my favorite summertime drink recipes :: a smoothie, a slushie and my favorite iced coffee

I love a cold drink in the summer. In fact, I start every day with a smoothie, have an iced coffee every afternoon and usually finish off dinner with another cold treat. So I thought I’d share a few of those recipes with you.

Even in the summer when so many amazing fruits and veggies are in season, it’s hard to get my daily dose of produce. So I’ve found if I pack a lot of nutrition in my morning smoothie, I get pretty close to the right amount of fruits and veggies every day. And I’ve recently started adding another super food to my morning smoothies–apple cider vinegar. If you’re like me, the thought of drinking vinegar makes me gag. I’ve read so much about it’s health benefits, but until recently I didn’t jump on the bandwagon because I just couldn’t stomach it. But I found a new apple cider infused drinking vinegar from Sonoma Syrups that I can handle (probably due to the organic meyer lemon and organic vanilla). Now, I’m not going to say I can magically drink it right down.  I still like to mix it with some organic honey or hide it in my morning smoothie.  Here is my basic morning smoothie recipe:  1/2 frozen banana, two handfuls of frozen berries or cherries, three large handfuls of greens (I use a kale, spinach, chard blend).  Add in about 5 ounces of your choice of liquid (I use green juice–you can use any juice or milk of your choice) and another 5 or so ounces of water.  Pour in a shot or so of Sonoma Syrups drinking vinegar and blend.  Add some chia seeds and enjoy!  Sometimes I add some greek yogurt or 1/2 an avocado for a protein boost.

I don’t know about you, but my energy starts to fade in the afternoon–especially in the summer.  We usually keep pretty busy in the morning and by afternoon, when I attempt to give my youngest a little rest time, I really want to close my eyes, too!  So I’ve taken to a daily afternoon iced coffee.  And I’ve found that it’s so easy to cold brew coffee! Just stir about 3/4 cup coffee grounds in 8 cups of water and let sit on the counter for 24 hours or so.  Strain out the grounds and you have cold-brewed coffee.  This coffee is much lower in acidity than hot coffee, so it’s easier on your tummy and lacks the bitter aftertaste some coffees have.  Add in cream and your favorite coffee syrup (I love this vanilla almond but next on my list to try is this sea salt caramel) and you have a coffee house drink at a fraction of the cost.  It’s my perfect afternoon pick-me-up.

After dinner, we all love a refreshing treat.  But I try to keep it light and stick to real food ingredients when I can.  My daughter got a snow cone maker for her birthday, but the syrups that came along with it were full of chemicals and food coloring.  So we ditched the syrups and used this meyer lemon infused simple syrup from Sonoma Syrups. Made with real lemon extract, juice and peel and all ingredients I can pronounce, I don’t feel so guilty indulging in my sweet tooth (and the kids love being a part of the dessert-making process).  This recipe is so simple it’s barely even a recipe.  Just churn some ice through a snow cone maker or run ice through the blender until it’s crushed very fine (add some water if this makes it run through easier) and flavor with syrup.  We LOVE the lemon, but the pomegranate sounds so good, too.

Check out some of the great options over at Sonoma Syrups and tell me what you’d like to try.  And feel free to share your favorite summertime drink recipe as well!