Ice Tea for Moms & Summer Tea for Kids {Recipes!}

I don’t know about where you are but it has been REALLY hot here! Today I have something fun to share with you– this ice tea recipe my husband concocted for our kids and an alternative “healthy” version for Moms, what I drink! This sort of started as a joke around our house but it has been such a huge hit I thought it would be fun to write a post about it.

Recently, my husband and I were discussing what our kids were drinking all summer long {juice, sodas, gatorade}, all things that had a ton of sugar and were pricey–especially when a hoard of thirsty middle school boys descend after an afternoon of fishing. {A side note: we have a creek down the road which has been the happening spot for the boys this summer, which I completely love. It seems so “authentically” summer; though no doubt they are hunting Pokemon AND fishing, they are having a ball.}  Anyway, my husband comes from a VERY large family, and he said that growing up his mom would make huge vats of ice tea for them to drink all summer long. I was doubtful he’d convince our modern-day, gatorade-loving kids to switch over but he took me up on the challenge and “Dad’s Tea” was born.

He’s been making a large pot every day; of course it is just ice tea doctored up with tons of lemons and lemonade and a little sugar {though not as much as you would think}, so I am the first to say it isn’t the most original recipe but here is the thing–the kids LOVE it! Their friends also say it is good and often ask for more–so much so that my husband is threatening to quit his job and start an ice tea company called “Dad’s Tea”.  I mean, don’t you just love the packaging he created?

Not to divulge any trade secrets but here is his recipe, maybe your kids will enjoy it too 🙂 Obviously you can use caffeine-free tea, my kids are pretty much teenagers {hello starbucks generation!} so that isn’t a big deal around here.  You can also adjust the sugar too, the lemonade makes it pretty sweet, we use Newman’s Organic Lemonade.

 Note: I have been asked how much water, we make a large pot of tea. The teabags you use would be what would determine the amount of water (per the packaging). The large Lipton ones we used called for 16 cups of water for this amount of tea bags.

If you know my health background it goes without saying that I don’t drink this 🙂 so I also have another wonderful and refreshing tea recipe to share with you. I think of this one as “Mom’s Tea”!

A few weeks ago I got together with two dear friends who share the challenge of lyme disease. This time together gives us a chance to share treatment options and just be with people who understand the lifestyle implications of the disease. While visiting my friend and mentor Rita made us this tea. I am as sugar-free as possible (as well as gluten-free) because my diet has a profound impact on how I feel.  That night Rita served us this green tea, mixed with pomegranate juice, and sweetened with Xylitol. I haven’t had sweet tea in FOUR years so I can tell you that this was about the best thing EVER!

You can use any sweetener you like in this–of course sugar works if you prefer, or stevia, or you can give xylitol a try. That was a new option to me, but it tasted amazing and it is a great alternative to sugar. The green tea and the pomegranate juice are both filled with healthy antioxidants so you can feel good about drinking this all summer long.

  Note: Again, the tea bags will determine how much water you use for the tea portion. For this recipe I start with about 1 quart of water, maybe a little more.

Enjoy everyone! We’ll be here trying to stay cool and writing up the business plan for “Dad’s Tea” if you need us 🙂

If you are a traditional “sweet tea” person you might also like this recipe HERE.

XO,

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