Image via Wikipedia

I’m going to show you how easy it is to take healthy
eating into your own hands.

Let’s start with lemonade.

The supermarket shelves are lined with commercial brands
of lemonade. Some taste better than others.  But the one thing
most have in common is sugar is the main ingredient.

Lord knows what else is in them to preserve and enhance the flavor.

Want a good scare?

Next time you go shopping, check
out the ingredients on a lemonade.label. If anyone can explain
why there’s food dye in lemonade-I’d love to know!

Today I’m providing 2 easy recipes for healthier homemade
lemonade.  One is for chilled lemonade.  The other is wintertime lemonade-when you need to fend off colds and other viruses.

Both are packed with vitamin C.

By the way-if  making your own healthy drinks
appeals to you-check out this website: http://www.healthyurbankitchen.com

What makes these 2 recipes unique is that they use
honey instead of sugar. Plus there’s a special
ingredient that, in my opinion, adds subtle yet
unmistakable character to the lemonade.

I’m talking about dried lavender flowers.  You can
find them at your local health food store, Asian
grocery,  Mexican market–or you can order online.
Dried lavender lasts a long time. A little goes a
long way.

Of course you can leave the lavender flowers out.  But
if you want lemonade with a little something extra-I
urge you to include the lavender.

I predict that when you try these 2 drinks-you’re
going to pour that store-bought lemonade down the
drain!

May I give you give you little tip?  If you can find
them–Meyer lemons are sweeter & more
fragrant than regular lemons.

Lavender Honey Lemonade

1 cup honey
1 tablespoon dried culinary lavender
Fresh squeezed lemon juice from 4-6 lemons, strained
Ice cubes (optional)

Combine honey with 2 1/2 cups water in a medium pan.
Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve
the honey.

Add the lavender to the honey water, cover, and remove
from heat. Let stand at least 20 minutes (and up to
several hours).

Strain mixture through a fine sieve and discard
lavender. Pour infusion into a glass pitcher. Add
lemon juice and another 2 1/2 cups cold water. Stir
well.  Refrigerate until chilled and voila!

Wintertime Hot Honey Lemonade (1 serving)

1 cup boiling water
1/2 teaspoon dried lavender flowers
1 lemon
whole clove
1 tablespoons honey, or to taste
1/2 cinnamon stick

Steep dried lavender flowers in hot water 2-3 minutes.
Strain and discard flowers.  Cut a thin slice off of lemon and reserve.
Squeeze lemon into a large mug. Poke clove into reserved
lemon slice and drop into mug.

Add honey and fill cup with lavender-infused hot
water. Stir with cinnamon stick until honey has
dissolved. Taste for sweetness. Add more honey as
needed.

Author, Antonio Valladares has plenty more recipes and tips
like this in Healthy Urban Kitchen. In fact, he
has enough recipes for you to try something
new and different every day for about a year.

http://www.healthyurbankitchen.com

Related articles

• Pucker-up lemonade (thestar.com)
• How To Make Lemonade (howcast.com)
• Summer Refreshment: Sweet Basil Lemonade (thekitchn.com)