forever :: its nectar

*I was taught the (Northern, I assume) phrase “it’s nectar” earlier this year. It means = its good/class/top-notch. All that kinda jazz.*

See my P.S. for how to get your own Forever products.

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Now that I’m back home and have the kitchen appliances I know how to use properly  (our oven’s symbols at uni were illegible), I feel a sense of relief.

And I get perhaps my favourite kitchen appliance back: the blender. Our blender is nothing fancy; and let’s face it, if you’ve got one that blends food properly, there is no need for any “super-duper”, branded one.

The reason I am so excited to be back with the beloved blender is I had an idea about something.

Now you may or may not know, that I am a Forever Business Owner (F.B.O)  i.e. I have my own business with Forever Living. If you want to know more, have a read of these posts:

https://kulayrosas.com/2016/05/12/life-forever-living/

https://kulayrosas.com/2016/05/22/forever-lotions-n-potions-2/

https://kulayrosas.com/2016/05/27/forever-gimme-more/

https://kulayrosas.com/2016/06/20/forever-update/

 

But as much as I’m advertising these products, I have to say I genuinely love them.

I’m using their lotions everyday, their lip balm is phenomenal and I have never found a better shower gel (I use their Hand and Face Soap as shower gel). But I remember sitting about university thinking of how I could get around something.

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Now I don’t think I’d be the first F.B.O to kindly point out that the drinking gels are not the most pleasant to the tastebuds, and my reaction when I first tried the Aloe Vera Gel was like the reaction someone who doesn’t like vodka reacts to a vodka shot.

However, I have learned, if you want something to work, you have to stick at it. So I have kept shotting and retching, shotting and retching.

But, there is definitely something about the gel. I haven’t quite put my hand on what yet, but I feel the benefits of the drinking gel.

Annoyingly (and I’m kicking myself here), I left my drinking gel in the fridge at university so I can’t wait to nip back and grab it before someone chucks it out by mistake.

So today, when I was lazing about in bed not quite fancying lunch, but thinking of food, I cast my mind to smoothies.

Snacking on food is my biggest downfall. I can eat healthily; eating plenty of fruit and vegetables etc., but snacking and grazing on food gets to me.

Smoothies fill me up. And, I have fond memories of creatively making them with my mum and little sister in the school holidays. So as a mood pick me up too, I went downstairs to make one.

I had the idea a couple of weeks ago when I was still at university (and without the beloved blender – I really missed it okay – you understand if you have ever moved away from home and then come back), to put the drinking gel in a smoothie. An attempt to combat the taste.

Now without the only drinking gel I have tried, I cast my eyes over another Forever drinking gel I have: the Forever Aloe Berry Nectar. *I hope you’ve discovered the reason for the post name now, lol*

This is a cranberry-apple flavoured aloe vera gel and yes like the other, still has a bit of an after taste, but is much kinder on the tastebuds and easier to withstand. And just a couple of facts:

• Recommended serving size: 120ml
• Servings per container: 8
• Energy per 100ml: 50kcal (2.5% of Recommended Intake)
• Sugar per 100ml: 7.5g (8.3% of R.I.)

I also thought of the flavour as just another flavour of a smoothie; sometimes reverse psychology works.

I’ve been suffering with a cold for over a week now and it’s put me down in the dumps quite a bit, but this gel made me feel a bit more positive when I read that it helps to support immunity. That’s something I need right now. The gel also “contributes to the support of metabolism” and I cannot say how much my metabolism needs boosting.

So, I incorporated this gel into a smoothie.

Now, I’m going to be totally honest – it may not be the healthiest smoothie in the world (excluding the use of the gel), but I’m rundown and also craving, and sometimes you just need a tasty pick me up. And surely (?) this is better for me than binging on a whole load of chocolate. ??? Please inform me, if not.

And, can we please note, I’m rummaging through cupboards that I myself do not stock so I just throw random stuff in and see what happens. The base of my smoothie is shown in the picture above, anything in the ingredients list was added as I went along.

Ingredients:

• 120ml Forever Aloe Berry Nectar
• 1 banana, chopped
• 1 teaspoon (crunchy) peanut butter
• 1 packet (2 bars) Nature Valley Oats+Honey, broken up as finely as possible
• 1 teaspoon golden syrup
• 75ml grapefruit juice, (from a can of grapefruits)
• 1/2 flat teaspoon cocoa

Of course, you can alter this to what you like an dislike, and I had doubled the portions to make enough to have tomorrow or another day. And re(lax)-fridgerate.

I find when making any smoothie of any kind, it’s best to test the taste after blending one ingredient into another. I go along with what my tastebuds tell me. Therefore, my ingredients list is IN ORDER OF HOW I BLENDED MY SMOOTHIE, so I won’t bore you with a method.

I was trying so hard to stay away from anything chocolately, but I could tell just a hint of cocoa would balance out the not-so pleasant taste of aloe vera.

Disclaimer: It’s not the nicest smelling smoothie and does have a bit of an aftertaste.

However, I’m sipping it while writing and can honestly say, I am now used to it and have no problem with it. If it does your body some good, a simple aftertaste can be beared with.

All in all, I am looking forward to drinking the other serving I’ve made for tomorrow. And, I’m also going to get my mum to try it when she’s home from work.

 

Love forever,

Anna

 

P.S. If you’d like any information on Forever Living’s drinking gels, get in contact with me via the comments section below, or send me a message on Facebook through my page Kulayrosas. 

You can check out the gels amongst the other products available via my website here:

https://shop.foreverliving.com/retail/entry/Shop.do?store=GBR&language=en&distribID=440500105204