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Smoothies and Family-Friendly Frozen Drinks

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While frozen drinks are quite popular when it's hot outside, if they're loaded with caffeine or alcohol, they may be doing you more harm than good. The cool, refreshing flavor is a plus, but caffeine and alcohol are diuretics, meaning they'll dehydrate your body even faster than it would have on its own. So for the sake of safety and your taste-buds, try these smoothies and other frozen drinks that are good for the whole family! (Many of these recipes call for drinks that have been frozen in ice cube trays, a cool treat when blending drinks or just wanting a snack.)

• Apple Slush. Blend ¼ cup apple cider or water (for a weaker flavor) with 8 apple cider cubes.
• Fruit Blend. Blend 1 frozen banana, ¾ cup raspberries, and 1 cup of orange juice until smooth.
• Low-sugar limeade. Stir together ¾ cup lime juice, 2/3 cup honey, and 1 quart water, and serve on ice.
• Mango smoothie. Blend 1 cup of mango slices, a bit of white grape juice, and 3 scoops vanilla frozen yogurt.
• Gatorade slushy. Combine 8 lemon-lime (or other flavor) Gatorade ice cubes and ½ cup Gatorade or water in blender, mixing until slushy.
• Orange Cream. Blend 1 cup orange juice and 4 scoops vanilla frozen yogurt until creamy.
• Vitamin treat. Blend 1 frozen banana, ½ cup fresh strawberries, and ¾ cup pineapple juice until creamy.
• Fruit mix. Combine 1 frozen banana, 2 cups fresh fruit of your choice, and ¾ cup orange or pineapple juice, and blend.
• Lemonade. Stir together 1 cup lemon juice, ½ cup honey, 1 quart water, and frozen lemon slices.
• Peanut smoothie. Blend 1 frozen banana, 1 cup orange juice, and 3 tbsp natural peanut butter.
• Watermelon cooler. Blend 2 cups seedless watermelon and 4 scoops vanilla frozen yogurt.

A few tasty tips --
 Freeze lemon and orange slices for ready-to-use additions to drinks later.
 Freeze bananas after peeling and covering them individually in plastic wrap (for up to three months) for smoothies; they make them incredibly creamy.
 Substitute honey or maple syrup for refined white sugar in drinks (be sure to use only half the recommended amount).
 Find more recipes like these at www.familyfun.go.com/recipes/family/feature/famf68wetwhistle

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