The delicious Orange Julius is a treat that tastes like a liquid creamsicle. We would always get them when we went into Manhattan or Coney Island, from one of the little kiosks filled with fresh oranges. The brand is nearly a century old, and was the official drink of the 1964 New York State World's Fair. Nowadays it's owned by Dairy Queen. Here's my smarter, healthier vegan version:

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The delicious Orange Julius is a treat that tastes like a liquid creamsicle. When we went into Manhattan or Coney Island we would always get them from one of the little kiosks filled with multitudes of fresh oranges. The brand is nearly a century old, and was the official drink of the 1964 New York State World's Fair. Nowadays it's owned by Dairy Queen.

The pitchfork-wielding devil logo with the "A Devilish Good Drink" slogan thankfully fell out of favor in the 1970s, but the spectacular flavor remained.

The delectable ambrosia is a mixture of ice, orange juice, sweetener, milk, powdered egg whites and vanilla flavoring.

I haven't had one in decades, but my taste buds remembered the deliciousness, so I decided to try to invent a version that would fit my current dietary preferences: organic, dairy-free, egg-free, with no added sweetener. I'm happy to say I nailed it on my first try, and have been happily fine-tuning it every morning since.

2 large/4 small organic tangerines, mandarins, oranges, etc.

A handful of organic raw cashews

2-3 Tbs nut milk, preferably frozen in cubes (coconut, almond, hemp, etc)

Optional flavoring: a drop or two of edible ginger essential oil and/or a small splash of vanilla.

Note: If your fruit has seeds, you may want to remove them, although this is not always necessary with a high speed blender. I use a Blendtec, and I have been using the mandarin oranges without seeds.

All proportions can be adjusted to taste, and you are guaranteed to enjoy finetuning!

Blend in a high speed blender and serve...what a way to start a day, yummy!

It's smarter, healthier and better than the original version, so I call mine, "Orange Julia"!

Authors Website: http://www.OceanViewArts.com

Authors Bio:

Meryl Ann Butler is an artist, author, educator and OpedNews Managing Editor who has been actively engaged in utilizing the arts as stepping-stones toward joy-filled wellbeing since she was a hippie. She began writing for OpEdNews in Feb, 2004. She became a Senior Editor in August 2012 and Managing Editor in January, 2013. In June, 2015, the combined views on her articles, diaries and quick link contributions topped one million. She was particularly happy that her article about Bree Newsome removing the Confederate flag was the one that put her past the million mark.

Her art in a wide variety of media can be seen on her YouTube video, "Visionary Artist Meryl Ann Butler on Creativity and Joy" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcGs2r_66QE

A NYC native, her response to 9-11 was to pen an invitation to healing through creativity, entitled, "90-Minute Quilts: 15+ Projects You Can Stitch in an Afternoon" (Krause 2006), which is a bestseller in the craft field. The sequel, MORE 90-Minute Quilts: 20+ Quick and Easy Projects With Triangles and Squares was released in April, 2011. Her popular video, How to Stitch a Quilt in 90 Minutes with Meryl Ann Butler can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrShGOQaJQ8

She has been active in a number of international, arts-related projects as a citizen diplomat, and was arts advisor to Baltimore's CIUSSR (Center for Improving US-Soviet Relations), 1987-89. She made two trips to the former USSR in 1987 and 1988 to speak to artists, craftpeople and fashion designers on the topic of utilizing the arts as a tool for global wellbeing. She created the historical "First US-Soviet Children's Peace Quilt Exchange Project" in 1987-88, which was the first time a reciprocal quilt was given to the US from the former USSR.

Her artwork is in collections across the globe.

Meryl Ann is a founding member of The Labyrinth Society and has been building labyrinths since 1992. She publishes an annual article about the topic on OpEdNews on World Labyrinth Day, the first Saturday in May.

OpEdNews Senior Editor Joan Brunwasser interviewed Meryl Ann in "Beyond Surviving: How to Thrive in Challenging Times" at https://www.opednews.com/articles/Beyond-Surviving--How-to-by-Joan-Brunwasser-Anxiety_Appreciation_Coronavirus_Creativity-200318-988.html

Find out more about Meryl Ann's artistic life in "OEN Managing Ed, Meryl Ann Butler, Featured on the Other Side of the Byline" at https://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/OEN-Managing-Ed-Meryl-Ann-in-Life_Arts-Artistic_Artists_Quilt-170917-615.html

On Feb 11, 2017, Senior Editor Joan Brunwasser interviewed Meryl Ann in Pink Power: Sister March, Norfolk, VA at http://www.opednews.com/articles/Pink-Power-Sister-March--by-Joan-Brunwasser-Pussy-Hats-170212-681.html

"Creativity and Healing: The Work of Meryl Ann Butler" by Burl Hall is at
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Creativity-and-Healing--T-by-Burl-Hall-130414-18.html

Burl and Merry Hall interviewed Meryl Ann on their BlogTalk radio show, "Envision This," at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/envision-this/2013/04/11/meryl-ann-butler-art-as-a-medicine-for-the-soul

Archived articles www.opednews.com/author/author1820.html
Older archived articles, from before May 2005 are here.