How To Make A Delicious Pineapple & Tulsi Drink With Aloe Vera

 

This healthy drink recipe is made with three things from our garden:

1. Pineapple
2. Tulsi aka Holy Basil
3. Aloe
   

   Why You Should Grow Pineapple At Home

   
   Fresh pineapple from the garden usually tastes better than store-bought pineapple. That's because you can pick it at peak ripeness. The key to telling if it's ripe is to smell the bottom. If it smells like a sweet pineapple, it's ripe. If it doesn't, it's not ripe. Pineapples don't ripen after picking either.
   

   How To Grow Pineapple

   
   All you have to do is cut off the top of a pineapple and put it in the ground. If you keep doing this, over time you will have a yard full of beautiful pineapples. They take about 1 1/2 - 2 years to fully grow and ripen, but it's well worth it. If you put the tops of your pineapples in your garden for 2 years, by that time the first pineapple you put in the ground should be about ready. And the rest will be right behind it. So, theoretically, once you do this you shouldn't have to ever buy pineapples again!
   

   Tulsi AKA Holy Basil In The Garden

   
   

Tulsi is a highly regarded herb used for thousands of years in the Ayervedic medical system. It's usually drank as a tea. One of the main reasons it's commonly drank is for stress-relief, but it's also good for general health. The leaves has an interesting taste and smell. It's very distinctive. They go well in a salad too. But there's just something special about the combination of mixing tulsi with pineapple, and this drink does a great job of capturing that.

Most people use dried tulsi in their tea here in the US. But I recommend growing it yourself. It really is a great plant to grow. And it's easy to grow. The tulsi plant in picture above grew wild in our yard and we just mowed around it. Of course, we have been growing tulsi for years so one of the seeds must have spread over into our yard somehow, giving us more of this special plant without requiring any more work on our part.

Consuming Aloe Vera Internally

We mostly think of using aloe externally, especially for sunburns. While there are a lot of other topical uses for aloe, such as for insect bites, aloe's use internally is even less known. You can't eat the green outer leaf. You have to filet it open and cut out the clear gel inside. Only use a little bit though, because it's bitter and will ruin your drink. Some things hide aloe's bitter flavor better than others. Orange juice works really well, and so does apple juice. But as you'll see if you try this drink, pineapple hides it well too. Start with a very small piece of aloe to feel it out first, then slowly experiment with bigger pieces in future drinks you make.