Imagine your sitting in your backyard or on the porch, it’s warm outside, the flowers and trees are blooming. The kids are playing and laughing in the yard. Maybe your working on a craft or reading a book. Suddenly, your throat feels dry. Nothing sounds better than an ice cold beverage. Here is the  dilemma: do you reach for an expensive soda, energy drink, or juice? Do you drink water, or could you make your own satisfying beverages for much less money than soda, energy drinks, etc? The answer is Yes.. you can! For years now I have been making homemade lemonade, sun tea, or drinking other inexpensive drinks.

Homemade Lemonade: 1 cup real lemon juice, 1 cup sugar or splenda, 2 quarts cold water. Stir to mix and enjoy! I can buy a 1 quart bottle of 100% lemon juice for between $1.00 and $1.50. A large bag of sugar sells for around $1.49.  This is by far cheaper than store bought juice, contains real lemon juice(which is good for you) and delicious.

Sun Tea: I use a re-used, clean milk jug. I fill this with water and put 5 to 7  Lipton orange-pekoe tea bags in through the top, leaving  the paper tags to hang outside the jug. Let sit in the sun for approximately 4 hours and remove tea bags. Refridgerate and enjoy. You can sweeten with sugar or artificial sweetener, add lemon if you wish or any other add ins. I drink this all summer long and it is very nutritious and delicious. You can use your favorite tea and adjust the amount of tea bags used for weaker or stronger tea.

Kool Aid:   I have been buying generic kool aid for years, usually on sale at 10 for $1.00. You can use real sugar or artificial sweetener, I have used both and recommend using slightly less artificial sweetener as it is stronger. You can’t beat this as it is extremely inexpensive. Obviously if you use sugar it is not “healthy”, however you can use this drink to make homemade popcicles, add gelatin and make homemade jello. It is far better than soda or other sugary drinks. A wide variety of flavors are available to please any tastebuds.

Juice from concentrate or ready made :  In my area a large bottle (around 25 - 32 oz.) sells for between $3.00 and $4.00. You can buy a container of frozen juice concentrate for less than $2.00 and it makes about 2 quarts. Do I need to say more?

I hope these ideas help make your summer most enjoyable and refreshing!

Thanks to all!

The Domestic Goddess

1 Comment »

1. 

   Hi, interest post. I’ll write you later about few questions!

   Comment by JaneRadriges — June 13, 2009 @ 6:37 pm

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