Is there a rule saying you can’t consume a couple of your 5 a day with a good dose of alcohol too..? Well, even if there is, I -quite frankly- don’t really care. Here are a few cocktail recipes, and some healthy juice to wash it all down with over this bank holiday weekend.

As an added bonus, you will actually be helping others by drinking these.

Let’s start out with a little info about Lemonaid & Charitea – they launched in 2009, making truly sustainable soft drinks and iced teas. They are fairtrade, and also donate 5p from every bottle sold to their charity, which helps people to help themselves.

These lovely little booklets came with these amazing drinks that they kindly sent me to review, but if you want to find out more for yourself visit the Lemonaid website and the Charitea website.

Apart from buying online, you can also find them in Whole Foods, Selfridges, Harrods, and a few places across Bristol including Better Food (various locations) and Cafe Kino in Stokes Croft.

They also sent me lots of cocktail ideas using their yummy drinks, so I thought I’d share some with you, plus a couple of my very own extra recipes using…

…this shiny Slow Juicer MJ-L500 from Panasonic! I have to admit, this did sit snugly in its box for quite some time before I cracked it out – I thought it was going to be too big for my tiny kitchen, and too complicated to use, but it turns out, it was neither.

It fits nicely between my kettle and toaster, and it’s really easy to use. All you have to do is prepare your fruit and veg (basically get rid of any hard bits like seeds, stones, stems and skin, and chop into chunks) feed it into the machine and watch the juice appear. It has a frozen attachment, and is also apparently great for soups.

4 easy fruit and veg packed cocktail and juice recipes

Right, here you go, finally on to the cocktail recipes. Let’s start with something simple.

1. Pop my Chari sparkling wine spritzer recipe

• fill a wine/short glass half full with sparkling wine of your choice
• add fresh mint leaves and a couple of ice cubes
• top up with Charitea Red

A no-brainer to ease you in to the long weekend. This is fizzy & fresh, and far too drinkable…

2. Lemojito cocktail recipe

• muddle fresh mint, lime and 1 tbsp brown sugar in a tumbler
• add 1-2 shots rum (depending how you’re feeling) and lots of ice
• top it off with Lemonaid Lime

Everyone likes a mojito, right? This is even more zingy than normal, with the addition of this vibrant bottle of pop.

3. Classic Bloody Mary recipe with fresh tomato juice

• make tomato juice in a juicer – there are plenty of recipes online, I like this one
• pour a shot of vodka over ice in a tumbler
• top up most of the glass with fresh tomato juice
• add lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco to taste
• sprinkle a little salt and pepper, and garnish with a celery stick

I never used to like Bloody Marys, but they’ve really grown on me lately – they’re perfect for the morning after with a hearty brunch. The great thing about making your own is that you can control how mild or as spicy it is – you can have it exactly as you like it.

4. Fresh and healthy green juice recipe

• juice together spinach, green apple, cucumber, ginger and lemon
• you can add a little mint to make it even more fresh, or honey to sweeten
• garnish with a slice of cucumber

If, after all that, you’re feeling like you need a little more veg and a little less booze, round your weekend off with this vitamin-packed juice. The lemon and ginger will help fight off any fun-induced lurgies, and you can add honey to soothe a sore throat.

Hopefully there’s a drink recipe in there which tickles your fancy. Enjoy the long weekend!