Drew from Green Bee Joins UNE’s Sustainability Panel
/Our Director of Sales, Drew, recently participated in the UNE Symposium - Buzzkill: The Impact of Pollinator Decline on Food Diversity and Human Health.
Our Director of Sales, Drew, recently participated in the UNE Symposium - Buzzkill: The Impact of Pollinator Decline on Food Diversity and Human Health.
This is our take on a classic Irish Soda Bread recipe COMPLETE with a Lemon Sting twist. This recipe is so easy and delicious you’re not going to want to wait until St Patty’s Day to make it
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups to 3 cups All Purpose Flour
1 TSP Baking Soda
¼ cup Lemon Sting
2 Tbsps Lemon Zest
1 tsp pure vanilla
¾ cup Buttermilk
1/3 cup Butter
Optional
½ cup of raisins
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Mix together flour, baking soda in a bowl (make sure you get all the lumps out). Cut butter into mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs
Add raisins if using
Add buttermilk, Green Bee Lemon Sting, and Lemon Zest to the flour and mix until it becomes a soft dough
Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead once or twice – DO NOT OVERWORK it will make for a tougher loaf
Shape into a flattened round ball and score top with an X. Bake on a greased sheet pan for 40-50 minutes until it becomes golden brown
Enjoy
(We enjoy our soda bread with a little butter and an extra honey drizzle)
Green Bee’s twist on a Shamrock Shake is a fun way to bring natural flavors and a honey-sweetened fizz to the classic minty treat. Here’s a refreshing Green Bee Shamrock Fizz that balances creamy, minty goodness with a sparkling finish.
Ingredients:
½ cup whole milk or oat milk
1 cup vanilla ice cream (or coconut ice cream for dairy-free)
¼ tsp peppermint extract (or a few fresh mint leaves)
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ cup Green Bee Lemon Sting (for a honey-citrus sparkle)
A few drops of natural green food coloring (or spinach juice for a natural tint)
Whipped cream (optional)
Crushed honeycomb or bee pollen for garnish
Instructions:
Blend the ice cream, milk, peppermint extract, vanilla, and food coloring until smooth.
Pour into a glass, leaving room for the fizz.
Slowly top with Green Bee Lemon Sting, stirring gently to mix.
Garnish with whipped cream and sprinkle with crushed honeycomb or bee pollen.
A 3 ingredient Mocktail For the Whole Family to enjoy
Who doesn’t love a frothy lemony raspberry concoction? With only 3 simple ingredients Green Bee Potion #9 is super simple and just so delicious.
Ingredients
1 bottle Green Bee Lemon Sting
Fresh Raspberries
Raspberry sherbert
How To:
Muddle raspberries with a splash of Green Bee Lemon Sting – if you don’t like the seeds strain through a strainer
Put muddled raspberries in bottom of tall glass, top with a dollop of sherbert. Pour Green Bee Lemon Sting on top
ENJOY
What do you think of when you think of Valentines Day? If you’re like us, you think of roses. With roughly 250 million roses grown for Valentines Day each year, we think it’s fair to say most people think of roses. Why roses, when there are so many beautiful flowers to choose from? Roses have come to symbolize many things: purity, innocence, and gratitude. Red roses the most popular rose on Valentines Day have come to symbolize romantic love, passion and devotion.
Roses are pollinated by bees in addition to other pollinators. They do this by transferring pollen from the male parts of a rose to the female parts, which help the plant to reproduce.
The majority of roses grown for Valentines Day come from Columbia and Ecuador. These flowers are grown in unheated hoop houses. The long warm days and cool evenings provide the perfect growing temperature. There are about 130 native bee species found in both countries.
So, if you love getting roses on Valentines Day and beyond, say thank you to the hardworking bees of Ecuador and Columbia.
Did you know that St Valentine is the Patron Saint of love and BEEKEEPERS? Yup, love and beekeeping!
Back in Roman times and still to this day, bees are a symbol of romantic love.
For such a happy and sweet filled day, the history of how Valentines Day came to bee is a lot darker.
It is believed that Valentine’s Day originated from Lupercalia, an ancient Roman Festival. Lupercalia, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus the Roman God of agriculture. We won’t get into how this was celebrated (it’s kind of morbid and distressing) but if you’re interested you should totally check it out (don’t say you weren’t warned).
As Christianity took over, it began incorporating Pagan holidays into their own celebrations. This is exactly what happened to Lupercalia. St Valentine, was a priest and beekeeper. Known for treating his bees with love and compassion. Valentine, defied the Roman Emperor Claudius 11 by secretly marrying couples. This really angered Claudius and he had Valentine tortured and decapitated on February 14th
To honor St Valentine, the Church began calling Lupercalia, Valentines Day
It wasn’t until the Middle Ages when the idea of courtly love became popular that Valentines Day started to become a thing amongst lovers.
Crazy to think that a day that started with an execution is now the Universal day of love.
Our Ginger Buzz Turmeric mocktail is easy and perfect for this time of year. Turmeric contains curcumin and is rich in phytonutrients that are know to help protect our bodies by neutralizing free radicals as well as helpful with providing anti-inflammatory benefits. Pairing Tumeric with Ginger makes a great way to cure those winter blues.
Ingredients:
1 bottle Green Bee Ginger Buzz
¼ cup fresh turmeric root
1 peeled orange
Instructions:
Place peeled orange and fresh turmeric in juicer. If you don’t have a juicer handy, squeeze orange and grate turmeric with a box grater.
Mix well and add to Ginger Buzz
Take the peel and garnish with orange zest
Let the healing begin!
Yes, honey face masks are incredibly beneficial for all types of skin. Because of honey’s antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties it is a great choice to include in your skin care regime.
Benefits of honey face masks:
Antibacterial and Anti-inflammatory
Honey can be used to treat acne, reduce the appearance of blemishes and help clear out clogged pores
Anti-aging
Because honey contains nutrients, amino acids and antioxidants it can help repair and promote collagen production
Hydrating
Honey grabs moisture from the air and uses it to help hydrate your skin
How to use
Apply raw unfiltered honey directly to your face and leave on for 15-20 minutes and wash off. That’s it…. Couldn’t be easier or more natural.
Do not use honey if you are allergic to pollen. When in doubt, don’t do it…
Dry January is a time when people take a break from drinking alcohol. The U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called for cancer warning labels on all alcoholic beverages to highlight the link between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk. “Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States…yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this risk”.
After hearing this, Dry January and an NA lifestyle are even more relevant than ever for our long term health.
Here are 5 tips that will help you on your journey:
1. Make sure to have lots and lots of Non-Alcoholic choices on hand. Can anyone say, Green Bee? Our fizzy, delicious honey sodas and sparkling waters are the perfect replacement for any cocktail. If you’re going to a friend’s house bring a few 4 packs so you know your covered.
2. Sit down and make a list and identify why you drink. Are you drinking because you are stressed out? Are you drinking to help you sleep better or to help break the ice in social situations? Once you identify why you are drinking. Come up with alternatives to drinking so you are prepared before someone tries to hand you a drink.
3. Pay attention to how you are feeling without drinking. Start a journal so you can track your daily progress. Are you sleeping better? Have more energy during the day? Feeling less bloated? These are all positive signs that will help stay you on your alcohol-free journey.
4. Put all of the money aside that you would have spent on alcohol and do something nice for yourself at the end of the month.
5. If your feeling great without alcohol, come up with a long-term plan. Just like with healthy eating habits, if you aren’t making a conscious effort on a daily basis, it is very easy to fall into your old bad habits.
Its Easy Peasy, Summer Breezy
Ingredients:
1 bottle Green Bee Lemon Sting
Fresh strawberries
Ice
Garnish with a strawberry
Instructions:
Add 2-3 fresh strawberries to your glass and muddle. Add ice. Top with Lemon Sting.
Garnish with fresh strawberry on the rim of glass.
Note: To turn into a cocktail add 1 oz of your favorite vodka or gin.
This is our simple go-to recipe for a mule.
Ingredients:
1 12oz Bottle Green Bee Ginger Buzz
1 Lime or 1oz Lime Juice
Fresh Mint leaves
Ice cubes
Instructions:
If you have any traditional Copper Mule mugs - get them out! Otherwise any glass will do.
Fill glass with ice cubes, squeeze the juice of one lime (1 oz) into bottom, place torn mint leaves over ice, top off with a pour of Green Bee Ginger Buzz. Give it a stir and enjoy!
Note: Add a splash of your favorite Vodka to turn into a Cocktail.
Honey Offers A Myriad Of Benefits To Our Bodies And Our Environment
Health Benefits
Honey has a lower glycemic index relative to sugar and is gentler on our bodies, releasing energy in a steady manner. Honey is the OG of prebiotic and gut healthy ingredients. It contains antioxidants that help the body fight inflammation as well as protect our cells from the damage caused by free radicals. Honey also soothes sore throats and upset stomachs. My grandma swore by it!
Nutrient Rich
Honey is not just empty calories but contains small amounts of protein, vitamins, and minerals. Because it’s nutrient rich, honey provides everything your body needs to survive. In fact, the plant compounds in honey may help with weight loss by reducing our appetite.
Flavor Rich
Honey is a celebration of flowers for your taste buds. Really. It has a unique depth of flavor that is derived from the various flowers foraged.
So Much More Sustainable
Choosing honey helps support bees, beekeepers and farmers. They need our help! Out of the 100 crop varieties that provide 90% of the world’s food, 71 are pollinated by bees. Crazy, no? Unlike other sweeteners, honey is processed naturally by bees. Such a lower carbon footprint…
Hand crafted beverages with real ingredients, real flavor, and the natural sweetness of honey. The difference is Real!