Make Your Own Healthy Fruit Punch This Summer
Summer is filled with fun festivals and carnivals, birthday parties and BBQs, which unfortunately is filled with sugary drinks and processed foods, leaving you bloated, depleted & still hungry. While it's OK to indulge once in a while, after weeks of over-indulging on these zero nutritious foods, you will start to feel it in your body & notice it in your mood.
I have just the recipe for you to quench your thirst in a natural and refreshing kind of way with a Home-Made Fruit Punch. The recipe comes from an old school Russian Kompot, which is made by nearly every Russian and Ukrainian family. However, instead of the traditional sugar, I replace it with just 3 dates which is enough to sweeten a whole gallon of fruit punch. The best part is there are gazillion ways to make it and no real science to it. It's fun to explore with different types of berries & fruits. If 3 dates isn't doing it for you, add 4 or 5. And don't feel bad, because dates are full of various vitamins and minerals.
Ingredients:
6 oz of any type of frozen berries: raspberries, blueberries, currants etc.
1 cup of red grapes
3 dates
6 oz frozen cherries (I consider this a must in every fruit punch because it gives the juice its vibrant red color, is perfectly tangy & full of antioxidants)
2 cored and quartered apples (or pears)
Instructions:
Bring 1 gal of water to a boil in a pasta pot (great for draining out the fruit punch in one swift pull)
Get your berries/fruits ready. Feel free to get creative here. Sometimes I just throw in whatever frozen, dried or fresh (about to go bad) I have in the house: all types of berries, pears, cranberries, currants, apples, oranges, grapes, lemons, figs etc. work out just lovely
Fresh picked currants from the garden go right into our fruit punch
When the water starts to boil, carefully add fruit and bring water back to a boil
Switch heat to medium and let the mixture boil for 30 min uncovered
Currant leaves smell amazing and give off a tangy taste
Let the fruit punch cool completely, strain off the juice by slowly pulling up the top layer of the pasta pot and refrigerate.
Serve chilled. Or in the winter, when it's cold, I LOVE to snuggle up with a cup of warm kompot.
Pitcher full of summer goodness
So that's it, so simple, so delicious & satisfying! <3
Enjoy!
