I have always been a loyal fan of Florida’s Natural juices and my favourite is their Orange Juice with Most Pulp (Product of USA). Squeezed from Valencia oranges and not from concentrate, it is the next best alternative to having freshly squeezed juice.
Nothing else comes close, and naturally, I couldn’t conceal my excitement when I had the opportunity to be a part of their latest campaign, where I got to find out more about Florida’s Natural range of juices and their multiple uses through 3 challenges (hidden within the envelopes labelled A, B and C in the photo below) that were posed to me.
If you follow me on my Facebook page
here, you may already have participated in my recent
Florida’s Natural Juices Giveaway where the winner will receive 1-month’s supply of juices from Florida’s Natural. I asked you to choose the sequence in which I should open the envelopes which would determine the order of the challenges that I take up.
Which sequence did I pick in the end?
Who is the winner of this giveaway?
Sorry for keeping you in suspense for so long! The winner of the giveaway will be revealed at the end of this post, but meanwhile, read on to find out more about each challenge.
Challenge B: Cooking (Orange-Sesame Noodles with Grilled Shrimp)
I started with Challenge B, a cooking challenge using Florida’s Natural Orange Juice.
Yes, that’s right. Orange Juice.
Before you start frowning at the idea, I have to tell you that I have tried using freshly squeezed orange juice to marinate shrimps previously. However, this was my first time using Florida’s Natural Orange Juice or any juice straight out of a carton for that matter as a sauce for soba noodles and I wasn’t so sure if it would taste good.
Here’s the recipe if you’re interested in recreating this dish:
Ingredients
1/4 cup fresh orange juice (I used the Most Pulp version)
3 tablespoons tamari
3 tablespoons peanut butter (I used organic unsalted peanut butter, but I think the sinful version would taste better)
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
10 ounce soba noodles
1 cup snow peas
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks (I used baby carrots as they’re sweeter and there’s no need to cut them up)
1.5 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used ready cooked frozen shrimp for convenience)
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
Preparation
1. Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl to make orange juice sauce.
2. Boil noodles according to package directions. Before draining, add snow peas and carrots to cook for 30 seconds.
3. Drain pasta, peas and carrots and toss immediately with orange juice sauce. Set aside.
4. Brush shrimp with sesame oil and grill over medium-hot stove for 3-5 minutes
5. Arrange pasta on serving plate, topped with shrimps.
And here’s presenting my final dish! I was surprised that it actually tasted better than expected. It had a pleasant nutty taste accompanied by a refreshing citrus flavour. I used organic unsalted peanut butter but I have a gut feel that this would taste better with the more sinful version.
Challenge C: Flatlay (What’s on my table?)
My next pick was Challenge C, which also turned out to be the easiest challenge for me as I love flatlays. I did a flatlay of my favourite beauty products, accessories (the lovely people who packed my challenge chose this gorgeous floral wreath and floral ring for me), and not forgetting Florida’s Natural Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice.
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Since we are on the topic of beauty, did you know that grapefruit juice promotes a healthy complexion and helps with weight loss too? It gives you more energy at the same time and decreases the risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease too.
Now, I’m sure this gives you ample reasons to start consuming grapefruit juice! I have just started taking grapefruit juice during breakfast every morning so I always have a carton of Florida’s Natural Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice in my fridge. You should try it too!
If you prefer something a little sweeter, you could give Florida’s Natural Cranberry Ruby Red Juice a try. Cranberry juice acts as a sweetener and promotes urinary tract health too, which is perfect for us ladies.
Challenge A: Upcycling (Juice Carton Desk Organiser)
I wished the challenges were as easy as ABC (in that order), but the truth was, I was stumped by Challenge A. I was tasked to upcycle an empty carton of juice and in a nutshell, what this means is I had to make a useful product out of waste materials. I have to say it is a very meaningful task, but handicraft is definitely not one of my strengths.
Thankfully, with the help of my brother who loves art and craft, we managed to convert the juice carton into a desk organizer to store my girly stationery. As frivolous as my pens may look, don’t you agree that they’re so adorable? Looking at them brightens up my day instantly.
If you’re interested in making your own desk organiser, follow the instructions below:
What you need
Empty juice carton
Craft knife
Hole punch
Preparation
1. Thoroughly wash and dry the interior and exterior of the juice carton. Use your craft knife to cut out an entire flap on the side of the carton.
2. Use your hole punch to punch several holes all over the flap that you cut out. Note that you have to use a hole punch that is able to create larger holes. The usual puncher does not work as well, so I used this hole punch that I purchased from Art Friend instead:
3. Use blu tack to stick the reverse side of the flap back onto the side of the carton.
Here’s a close-up of the final product:
I had a lot of fun with these creative challenges and I certainly hope this post has given you a better idea of what you can do with your Florida’s Natural juices.
And now’s the time for the big reveal.
Did you guess the sequence of my challenges correctly?
For those of you who guessed BCA, you could very well be my giveaway winner!
Giveaway Winner Announcement
There are two winners for this giveaway and they will each walk away with 1-month worth of Florida’s Natural Juices.
The winners are:
1) Serene Tay
2) Tan Bee Leng
Please drop me an email at regina.chow@gmail.com. Florida’s Natural will get in touch with you directly to make the necessary arrangements.
Thank you once again for participating in this giveaway. I took a while to sieve through all the comments as there were more than 100 responses!