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July 11, 2011
Light, Cool Drinks for Summer
You can cut down on sugar and calories in beverages without sacrificing taste.
Here are some low-calorie summer beverage ideas:
Infused water: You can create your own infused water by taking a pitcher of cold water and adding sliced fruit, vegetables or herbs such as cucumber, pear, mint, orange, lemons, limes, mangoes or strawberries and basil.
Simple juice spritzer: Another refreshing low-calorie beverage is a simple real-juice spritzer. Add a shot glass full (1½ ounces) of your favorite juice such as grapefruit, pineapple, orange or pomegranate juice to eight ounces of club soda or sparkling water.
Lo-calorie watermelon lemonade: Or you can cut the calories in lemonade in half by making a watermelon lemonade, To do that, puree four cups of cubed, seedless watermelon with the juice from three lemons and pour it over ice. One cup of this watermelon lemonade has only 50 calories, half the calories of traditional pink lemonade.
Juicy ice cubes: Or freeze 100% juice in fun-shaped ice cube trays (hearts, stars, fish) and float them in glasses filled with naturally flavored seltzer. The frozen juice cubes add color and fun and a shot of flavor when they melt.
Try a variety of tea: Try making home-brewed iced tea with different types of tea other than plain black -- that way you get lots of flavor without any calories. Then, add fresh herbs like mint or tarragon and a little splash of fruit juice for sweetness and flavor.
Posted by Lisa at July 11, 2011 1:43 PM
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Comments
I love the idea of juicy ice cubes and homemade infused water and spritzers. I imagine they'd be a lot tastier than the store-bought kind and with less random crud in them, too.
Posted by: Melissa Wright at July 15, 2011 2:36 PM
I get bored with drinking water all day, adding a fruity cube is the perfect touch. Especially in the summer when I'm looking for something cold!
Posted by: Lisa at July 16, 2011 1:37 PM
I love spritzers on a hot day, and it's so easy to make. I usually use lemon juice, but I'm going to have to try some of your juice ideas.
Posted by: Todd at July 19, 2011 5:29 AM