Take a Drink of Summer…..

You wouldn’t know it by looking out my back door right now, but summer is really on its way. The fact that we are going to be under another freeze watch until 10 am tomorrow morning shouldn’t have any bearing on our pursuit of summer time things. There are always a few things that just scream summer to me like barbeques, potato salad, hamburgers, the beach, ice cream, and bubbles. (When you have kids under the age of 10 playing with bubbles when it is warm outside is a hot commodity.) But the number one thing that really says summer to me is lemonade!

Traditionally lemonade is usually about 99 calories per 8-ounce glass with 25 grams of sugar! All that sugar isn’t necessary to enjoy a nice, cool glass of lemonade!

I wanted to make a lemonade that is refined sugar free, no funky sweeteners (Aspartame, sucralose, ect.), low to negligible calories, and hydrating. After dissecting the ingredient list on PowerAde and Gatorade we just don’t drink it any more. So, this lemonade has the option of taking the place of those drinks as well. My favorite part is I decided to make this lemonade sparkling. This also helps to take the place of sugary, or diet, drinks for those who are trying to kick the soda habit. And aside from the horrific amount of calories that traditional lemonade provides, the lack of sugar in this lemonade doesn’t leave you thirsty when you are done. Because of the excess sugar in drinks like lemonade you keep drinking more, and more, because the sugar is keeping you from getting your thirst quenched.

I made my recipe mildly sweet, with a nice little bit of sour, but you are more than welcome to add another teaspoon of stevia I you would like to sweeten it up just a bit. Since we no longer live in a place where we have giant lemon tree in our back yard I don’t usually use fresh lemon for anything, I just use the bottled concentrate. (Not the little bottles that look like lemons, they usually have iffy ingredients.) Make sure you check your label so you know what you are getting. You can buy the big two liters of club soda at the store, or if you have a Soda Stream carbonating machine, like I do, you can just make your own. (I bought it to make Dr. Pepper 4 years ago and started just drinking carbonated water instead.) Whether or not the warm weather has found you make time to pour a glass of sparkling lemonade, sit back, relax, and enjoy!

Sparkling Lemonade

By Angie Gouchenour

1 serving

Ingredients

16 oz seltzer water/club soda

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons Sugar 2.0

Pinch of sea salt (Optional for electrolytes)

Directions

In a glass combine lemon juice, Sugar 2.0, and salt (if you are using it)

Slowly pour sparkling water over the top and enjoy!

1 serving – calories are negligible