AIP strawberry melon agua fresca - strawberries, honeydew, mint, and lime blended and stirred into sparkling water

By week 6 or 8, water stops feeling like enough. You've done the responsible thing and hydrated all day, and some part of you still wants a glass that tastes like it was made for pleasure, not just upkeep. This is built for exactly that afternoon: whole strawberries and honeydew, a fistful of mint, a squeeze of lime, poured over sparkling water.

Because the fruit is blended instead of juiced, its fiber rides along. Honeydew and strawberries are a source of potassium and vitamin C, nutrients your body leans on while it's doing the quiet work of calming inflammation. Nothing here is doing clinical work, it's fruit, blended well, doing what fruit does. It stays light on purpose, built by someone managing caffeine, juice, and most teas right alongside you.

Make the pitcher something you actually want to look at: the pink and pale green swirled together, mint flecked through it, ice climbing the glass. Pour one for yourself before anyone has to ask, and let a hot afternoon ease up a little.

Ingredients

• 2 lb strawberries, hulled
• 1 small honeydew melon, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup chopped fresh mint
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 6 cups sparkling water
• Ice

Method

Blend the strawberries, honeydew, mint, and lime juice until completely smooth.

Pour the blended fruit into a pitcher and stir in the sparkling water.

Serve over ice.

This is a no-cook blended drink, so it needs no air fryer or Instant Pot variation.

*Adapted from acleanplate.com*