Are you’re tired of staring down that plain ole glass of water? Infused water to the rescue! Add loads of flavor and healthy nutrients by infusing your pitcher with fresh fruits and herbs. Unlike commercial vitamin water, fruit-infused homemade vitamin water contains no added sugar, no artificial sweeteners, and no added weirdness.
With summer winding down (far too quickly to suit me), I find myself feeling a little desperate about the approaching disappearance of summer fruits and vegetables. I’ve been sneaking them into everything, from snacks to desserts to drinks. On a whim, I began adding fruit and cucumbers to my daily ice water.
Nothing particularly new, but so delightful that one day I was inspired to prepare an entire pitcher filled with nutritious, nourishing citrus, Cucurbitaceae (the botanical family that includes watermelon and cucumbers), and herbs, and, voilà , homemade vitamin water!
Readers of my other blog know that I am deeply smitten with green juice, but I enjoy other liquid refreshments, too, including iced green tea, and coldcoldcold fruit infused water with a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime.
So, this pretty, fruit-infused vitamin water is a natural extension that can easily morph to accommodate the fruits, vegetables, and herbs of the seasons: melons, cucumbers, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, melons, apples, pears, cranberries, oranges, basil, thyme, verbena.
The fruits and vegetables in my homemade vitamin water are themselves highly nourishing:
- Watermelon: rich in vitamins A and C, plus phytonutrients including anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatories, and cucurbitacins.
- Cucumber: good source of vitamins B5, C and K, plus phytonutrients including anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatories, and cucurbitacins.
- Grapefruit: high in vitamins A and C, lycopene, plus phytonutrients including limonoids.
- Lemon: high in vitamin C, plus phytonutrients including anti-oxidants, and cancer-fighting limonoids. Also provides antibiotic effects.
- Lime: high in vitamin C, plus phytonutrients including anti-oxidants, flavonoids, and cancer-fighting limonoids. Also provides antibiotic effects.
- Mint: has anti-microbial properties and can ease digestive upset.
For a full day’s worth of nutrients, be sure to accompany lots of whole fruits and vegetables with your daily dose of homemade vitamin water.
Enjoy infused water at your next outdoor gathering!
Labor Day is the last big outdoor party weekend of the summer, and as August’s intense heat has made a lingering return this week (it’s been unusually cool this summer — we’ve been spoiled), I know this homemade vitamin water will get hit hard. I’ll be making plenty to have on hand to serve when the late day’s heat really kicks in.
Oh, the cocktails will be flowing freely, too, but tall, refreshing glasses of homemade vitamin water over ice are a must to keep the body properly hydrated. Keep an elegant, oversized pitcher filled with ice, fruit, and filtered water, to encourage guests to enjoy the healthy infused water alternative.
And for your own daily enjoyment of homemade vitamin water, I highly recommend an infused water pitcher that stores neatly in the fridge with a removable insert that lets you effortlessly switch out the fruit from one day to the next. Slim and easy to clean, you’ll want to keep icy-cold, super-flavorful infused water on hand at all times! It’s the model that I have, and I use it all year round.
To serve, fill your glass halfway with ice (ice chips are nice, for crunching), and pour in the fruit infused water, stopping 2″ from the top. Spoon out a few pieces of fruit — make sure it includes a cube of the season’s sweet, sweet watermelon — and add to the glass. If desired, top off with a splash of seltzer.
Kick back — a hammock would awesome — and enjoy the sunshine.
As a side note, my little SoupAddict bloggie here turns Five in a few days, and I’m celebrating with a much needed face-lift (the blog, not me, although I probably need one of those, too). I hope you’ll find the blog easier to navigate in general, and view on a mobile device in specific.
After sticking with a red and gray color palette for many years, I’m a bit in love with the brighter colors I’ve chosen here.
Rebuilding a website is definitely a labor of love, and this particular change required that I touch every single post — more than 500 (why I chose to do this over the summer is beyond me. This is the kind of thing that’s better suited for cold winter nights, when the dark and gloom settle in by 5pm).
It was an entertaining trip down memory lane, cleaning up the older posts, and noting how the voice and style of this blog has changed over the years.
I took my very first blog vacation this summer — four weeks off, in fact. I had built up a cache of posts to keep things rolling, but by and large, I neither cooked specifically for the blog nor photographed food [gasp! the camera withdrawal!] during that stretch. I wasn’t sure at the time whether I was reaching the end of my blogging rope, or just needed a breather. The break was immensely refreshing.
I was rejuvenated and ready to return by the end of two weeks, but forced myself to stick to the original plan of four, spending the time luxuriously thumbing through food magazines and cookbooks, which I never seem to make time to do anymore. As with most things, whether a hobby you love, or a frustrating task at work, or just the simple routine of the every day, stepping back now and then to clear the mind and recharge the creative reservoir is time well spent.
So, I enter year six with renewed spirit and a Google Drive file of recipe ideas. Thank you, friends, for coming along on the ride. Without you, it’s all just talking into the wind. Here’s to the many happy eats ahead!
Karen xo
Refreshing, Nourishing Vitamin Water
Ingredients
- 2 cups watermelon , sliced into 1" cubes
- 1 lime , sliced
- 1 lemon , sliced
- 1/2 red grapefruit , sliced and quartered
- 1 medium cucumber , sliced
- 12 mint leaves
- 2 quarts water
- ice
- sparkling water (optional)
Instructions
- Combine the fruit, cucumber, mint leaves and water in a large pitcher.
- Place in the fridge and let infuse overnight.
- To serve, pour infused water into glasses filled halfway with ice. Spoon in a piece or two of fruit for show, and top with a splash of sparkling water (optional).
- The vitamin water will stay fresh for a day or three.
Nutrition
Pin Fruit-Infused Homemade Vitamin Water recipe for later:
Pinterest fans, if you’d like to save this recipe for later, use these images (or any image above) to pin to your boards (they’re small here, but thanks to the magic of the interwebs, they’ll be full size when you pin them). Thanks for sharing, and most of all, thank you so much for reading this post! Blogging wouldn’t be any fun without you!
Ashley B. says
Found this via Pinterest, and gave it try. So yummy! I wouldn’t have thought that a little fruit would make such a difference, but, I found myself refilling my glass all day!
Courtenay says
I’ve had such trouble getting my day’s share of water in me, until I started adding stuff to it. Love the pitcher idea! I have friends over a lot, and this will be great to have on hand.
Sarah says
I love fruit-infused water – thanks for reminding me that this is a great option to serve at parties, too!
Izzy says
I’ve had water infused with lemon and lime. The fruit sat in the water all day and the water was unpalatable, more so the lime. Do you do anything special to the citrus? Thanks for your time.
SoupAddict says
By unpalatable, do you mean too lemony or lime-y? I don’t do anything special to the citrus. You could try using very thin wedges instead of, say, a big slice (big slice means more surface area exposed to the water). For example, for my everyday big mug of ice water that I always have on my desk while I’m working, I take a lime and slice it in half across the equator. Then, I take one half, and slice it into eight small wedges (like the spokes of a wheel). One wedge of lime spends all day in my mug, and it’s perfect. Perhaps you could experiment, and see what works for you?
Teresa says
This is amazing!!!! My new summer drink!!!
Anna says
Is this really really tart??? Sounds like it would be with all that acid in their
SoupAddict says
Hi Anna,
It’s not at all acidic – you don’t squeeze the fruit into the water, just let it infuse. The sweet watermelon and astringent cucumber balance the other fruits nicely, I think. But you could also replace the grapefruit with tangerines, if that appeals more to your taste buds.
Angie says
Hi! I featured this in my blog today and left a link back to you. Cant wait to try this out! Enjoy! xx
Liz says
Have you tried this with Chia?
SoupAddict says
Hi Liz,
No, I haven’t. I’ve tried the kombuchas with chia, but couldn’t take the texture, so haven’t experimented further. I don’t see why it wouldn’t, though. 🙂
Christine says
Congratulations! Very nice-looking facelift. This water is just what I need…it’s been in the 100-115’s here for 2 weeks…ugh. Will be raiding the fridge and making a pitcher today!
Julie @ Texan New Yorker says
Love the new look!
Cher says
Love the refresh on the site.
I’m glad you are still around too – amusing us with your stories and impressing us with your creations 🙂
Darlynne says
The vitamin water looks so refreshing and so does your website. Thank you for all the hard work and effort. Without you, the ether would be much less interesting.
Rocky Mountain Woman says
Love the new look – I am SO glad you are continuing to blog – I would miss your humor and wonderful recipes in my life…
xxoo,
RMW