Infused Water
Are you drinking your 8 glasses of water a day? Or are you like me, always hoping you’ll drink more water but never quite living up to your goals?
Let’s face it. Water is kind of . . . boring. It’s easy to start out the day with a nice big glass of water nearby but as the day wears on, you find yourself wishing for a beverage with a little flavor. One solution is to buy flavored waters in the store. Or – we can Make Our Own!
A simple way to flavor your water is to just add slices of fruit, sprigs of herbs, or even some vegetables to a pitcher or a glass of water and let the water become infused with the flavor. It’s an easy and frugal way to liven up plain water so that you feel like you’re drinking something a little more special.
I usually ask for lemon in my water when I’m in a restaurant and it was only just recently that I started doing it at home too. I had one of those moments where I thought to myself “Why haven’t I ever done this before?” I guess I thought lemon in my water at home was too fancy for everyday drinking. Now I know better!
So if you want to skip the soda pops or fruity drink powders but still have a little flavor in your drink, here are a few infusion flavor ideas to get you started:
Lemon Infused Water – The classic favorite
Still the best in my opinion. Gives plain water a nice citrus kick and is always good.
Mint Infused Water – The most interesting
The most interesting flavor we tried. I put a few sprigs of mint in the bottom of a water pitcher and put it on the table for dinner one night. Here’s how that went:
ME: So how do you like the mint water?
HUBBY: Well, at first it tasted like plain water but after that it tasted like you put a weed in there.
(yeah, the men folk don’t quite get the point – although Hungry Son said the mint water was his favorite)
Cucumber Infused Water – The most surprising
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the subtle flavor of the cucumber infusion. I think it works because cucumber is a high water content vegetable. Very tasty.
Strawberry Infused Water – The most predictable
If you’re looking to add a nice fruity flavor, you can always count on strawberries. This tasted the most like a store bought flavored water to me – which was rather a good thing.
These are just a few ideas. I’m sure there are other berries or fruits that would work well too, not to mention all the combinations you could try (Lemon Mint perhaps?) And you can either make your infusion by the whole pitcherful, or just pop a few slices of fruit into a glass.
So now we have no excuses. Let’s all try to drink our 8 glasses of water a day!
I love the simplicity of your ingredients. There is so much mint around now that it is summer.
I really like this one. 🙂
I'll have to give cucumber a try, i've heard of it. I've been doing a lot of iced tea with stevia (vanilla stevia by KAL is the bomb!)
I am a complete water-holic, but I think a little infusion would make a nice change.
HMMM cucumber huh I will have to try that one!
hugs
m
Thanks for the reminder that we can 'spice' up our water even at home… the cucumber is a nice idea. I usually just squirt some bottled lemon or lime juice in my water, but it may be time to step it up a bit!
When I was in Maui, the hotel provided cucumber lemon infused water all over the complex. Wow was that refreshing. I couldn't stop drinking it.
I hope my Iced Luzianne Decaf tea counts towards my 8, because I drink about 6 glasses everyday.