Cool Refreshing Summer Drinks
Summer is the perfect time to add some cooling drinks to your repertoire. But It’s also a time when sugary juices and sodas abound and those can be hard to resist on a hot day. No worries. There are refreshing, cooling drinks that can cool you down while also helping you avoid super-sugary choices. Here are three that are pretty easy to throw together and can help boost your health at the same time. Win-win, right?! They’re loaded with antioxidants and natural metabolism boosters to curb your sugar cravings and help you slim down and get healthy. (Make sure you read all the way through this post to get more information about the healthful benefits of the drink ingredients.)
Lemon Basil Cooler (Serves 1. This one tastes just like sparkling lemonade!)
Ingredients:
2 to 3 basil leaves
2 to 3 mint leaves
1 slice of lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
5 to 6 drops of plain or vanilla stevia
1½ cups sparkling water
Instructions:
In the bottom of a large glass “muddle” the basil, the mint, and the lemon slice until very fragrant. (Muddling requires mashing the leaves and slice together with a “muddler”. A muddler is a bartender's tool, used to mash—or muddle—fruits, herbs and spices in the bottom of a glass to release their flavor. If you don’t have one use the thick end of an unsharp table knife, the end of a wooden spoon, the end of a wooden rolling pin with no handles or...use your imagination!)
Squeeze the lemon juice into a small container, fish out the seeds and then add it to your muddled mix, whisk in stevia with a fork, top off with sparkling water, add a few ice cubes and drink!
Sweet Summer Heat (Serves 4)
Ingredients:
1 cup lemon juice
10 drops stevia (or to taste)
¼ - ½ jalapeno, seeded and chopped (amount used depends on heat desired)
½ of a seedless watermelon, rind removed and roughly chopped
8-10 fresh mint leaves
Lemon slices, for serving
Instructions:
Combine lemon juice, stevia, jalapeno, watermelon and mint in a blender. Blend to a puree. Allow the puree to steep for at least 10 minutes before straining it through a fine mesh sieve. Serve well chilled over ice. Try serving with a lemon slice and mint leaf floating at the top.
Blueberry Lemon Cooler (serves 4)
Ingredients:
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
10-15 drops of stevia (or to taste)
1 cup fresh blueberries
4 cups cold water
Ice
Instructions:
Put all ingredients into a blender. Blend until the berries are totally pureed. Pour into a pitcher. (You can pour through a fine-mesh strainer first if you want a pulp-free lemonade.)
Chill for at least 30 minutes. Serve over ice with a lemon slice and a few blueberries on the top.
Things you probably didn’t know about the health benefits in the ingredients used in these drinks:
Basil - is a natural “heart helper” and is loaded with antioxidants and is anti inflammatory.
Mint - promotes healthy digestion and healthy cognitive function.
Lemon - just inhaling the smell of a lemon helps stop unhealthy cravings and, when consumed on a regular basis, can give you softer, healthier-looking skin.
Watermelon - low calorie, loaded with nutrients to boost heart health and lower inflammation, and at 92% water this fruit can help you hydrate!
Jalapeno - also low in calories and a good source of fiber, vitamin C and vitamin B6. May help you lose weight by bumping up your metabolism.
Blueberries - Heart health, cancer prevention, brain health, improved insulin sensitivity, younger looking skin….the list is long! Read my last blog on this subject here.