September 4: "Real" Lemonade

We enjoy drinking lemonade at our house, but I know that the low calorie powdered mixes we use are not particularly healthy with all the fake ingredients.  I decided that we should try making lemonade from scratch so we could enjoy this drink in a healthier fashion. 

Both boys tried to help make the "real lemomade" (that's what Koen calls it).  I don't think either Koen or Tysen had tasted a lemon before so I wanted them to experience that.  Koen tried it, winced and then continued to lick more throughout the process.  Ty smelled it, but would not lick it.  Maybe next time! :) 

It was difficult to squeeze the lemons, though, so they both gave up on that pretty quickly.  In fact, Ty got bored with the whole process and ran off to play, but Koen helped out til the end.  We had to squeeze them by hand since we don't own any kind of hand juicer.  We squeezed seven small lemons to get our one cup of juice...though we may not have needed that many if we had an efficient juicer!?!  Anyway, the boys were so excited about mixing it all together.  Koen loved the end result, and while Ty sipped his, I found his unfinished portion later so I don't think he enjoyed it as much.  We shared tastes of it with Daddy, Grandpa Smits, Grandma Smits, Aunt Lori, and my Aunt Linda who were over to celebrate my mom's birthday.  They all gave us the thumbs up so I would dare say we'll be making this again.  Unfortunately, it didn't make very much, so maybe we'll have to invest in a hand juicer and larger lemons.

Koen adds the sugar...his favorite ingredient!

For your enjoyment (courtesy of Food.com -- formerly Recipezaar.com)
4 cups cold water
ice cubes
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup lemon juice

Squeeze lemons into a bowl to measure one cup (we strained the seeds out).  Mix lemon juice with cold water and ice cubes in a pitcher.  Add in sugar and mix til dissolved.  Enjoy!