Watermelon & Coconut Water Cooler

I'm currently drowning in a refrigerator full of farm fresh produce courtesy of my brother, a local farmer. I know, there are much worse things. I am very appreciative to have access to delicious, brightly-colored edibles that I know were grown sans-chemicals a few towns away by the very same guy who used to delight in destroying my beloved Jonathan Taylor Thomas posters. The only hitch is finding enough ways to use up everything before it goes bad, which is why I'm on day five of inventive cucumber salads (so far a basic feta and balsamic mix is the winner).

I'm trying lots of new things, so I wanted to create a simple watermelon drink with stuff I had on hand. I hesitate to call this a "recipe" because it's basically a drawn out set of instructions telling you to put a few things in a blender and push a button, but bear with me, okay?

WHAT YOU NEED

Watermelon  //  Coconut Water  //  Lime Juice  //  Ice  //  Blender

HOW TO MAKE IT

Cube the watermelon and add about 3 cups of it to your blender.

Honestly, when was the last time you saw black seeds in a watermelon?! Pretty much everything from the grocery store has been modified to lose unsightly elements like these, which is really weird to think about.

Add about 1 cup of coconut water to the blender. FYI, Trader Joe's now makes their own coconut water which is pretty delish and pretty cheap, at least in the world of coconut water, which means it's still kind of expensive for the amount you get (mine was $2.99 for 33 oz/1L).

Add a healthy squeeze of lime juice, depending on how much you like, which in my case is QUITE A BIT, THANK YOU. You can obviously also use a real lime which is the better option, but alas I was uncharacteristically lime-less this afternoon. I'm working through it.

Add the ice and blend, baby, blend! 

Enjoy with a color coordinated straw and a sliced watermelon wedge, which is what everyone does naturally and definitely not just because they're taking pictures of their drinks to put on the internet.

It even looks cheerful perched atop my ancient radiator!

The flavor is very distinctly watermelon, but the coconut water is pronounced, as well. That's great unless you don't like coconut water, which it seems plenty of people do not. Well, I do, but if you aren't feeling it, sub in fruit juice or even just more watermelon.

What blender drinks are you mixing lately? Are you still into summer drinks like these or are you like everyone else on my Facebook feed who is losing their minds over the reintroduction of pumpkin drinks already? Doesn't it seem kind of fun to drink a watermelon? (p.s. it is!)

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Honeydew Melon & Lime Cooler Recipe

Despite this rainy week, I am having a serious summery frozen drink moment. I recently got a Ninja blender as a gift and I am pretttty excited about its blending capabilities. It crushes ice in like 2 seconds! I never realized the lack of slushy drinks I was getting from my regular blender and now I have SO MANY plans for more drinks! Here's an easy one that mixes some of my favorites fruits (in my favorite color):

What You Need

3 Cups Honey Dew Melon

Juice of 1 Lime

1 Cup Lime Sherbet

8 - 10 Ice Cubes

(I also used this knife, which is great if you cut a lot of melons)

How To Make It

1. Chop your melon and add to your blender.

2. Squeeze the lime onto the melon.

 

3. Add the lime sherbet and blend completely.

4. Add your ice and blend again until completely mixed. 

Alternately, you can freeze the melon chunks for 30 minutes before and eliminate the ice.

Enjoy on your patio, balcony, lanai, couch or whatever with a wedge of lime, a breezy 'tude and a bendy straw. 

xoxo,

Michelle