Written by Kate Tietje, Contributing Writer
In my house, the beverage option is usually simple: water. It’s always there, it’s very cheap, and my kids know to ask for it (and not ask for other stuff).
Of course, this gets boring sometimes. Who wants to always drink water?! I know I don’t. However, buying drinks is expensive. I know that when we are at Grandma’s house, my kids could go through a $4 bottle of juice in about a day (granted it’s a special treat there and they may not drink it quite as fast at home — but this is even if we dilute it 1/2 and 1/2 with water). I don’t have the money to keep buying juice like this, nor do I think it’s healthy to do so.
We can still have fun and frugal drinks, though. 🙂 Check out these neat ideas!
Simple and Frugal Drinks
Strawberry Limeade — Simply blend up the lime juice, strawberries, water, and a little honey or other sweetener for a fun and refreshing drink.
Apple-Carrot Juice — This is great as a smoothie base or to drink straight. Fresh-pressed juice is healthy!
Chocolate Milk — Who doesn’t love this treat now and then?
Strawberry Milk — I usually use homemade milk kefir for this. I mix about 3 c. kefir, 1/2 c. honey and 1/2 c. strawberries and blend together. Plain milk would work too.
Fresh lemonade — I mix the juice of 1/2 a lemon, a couple tablespoons of honey, and water to make a quick lemonade. My kids love it!
Peaches’n’honey tea — I love peach tea! It’s a great spring or summer drink (and heat it for winter soothing).
Lemon “electrolyte” drink — It’s like “Gatorade” but much healthier and very yummy. I do this if anyone’s been sick recently or if we’ve been especially physically active.
Herbal Tea — I have some fun flavored herbal teas that I like to make. Strawberry-kiwi, papaya, raspberry, etc. I stir in raw honey and add ice to them. I make this like other moms make Kool-aid. 🙂 (My kids know my “tea pitcher,” which is this vintage glass pitcher I got at a thrift store for less than $1. I love it, and they get excited when they see it because they know tea is coming!)
Kombucha — I love this, and so do my kids. I make lots of different flavors, like grape, cherry, strawberry-lemonade, ginger, and pineapple, and they will all drink it. (I just released a video on how to make it, and a free ebook too!)
My Mama Cloth Adventures and Review of Four Sources
My yard isn’t ideal for a garden, but spearmint grows abundantly around the house! Mint tea is a fun, refreshing drink. Just boil water, add a few handfuls of mint leaves, let steep for about 10 minutes, strain, sweeten with honey and serve over ice : )
You need to use a large quantity of mint to make tea, but a smaller quantity still makes a pretty delicious flavored water!
We also like water kefir – mixed with some lime and mint, it is super yummy 🙂
I second Mah-rya on the kefir water.
We remove the kefir grains, pour the kefir water in another jar with slices of strawberries, let it ferment for another day and boof! yummy strawberry kefir water that kids will love because they’ll think strawberry soda! 🙂
The lemon electrolyte link didn’t work
Scroll down. 🙂 It’s there, towards the bottom. (A lot of people are confused because it’s buried in the post.)
I’ve read the page about 5 times and I don’t see it anywhere either.
As a recovering soda-addict, I really appreciate this list of alternatives! Thank you!
Hi,
Can’t wait to try some of these drinks! But I still cannot find the lemon electrolyte drink anywhere in that post…
Hmm, I’m not sure why.
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 tsp. sea salt (good brand)
2 – 3 tbsp. honey
3 c. filtered water
Stir all together and serve, over ice if desired.
Thanks so much Kate! I’ll be making this for sure!
I figured out why no one can find the electrolyte recipe: the two posts from that day are mixed up, the title is Top 10 reasons to eat real food and the permalink is diet for adrenal health, and the post for diet for adrenal health is under the top 10 reasons permalink.
Here’s the correct link http://www.modernalternativemama.com/blog/2010/9/21/top-10-reasons-to-eat-real-food.html
We like water kefir, also! Mmmmmmm :)))
Yum!
We’ve been looking for delicious and relatively-healthy drinks to keep stocked on in the kitchen… I will have to print this out and keep it handy on our grocery trips!