It got a little noisy in the CATS kitchen with the kids pulverizing strawberries into mush in the bottom of their plastic glasses. They enjoyed it, maybe especially the noise.
Making this recipe was an easy way to call attention to the fact that one regular can of soda has 10 teaspoons of sugar, or more, inside -- and very little that is natural!
Reading the web, I saw recipes for fresh fruit or fruit juice mixed with soda water, and thought we might try our own CATS-style soda. The kids always clamor for strawberries, so we chose those, and they worked beautifully. So refreshing! Feel free to adapt this to what you have on hand, but here's what we did:
Ingredients
- 4 washed sliced strawberries per glass of soda – try slicing them in an egg slicer!
- 1-2 tsp. of honey per glass, or sugar
- 1-2 drops vanilla extract per glass
- Chilled berry-flavored sparkling mineral water (Trader Joe’s and Safeway sell these)
Instructions
- Thoroughly smoosh the berries, honey and vanilla in the bottom of a medium-sized glass, using a spoon, a wooden spoon, or other tool.
- When the fruit is fully muddled, gently pour in sparkling water to taste, and stir.
- You can also use fruit juice instead of the berries, but using some fresh fruit gives the best taste.
- You can add a bit of lime or orange juice and experiment with fruits like grapes, oranges or raspberries.
More Information
Some smaller kids didn’t like the bubbles in sparkling water – they “tasted funny.” But others couldn’t get enough. It’s interesting – if you don’t offer more sugar, the kids don’t seem to miss it.
That makes my day!
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1 thought on “Make-Your-Own Fresh Strawberry Soda”
Hi Laura!
I don’t go to CATS, but my really nice friend showed this website to me! My friend go’s to CATS. She is super duper nice! I hope you have met her before! I am very pleased with the recipes that you have! Your recipes are awesome! Thanks so much Laura!!!
Your fan, Angie Mallard