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Creatively Frugal Liquid Refreshment
Besides plain tap water, what
are some of your other favorite, low-cost forms of liquid
refreshment?
"Iced
green tea! This is much better than water with lemon but
much healthier than sodas. Green tea
is supposed to have many health benefits.
There are many flavors available today--lemon, ginger, jasmine, etc. I make a strong pot, let it
cool, and then keep it in the fridge.
I then just pour it over ice when I serve it. If you must
have a sweet drink, add a little
honey to it before it cools." ~ BethAnne
"I love lemonade, even
from fast food restaurants. I can't have caffeine too late
in the day or I'll wake up in the middle of the night and I
try to limit my soft drink consumption to only one a day.
Most fast food restaurants offer lemonade as a choice. If
it's too sweet, you can cut it with water without
sacrificing the taste." ~ Anggie
"I purchase frozen lemonade at the local Save-a-Lot
(at only 59 cents per can, it's a bargain to me), or the
Dole fruit juice blends, and then make my own flavored
iced tea instead of buying the powdered flavored teas that
are a little pricier. After making a pot of tea and a
pitcher of lemonade, I mix the tea and lemonade (or juice)
by the glass to suit my taste." ~ Shanna
"Now that spring has arrived and summer is just
ahead, cold liquid refreshments will be on the menu.
Store bought ice tea can become expensive when it is the
drink of choice, which it is with me. I stay away from sweeteners,
basically because you can drink a lot of calories in the
hot weather. So, this is how I get around the cost and
the calories. In a quart glass jar I place 4 regular tea
bags and three herbal tea bags. I enjoy a ginger or a
spearmint; there are many different flavors. To
the seven tea bags I add boiling water and let it sit to
get as strong as it can. I transfer it to a gallon jug
and add cold water then place it in the refrigerator.
It's a lot of liquid refreshment at a small price. You
can add to it what you enjoy: lemon or mint, and of
course, ice cubes. Very refreshing and satisfying and
keeps you hydrated in the hot weather." ~ Sharon
"Vitamin water."
~ Jennifer
"I struggle with drinking enough fluid every day.
One low cost trick I have come up with in the warmer
months is an ice tea-lemonade mix. I buy the store
brand frozen lemonade -- it has less sugar than
powdered. I mix a batch of that up with a half gallon of
sun tea. I use regular black tea to make my sun tea. I
also like Red Zinger Tea for my sun tea-lemonade
mix. If lemons are on sale I will add sliced lemons
to that. Mint out of my garden adds a lot of flavor too.
Another trick is to add a cut up lemon to a pitcher of
ice water in the fridge. If I have to go to the trouble
of adding lemon to a glass of water I won't do it.
Sliced cucumbers in a pitcher of ice water is good."
~ Kelly
"I discovered a few
years ago that what I enjoyed most about drinking pop or
soda was the ice-cold fizziness. I really didn't care
for the taste, (WAY too sweet and fake!) and I found
they all left a bad after-taste in my mouth as well as
not really slaking my thirst. Taking all that into
account, I decided to make my own 'pop' and have had so
much fun experimenting ever since! It's really simple:
just combine equal parts of any fruit juice (real,
unsweetened fruit juice, please!) and lemon or lime
flavored carbonated water over ice cubes. That's it! Way
less calories and synthetic chemicals entering my body
and lots more thirst-quenching satisfaction in my
ice-cold fizzies! The fun part is trying different
combinations of juices together - including some
home-made ones like high bush cranberry and rhubarb. The
only one I tried and didn't care for was apple juice -
maybe just because 'apple' and 'fizz' just don't seem to
go together in my head! Anyways, I hope my recipe helps
you out. Maybe you'll find as I did that the more of 'my
pop' I drank, the less I wanted the commercial
substitutes!" ~ Mary-Ellen
""My
husband and I gave up sodas in December 2006. We drink
flavored teas without sweeteners. There are so many now
and they are great cold. When we want something bubbly,
we purchase club soda and flavor with lemon, lime or
orange juice. It is very refreshing. We don't miss soda
any." ~ Vivian
"When I get bored
of drinking water all day, I'll brew up a pot of
green tea and drink it as iced tea. It is a nice
change from water and very refreshing! Green
tea also has the benefits of being a cancer-fighter
and weight loss aid. Gotta love it!"
~ Kathy
"I keep a huge pitcher of decaf iced tea in the
fridge at all times. I lightly sweeten it with
Splenda." ~ Anne Marie
"The grocery store has a nice variety of
frozen juice and juice drink
concentrates. Many of these are easy on
the budget, and much healthier than soda."
~ Vicki in UT
"For the last several years I have changed
'how' I drink water. I discovered I did not
enjoy ice filled sodas/drinks while eating out, so I
began asking for 'no ice'. Around the same
time I learned that the Asian culture does not
mix hot and cold drinks in a meal. For example,
we drink ice-filled soda and water with a hot cup of
coffee afterwards. We stopped ordering ice in our
water while eating out and have eliminated swollen,
painful stomachaches at the end of the meal.
The combination was making our stomach swell and
contract from the temperature changes of food and
beverage. Also, we began saving much more money
eating out by drinking the water, elmininating
pricey soft drinks, and wasting food that we were
too full to eat.
Another tip for eating out: drink water and skip
eating the bread before your meal. When your
done eating save a portion of your meal to take home
in a box then put your rolls in it. This makes
a nice lunch for the next day. Best of all,
you won't feel sick, uncomfortable and guilty after
the meal." ~ Tina
"I gave up soda and
cigarettes so long ago that I don't find either
appealing anymore. My mother does wonders
with a pitcher of plain water by adding slices of
lemon, lime and oranges to it. We've served
this at many local events along side of soda and
people choose it over and above the soda.
It's very refreshing. Flavored seltzer is
another alternative." ~ Alene
"Folks in the
South drink iced tea. Some of us drink it without
sugar, slightly sweet or very sweet, and some like
lemon. Lemons have been pretty costly here of late.
What I like to do is use 4 family size tea bags of
regular tea and one small tea bag of Bigelow's
Plantation Mint tea to make a gallon of tea. With
1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar this is very satisfying and
a great pick-me-up. My husband likes lemon in his
tea, so I keep a pitcher of regular sweet tea for
him and a small pitcher of Wyler's lemonade mix (no
sugar) in the frig for him and he adds the lemon
flavor to his own taste. Plain ole cane sugar is a
lot better for you than other sweeteners and
especially artificial ones. And the longer you go
without sugary soft drinks ,the sweeter 1/4 cup of
sugar to a gallon of tea becomes! You might even
find you like it without sugar." ~ Artie Ann
"I
like the lemon with water but it's still not the
best tasting. I buy 'Simply Lemonade' at the
grocery store. It's a little too sweet for
my taste and I want to stretch it so I'll water it
down in my glass. Frugal refreshment!"
~ Cassie
"I delight in
being a Starbucks copy-cat! One of my
favorite drinks is their green tea lemonade.
I brew a quart of green tea (my favorite is Tazo
Zen) by using 4 teabags and then mix it with a
quart of lemonade - something with some pulp.
Chill and/or serve over lots of ice. I drink a lot
of this -- guilt free -- so I save 1/2 the frozen
concentrate for the next batch or make it all up
at once (if there's room in the frig) but save the
lemonade for the next batch of brewed tea.
Starbucks sweetens theirs, so you can do that if
you want. The whole batch costs less than
buying one 'Grande.'" ~ Lisa
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"I
have recently started enjoying V8 Fusion. It can be pricey, but I
try to use coupons when I can. I occasionally add an off-brand
lemon-lime carbonated drink to a glass of it, and enjoy a sparkling,
fruity drink. It makes it go a little farther too.
" ~ Angie
"Seven years ago my husband and I started on a vegetarian diet
(vegan) for health reasons. Our health improved significantly after
the first month. After several years we added back into
our diet vegetarian fed, free-range eggs and Alaskan salmon so we
are now semi-vegetarian. One of the things that we needed
to eliminate when we changed our diet was soft drinks. This was
quite difficult for my husband. He needed the 'fizz.' A friend
suggested that we use sparkling water and add a bit of fruit juice
for flavor. Sparkling water has only the fizz and not the other
(bad) stuff that club soda or other soft drinks have. We did this
and he was quite satisfied with the results. Now he rarely has
a desire for soft drinks. " ~ Sha
"I applaud you for taking a break from artificial
sweeteners!
It's true that though water is great to drink,
when you're craving a soda, it doesn't really fit
your craving. Here are a few special drinks I enjoy:
- Make your own soda with fruit juice and club soda.
I'm
not sure what exactly the proportions should be, but
I just use half juice and half club soda, served with
ice. It's bubbly and refreshing!
- Italian cream sodas are a real treat for me. Fill
up
a glass with ice (crushed if you have it), then fill
the glass 1/3 full with fruit nectar or a flavored
syrup, and fill the rest (minus a little space
at the top) with club soda. Now add some half-and-half
or cream and mix well!
- Iced peppermint tea is also refreshing. Make hot
peppermint
tea (using store-bought tea bags or just peppermint
leaves -- if you'd like it sweeter you can add
licorice root, which is available at some spice shops),
strain it if necessary, then chill it in the fridge
overnight." ~ Melissa
"You mentioned a squirt of lemon in plain water. Other
citrus works well, too, including limes. Long, thin strips of
cucumber are refreshing in ice cold tap water. So are frozen
blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, etc. If you have time,
whip up a blend of non-fat milk, ice cubes, and any non-fibrous
fruits, such as melons, apples, bananas and enjoy a fruit-shake.
Fresh squeezed fruit juice that has been frozen in ice cube
trays, can be used to flavor and chill "plain" tea, or
green tea. Adding a bit of fruit pulp to each cube provides
additional flavor (watch out when drinking your beverage)." ~
Sean
"I drink water, adding a stick
pack of sugar free fruit punch, lemonade, etc., which I purchase at
Walmart." ~ Athena
"Tea, of course! As Southerners, my husband and I drink tea
(by that I mean iced tea) all year long and
never drink soda. Tea is very inexpensive as compared
to soda and we use filtered water from a pitcher we keep full in the refrigerator. With all the research out there on
the health benefits of teas (antioxidants), I
think it is a great choice. We are unusual Southerners
in that we drink our tea unsweetened but we grew up with health-
conscious mothers and prefer it that way. Teas can be found in most discount stores and I often find more expensive teas
on the discount shelf in my grocery store if
it didn't sell or the box is slightly dented. DH
in NC
"I make diluted juice. Fill cup with ice; fill about 1/4
full of your favorite juice, then add water!
I'm nursing my latest baby, and drink this all the time. I like to
make a glass before I sit down to nurse, and I make it for the kids because it is lower in calories and nutritious.
My favorites are orange, cran-raspberry, and
pineapple-coconut." ~ Tracy
"I drink flavored sparkling or seltzer water that has no
calories, no artificial sweeteners and no sodium, but has the
carbonation I would miss in tap or bottled water." ~ Stephanie
"I
went through the same sort of thing with trying to give up
soda AND coffee. (I wouldn't recommend that journey
to anyone I loved. The headaches were colossal.)
What I found worked best was herbal fruit teas
by Celestial Seasonings - 1.95 CDN for 20 bags
at Wal-Mart. You can easily make more than one cup
per bag. I buy the assortments (4 bags each of five
varieties) and get to try several kinds during the week -
I sip on them while I work. Ginger tea is great too
- has enough taste etc that you can enjoy it vs. just
trying to get enough water into your day. Less than
2 dollars a week for beverages is really great, they're
flavorful and they're not playing havoc with your system. Good luck."
~ Hollie
"I feel as if I'm at a crossroads because I need to lose
weight (Use no/lo-cal sweetners) or to be kinder to my body
(consuming natural foods). You noted that you have given up
artificial sweeteners and wonder what other people drink. I found
that if I make a pot of hot tea, consume some with 1tsp sugar (15
calories) and then remove the tea bags so the tea does not get
bitter and use it the next day as iced tea, or hot tea (if the
weather is cool), reheated in the microwave, again using 1 tsp
sugar. I also reuse bottled water bottles and fill them with 3/4
water and 1/4 juice. Grape is really good...water and nutrition at
the same time. I also need to add fiber to my diet due to some
medication side effects, so I fill a bottle with filtered tap
water and add my fiber that disolves totally and I know that I
need to drink that specific amount within a 4 hour period. I find
that reminding myself helps to remind me to drink it and in
addition get the needed fiber. My husband and I also drink water
with all of our meals as it does not interfere with the flavor of
the foods. To me the biggest thing is to think differently about
what your drinking and why. Besides, water is natural and
cheap!" ~ Nancy
"I like to make iced tea with about 1/2 cup sugar per
gallon and then add about 1/8 cup of grape or mango juice
or a freshly squeezed lemon to my glass of tea." ~
Jacky
"We are coffee and tea
drinkers. Decaf sun tea with a little of your favorite
juice added for flavor and sweetness is great in the summer
time. Don't throw out morning coffee leftovers in the summer and
make iced coffee later. Ice water with juice a tad of juice added
is also good to flavor it or fresh mint." ~ Betty
Editor's Note: Thanks to these readers for taking time to share
their ideas!
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