Freshly Squeezed Lemonade

You are only 3 ingredients away from freshly squeezed lemonade - one of life's simple pleasures.  

Start by combining water and sugar in a saucepan.

Heat gently and stir to dissolve sugar.

When the water changes from cloudy to clear, the sugar is dissolved.  Remove from the heat.

Cut a bunch of fresh lemons (I used 10).  

Here's a tip:  cold lemons don't like to give up all their juice so make sure your lemons are room temperature or slightly war before juicing.  You can warm them by covering with warm water or pop each one in the microwave for 10-20 seconds until warm.  Rolling the lemons on the counter using moderate pressure before squeezing helps as well.   

Time to juice those lemons - an electric lemon juicer makes very quick work of it.  This kind of manual citrus juicer also works well.  

Pour the remaining water, lemon juice, and sugar/water mixture into a large pitcher and mix well to combine.  Serve over ice.  

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• electric citrus juicers https://amzn.to/3CMpWrW

• manual citrus juicer https://amzn.to/3NKPqvP

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Freshly Squeezed Lemonade

makes 8 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 8 cups water, divided

• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar (or more to taste)

• 2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, bring 2 cups of water and sugar to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.

2. Pour remaining 6 cups of water into a large pitcher; add sugar water and lemon juice, stirring well to combine.

3. Serve over ice.

Berry Breakfast Smoothies

Our youngest is home from college this summer and we've been treating ourselves with smoothies each morning.  Too much work that early in the day?  No worries, just put everything in your blender jar and stash it in the fridge… the only thing you’ll have to do in the morning is walk your groggy self to the blender base and hit the power switch.

This recipe was inspired by Alton Brown.  It's not only delicious, but it contains high vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber so it's nutritious too!  

Start with strawberries, blueberries, peaches, and bananas (amounts given in the recipe below).  You can use fresh or frozen fruit.

If you use frozen fruit, place it in the blender jar and store overnight in fridge (to partially thaw) or on the counter (to fully thaw) before processing.  Makes for quicker morning prep too. 

Add pomegranate juice and milk (or milk substitute).

Blend until smooth.

Gotta love how fast and easy smoothies are to make. 

Breakfast for two - one for me and one for you.

And here's my little tip for cleaning that dirty blender jar.  Fill it with some water and ONE DROP of liquid dish soap.

Cover and blend, blend, blend.

All the junk is dislodged from the jar and lid - just a quick rinse and it's ready for breakfast tomorrow.  

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• digital scale https://amzn.to/3yeKeXS

• ninja master prep https://amzn.to/3JujXeS

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Berry Breakfast Smoothie

makes 2 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 ounce strawberries

• 4 ounces blueberries

• 4 ounces peaches

• 4 ounces bananas

• 4 ounces pomegranate juice

• 4 ounces milk (or milk substitute)

Directions

1. Weight all ingredients and place in blender or food processor; blend until smooth.

adapted from Alton Brown