A Thrifty Summer Drink

The simplest way to save money on juices is to make your own.  I tend to make all of my own lemonades, fruit juices and yogurts.   In the South, lemonade is a staple.  Every summer, I make lemonade as a staple for my parties and for my household.   Below is my simple recipe that is foolproof:

Southern Lemonade Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar (can reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 cup water (for the simple syrup)
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)

Directions

1 Make simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved completely.
2 While the sugar is dissolving, use a juicer to extract the juice from 4 to 6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice.
3 Add the juice and the sugar water to a pitcher. Add 3 to 4 cups of cold water, more or less to the desired strength. Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes. If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more straight lemon juice to it.
Serve with ice, sliced lemons.

Yield: Serves 6.

As, you can see the ingredients are simple and can be purchased at you neighborhood grocery store anytime. I generally buy sugar for under $2.00 with combined coupon and sale at Kroger and the produce prices are also usually competitive on the lemons as well.  I encourage you enjoy a nice glass of lemonade for Memorial Day and use a sugar substitute if you are concerned about using regular sugar.  Enjoy!