It's always rewarding to be able to cook recipes with home-grown, fresh food, straight from the garden...but how can you use these ingredients in your drinks? We decided to put refreshing liquids in the spotlight by sharing our three favorite home-grown drink recipes, with ingredients straight from our gardens! Share your own recipes with us by visiting us on our Facebook page.
Fruit Smoothie
![Fruit Smoothie](/sites/default/files/styles/media_sidebar_420/public/2021-09/Recipe-A-Fruit-Smoothie.jpg?itok=U8TV3tnS)
This is our favorite fruit smoothie recipe. We've nicknamed it the “Red, White, and Blue”.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup yogurt
- 1 cup spinach
- 1 cup blueberries
- 5 strawberries
- 1 banana
Directions:
Making a fruit smoothie is pretty straight forward, but here are some extra tips:
- Freeze your fruits to ensure a cold smoothie.
- Don't add water or ice as they can water a smoothie down.
- Avoid “under-ripe” fruit as it has less flavor.
For best results, blend ingredients in this order:
- Wet ingredients, like the yogurt.
- Leafy greens or soft fruits.
- Frozen or tougher ingredients.
Going in this order prevents damage to your blender's blades. The most important thing to remember though? Have fun, and experiment!
Watermelon and Cucumber Refresher
![Cucumbers](/sites/default/files/styles/media_sidebar_420/public/2021-09/Vegetable-Cucumbers-on-a-cutting-board.jpg?itok=XMBfx5pz)
Here's a simple, refreshing summer cocktail with wonderful color. This one can be made with or without alcohol.
Ingredients:
- 3 cups cubed watermelon
- ⅔ cucumber - cubed
- ⅓ cucumber - thinly sliced
- 1 lime
- 1 Tbsp. honey
- Ice
- Vodka (1oz. per drink if desired)
Directions:
- Puree watermelon and cucumber, separately, with a blender.
- Strain the puree through a screen or cheesecloth into your desired pitcher or punch bowl.
- Stir the rest of your ingredients into the pitcher/punch bowl. If desired, add vodka (1oz. for every 12oz. you are making).
- Garnish with sliced cucumber.
The recipe above creates 1-2 drinks depending on the size of your produce. For larger sizes, double the recipe. When making the recipe, we tried adding mint leaves for a little kick—it was amazing!
Flavor Your Water!
![Mint](/sites/default/files/styles/media_sidebar_420/public/2021-09/Herb-Mint-growing-in-the-garden.jpg?itok=1LEDjLlX)
Sometimes, water can get boring. It's super easy to spruce up your daily water with these ingredients:
Possible Ingredient Combinations:
- Lemon, lime, mint
- Lime, cucumber, mint
- Honeydew melon, mint, cucumber
- Strawberry, watermelon, mint
- Ginger, mint, lemon
Directions:
- Choose any of the above combinations of ingredients and add them to the bottom of a pitcher.
- Slightly muddle the ingredients together.
- Top the fruit with ice, filling to the top of the pitcher.
- Fill the pitcher with filtered water.
- If you dislike pulp in your drinks, use a strainer as you pour the flavored water into each glass.