Drinks

Homemade Lemon Soda

Bright, pleasantly tart, and juicy wonderful – Homemade Lemon Soda is a tasty alternative when you’re trying to live right!

Homemade Lemon Soda {mind-over-batter.com}
Last week as I sat in the dentist’s chair patiently waiting for my bi-annual cleaning, I was called ma’am by an assistant dental hygienist.
Ma’am!
You see, I’ve never been called ma’am before. EVER! Not even by my son’s teenage friends who at 15 would view me as a ma’am type. And I’m going to be real with y’all. It pissed me the hell off. You don’t just spring a ma’am on someone and expect it to be OK!
Homemade Lemon Soda {mind-over-batter.com}
This dude called me ma’am over, and over, and over again.
“I’m going to quickly take your blood pressure ma’am.”
“Oh, your blood pressure is high, ma’am. Let’s take it again in 5 minutes”
“Oooh – That’s still high ma’am. Were your rushing to get here?”
“I’m going to raise your chair just a little bit, ma’am.”
“Bite down, ma’am.”
“We’re almost finished ma’am.”
Homemade Lemon Soda {mind-over-batter.com}
I fought the urge to call this baby faced, mid-20s, whole life ahead of him, normal blood pressure having kid some names. I was thisclose to making that dude cry with some smart ass, well thought out, hurtful retort. Then I calmed the hell down. At his age he couldn’t possibly understand my struggle.
He didn’t know that very morning as I applied my makeup and took a closer look in the mirror ‘Raisin Face’ stared back at me.
Homemade Lemon Soda {mind-over-batter.com}
He couldn’t have known that my seven year old daughter’s new hobby is pointing out my crow’s feet, crater sized pores, and my growing double chin. Every.Single.Day.
He doesn’t know I am usually out of breath going up one flight of stairs.
The truth is, I’m starting to FEEL like a ma’am. And I’m trying to live right, stay in motion, generally stop putting myself positions where I’ll be wearing commissary issued jumpsuits.
The struggle, however, is real.
When I’m not cooking, cleaning, blogging, refereeing kid fights, helping with homework, or folding endless mountains of clothes, I ENJOY lying on my couch in a near catatonic state. Eating cookies. Or cake. Or sometimes not feeding myself at all.
And that’s not OK.
Homemade Lemon Soda {mind-over-batter.com}
I have to accept I wasn’t really angry at that young buck assistant dental hygienist. I’m really angry at myself. More like scared. I keep putting my health and wellbeing second, or not at all. And for the millionth time, that has to change. Like for good, and shit.
I’m not changing the direction of Mind over Batter. This site will remain cookies, cake, and booze driven. I’m just changing where I’m headed. We’ll see how it goes. I could be totally full of shit and back to my old ways by March.
Homemade Lemon Soda {mind-over-batter.com}
In the meantime, here’s a Homemade Lemon Soda.
I stopped drinking soda long ago. Not over health reasons, more like I discovered water and found it more hydrating than a 2-liter bottle of commercial brand soda. Every once in a while, I dig somethin’ bubbly and sweet – And so my fridge is full of homemade simple syrups.
Lemon is my current favorite. Easy to make, you can double or even triple it. Simple syrups store well in the fridge, lasting at least a couple of weeks. Sometimes even longer.
When you’re craving a soda, spoon a couple of tablespoons in a glass, add ice, and top with seltzer for a refreshingly tart bubbly drink situation. It’s better than any commercial brand. Yeah, I’m biased.
AND!!
You control how right you want to live. Add as few as one tablespoon of simple syrup or as many as four tablespoons and some vodka.
Baby steps.
I heard Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Homemade Lemon Soda {mind-over-batter.com}
[purerecipe]

Homemade Lemon Soda

Bright, pleasantly tart, and juicy wonderful – Homemade Lemon Soda is a tasty alternative when you’re trying to live right!

Ingredients

For the lemon simple syrup

  • Juice and zest of 4 lemons
  • 1 1/4 cup Water
  • 1 cup Granulated sugar
  • Splash of Vanilla extract

For the lemon soda

  • 1 ½ - 2 tablespoons Lemon simple syrup
  • Seltzer
  • Ice
  • Slice of lemon for garnish

Instructions

  • Make the lemon simple syrup:
  • In a small saucepan combine lemon juice, zest, water, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract. Over medium/high heat, bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and allow the mixture to simmer until slightly reduced and sugar is completely dissolved, about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the syrup to come to room temperature. Strain the syrup into a glass container with a tight fitting lid and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
  • Make the lemon soda:
  • To an 8 ounce glass, add the simple syrup. Add ice and top with seltzer. Give it a quick stir to combine and garnish with a slices of lemon, if desired.

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