Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Homemade Lemonade

I'm not a big plain water person. Or, more accurately, I wish I didn't have to be a big plain water person. Now that I'm off the crack (cherry coke, that is), I don't typically find myself with a lot of beverage options. Switching to another soda makes no sense, I'm not a coffee or tea person, and milk is a big no-no for me. As for all those "weird" drinks...Sobe Life Water? Crystal Light? Propel? I generally don't trust anything that my great-grandma wouldn't recognize as edible. If you like your kool-aid mix, then drink up, my friend. I'm just talking about me here.

I kind of wish I liked fruit juice more, but in large doses, I generally find it too overpoweringly sweet. I torture myself with orange juice daily for the potassium, but that's as far as I'll go with that. But in the vast kingdom of fruit juices, there is one (actually 2) that I really do like - especially because I make it myself from scratch to suit my own taste: lemonade and limeade.

Making lemonade turns a plain bowl of turkey chilli into a "special lunch" (although your chili is super-special anyway, Jason!) And, it takes like 5 minutes to mix up a little 3-cup jug. That's only 4.5 minutes longer than it would take to get yourself a glass of cherry coke (and you might get to keep your teeth a little longer!)

So here's the big recipe: (ps - remember, this suits my tastes...you may want to add more sugar or a little less water if you like a more intense flavor!)

Juice 3 lemons or 4 limes (this will get you about 1/2 cup juice). I like to put the juice in a sports bottle, because I'm fancy like that, and I add about 4 Tbsp of sugar, then shake it, shake, shake it.... until it's all mixed in. Then I pour in 2 1/2 cups of water and shake it again (oh yeah, lids are handy for that shaking up part...that's why it's in the bottle in the first place. But you already figured that out because, since you're reading this blog, I assume you're quite smart.) It makes about 3 servings. Enjoy!
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