We do not buy soft drinks but make our own juice. We have tart cherries, star gooseberries and bell fruita that yield abundantly. There is a simple process for cherries and star gooseberries Just wipe them (do not wash) place them in a plastic or glass bottle, add sugar in the ratio of 1:4 where one is sugar and 4 the fruit Keep the stuff in the fridge until the fruits float and the sugar is totally melted. Keep shaking the container regularly. Strain out the juice and add a liquid preservative. This will last well over a year. I keep it in the fridge. Bell fruits need to be minced and the juice extracted by using a liquidiser. A sugar syrup is made to which a rich helping of ginger is added. The syrup is cooled and then added to the juice. A liquid preservative added will keep this juice for well for a year. I keep the juice in the fridge.
I do make my own fruit juices almost everyday but once in a while I do buy artificial juices or soft drinks. I don't make my juice as fancy as you and don't keep preserved fruits as yourself but I try to buy different kinds of fruits for different flavor juices for everyday. All I do is put which ever fruit I will make the jjuice with in the blender with water and sugar. I just blend them together and it's ready.
I have a lime tree and I have a prickly pear cactus plants on my backyard. That is where I get my free juice. I can make lemonade, Prickly pear juice and pink lemonade when I combine the juices of the 2 fruits. I also make mint ice tea because mint is invasive on my backyard.
I just started to make my own fruit & vegetable juice lately, though I wish I can use the fruits in my own garden, I usually buy the fruits and vegetables. I usually just take whatever vegetables or fruits I have and see which one blend together well. I like tomato, carrot, orange, cucumber, lemon, etc.
Home made fruit juice is something I will like to learn how to do. Making fruit juice at home is one sure way of getting very fresh fruit drinks. I cherish fruit drinks that are freshly made but haven't had time to making some myself. I am sure it's simple making fruit juice drink at home and would try learning that soon. I'll start with learning how to make apple and orange drinks at home, these are my favorite fruits.
I am not sure that I have ever really gone in all the way and tried to make a decent home made juice, but I am sure getting something good takes a good amount of efforts. I think starting simple like Tony B mentioned above is a good idea for someone like me.
We get bumper crops each year and we have to make use of those fruits and what better way than making fruit juices and preserve them to use the whole year through. The method I use does not involve cooking and so we get fresh juice. We do need to add some sugar syrup to preserve the juice.
Fruit juices are a healthy drink in lieu of soda or iced tea or even coffee. That is the reason why the legendary lemonade is still with us. When we have an excess harvest of mangoes in our backyard, we let some of tha mangoes go very ripe which is then pureed and turned into mango juice. Our lemon plants serve our purpose of making homemade lemonade with some mint leaves. And have you tasted cashew fruit juice? That's our very own concoction. However, cashew fruits only come during summer. Now we are experimenting on dragon fruit juice because our dragon fruit is fruiting heavily.
That's amazing that you can make your own. I wish I had the space, I only have a miniature lemon tree and it has yet to produce any lemons. It's always a better option to make things on your own. It's much healthier than all the sugars and preservatives added to store bought ones. Hopefully in the future I can make my own too.
@Ani_m The water you used for steaming vegetables or boiling eggs, do not throw it away. Let it cool down and once it is cold and not warm anymore, use it to water your miniature tree. It is a cheap free fertilizer that won't attract bugs. Also the water use used for washing rice is also a good fertilizer.
@Beast_Titan Wow, I had no idea this was so useful! Such simple and natural things, this sounds perfect. We've had some problems with bugs too, so it's great that it will help with that. I would hate to use pesticides, especially with something you'll consume. Thank you so much for the tip!
My Whizzer is one of my best friends in the kitchen. Most mornings I make a blend of fruit juices and put it in a big jug and keep in in the fridge. By using it in rotation it means that I get to drink the juice ice cold which is really nice in the hot summer months. Over the years I've come up with all sorts of recipes. In the summer when it is hot I like to make a smoothie in the morning. I have it with banana, peanut butter, coffee and milk. All whizzed up. It is like a 'wake me up food drink on the go.'
@kamai When we did not have our own fruits we used to prepare juices from fruits bought in the market. I actually liked carrot juice as they say it is good for the eyes and carrots taste good too. We used to as you do, add some sugar. These juices that are freshly made are better than what I preserve @Alexandoy We have a cashew tree that has replaced the one earlier that died. It was there for twenty odd years. We used to make cashew apple juice by steaming them first as the astringency in them goes with it. We also made cashew wine which tastes better than any of those red wines. If one can tolerate the astringency nothing like eating them fresh. They have several health properties. @kaka135 For parties they prepare what is called punch. Punch in Sanskrit means five. They blend 5 fruits and make that punch. I have had occasion when I used to throw parties quite regularly I used to make those punches but added plain soda for better effect. You must have heard of Rum Punch as well.
I buy soft drinks sometimes, especially when I am having a gathering. I buy soft drinks because it costs less than fruit juice. However, if I have to choose between soft drinks and fruit juice for myself, I will always go with fruit juice. usually, I don't buy fruit juice from the supermarket, instead I juice my fruits. Home made juice is not only great to taste but also healthy.
Well, I have never made any fruit juices at home on my own but my grandmother used to have this in her home in our hometown. We have a big garden with a lot of trees like the berries, lemons, oranges and much more. She makes juices of her own like @iamawriter has explained and she would have it for many days. She would serve it whenever I want and they will be super delicious. Ever since she died last year I miss stuffs like these from her because nobody does it better than her.
Aww.. You mentioned a similar saying that I often tell many, that, ''no one makes better food than my Ma..'' Anyway, I personally love making a juice mixture of either mango, pineapple, apple, banana.. More bananas brings-out the sweetness since I blend with less sugar. I don't harvest them -since I'm in the city, so I buy them..and here fruits are very cheap. It's amusing that I often give my fruit juices a maroon colour from ''beetroots'' Trust me, I've never gone wrong with this way.
We have a blender, but it's not being used, but I would just buy bananas so that I could blend it. Right now I'm more inclined to just buy powdered juices, my favorite flavor are mango and pomelo. They're also cheaper than making your own juice or smoothie.
