Put a Twist on Lemonade: Natural and Healthy Lemonade

A tall glass of homemade lemonade is so refreshing on a hot, summer day.  If you’ve got lemons, making freshly-squeezed lemonade is so easy!  It only calls for three ingredients: lemon juice, water and sugar.  Easy!  Since the hot months are coming quickly, I’d like to share with you a twist on lemonade by adding different flavors while keeping it healthy and all natural.  I’ve got four yummy lemonade recipes that are so tasty and quenching: grapefruit lemonade, cucumber rosemary lemonade, hibiscus pink lemonade (my favorite) and orange mint lemonade.

When making lemonade, always use fresh lemon juice whenever possible.  Do not substitute with concentrated lemon juice products that have added preservatives and other chemicals.  It’s not going to be healthy or taste as good.  Substituting natural sweeteners for white sugar will keep the calories down and still make it taste sweet.  I suggest using raw agave, raw honey, xylitol, stevia, coconut sugar or raw sugar.  For all these recipes I used raw honey because I just think honey and lemons go hand-in-hand.

Did you also know that lemons are highly recommended for losing weight?  Lemons are one of the most effective and quickest blood purifiers and cleanses the kidneys and bladder.  It is also an appetite suppressant, so drink up to lose those calories!  On a sidenote, I always like to begin my morning with a squeeze of lemon juice in my morning water.

Now go and stock up on lemons!

Double these recipes if needed.  These will make about 32 ounces of lemonade.

Grapefruit lemonade 

(this is my favorite drink when I am cleansing or detoxing)

1 grapefruit

2 oranges

1 lemon

Honey Simple Syrup

Instructions: using a juicer or citrus press, juice the grapefruit, oranges and lemon and then pour in glass pitcher or mason jar.  Add about a cup of the honey simple syrup (see recipe below). Garnish with orange and lemon rinds.

Honey Simple Syrup

2 cup raw honey

2 cup filtered water

Instructions: Place both the honey and water in a medium saucepan.  Heat over medium, stirring until the honey dissolves.  Remove from heat and add to your favorite beverage.  Store the remains in an air-tight container.

Cucumber Rosemary Lemonade

(I use to make this when I had a lot of cucumbers and rosemary from my vegetable garden)

1/2 of cucumber

1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary (finely chopped)

Juice from 1 lime

Juice from 3 lemons

1/2 cup water

1 cup honey simple syrup

Ingredients: place the cucumber, fresh rosemary, water and lime and lemon juice in a blender and pulse until everything is blended together.  Pour into a mason jar or pitcher. Add the honey simple syrup (recipe above).  Stir and then pour.  Garnish with rosemary sprigs.

Hibiscus Pink Lemonade

(my sister introduced me to this recipe.  My kids love it, and hibiscus has a lot of health benefits)

2 hibiscus tea bags

3 lemons

2 cups of hot water

1 cup of honey simple syrup

Ingredients: Place two hibiscus tea bags in the hot water.  Watch as the water turns a bright reddish pink.  The longer you let it seep, the deeper pink the water will turn.  Hibiscus is also known to hydrate! Squeeze the juice from the lemons in pink water.  Add more lemons if you want it to have a stronger lemonade flavor over the hibiscus.  Pour the honey simple syrup in with the hibiscus pink lemonade to sweeten.  Add lots of ice to cool it down.  Enjoy!

Orange Mint Lemonade 

(my friend Amanda shared this recipe with me, and I twisted it around to make it healthy.  It’s so yummy and has a little zing to it!)

Juice from 2 oranges

Juice from 4 lemons

1/4 cup of fresh mint leaves

1 cup of soda water

1 cup honey simple syrup

Ingredients: Add juice from oranges and lemons in a mason jar along with the honey simple syrup.  Place the fresh mint leaves in it, and let it sit for about 1 hour.  Discard the mint leaves.  Add the soda water.  Serve with ice and mint garnish.

See more beverage ideas and healthy living on my blog: Darling Darleen

Have you got loads of lemons left over after whipping up these delicious lemonade variations? Why not make some lemon desserts to go with? We’re sharing 18 lemon desserts to tempt your taste buds:

Or, if you’re like me, you love some good old fashioned homemade ice cream. Try out our AMAZING lemon blueberry pie ice cream. It’s seriously incredible and you’ll be surprised by how easy it is to make:

Not hungry? Use up those lemons by making your own cleaning supplies with our best recipes. You’ll find our top 12 cleaning recipes in this Ebook: