There are many things that don’t look so fresh when dehydrated: Plants, fish, and your skin just to name a few. So instead of looking like a fish out of water all winter, be sure to drink plenty of water, I wouldn’t want you to wilt.

If plain water bores you to tears than you need to drink some more water to replace those extra fluids you just lost, crybaby.

Wait! Who are you calling a crybaby?

Ok, so I guess that makes me a crybaby. While I can guzzle water like it’s my job during a workout, I often grow tired of water by the end of the day. So, if you are anything like me, you just might like these…

5 Ways to Add a Seasonal Splash to Your Ho Ho H2O

• Cinnamon sticks – Fill up a bottle or pitcher of water and toss in a cinnamon stick or three and refrigerate overnight to give your water a hint of flavor.
• Peppermint extract – Add a drop (I said a drop!) of peppermint extract to your water for a festive and refreshing flavor.
• Cranberries – I like to freeze fresh cranberries and use them as ice cubes. Ok, they don’t add a ton of flavor, but they sure dress up a glass, don’t they?
• Orange slices – I don’t need to explain this one, do I?
• Pomegranate juice – Freeze POM Wonderful juice in ice cube trays and drop them into your water bottle for a healthy pump of flavor.

Drinking enough water throughout the winter will go a long way in keeping your skin glowing from your face to your feet. That, and a little lotion—we can talk about that later because…

Now I really must go drink some water and tell Johnson & Johnson there really will be no more tears.

I don’t drink or date much but when I do I like to hang out with Captain Morgan.

But today I’m cheating on the Captain and taking someone that outranks him to the final week of the POM Wonderful Summer Menu Series. I’d like you to meet…

Major Pom Wonderful

• 1 1/2 oz Vodka
• 2 oz POM Wonderful pomegranate juice
• 2 oz Diet Lemon/Lime Soda

Build all ingredients over ice in a hi-ball glass and garnish with a squeeze of lime. Enjoy responsibly.

Now I really must go call a cab…my date was a little too tall and strong for me tonight!

Question: What is better than dessert? Answer: Two desserts!

I couldn’t decide which dessert to bring to the the POM Summer Menu Series this week: Pomegranate Sorbet or Pomegranate Protein Ice Cream. They were both easy to make and so refreshing, so I brought both.

Here’s the scoop…

POM Sorbet

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup POM Wonderful pomegranate juice

Stir together all ingredients and pour into an ice cream maker following your machine’s instructions for freezing.

POM Protein Ice Cream

• 2 cups POM Wonderful pomegranate juice
• 1 cup vanilla protein powder

Blend ingredients together and pour into ice cream maker following your machine’s instructions for freezing.

Enjoy!

Now I really must go…I had so much fun making this ice cream, I’m going to enroll in sundae school!

Our main dish for this weeks POM Wonderful Summer Menu Series is brought to you from the home of the College World Series.

I was asked to step up to the plate and bring the main dish to this weeks POM Wonderful Summer Menu Series. I’ll be honest with you, this request was a bit of a curve ball as I’m never asked to bring the main course. Surely it’s not because I’m a bad cook or that my friends fear I’d show up with a pitcher of protein shakes, right? Right.

Nevertheless, making the main dish makes me choke-up and my pom’s sweat. To help ease my anxiety, I reached out to my pinch-hitter Michael Schall, the owner of Greenbelly restaurant in Omaha, Nebraska to prepare a pom-filled recipe for us today. Greenbelly is known for its eco-friendly establishment and it’s fine food featuring healthy salads, grilled pizzas, and panini’s….let’s just say, they’ve got all their bases covered.

Michael’s recipe is sure to be a homerun as it’s packed full of some of my favorite things like protein, veggies, peanut butter, and POM Wonderful.  Welcome to Omaha, we’re having…

POM Shrimp Wraps

• 1 pound (21/25 count) shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 3 ounces maifun noodles (thin dried Chinese noodles)
• ¾ cup of seeded julienned cucumber (matchstick-size)
• 1 carrot, peeled, julienned matchstick size carrots (1/2 cup)
• 3/4 cup julienned matchstick size jicama (or Yam)
• 2 green onions julienned, matchstick size to about 1/2 cup
• 2 cups thinly sliced cabbage from about 1/2 of a head
• 1 cup fresh bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup basil leaves
• 1/2 cup cilantro leaves
• 12 (8-inch round) sheets dried rice paper (or substitute w/ a wheat tortilla)
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 5 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons POM Wonderful pomegranate juice
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup mirin (substitute with sake or rice wine)
• ½ teaspoon of minced garlic

Directions

In a large pot of salted boiling water, add shrimp and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until cooked through. Slice shrimp in half from tip to tip and set aside. In a small bowl, pour hot tap water over noodles and set aside to soften, about 10 to 15 minutes. While noodles are soaking, prepare vegetables and herbs. Drain the noodles and cut with kitchen shears into 4-inch lengths. Set aside.

Prepare an area to work easily for assembly of rolls. Line all vegetables and herbs in front of you along with shrimp and noodles. Have a roll of clear plastic wrap handy. If substituting rice paper with a wheat tortilla, skip the rice paper preparation. Fill a shallow bowl (a pie dish works great) with warm tap water and submerge 1 rice paper round into water for 10 to 15 seconds to soften.

Gently remove rice paper sheet from water, place on work surface. In the center of rice paper, place 3 shrimp halves (striped side down) on rice paper. Top with 1/4 cup noodles. Top with 2 sticks cucumber, 2 sticks carrots, 2 sticks jicama, 3 pieces green onion, 3 tablespoons napa cabbage, 4 tablespoons bean sprouts, and a pinch of basil and cilantro. Finish with 3 more pieces of shrimp, striped side up. Fold rice paper up tightly over filling, fold in ends, and continue rolling, finishing seam side down. Place in plastic wrap and roll so that the rolls can set up and not stick to each other. Repeat to create the rest of the rolls. Refrigerate rolls for 20 to 30 minutes, before serving.

In a small bowl, vigorously whip peanut butter with a fork until easy to stir. Stir in hoisin sauce, pomegranate juice, soy sauce, mirin and garlic until combined well. Cover and let stand at room temperature until ready to serve.

When ready to serve, evenly spread remaining  cabbage on serving platter. Remove rolls from refrigerator. Remove plastic wrap and slice in half on the diagonal. Place half the rolls on their sides on the platter and the other half on their ends, standing up. Serve with peanut sauce.

This dish is fantastic and makes a striking presentation! Enjoy!

Now I really must go now that we’ve hit this one out of the park it’s time to get back to my bench warming, I mean, pressing.

My family has a lot of interesting traditions, like Christmas Eve Salad, for example.

It’s tradition that we eat Christmas Eve Salad every Christmas Eve and just about every holiday including Thanksgiving and Easter.

I thought I’d break tradition (gasp!) just in time for the upcoming 4th of July weekend and shake up Christmas Eve Salad with a few small red, white, and blueberry changes.

I didn’t go to too much trouble.

I simply called my sister-in-law Dawn for a quick Sutter Strategy session. We changed the fruit from mandarin oranges to blueberries and raspberries, and added a splash of POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice to kick the dressing up a notch.

Ladies and gentleman, get your sparklers out and give it up for…

Christmas (Eve) in July Salad

• 1/4 cup chopped almonds
  
• 2 packets stevia (or 1 T plus 1 t Sugar)
  
• 3-4 cups spinach
  
• 3-4 cups Romaine lettuce (cut into bite-size pieces)
  
• 2 celery stalks, sliced thin (optional)
  
• 5 green onions, sliced
  
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 cup raspberries
  

Toast the almonds by adding stevia and almonds in a small saucepan. Cook on low heat until the stevia melts and almonds are lightly toasted. Cool the almonds on waxed paper. While the almonds are cooling combine the remaining ingredients in a large serving bowl. Add in the almonds and toss.

Dressing:

• 1 stevia packet (or 2 T sugar)
  
• 1 1/2 T red wine vinegar
• 3 T POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice
  
• 1/2 t salt
  
• Dash of pepper
  
• 1/4 C vegetable oil
• 1 T chopped fresh parsley
  

Mix all ingredients together and add to the salad just before serving.

This side salad serves about 6 and is perfect for any summertime celebration. I could eat this salad as a meal but if you’d like some ideas on what to serve with it, you’re in luck.

You and all of your guests are cordially invited to the POM Wonderful Summer Menu Series where Fitness & Spice, Danica’s Daily, Kitchen Confidante, and Being Chelsea are sharing some recipe ideas for the next few weeks.

Stop by today and dig in!

Now I really must go grab a glass of liberty and work on my merry 4th of July plans…it’s going to be a blast!

I was reading Martha Stewart Living this weekend and stumbled upon a fabulous little salad recipe in an advertisement. There wasn’t anything on the ingredients list that I didn’t like so I decided to channel my inner Martha and give it a whirl. The result?

A Berry Good Salad

• 4 cups water
• 1/2 cup dry wheat berries
• 1/2 of a 15-ounce can of black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup shelled edamame
• 1 cup chopped tomato
• 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
• 3 T extra virgin olive oil
• 2 T red wine vinegar
• 2 T POM Wonderful (this was my contribution to the recipe…and a good one if I do say so myself)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Combine water and wheat berries in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 55 minutes or until wheat berries are tender. Place in a strainer, run under cold water to cool quickly, drain. Combine the wheat berries with the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate. Serves 6.

Now I really must go give Martha a call and tell her this salad is a berry good thing!

I’ve been doing a lot of pom reading lately.

As a matter of fact, I think 2009 was THE year of the pomegranate. I’ve read countless articles boasting that pomegranates are bursting with antioxidants, fiber, potassium, and vitamin C. So in December I busted open my first pomegranate after watching people like Martha and Jen go first.

I assumed it was going to taste a bit bitter, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was actually quite sweet and not as tart as I expected.

When Mr. Wonderful (as I call him) asked if I would like to try POM Wonderful pomegranate juice, I quickly agreed and then hopped on their Web site and learned that POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice…

• Contains no added sugars, preservatives or colors
• Is a good source of potassium
• Is gluten-free
• Is flash pasteurized to retain both flavor and nutrients

I have to admit I love the taste of this pomegranate juice. But, it contains 160 calories/8 ounces, so I will only enjoy POM Wonderful Juice every POM once-in-a-while.

Now this will come as no surprise to you, but I added about 1/3 cup pomegranate juice in place of some of the water in a vanilla protein shake yesterday and it really was POM Wonderful.

Want to WIN a case of POM Wonderful, a POM apron, and some other goodies from POM? Then do some pom reading of your own and tell us what you might do with POM Wonderful Juice in your future! Be sure to leave your pom reading by 11:59 EST on Thursday, January 21st and check back on Friday to see if you won.

Now I really must go, I don’t want to take this wonderful day for pomegranate!