SANTA PAULA, CA- It is official, another year gone and another year of potential ahead! As is custom, New Year’s resolutions are in full swing, and as we look ahead, Limoneira is bringing the industry a range of citrus items, insights, and a few tools for a fresh start.

Limoneira spokesperson and Founder of Healthy Grocery Girl Megan Roosevelt is excited to share some easy, DIY ways to boost your healthy lifestyle with lemons this month. To address the busy and time-crunched consumer, Megan is offering easy recipes sure to lessen the burden of mid-week cooking as well as simple ways to make exercising more pleasant. After all, citrus is a friend to anyone determined to start the new year off on the right foot, but also looking for fresh flavors and ideas.

Check out Megan detail her fresh New Year tips and recipes in this video!

More cool tips and tricks will be added to the channel each Friday. Throughout 2017, Megan will be producing weekly videos that demonstrate fun, easy and healthy tips to keep your New Year’s resolutions on-track, according to a press release.

Here are some tasty ideas to kick off January:

Mason Jar Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette 

Meal prepping is an important way to cut down kitchen time during a hectic week. With this simple recipe and a mason jar, eating healthy all week long is easier than ever.

Dressing:

• ½ cup organic virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 whole lemon, juiced
• 1 tbsp 100% real maple syrup
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 pinch of sea salt and pepper

Directions: Add all ingredients to a container or mason jar. Whisk, or if the container has a lid, you can shake ingredients together until thoroughly mixed.

Salad:

• ½ cup kidney beans
• ¾ cup cooked quinoa
• ½ cup sweet orange bell pepper
• 1 cup spinach
• 2 tbsp hemp seeds

Directions: Add salad dressing at the base. Then add kidney beans, quinoa, veggies, lettuce and hemp seeds on top. Enjoy!

Lemon Detox Smoothie 

New Year, new you! Now that the holidays are behind us, it’s time to get back to that healthy you – and lemons are here to help. This wonderful smoothie is a quick, tasty and healthy way to start your day, end a workout, or just as a midday snack.

Ingredients:

• 1 small cucumber
• 1 cup spinach
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 apple
• 1 serving plant-based protein powder
• 1 cup water (or non-dairy milk)
• 1 cup ice

Directions: Add all ingredients into a high-speed blender. Blend together and enjoy.

And for those looking to yoga into the new year, here is a Simple Lemon Yoga Mat Cleaner. Exercise is an important component of a healthy lifestyle. For those folks who, like Megan, enjoy the purifying practice of yoga as part of their fitness routine, this next tip will help keep that yoga mat fresh and ready to go at a moment’s notice – in the easiest, most natural way possible.

Ingredients:

• 3 parts water
• 1 part fresh lemon juice

Directions: Combine ingredients and whisk together. Add to a spray bottle. Spray yoga mat when needed and wipe down with a clean rag or sponge.

Each month, Megan will be featuring another wonderful facet of lemon living. Subscribe to Limoneira’s YouTube channel for more information on the many ways this endlessly versatile fruit can improve life inside the home and beyond.  Limoneira has also linked with additional global health experts that share their knowledge with the customers of our grocery and food service partners around the world. So, stay tuned for more from the team at Limoneira.

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