There are a lot of things that I don’t miss from my old eating habits (soda, donuts, cappuccino, etc), but I do occasionally miss the refreshing taste of a good cherry limeade. I remember when I was 16 (oh to be sweet 16 again…) I decided to give up soda for lent. I typically drank 1 can of soda a day and thought I would use lent as a motivator to kick that nasty habit. Thinking I was being a good girl by avoiding soda while simultaneously getting some fresh fruits into my diet (cherries and limes), during the six week observance of lent I would go to Sonic daily and buy one of their famous cherry limeades. Did I order a Small? (Ummmmm no…) Perhaps a Medium? (That would be a negative ghost rider…) If not a Medium, then a Large? (Close, but no cigar!) Now tell me, why would 16 year old me order a large when I could spend pennies more and have the ultimate ROUTE 44?!? That’s right, not only did I cheat EVERY…SINGLE…DAY of lent, but I cheated with nearly 4 TIMES the amount of soda I was drinking prior to “giving it up” in the first place. (Seriously, if cherry limeades aren’t the epitome of false advertising, then I don’t know what is. The name cherry limeade implies fruit which is healthy, or so one would think…)
So in order to quench my thirst for one of my childhood favorites, today I set out on a mission to make a guilt free, nutritious cherry limeade. I started by blending frozen organic cherries with fresh squeezed lime juice. This made a thick smoothie-like substance. I alternated tasting the mixture and adding lime juice until it was just the right ratio of cherry to lime. Then, I scooped a little of the mixture into a cup and added sparkling water. Because the sparkling water diluted the lime, I added 1 drop of lime essential oil which gave it just the refreshing twist I like!
Ingredients
- 5 frozen cherries
- 1/2 lime, juiced
- 1 12 oz can sparkling water
- optional: lime essential oil
Instructions
- Blend frozen organic cherries with fresh squeezed lime juice using high speed blender.
- Add blended cherries and lime to glass and pour cold sparkling water over mixture.
- Optional: Taste limeade and add 1 drop of lime essential oil as needed.
Notes
- I used La Croix sparkling water, Young Living Essential Oil, and prefer to use organic fruit when available.
- As always, adjust the ratio of cherries to limes according to your personal preference. 🙂
Sounds delicious!