Late Girl's Guide: Raspberry Lemonade Sweet Tea

Summertime in the south is all about a good pitcher of sweet tea. Since you can't really take a pitcher around with you, Sweet Leaf Tea has bottled that goodness—and it's good. 

If you're looking for a way to update your classic sweet tea, my favorite way is to add fruit for a light, sweet and fresh summer drink. And P.S. today is National Tea Day, so you kinda have to sip some tea.

1. Crush raspberries in a pitcher with lemon juice.

2. Pour Sweet Leaf Lemonade Tea over the mix. Stir, chill & serve!  

If you enjoy Sweet Leaf Tea this summer, use their #toast2goodness hashtag to share your sip or toast to someone who deserves one. 

Sweet Leaf Tea provided samples for review. As always, all opinions are my own.

LATE GIRL'S GUIDE   The Late Girl's Guide is a series of quick, simple recipes and how-tos for the girl wishing she had just 15 more minutes. more late girl's guide here

Late Girl's Guide: Honey Mint Lemonade

When it starts warming up, I look forward to getting a fresh bunch of mint and a few bright lemons to make Honey Mint Lemonade. It's refreshing, tart, and subtly sweet.  

If you want a little more oomph, all it takes is a splash of your favorite liquor and you've got a party.

1. Cut & squeeze lemons, making sure to remove seeds. On the side, boil enough water to fill 1/4 of your pitcher.

2. Pour honey (I eyeballed the amount), lemon juice, and hot water over the mint leaves. Use a wooden spoon to mix & crush leaves. 

3. After making the lemonade concentrate, fill the pitcher with cold water & ice. Stir and enjoy!

LATE GIRL'S GUIDE   The Late Girl's Guide is a series of quick, simple recipes and how-to's for the girl wishing she had just 15 more minutes. SEE MORE HERE

late girl's guide | summer cocktails

There's something nice about being able to make your own whenever the mood catches you. For me, it's usually in the summer when friends come by to catch up or when I make a nice dinner and want to make it extra special with a drink. To save time and money, I've kept my drink menu down to two staples that are the easiest in the world to make:  piña coladas and mai tais. I mean, what's summer without a good drink, or two for that matter.

Both of these drinks are made with the same easy-to-find ingredients, which is why they're my go-to cocktails.

For the piña colada, all you do is blend everything up with enough rum for your liking (tipsy or hammered), and voilà, you have delicious and impressive drink that took minimal effort.

The mai tai is similar, except you don't blend. Mix 1/4 rum, 1/4 drink mix and 1/2 fruit punch. Pour over ice and garnish with some pineapple chunks and sip. You'll swear you were on an island vacation. 

The drink mixes are the real time saver here. You avoid having to buy specialty, one-time-use-only ingredients. Adding the pineapple, which I always have on hand for smoothies, keep the drinks fresh.