Old-Fashioned Slush

When I was a kid we spent 6 weeks every summer living with my grandparents.  I loved when we got to finally visit them.  Summertime brought on all sorts of traditions, like our annual trip to Lagoon, and our
Independence Day fireworks show in the backyard, riding on the combine and tractor, earning pennies by pulling out sticker weeds, sneaking fresh raspberries off of the bushes (even though Grandma asked us not to touch them), climbing trees, playing in the ditch...honestly I could go on for days. 

This week, as the weather here is getting hotter I was searching through my recipes for summer ideas and I ran across our family recipe for slush.  The most wonderful memories of summer came flooding in.  My grandma was a saver.  By that I mean she saved everything and usually re-used it.  I remember her washing plastic sandwich bags with her dishes and then laying them out to dry.  Weird?  Maybe.  Thrifty?  Definitely.  She also saved every container.  I mean everything from the pickle jar to the plastic bucket that the ice-cream came in.

This was what came to my mind when I found the slush recipe.  I remember at almost every family event we had 2 things.  #1 homemade root beer, #2 homemade slush.  On a hot summer day when everyone was done eating my grandma would pull out the re-used ice cream bucket, which would be filled with frozen solid slush.  She would lovingly fill our little plastic cups with slush and then we would top them off with sprite or 7-up.  Then I would take my treat and head out to the swing.  I could multi-task back then.  I could swing and eat at the same time.  Some of the best memories I have involve food.  I hope you are all making memories as well.

 Old-Fashioned Slush
1 1/2 c water
1/2 c sugar
1 banana
1 1/2 c pineapple juice
1/2 c frozen orange juice concentrate
1 TBSP lemon juice

Add sugar to the water, stir, then let sit for a few minutes, then stir again till sugar dissolves.  (this only takes a few minutes).  In a blender combine banana, pineapple juice, and orange juice concentrate.  Cover, blend till smooth.  Add sugar/water mixture and lemon juice, blend for a minute.  Transfer to 9x13 baking pan.  Freeze for 4-24 hours. 

To serve, let mixture stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.  To form slush, scrape a large spoon across frozen mixture, spoon mixture into a glass, then pour sprite or 7-up over it.  Enjoy!!

Magic Potion

Magic Potion

Koolaid (any flavor)

Sprite

Pour koolaid or other juice into ice cube trays.  Freeze.  Then put ice cubes in a cup of sprite and enjoy. 

This was a fun little thing we did for the 4th of July.  Once the icecubes start melting it gives your drink a little extra flavor.  Would be fun for any occasion.

Banana Milkshake

Banana Milk Shake

1 ripe banana
1 1/2 c milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c sugar
1-2 c ice

Mix all ingredients together in the blender and enjoy.

Oh how we love milk shakes at our house.  We mix and match all the time.  We have a lot of banana milk shakes because that's what we make when we have bananas getting too ripe on the counter.  Sometimes if I have a little bit of vanilla ice cream in the freezer I use that instead of the ice.  You can basically make a milk shake out of anything.  Frozen fruit is great because then you just add a little sugar, vanilla and milk.  We use frozen strawberries or blueberries a lot.  Also if we have a little orange juice left in the fridge I have used that and a little ice and sugar and vanilla.  My mom always buys papaya and cuts it up into chunks and then freezes it.  She use to make us papaya milk shakes every week growing up.  Use your blender and your imagination.  If you have other ways of making milkshakes, I would love to hear about it.

Orange Julius

Orange Julius
2 c orange juice
1 c milk
1/4 c sugar
2 TBSP powdered Tang
1 t vanilla
1 egg
Ice

Blend all ingredients in the blender adding ice a little at a time until frothy.

This recipe is so yummy!!! We love it for breakfast or just a snack or whenever. I know some of you are probably thinking "raw egg??" yuck, but if you really think about it I'm sure most of you have eaten raw egg many times (when you lick the beaters after you mix a cake or when you eat cookie dough right out of the bowl) this is basically the same thing. Try it, you'll love it.