Drinks for Summer

summer drinks

Summer time is officially here and with it delicious refreshing smoothies, shakes and mixed drinks!

Morning Pick Me Ups:

oatmeal smoothie from marthastewart.com

Oatmeal Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 cup ice
• 1/2 cup frozen raspberries
• 1/2 cup plain lowfat yogurt
• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 cup coconut water (or other liquid, such as juice)

Directions

1. Place ice and raspberries in the bottom of blender, and all other ingredients on top. Whir until completely smooth. Serve.

peanut butter cup protein shake from sweetandfreelife.com

Peanut Butter Cup Protein Shake

 Ingredients

• 1 scoop whey protein (chocolate or vanilla works)
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 2 tbps. peanut butter
• 1/2 cup ice

Directions

1. Blend and enjoy!

Iced Coffee (Might be the best Recipe ever?)

iced coffee from cravingcomfort.blogspot.com

Ingredients

• 1 gallon water (preferably drinking water)
• 1 lb bag of your favorite rich coffee (course ground if ya can get it)
• Coffee filters or several layers of cheesecloth
• a fine mesh strainer.
• a large bowl
• pitcher (big enough to hold a gallon)

Directions

1. Pour gallon of water into your large bowl.
2. Dump the entire bag of coffee into the water/bowl.
3. Stir to make sure all grounds are saturated with water.
4. Walk away, for 12 hours or overnight.
5. line a mesh strainer with a coffee filter or several layers of cheese-cloth, set the strainer on top of your pitcher.
6. Pour (or ladle) your coffee mixture into the strainer. (this part takes awhile...  I often had to walk away while it filtered into the pitcher)   If using coffee filters, you might have to replace them several times during the filtering process.
7. Once all the coffee concentrate has been filtered, stick it in the fridge (it will last for a month!)

 Fruity Afternoon Smoothies and Refreshers:

watermelon fountain from bowerpowerblog.com

Watermelon Fountain

Ingredients and Supplies

• 1 watermelon
• 1 spout or faucet from a home improvement store
• 1 locknut that fits the spigot
• 1 screwdriver
• 1 spoon
• 1 blender
• enough pink lemonade mix to make 1 gallon

 Directions

1. Set the watermelon down on the table so it won't fall over.
2. Cut a hole in the top back of the watermelon large enough to get your arm and a spoon in.
3. Scrape and remove all the innards and place in large bowl or blender.
4. Pick a location for the spout that is low enough to have the drink come out but high enough to fit a cup under.
5. Use the screwdriver to start the hole and widen it a bit.
6. Screw in spigot.
7. On the inside screw in the locknut.
8. Puree watermelon guts in blender.
9. Mix puree with pink lemonade mix.
10. Place drink back in watermelon and enjoy!

peach raspberry swirl from bluediamond.com

Peach Raspberry Swirl (84 cal)

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 cup frozen unsweetened peaches, partially thawed
• 1 packet sweetener (optional)
• 1 cup frozen unsweetened raspberries, partially thawed

Directions

1. Blend almond milk and sweetener until smooth.
2. Take out half and place aside.
3. With remaining blend the raspberries and peaches until smooth.
4. Pulse blender and add 2-3 tbsp water if nessisary.
5. Pour remaining almond milk and fruit mix into glass at same time and mix with a straw!

super fruit bliss from nestleusa.wordpress.com

Super Fruit Bliss Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup acai berry juice
• 1/3 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/3 cup pomegranate juice
• 1/4 cup Sweet Cream Flavor Coffee Creamer
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar (optional)
• 1 cup crushed ice

Directions

1.  Blend until smooth!

banana chocolate smoothie from annies-eats.com

Banana Chocolate Smoothie

Ingredients

• 3 frozen bananas, peeled
• 2 tbsp. chocolate syrup
• 3/4 cup plain greek yogurt
• 1 tsp. espresso powder (optional)
• 2 tbsp. flax seed (optional)
• 1/2 cup milk, plus more as needed

Directions

1.  Blend, add splashes of milk if needed!

sparkling strawberry mint limeade from eat-yourself-skinny.com

Sparkling Strawberry Mint Limeade

Ingredients

• 3 cups sliced strawberries 
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 1 bottle champagne, chilled
• Extra mint and lime wedges as garnish

Directions

1. Combine sliced strawberries, mint leaves, lime juice, water and agave nectar in a blender and process until smooth.
2. Serve about a 1/2 cup of strawberry mixture with a 1/2 cup of champagne, stirring to combine.
3. Garnish with extra mint leaves and lime wedges and enjoy!

Night Time Party Drinks: Light

watermelon gin and tonic from acozykitchen.com

Watermelon Gin and Tonic

Ingredients

Watermelon Syrup:

• 4 oz. watermelon, cubed
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt

Gin & Tonic:

• 3 tablespoons watermelon syrup
• 3 ounces of gin
• 4 ounces of tonic
• Watermelon balls for garnish
• Lime for garnish

Directions

1.  In a blender, add the watermelon and sugar and pulse until smooth.
2.  Line a sieve with cheesecloth and strain watermelon mixture.  (Note: If you don’t have cheesecloth, I’d recommend running it through the sieve twice. Should work close to the same.)
3. Transfer to fridge to chill.
4. In a glass, add the watermelon syrup first, then the gin, then the tonic.
5. Stir.
6. Garnish with watermelon balls and lime.

bastardized sangria from mochachocolatarita.blogspot.com

"Bastardized" Sangria

Ingredients

• Red wine 
• Diced strawberries 
• Peaches 
• Pears 
• Sprite
• Ice

white sangria from fullforkahead.com

White (or Pink?) Sangria

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup water and enough sugar to make simple syrup
• 1 bottle good quality fruity white wine, like pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc
• 1/4 cup orange liqueur
• 1 medium peaches, washed, pitted and sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 cup strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced
• 1 orange, thinly sliced
• 1 cup green grapes, halved
• 1 cup bing cherries, pitted and halved
• Ice
• fresh mint sprigs for garnish (optional)

Directions

1.  Simple syrup: boil water and add in sugar to taste, Stir often and reduce down to about half, or until you have  about a cup of syrup, 5-8 minutes. Cool completely.
2. In a large pitcher, mix the white wine and orange liqueur. 
3. Add the peaches, strawberries, orange slices,  grapes and cherries. 
4. Stir all to combine. 
5. Refrigerate 2 hours.
6. Stir in the simple syrup prior to serving and sweeten to taste. 
7. Serve over ice and garnish with fresh mint if desired.

bailey's cool raspberry from marieclaire.com

Bailey's Cool Raspberry

Ingredients

• 2 oz. Baileys Original Irish Cream
• 8-9 raspberries
• Crushed ice

Directions

1. Place 4-5 raspberries at the bottom of a rocks glass and lightly muddle them. 
2. Top with crushed ice. 
3. Add Baileys Irish Cream. 
4. Garnish with three speared raspberries.
   
   
    

peach smoothie cocktail from miasdomain.com

Peach Smoothie Cocktail

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh orange juice
• 1 cup peach greek yogurt 
• 2 cups frozen sliced peaches
• 6 oz Peach Schnapps (optional)
• 2 oz vodka (optional) 
• 2 tablespoons raw honey or 1 tablespoon sugar 
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

1. Blend all the ingredients until smooth.
2. Serve on tall cocktail glasses with fresh peach slice.
   
   
    

black swan from entrenous.typepad.com

Black Swan

Ingredients

•  1.5 oz Russian Standard Vodka
• 5 blackberries
• 3 oz Lemonade

Directions

1.  Muddle four blackberries in bottom of a tumbler. 
2. Add ice, Russian Standard Vodka and lemonade. 
3. Garnish with remaining blackberry.

Night Time Party Drinks: Decadent 

 

frozen mudslide from thisbottleofvodka.tumblr.com

Frozen Mudslide


Ingredients

•  2 oz vodka
• 2 oz Kahlua® coffee liqueur
• 2 oz Bailey’s® Irish cream
• 6 oz vanilla ice cream

Directions

1. Blend alcohol with ice-cream. 
2. Serve in a frosted hurricane glass and watch the world pass by.

mint martini from girlsjustwanttoohavefun.com

Mint Martini


Ingredients

• 2 Ounces Mint Schnapps
• 2 Ounces Dove Chocolate Discoveries Martini Mix

Directions

1.  Mix and enjoy!

reeses peanut butter cup martini
from daydreamerdesserts.com

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Martini


Ingredients

•  2 1/2 ounces Reese’s Mini Peanut Butter Cup Infused Vodka, recipe below
• 4 ounces milk
• 1 teaspoon Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup
• 4 mini peanut butter Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, for garnish
• Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Infused Vodka
• 6 ounces good quality vodka (I used Tito’s)
• 1/4 cup Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Directions

1. To prepare the infused vodka, combine vodka and Reese’s Mini Peanut Butter Cups in a clean mason jar. 
2. Close jar tightly and store in a cool dry place for 7 days.
3. Give it a good shake once or twice per day.
4. Once vodka has been infused, strain into a clean mason jar using a fine mesh sieve or cheese cloth.
5. Store in a cool place or in the freezer.
6. To prepare the martini, combine infused vodka, Hershey’s chocolate syrup and milk in a cocktail shaker filled halfway with ice. 
7. Shake for 30-40 seconds and pour into two small martini glasses.
8. Garnish with Mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

espresso chocolate martini from newsletter.visitwynn.com

Espresso Chocolate Martini

Ingredients

• 1 ½ oz. Three Olives Triple Espresso Vodka
• 1 oz. Marie Brizard Dark Crème de Cacao
• 1 oz. Half & Half
• 1/8 oz. Rock Candy Syrup or Simple Syrup

Directions

1. Combine the above ingredients into a mixing glass. 
2. Add ice and shake well to create froth. 
3. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
4. Garnish: A sprinkle of quality, shaved dark chocolate.

Well that's it boys and girls! Hope you have a great time with all of your cool libations this summer!

Have Fun!
Carly