Flavored Water

We all know that sugary beverages are something we should minimize in our diets.  Cut out the soda and sweet tea, replace it with water.  It's challenging when water is just flat-out boring some days.  Good news: it's easy to flavor your water without those artificial packets of who-knows-what-it-really-is fruit flavoring.  Use some real fruit instead!  You'll want to drink this water all day long.

I bought these 2 qt Takeya pitchers at Costco a couple of years ago, but you can find similar ones at Target, Walmart, etc.  I like that it has a fruit infuser basket that screws into the lid, making it easy to take the fruit out once I achieve the flavor I want.  

Flavored Water

Time: 5 minutes + 4-12 hours undisturbed for infusion

Directions:

Slice the fruits you are using and rinse any herbs.  Combine in the desired container, fill with cold water, and leave in the refrigerator to infuse anywhere from four to twelve hours, depending on personal taste preference.  Remove fruit and enjoy!

Delicious combinations:

Strawberry + lemon – a calorie-free strawberry lemonade, my current favorite

Strawberry + mint

Strawberry + basil

Watermelon 

Watermelon + mint

Watermelon + cucumber

Watermelon + rosemary

Cucumber + lemon with or without mint 

Lemon + lime 

Cucumber + mint

Lemon + lavender

Blackberry + ginger

Blackberry + thyme

Blackberry + sage

Possibilities are endless!  Plus it is an easy way to use up those extra herbs in your fridge.