Blueberry Lemon Pina Colada

It has come and gone.  The first day of school.  And it was successful!  We are looking forward to a fabulous school year.  The older 2 (my middle schoolers) have some pretty high goals set for themselves this year in school, but they're gonna rock it!  Straight A's can be achieved!!!:)

And with school starting, summer is ending.  Sad face here!  I could really use another month of summer vacation!  And if I could make that happen, I would sit outside every evening and sip away at this Pina Colada and watch the sun set. Aw, that sounds nice doesn't it?  I didn't get enough of that in this summer.

So, while the days are still warm, whip up a batch of this cool, refreshing drink and sit back and relax.  It would also be a wonderful & refreshing after school treat for your back to schoolers!  A nice cool drink after a long day at school, you'll be the best Mom on the planet!

Blueberry Lemon Pina Colada

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1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 6-7 medium sized lemons)
2 cups cold water
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup sugar (we have also used an equal amount of Stevia)
3/4 cup Pina Colada mixer
about 1 liter lemon-lime soda, whatever brand you like
ice
lemon slices for garnish, if desired

Combine lemon juice, water, blueberries and sugar in a blender and blend until smooth.  Transfer to a 2 quart sized pitcher.  Add the pina colada and stir to combine.  Add lemon-lime soda to make 2 quarts.

Serve with ice and lemon slices.

Blueberry Lemon Pina Colada

Looks refreshing right?  Perfect summertime drink, no?

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You're awesome!!

Homemade Dry Ice Rootbeer

It had been exactly 1 year and 2 days since Tony (my hubby) had had any soda of any kind.  His goal was 1 year & he surpassed it by 2 days!:) 

There were doubters...not by me, I knew he could do it, but I thought it would be a lot harder for him than it actually was!!  There were only a few times over the last year that I heard him say "I could really go for a Pepsi right now!"  So proud of him!

So to celebrate the kids thought it would be a great idea to make some homemade rootbeer...one of their favorites!:)  Tony would just rather have a pepsi, but they won & rootbeer it was.

This is the easiest recipe & I love it because you can make as much or as little as you want/need.  And it is just thirst-quenching goodness on a hot summer day! 

And not to mention the kid's love playing with the dry ice when it is "smoking"!

Homemade Dry Ice Rootbeer

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For 5 gallons:

5 pounds of sugar

5 gallons of water

1 large jar of Rootbeer extract (I think it was 2.5 ounces)

5 pounds dry ice

Mix sugar with about half the water until sugar is dissolved.  (If you use all the water you will most likely not have a spoon long enough to reach the bottom!)  Fill with the rest of the water.  Add the rootbeer extract and stir to combine.  Put in the dry ice & watch it "smoke"!

Set lid on top of cooler...don't screw on tight, you need to let the "smoke" escape a little.

So, if you noticed the ingredients they are pretty easy to down-size, just in case you don't need 5 gallons of rootbeer!:)  If you want 3 gallons, use 3 gallons or water, 3 pounds of sugar, 3 pounds of dry ice & 3/5th's of the rootbeer extract.  (I know that ones a little hard to measure, but you can always just use your taste buds as well...try it and see if it needs more flavor!) 

So for 1 gallon it's 1 gallon water, 1 pound sugar, 1 pound dry ice, and 1/5th of the rootbeer extract. 

Got it?  Good!!

Now go enjoy a nice cool drink of rootbeer!:) 

Here's Tony enjoying his first in over a year!

Frape

This is one of my Dad's favorite drinks.  And since my Dad & Mom were coming to stay with us this last weekend Kyla and I decided to make it for him.  It was a perfect thirst quencher for the hot day!

Frape

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4 1/4 cups water, divided

2 cups sugar

1 envelope unflavored gelatin (knox, for example)

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 cups pineapple juice

food coloring

7-up or Gingerale

Dessolved gelatin in 1/4 cup of water.  Set aside.  While the gelatin in dissolving, boil 1 cup of water.  Add the sugar to the boiling water and boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add the dissolved gelatin, 3 cups water, lemon juice, pineapple juice, and food coloring.  (Green works the best, but you can try any color you'd like!)  Pour into shallow pans and freeze (cake pan works great!) overnight.

When ready to serve, scrape the frape with a metal spoon and fill up your glasses.  Then pour in the 7-up or Gingerale and you've got yourself a drink like no other!:)

Enjoy this on these last few hot summer days we have left!:(

Strawberry Cranberry Lime Soda

We enjoyed one of our favorite meals for dinner Sunday night.  Sweet Pork Burritos & Salad!!  (Honestly...if you have not tried this yet...YOU MUST!!!  The sweet pork is to die for...the lime/cilantro rice is killer...and the tomatillo dressing...WOW!!  Not kidding here!)  Anyway, it totally hit the spot...as it always does!:) 

 But, we wanted something fun to drink with it so I went looking for what we had on hand & found some great items for what turned out to be a really yummy, refreshing drink that was the perfect compliment for our burritos!

Strawberry Cranberry Lime Soda

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2 liter of Cranberry Sierra Mist (how many depends on how many people you're serving)

Frozen sliced strawberries in sweetened syrup (I make my own, but I believe you can get it at the store as well), slightly melted...you need to be able to break them up to put in individual glasses

Limes, some quartered & some sliced

Ice

Straws

Grab as many glasses as you need.  Put 1/2 cup ice & 1/2 cup frozen strawberries and 1 quarter of a lime in the bottom of each glass.  Pour the soda until each cup is filled.  Place a sliced lime on the rim of each glass & add a straw! 

BEAUTIFUL!!

Enjoy!

Helen Jean Punch

This has been a family staple for years now. It is perfect for just about any occasion! Try it out this weekend with any of your festivities!  It is to DIE for...trust me!!

Helen Jean Punch

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1 can (12 oz.) frozen orange juice concentrate

1 can (12 oz.) frozen lemonade concentrate

20 cups water

1 Tablespoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups sugar

2 2-liter lemon-lime soda

Dissolve orange juice and lemonade in water. Add the extract, vanilla, and sugar and stir until all mixed and sugar is dissolved. Mix ratio is about two-thirds punch with one-third soda. Cool and then enjoy! Perfection!

M&M's Smoothie by Kyla

This is a recipe that me and my friend Meysa made up. There are no M&M's in this recipe, it just stands for Makyla and Meysa! It turned out really yummy and has a tropical taste with the different kinds of fruit we used.

M&M's Smoothie

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(I really don't like this picture of me, but it's the only one we had and my Mom made me do it!)

2 bananas

1 pint strawberries

3 cups ice cream

1 Tablespoon of coconut

3/4 cup milk

1/3 cup of crushed pineapple

Put all ingredients in the blender and blend until creamy.