Frozen Sangria Lemonade and Other Summer Drinks

Here’s a light refreshing drink fit for combating any summer heat made from organic fruit and juices plus a little creativity.

At the beginning of the year, I started taking 4 tablespoons of collagen powder everyday to help heal leaky gut. It has also improved my tendon and muscle elasticity, according to my chiropractor. He says I’m easier to adjust and I hold the adjustments longer since I started taking the collagen.

At first, it was simple to add the collagen powder to filtered water, a little lemon juice, and stevia then down it. But as the weather got warmer, that just didn’t appeal anymore. So I got creative!

Basic Drink

This is not much of a recipe. The choices you make in building the drink are what make it interesting. For a 16 ounce drink:

• 1-3 oz organic unsweetened juice of your choice (Lemon juice is very strong. Start easy!)
• 13-15 oz filtered water (or sparkling water)
• sweetener to taste (stevia, honey, agave, maple syrup, coconut sugar simple syrup)
• frozen fruit “ice cubes” (green or red grapes, any berry, grapefruit supremes)

I put the water, juice, sweetener, and collagen powder in a large canning jar with a blender ball (from a blender bottle) and shake until the powder dissolves. Pour over the “ice cubes” of your choice and you’ve got a light refreshing drink to beat the summer heat!

Optional Add-ins

• 4 tbsp collagen powder, or
• alcohol of your choice

There you have it. It’s basically jazzed up organic koolaid—great for adults and kids (without the alcohol, of course).

Ice Cubes with A Spicy Kick

For a flavor boost, I decided to make ginger ice cubes by steeping ginger slices in boiling water. I also think there are possibilities for cinnamon, star anise, and maybe even clove ice cubes!

Examples to Inspire Your Own Drink Creations

Frozen Lemonade with red grapes

Make it Slushy!

For the frozen lemonade, I had to freeze lemon juice with honey in ice cube trays. Once frozen, I was able to blend them in a high powered blender and slowly add the water (with the collagen powder already mixed in it). The collagen made it a little frothy as you can see from the slideshow.

Note: Stevia won’t work here as the cube will freeze up hard like regular ice cubes and not slushy.

What’s my favorite flavor combo? Cherry with grapefruit ice cubes. When posting the slideshow I realized I didn’t have a shot of it. I must like it so much that I never stopped to take a picture!

Here’s a little mix and match chart to fuel your imagination in creating your own summer drinks. Enjoy!

**Update 08/30/2014**

I have discovered watermelon ice cubes! The trick is to blend up the watermelon, strain the seeds, and freeze in ice cube trays. They pair well with the tartness of lemonade. 🙂

This recipe was shared with Live It Up, Mix It Up, Block Party, Sweet Sharing, Much Ado, Clever Chicks, Round Tuit, Motivation Monday, Read Food Recipe, See Ya in Gumbo, Inspiration Monday, Happiness is Homemade, Sweet & Savory, Simple Life, Saturday Sparks, Savoring Saturdays, Flaunt It, Dare to Share, Serenity Saturday, Crafty Showcase, Saturday Showlicious, Simple Saturday, Weekend No Rules, Recipe of the Week, Anything Goes, Frugal Friday, Fancy This, Friday Favorites, Inspiration Spotlight, Welcome to the Weekend, Real Food Friday, Old Fashioned Friday, Natural Family, Unprocessed Friday, Simple Meals, Foodie Friday-2, Fight Back Friday, Friday Five, Foodtastic Friday, Healthy Vegan, 5 Friday Finds, Friday Foodie, Craft Frenzy, Kitchen Crafty, BFF Open House, Inspired Weekends,  Foodie Friends, Foodie Friday-1, Weekend Retreat, The Yuck Stops Here, Try A New Recipe, Delicious Dish, Gluten-free Friday, Handmade Hangout, Homeacre Hop, Feathered Nest, Tutorial Thursday, Inspire Us Thursday, Simple Lives, Let’s Get Real, Pennywise Platter, Tutorial Tuesday, Wildly Original, Fabulously Frugal, It’s A Party, Real Food, Wicked Awesome, Fresh Foods, Look What I Made, Creative Exchange, Southern Special, No Rules Weekend, Wildcrafting Wednesday, Mountain Woman Rendezvous, Wellness Wednesday, Doggone Dirty Craftin’,  Healthy Tuesday, Hearth & Soul, Allergy Free, Meet Up Monday and Full Plate.