Feed Your Body Friday: 3 Summer Iced Drinks

The beautiful sunny days are here in full force, and what better way than a homemade iced drink to refresh and quench our thirst?

Dehydration is common in the summer, the symptoms of dehydration include dry mouth and throat, lack of energy, dry skin, headaches and dizziness, dark urine, and intolerance to heat. In order to stay well hydrated, it’s important to drink about 2 litres of liquid (8 glasses of water) a day. Another strategy to stay well hydrated is to consume a lot of fruits and vegetables, which are composed of a significant amount of water. They contain more fibre and plenty of antioxidants.

There are also a lot of sweet, sparkling drinks on the market to satisfy your thirst. Gourmet iced coffees, slushies, soft drinks, lemonade, juices, and fabulous cocktails are just some of the many choices on the market.

The problem is that these drinks don’t always represent the best choices for health. Indeed, they are often stuffed with sugar, which makes them essentially no different than sweets and desserts. The calories in these sugary drinks are called “empty calories” because they offer no nutrients. Even worse, the empty calories we eat can sometimes cut our appetite and prevent us from consuming healthy drinks and foods.

Here are some recipes for iced drinks you can make yourself this summer that are very simple. They’re sure to have you skipping the patio to make your own drinks at home!

Strawberry Lemon Slushy

A simple drink the whole family will love, prepared with frozen strawberries and lemon juice.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Servings: 6 cups

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 cups frozen strawberries
• 1 cup 100% pure orange juice
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• Fresh strawberries and lemon slices to decorate

Preparation:

1. In a blender, mix the lemon juice, the strawberries, and the orange juice until you obtain a slushy mixture.
2. Pour into glasses, then add fresh strawberries and slices of lemon to decorate.

Orange & Cucumber Iced Tea

Green tea makes an excellent iced tea! Since this type of tea is particularly likely to become bitter, don’t let the sachets infuse more than 2 minutes.

For flavour, cucumber slices and grapefruit wedges are added to complement each other to perfection!

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Servings: 6 cups

Ingredients:

• 6 cups water
• 6-8 teabags green tea
• About 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 oranges, sliced
• 1 English cucumber, sliced

Preparation:

1. Boil the water and pour it into the pitcher.
2. Add the tea bags and let infuse 2-3 minutes.
3. Remove the sachets and add the sugar.
4. Mix with a spoon until the sugar is completely dissolved.
5. Let cool a little before putting in the fridge, or add a good amount of ice to cool it more quickly.
6. Place slices of orange and cucumber in the pitcher to flavour the tea.

Caramel Iced Latté

Not the healthiest option, but a little treat is always good from time to time. Often coffee can serve as a dessert because it’s rich, tasty and unctuous.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Servings: 1 latte

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. brown sugar
• 3/4 cup infused coffee (or instant if you prefer)
• 3 tbsp. almond milk
• 3 tbsp. whipped cream
• 1 tbsp. caramel topping (for ice cream)
• 3/4 cup infused coffee, hot

Preparation:

1. In a small saucepan stir brown sugar, coffee and milk, until the sugar is dissolved. Let it cool.
2. Add ice to a glass and pour coffee. Top with whipped cream and caramel sauce.

Iced drinks are perfect for summer! They are so refreshing and energizing at the same time. If you buy them often, know that it’s very easy and much cheaper to make them yourself. Plus, you can avoid artificial ingredients, cut out a good amount of sugar, and avoid paying $5 for a drink that’s 50% ice anyway!

Related Article: Feed Your Body Friday: 4 Refreshing Water Blends