I’m always on the lookout for healthy cool summer drinks that don’t include sugar as their major ingredient. I have been off sodas and similar drinks for years now. I just find them overly sweet and full of unnecessary chemicals and would rather just have a glass of water. We even went halves in a water filter recently that alkalizes and ionizes the water. It sits up at Wanda’s place and I just fill up a 10 liter water bottle every now and then and take it home with me as I need it. It’s a much better option.
Even so, it’s nice to have a sweet drink every now and then and I found one recently on the Healthy Blender Recipes site which fits the bill perfectly. It’s made with agave nectar which is something neither of us has tried before. From what I have read, agave nectar has a low glycemic index which means you won’t get those high blood sugar spikes that you get with regular sugar.
We made up the recipe yesterday and it turned out quite well. It was easy to make and resulted in a concentrate which we can add our filtered water to get the desired taste.
Here’s the recipe:
Healthy Velvet Ginger Lemonade Recipe
- 1 whole organic lemon (leave whole and cut into small pieces, remove seeds)
- 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 cup agave nectar
- 1 Tbsp of freshly grated ginger
- fresh mint leaves
- 6 – 8 cups of filtered water, sparkling mineral water, or soda water
Method
- Place the agave nectar with the freshly squeezed lemon juice in small saucepan until dissolved.
- Once dissolved place the syrup in a blender and add the whole organic lemon that you have scrubbed and washed well (leave the skin on, or remove if you prefer) along with the grated ginger. Blend well.
- You can strain it at this point if you like but we didn’t bother.
- Store in a glass bottle in the fridge and use as required by adding water to your desired taste.
I will definitely try this recipe. It looks to be very refreshing.
It is Melissa and also very healthy. I love how it is made into a concentrate so each person in the household can add as much or as little water as they like.
I will try this recipe. It is very easy.
How long does it stay if
1. refrigerated?
2. without refrigeration??
Personally I would keep it refrigerated and probably only for a month I would guess. It could last longer but to be safe I wouldn’t have it any longer than that.