Full of Vitamin C, this Cranberry Orange Smoothie gives your immune system a boost and contains a touch of honey to soothe a sore throat.

*cough, cough, cough*  That’s about how things sound around our house right now.  We’re still recovering from the nasty flu bug we caught last week!  Yesterday I whipped up this Cranberry Orange Smoothie to help calm my sore throat, and it worked wonders.  Now I’m a little sad that I don’t have many cranberries left.  Otherwise I would make another smoothie today!

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This morning I woke up to see that we have (or had) a chance of snow in the forecast.  *insert shocked face*  This is North Florida.  We don’t get snow.  Unfortunately it doesn’t look like the weather will get quite cold enough, as the temperature outside is hovering just above freezing.  So, I’m sitting here listening to the constant drizzle of very cold rain instead.  This is the miserable kind of weather…where it’s cold and rainy enough to get thoroughly wet and chilled, but not quite cold enough to snow.  I am very grateful that I don’t have to go anywhere today, and can just stay home and keep warm.  Weather forecasters are saying there is a chance of freezing rain as well, and I have been in enough ice storms to hope that will not be the case.  No icy roads and broken trees for me, thank you.  I can only imagine the chaos that would ensue if we were to get a true ice storm in Florida.  Does anyone here know how to drive in those kind of conditions?  Considering how many people were out “sightseeing” after Hurricane Irma, I can’t help but wonder how many traffic accidents would occur during a winter storm in this location.  Thankfully, it rarely stays cold for very long down here, and things would warm up to above freezing pretty quickly.  Although, temperatures dropping down below freezing the next few nights could refreeze any wet roads, so I hope all my Floridian and East Coast friends will be extra careful while driving the next couple of days.

With all the rain and cold, it’s a perfect day for some baking!  I may have to get in the kitchen later and do a little experimenting. 🙂

Whoa, wait a second; I’m pretty sure I just heard some sleet hit the window.  *runs out of the room*

*runs back into the room*  I think there was a piece of two, but I could have been imagining things.  When you grow up in a state that sometimes gets ice and sleet during the winter time, you know the all too familiar sound of sleet hitting the window versus snow.  Sleet has a sharp, tapping sound, and you almost have a sinking feeling when you heard it coming down because you know the hazards it may pose.  Plus, it’s not particularly fun to play in like snow.  It’s just hard and wet and it stings when it hits your face.  Freezing rain is a little sneakier.  You hear rain and stick your head out the door, and you can gradually see said rain freezing to all the branches and trees and the porch.  If you go outside wearing a waterproof jacket, you’ll even see ice forming on your coat.  Sometimes you can’t see the ice on the roads, which makes it extra dangerous.  When the freezing rain falls all night or all day, branches and trees will start to break off as they become unable to bear the weight of the ice.  Even so, there’s something fascinating about the way everything looks after an ice storm.  It’s destructively beautiful, if you will.  I know I have several pictures of some of the winter ice storms I saw growing up.  I’ll have to share a few photos sometime this week, for those of you who may not have seen freezing rain before.

It may seem odd for me to be sharing a smoothie recipe when it’s just over 30 degrees outside, but I found this Cranberry Orange Smoothie to be very soothing on my sore throat yesterday.  I went grocery shopping and was feeling cold and fatigued when I got home, and was coughing a lot.  There were some cranberries left in the freezer from Thanksgiving, and I had two bags of oranges in the fridge.  So, I blended up this smoothie with a little almond milk and honey, and I enjoyed it enough that I wanted to share it on the blog.

It’s full of Vitamin C, which is good for your immune system.  Honey helps to calm a sore throat and cough.

Of course, you don’t have to be sick to make this smoothie. 🙂  I like cranberries and oranges anytime, so I may whip up another one soon.

Notes:  I use one Tablespoon of honey in this smoothie, as I like mine to be a little tart and don’t want to use too much sugar.  You can always adjust the amount.  Also, if you don’t want to use almond milk, you can use regular.  Personally, I don’t like to eat a lot of dairy when I’m sick because it seems to make me more congested.  If that is the case with you too, it might be best to stick with the almond milk.  If you don’t have it, you can always use water.

Enjoy and stay warm!

~K in the Kitchen