Keeping Beverages Cold

My husband used to be a mechanic at a major automotive repair center at the mall and during the summertime I always worried about him getting too hot in the garage there. It really gets sweltering hot in there even though he was right next to the open door.

I came up with a way to send cold drinks with him in the morning and have them stay cold, not just cool or hot, all day long. He loved Gatorade and I liked the fact that it was good for him in those conditions, but have you ever tasted it warm? Yuck!

I initially bought the 1 quart size bottles. I gathered 10 bottles, then I started buying the large size, and reusing the quart size. I also bought a couple of insulated bags big enough to hold 2 of these bottles.

Anyway, I'd fill half the bottles half full, and the other half just over 2/3 full and freeze them all. In the morning, I would take the 2/3 filled bottle and put it in the insulated bag. Then I'd take one of the half filled bottles, fill it the rest of the way with cold Gatorade from the fridge and put it in the bag too.

Between the bag and the beverage being frozen, they stayed cold all day for him. Many times any leftover would still be cold when he got home. By only freezing a half bottle and then filling with liquid, he didn't have to wait for some to melt before he could drink it on hot mornings either.

Most times what I would do is send one bottle of Gatorade and one of water. He spent much less money on sodas during the day and drank much less coffee too. It saved him lots of money and was so much better for him.

By Cricket from Parkton, NC