Beat the heat - Recipes to help cool down on hot days

I think today is the hottest day of the year so far here in Cambridgeshire.  I took some homemade ice lollies and cold drinks in a coolbag on the school run for my daughters to have on the way home.

I make my own ice lollies for my daughters.  You can use diluted fruit juice, custard (homemade or storebought), frozen berries blended up, the lovely ladies from Crumbs blog have some fab ideas here.  There are loads of cheap lolly moulds available from £1 stores or supermarkets.  In the past I have receycled small fromage frais pots and iceblock sticks when I had no proper moulds.  All you need are some containers, suitable sticks, and a freezer. 

Make sure everyone has plenty to drink as children can get dehydrated really quickly.  I make up fruit juice ice cubes which flavour drinks as they melt and make water a bit more more exciting.  You could use sparkling water for a change too.  Fizzy drinks are full of sugar and will dehydrate rather than hydrate so I normally stick with fruit juice, diluted by at least 50%, or plain water.  You could also make a fruit punch using a mixture of different fruit juices and then top up with still or sparkling water.  I keep a couple of large bottles of water in the fridge to use in drinks when the weather is hot.

Homemade milkshakes are great too, just blend frozen berries with milk, with or without some ice cream or ice cubes, and then serve in tall glasses.

I made a coffee milkshake earlier with chilled espresso, vanilla ice cream and milk.  It was delicious!  Great for a mid afternoon caffeine fix, and to cool down in this heat.

Chilled fruit is a great snack if you use fruit with a high water content such as melon, grapes, berries and pineapple.  I prepare mine in advance, like a fresh fruit salad and then serve fresh out of the fridge. 

For Mums of babies and toddlers:

When my daughters were really little I made ice lollies out of breastmilk when they were still breastfeeding, they helped ease sore gums when they were teething as well. My friend makes her toddler follow-on formula ice lollies, great when they are poorly with a sore throat too.

Here are a couple of my favourite recipes for when the weather is hot:

Quick Berry Milkshake

I've been making this milkshakes like this for years. You could use frozen mango chunks and sorbet instead of berries and icecream if you wanted to. Try varying the flavour to suit your tastes, what is in season, and what you have in your fridge and freezer.

400g frozen mixed berries or 400g fresh berries

1 litre or 4 cups milk

5 large scoops of berry or vanilla flavoured frozen yoghurt or icecream

Put the berries in a blender with the milk and frozen yoghurt or icecream. Blend until smooth. How easy is that?! You can use a stick belnder if you don't have a normal blender. If the milkshake is too thick just add a little more milk and blend it again.

Pour into glasses and serve either on it's own or top each glass with an extra scoop of frozen yoghurt or icecream if you like. You could put a strawberry on the rim of each glass for an edible decoration.

Frozen Fruit Kebabs

1 drinking straw per child (or kebab stick with spike removed for older children)
A selection of fruit: grapes, strawberries, satsumas, pineapple and melon chunks, etc

Thread the fruit onto the drinking straws. Wrap each fruit kebab well in clingfilm before putting them in an air tight freezer bag. Make sure the bag is sealed well. Freeze until the fruit has frozen. Remove from the freezer, unwrap them, leave them to warm up slightly for a couple of minutes then serve.

What recipes are your favourites to have on hot days?