Pineapple Immunity Water
Ladies and gents, this is the drink recipe you have been waiting for. It's delicious, nutritious and definitely kid approved.
This recipe has a twist that you might not expect. Typically we peel the pineapple and discard the exterior to get to the golden delicious meat inside.
This time, you won't throw it away. Instead you will utilize the WHOLE fruit to gain the maximum benefits.
Ingredients:
* One Large Pineapple
* 1 tbsp Cloves
* 5 Cinnamon Sticks (We use Ceylon Cinnamon but grab whatever you can find in these crazy times, even cinnamon powder)
* 2-3 inches peeled fresh ginger
* (optional) 1/2 cup honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar (we used honey)
* 1.5 gallons of filtered water
Instructions:
#1 Cut off the stem of the pineapple
#2 Scrub that baby down really really good. I chose to scrub AND soak it in some apple cider vinegar water just because of all the crazy germs going around.
#3 Slice off that pokey goodness
#4 Gather the other ingredients. Slice up the ginger. Easy peasy.
#5 Throw in the peel and core only (not the fruit inside) with all the other ingredients in the pot. I break up the cinnamon sticks into smaller pieces. Simmer on low heat, covered, for 25-30 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to steep for another 25-30 minutes.
*side note- your house is going to smell like Christmas on the beach. You're welcome*
#6 Once the mixture has slightly cooled, carefully strain it into a pitcher or bowl. All of my pitchers were dirty, so into the bowl it went.
I then opted to add a little bit of raw honey, but you can leave it out or try your preferred sweetener.
And that's it! It's ready to drink. This recipe makes a LOT because my daughter is slightly obsessed. We keep it in the fridge for up to five days and then I freeze the rest in silicon muffin tins, pop them out and keep them in a gallon zip lock bag in the freezer. When we are ready to drink we thaw it in baggies placed in cold water.
#7 I haven't forgotten about the insides. We chop it up, add a little bit of ceylon cinnamon, mix it up and consume immediately or stick it in the fridge for later. So yum.
This recipe was 100% inspired by my previous peruvian nanny, MiMi. She is an AMAZING cook and she introduced me to so many great dishes, new spices, and this fabulous drink in the short two months that we had her before she moved. In Peru they waste nothing, which is why they use the peel and then eat the insides. But just like most fruits, so much of the nutrition can be found in the peel.
The nutritional benefits of pineapple are pretty astounding, see nutritional data below. We typically use pineapple to help aid coughs/mucus, up our vitamin C dosage and as a digestive aid.
