homemade soda: strawberry lemon

In an effort to make more things at home and buy less processed foods and drinks, I've been brainstorming things I could make to replace some not-so-healthy guilty pleasures. One thing I knew I wanted to try this summer was making my own sodas. Though I'm sure I'm far from the first person to think of it, I was pretty excited when I came up with the idea to mix fresh juices with sparkling water or club soda. I'm sure sparkling water would be even healthier but we happened to have club soda on hand so that's what I used!

I filled about 1/4 of the glass, maybe a little more, with the strawberry and lemon juice from my juicer. I added simple syrup (equal parts sugar + water, boiled until dissolved) to taste and then filled the rest of the glass with club soda. It had the perfect fruity flavor and the bubbles were so refreshing! Sometimes you just need that..

..amiright? ;)

Stir gently to combine so you don't flatten the soda.

I see many more flavor experiments in my future. What I love about this is not only the endless possibilities, but you know exactly what's going into it. It can be as simple as fruit/veggies/herbs and sparkling water, or you can sweeten it with raw sugar, honey, sweetener.. whatever you fancy!

Can't beat that vivid summery pink. I can just imagine sipping on this at a summer picnic or sitting out with a book enjoying some rays. Just cap with a lemon slice and umbrella and you're set.

Now I'm really wishing the weather would shape up sooner rather than later. :)

Have you been making anything at home that you could just as easily buy? I've done ice cream and soda, now I need to think of what I want to tackle next. That last statement just gave me visions of ice cream floats. That's happening at some point.

Well, chin up! We've almost made it to Friday. ;)