26 years, Naked Juice would expand to grocery stores and college campuses everywhere, inspiring a Naked juice frenzy that would entice even the most frugal college student to spend up to $3.29 on a bottle.

Naked Juices are divided into seven “families”—Antioxidant, Superfood, Probiotic, Bare Breeze, Well Being, and Protein, giving nearly anyone the opportunity to find the perfect juice.

I decided to try some of the varieties in my own tour de juice. I ended up with Peach Mangosteen Bliss from the Bare Breeze family, Black and Blueberry Rush from the Well Being family and Power-C Machine from the Superfood family, all bought for $2.99 at my local HyVee.

Peach Mangosteen Bliss

I’m predictable with peach-flavored drinks. Peach is always ok in my book!  So it was no surprise that I choose this delightful combination of mangosteens, peaches and white grapes.  With no seeds or pulp, Peach Mangosteen Bliss is smoother than a lot of the other juices because of the "Bare Breeze"-esque texture.

The juice has an odd goldish color, which I guess works because it kind of looks like a peach.  As far as the smell, Peach Mangosteen Bliss smells more like white grape juice than like the peach or the mangosteen the name promises.  I do, however, like the taste.  I can easily identify the peach and the white grapes, which stand out much more than the mangosteen in this crisp and refreshing drink.

Sippy Cup Rating: B+

Black and Blueberry Rush

A combination of blueberries, blackberries, apples and bananas, this juice is pretty tasty, even to a reviewer who doesn’t like blueberry drinks.  The color is a deep blueish-purple color that perfectly resembles the black and blueberries inside.  In fact, the drink even tastes like black and blueberries.  I would say the apples and the banana are mainly just fillers; I can’t taste anything but the berries, which is exactly what I wanted.

Black and Blueberry Rush is very smooth, and probably the juiciest juice of the bunch.  As far as blueberries go it was a top contender, but there wasn’t enough of a punch for me. I like it tangy.

Sippy Cup Rating: A-

Power-C Machine

Oh. My. Gosh. My fav!

Power-C Machine has quite the list of ingredients (strawberries, guavas, apples and mango, to name a few), plus 285 mg of Vitamin C.  All of these bits of yummy-ness blend amazingly to make a tangy and delectable drink.  I can mostly taste the peach and the guavas, which makes the guava-lover in me very happy.

The color is a bit redder than the Peach Mangosteen Bliss, making it much more appealing to the eye.  The texture is thick and probably nearer to a smoothie than a juice, but it isn’t too much. It makes me feel like I’m actually drinking something that will stick with me.

Sippy Cup Rating: A+

Ladies and Gentlemen, the pants are off—there are definitely a few Naked Juices out there worthy of your $3.00.   

Not Me! Monday

In the name of following the tradition started by my friend MckMama, I've decided to start participating in the phenomenon that is Not Me! Monday.

Not Me! Monday started as an attempt to forget some of the day-to-day imperfects that everyone experiences and to recant some not-so-lovely moments that we'd all like to forget.

For example, I did not spend all night last night watching the conjoined twins special on TLC instead of doing my homework that I had put off all weekend. It was not me who fell asleep while reading a book (on which I had a paper due today), only to wake up uncomfortably on the couch at 2:30am and stumble clumsily into bed, jeans and all. And I most certainly did not sleep through three alarms this morning, causing me to rush from eight until noon to finish said paper.

That was definitely Not Me!

And this evening, I did not encourage Peder's trip to Verizon to check out the new Droid (which was too expensive, and the keyboard sucks) instead of going to our original destination--studying at Camille's. That was Not Me!

And finally, I definitely did not just write an entire useless blog instead of writing the blog that's due in class. Tomorrow.

Nope. Not Me!

Recipe Review

After an 80-degree Friday in November in South Dakota, I’m ready for some snow.

So I looked in my cupboard and found a box recipe for snowball cookies—perfect for pretending that it’s 50 degrees cooler outside than it actually is.

But then I started thinking: do the boxed baked goods we buy at Walmart stand up to the homemade recipes Mom used to make? I decided to find out.

If you’ve never seen a snowball cookie before, it’s essentially a small ball of dough with nuts rolled in powdered sugar. Pure heaven.

I started off by making the 30 tiny “pecan balls” with my mom’s recipe.

Among the traditional ingredients of flour, sugar and salt, this recipe called for one stick of butter, one tsp of vanilla, and one cup of chopped pecans. These cookies came out delightfully nutty, and looked very tempting after I rolled them in powdered sugar.

I couldn’t help but taste one warm, homemade pecan ball. Just one. Or two. Mmm.

While my first batch of bliss cooled, I started to make the “snowball cookies” from the box.

This recipe called for one and one half sticks of butter and no liquid whatsoever.  The box practically advertised the problem--"Just add butter!"

This lack of liquid made rolling the dough into little balls challenging (read: impossible) until I deviated and added some water. Aside from this, the recipe took practically no time to whip up.

The premade mix had a few pecans—nothing compared to the one-cup glory of Mom’s homemade.

But one taste told me that they were not only as good as the homemade cookies, but—dare I say it—better. These cookies were full of flavor despite the absence of the vanilla extract and the generous helping of pecans.

I don’t know if this was just the extra half stick of butter talking, but they were good.

I love my mom’s homemade recipe. But when it comes to the expediency of the boxed recipe, even I can admit that semi-homemade has its place in my unseasonably warm kitchen.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Want to try the two cookies for yourself? Here's the recipes:

Mom's homemade Pecan Balls:

Ingredients:
1 c. sifted flour
1/2 c. soft butter or margarine
1 c. chopped pecans or hazelnuts
2 TB sugar
1/8 TSP salt
1 TSP vanilla
Powdered Sugar

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients except powdered sugar
Refrigerate 30 minutes
Heat oven to 375*
Roll dough into balls about 1 1/4" in diameter
Place 1" apart on ungreased baking sheet
Bake 15-20 minutes--do not brown them
Let stand 1 minute, roll in powdered sugar, cool, then re-roll in sugar.

Makes about 20 [I squeezed about 28 out of it]

Boxed Recipe:

Came from Walmart, in the seasonal baking section. It's a Betty Crocker.

The only ingredients necessary were 1 1/2 sticks of butter and a touch of water. The rest of the ingredients were in the mix, and the directions were on the box. The baking time was cut in half, however, to about 8-10 minutes.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief book review

            Puberty is hard enough.  But try going through it when your dad is Poseidon.

            In Rick Riordan’s smash hit children’s novel, The Lightning Thief, adolescent hero Percy Jackson has to deal with both.  

            For the first 12 years of his life, Percy’s unknown parentage contributes to a mountain of problems rivaling the size of Olympus.  Percy also has trouble controlling his feelings, has a hard home life with his mom and his dead-beat stepdad and he has ADHD and dyslexia.  The only subject Percy excels in is Latin, taught by the kind-hearted, wheelchair-bound Mr. Brunner, and Percy’s only friend is Grover, an awkward adolescent with muscular dystrophy.

            Percy doesn’t fit in anywhere--until he realizes he isn’t just a human.  Following a fight with a monster disguised as his pre-algebra teacher and a date with the three old ladies knitting giant socks—later revealed to be a Fury and the Three Fates, respectively—Percy arrives at Camp Half-Blood, a place designed to keep the children of the Greek Gods safe from harm.

            At Camp Half-Blood, Percy suddenly finds himself surrounded by people—and creatures—he thought were mere fairy tales.  Mr. Brunner reveals himself as Chiron, the hero-mentor centaur.  Grover is now a satyr and Percy’s personal protector.  Dionysus, the god of wine, runs the camp as a sober Mr. D.  And what’s more, Percy finds out that he isn’t just a normal boy—he is Poseidon’s son, the Son of the Sea God.

            Why save the most important revelation of his life for his 12^th year?  Because his father needs his help.  Percy learns he must travel to the Underworld, the home of his father’s rival, Hades, retrieve Zeus’s stolen lightning bolt and clear his father’s name.  A tale of classic family honor mixed with minotaurs, hellhounds and prophecies, Riordan’s book never fails to exceed the reader’s expectations.

            Some of the mythological creatures in The Lightning Thief aren’t monsters 12-year-olds come across every day.  But Riordan does an excellent job bringing the material down to a middle school level, and he does it with unparalled humor. 

            For example, Percy gives the Minotaur a hysterical yet memorable description: “He wore no clothes except underwear—I mean, bright white Fruit of the Looms—which would’ve looked funny, except that the top half of his body was so scary…[with] his horns—enormous black-and-white horns with points you just couldn’t get from an electric sharpener.”

            Hilarious chapter titles such as “I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher” and “My Mother Teaches Me Bullfighting” are also a sure way to attract the attention of any ordinary middle schooler and draw them into this extraordinary tale.

            Over the course of the five total books in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians saga, the trio of Percy, demigoddess Annabeth (daughter of Athena) and the satyr Grover tackle several quests and meet numerous gods and goddesses, all while allowing the reader to learn their mythological significance.           

            While the material may be hard to remember even for some adults (try naming the 12 main gods with a working knowledge of Greek mythology from high school), Riordan’s readers seem to have no problem. 

            Riordan gives the characters unique looks that lend to their meaning in ways that middle schoolers respond to and delight at, such as Ares pictured with a Harley, biker tattoos, and a leather jacket, and Poseidon with a Hawaiian shirt, sunglasses, and sandals.  They’re specialties, as the god of war and the god of the sea, respectively, are now unforgettable.

            Even more important than absorbing the stories of Artemis and Apollo, however, are the larger issues Percy must deal with his life—such as his learning disability.

            Percy bounces from boarding school to boarding school labeled as a delinquent because of his ADHD and dyslexia, a title many American youth can identify with.  He has trouble concentrating, his brain is always running a mile a minute and when he does sit down to read, the letters float off the page.

            When Percy (and the reader) realizes that his learning disabilities are a result of his Olympic parentage, he learns that he is special, not just different.  He struggles to learn English because his brain is hardwired to learn ancient Greek.  He can’t concentrate in a slow-paced classroom because his body is genetically designed for a battlefield.

            The beauty of Riordan’s book lies in these realizations; a child reading along with Percy as he struggles in school sees their disabilities as acceptable, even desirable, to a special group of kids living over the edge of Half-Blood Hill.

            Riordan succeeds with his ability to craft a believable, fantastical universe by connecting Poseidon’s Grecian world to Percy’s 21^st century.  For its incredible value in breaking the barrier of learning disorders and teaching mythology to preteens, The Lightning Thief is way more than a tale of preteen puberty.