Drinks

This is a guest post from a work from home Mother who has an interest in healthy living, enjoys cooking, baking, and creating new recipes to keep fit. Enjoy some of her refreshing summer drink recipes below! 🙂

“Drinks equally suited to thirsty kids or adults, here are the perfect summer’s afternoon drinks. When all you want is a refreshing flavor to enjoy, or to help you cool down in one of those scorching days. Homemade drinks are so much healthier than regular sodas, you can always adjust the ingredients to make them that little bit more individual, suited to your preferences. Most summer drinks are perfect with the addition of some crushed ice, and these two are no exception!”

Raspberry Lemonade

This drink is great for when you want something not too sweet. So often, summer drinks are excessively fruity and sweet, also containing too much sugar. This one does not fit that style, and it’s a very versatile drink, it would make for an excellent aperitif before a dinner party or that weekend bbq with family and friends.

Ingredients
One and a half cups of fresh raspberries
One cup of lemonade
A handful of fresh mint leaves
Sugar (to taste, if needed)
Method

Wash the raspberries thoroughly in running water before blending them. For the best results, set your food processor to a relatively low speed and liquidize it, adding a few at a time to the mix as you go, once you have made a smooth paste, add the lemonade and half of your mint leaves blending all the ingredients, blast the lot for a few seconds, and there you have it. If it’s too sharp, add a little sugar with a teaspoon to taste. Serve over crushed ice in tumblers with a sprig or two of mint leaf.

Galia Melon Cucumber Cooler

This summer refresher has a subtle combination of flavours, it could be a perfect drink to serve before food and work as a non-alcoholic alternative to champagne. If you can’t get hold of a galia melon, then use a cantaloupe instead for similar results.

Ingredients
One galia melon
One English cucumber
Eight limes
A handful of fresh mint leaves
Method
Peel the melon and remove the pips, dicing the remaining flesh. Now chop up half of the cucumber and place it with the melon into a food processor to liquidize them. Juice seven of the limes and add them to the mix, taking care to remove the pips. Finally, throw in the mint leaves. Chill in the refrigerator for half an hour, and then strain the lot into a pitcher for serving. Pour into tall glasses with some crushed ice, add a slice or two of lime per serving along with four or five thin slices cucumber.

Image by domeckopol and any_t used under the Creative Commons license