It is unseasonably warm around here. It feels more like August than April, and so I am hoping to inspire you to drink your lemonade naturally this summer instead of using a powdered drink mix.  Reading through the ingredients of both options should easily show you which of the two is a more natural and frugal choice for your family. 

Their ingredients:

COUNTRY TIME - DRINK MIX - LEMONADE

Ingredients: SUGAR, FRUCTOSE, CITRIC ACID (PROVIDES TARTNESS), CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF NATURAL FLAVOR, ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), MALTODEXTRIN, SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, SODIUM CITRATE (CONTROLS ACIDITY), MAGNESIUM OXIDE (PREVENTS CAKING), CALCIUM FUMARATE, SOY LECITHIN, ARTIFICIAL COLOR, YELLOW 5 LAKE,TOCOPHEROL (PRESERVES FRESHNESS). CONTAINS: SOY.

My Ingredients:

3 lemons, juiced

1 lime, juiced

1 c. sugar

1 c. water, boiling

water

This recipe is slightly modified (in other words, I added a lime) from a Laura Ingalls Wilder's recipe that I found in Laura Ingalls Wilder Country: The People and places in Laura Ingalls Wilder's life and books.

(When you're done reading the series to your children, do yourself a favor and see if you can get your hands on a copy of this book. It turns the tales into living history!)

Simply bring the water to a boil, add the sugar and continue boiling for a minute until the sugar is dissolved. Stir together the sugar water and juices from the lemons and lime in a pitcher and then fill with water. Refrigerate until cold or add ice to speed things along. Almost as easy as just add cold water, definitely more natural.  

Be sure to save your rinds from the lemon and lime then come back tomorrow to find out what you can do with them.