Sassy Flavored Waters
No cooking required. Anyone can make flavored waters. All you need is a two quart pitcher, filtered water, fruit, vegetables and herbs for infusing, a refrigerator, and a couple of hours to marry the flavors. Your flavored water is ready.
Q: Why drink flavored water?
A: Flavored water is healthy and fun.
It’s no surprise that we need to meet our personal fluid requirements, which are influenced by body size and perspiration. We need fluids to maintain the body’s fluid balance and for proper digestion, joint lubrication, to flush the kidneys, and more.
It’s unwise to take fluids in the form of sugary soft drinks because of their empty calories and artificial ingredients. People are also concerned about the price of bottled drinks and the environmental impact of the containers.
Water is truly the best choice. If only water was more inspiring...
Sassy Water
In the Calorie Count Forums, people talk about Sassy Water. Sassy Water is a flavor-infused water created by the staff at Prevention Magazine as part of their Flat Belly Diet. Sassy Water, which you made, tastes zippier than plain water and Prevention says that the ingredient ginger aids digestion and cucumber is a slight diuretic. Furthermore, the act of making the water is an affirmative self-care action - plus you're drinking water!
But Sassy Water is not the only flavored water in the cookbook. The healthful ingredients are there to be combined. Cool Waters: 50 Refreshing, Healthy Homemade Thirst-Quenchers by Brian Preston-Campbell is a great source of water recipes. He draws from pineapple, pomegranate, peaches, and more - don’t forget the flavored ice cubes!
Recipes for Flavored Water
Since flavored waters have a negligible count of calories and nutrients, these recipes are not linked to the Calorie Count Recipes database. To your health!
Sassy Water (from the Flat Belly Diet)
- 2 liters of water
- 1 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger
- 1 medium cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 medium lemon, thinly sliced
- 12 small spearmint leaves
Combine all ingredients in a pitcher and let flavors blend overnight. Drink the entire pitcher by the end of each day.
Pressed Watermelon with Basil Water (from Cool Waters)
- 4 cups chilled still water
- 4 cups watermelon chunks (about 1/4 large melon)
- 6 to 8 large basil leaves
- Pinch of sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon white wine vinegar
Combine the watermelon chunks and basil in a colander placed over a large bowl. Using a metal ladle or spoon, press the watermelon to extract as much juice as possible (the remaining pulp should be fairly dry). Season the juice with the sea salt and vinegar and strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large pitcher. Add the water, stir, and serve.
Orange and Green Apple Water
- 4 cups of water
- 1 orange, sliced
- 2-3 slices of green apple rubbed with lemon juice
- ½ lemon
Combine ingredients and let rest for 24 hours.
Your thoughts...
Do you make super-easy flavored waters?
Comments
These recipes sound great! I think it would be great for fruit that is just about to go bad too (for some reason there is always that one last piece of fruit I don't eat and it goes bad). It would also look pretty to set out for parties. I absolutely love water. It helps me to think of myself as a flower that needs watering.
Thanks for posting these!!! I struggle with drinking enough water to remain hydrated throughout the day and these will help tremendously. I will make the Sassy Water as soon as finish my shopping today :-)
I am a massage therapist and was working at an event. I saw an interesting way to serve water. I hate to say it, but I am not much of a plain water drinker. I need a kick in mine. I don't like the artificial sweeteners and don't use sugar often. The flavor was very popular there. A delicious blend. Plain filtered water with slices of fresh lemon and strawberries and mint leaves. Kinda had a similar taste of strawberry lemonade but not the sugary version. Refreshing on a hot day.
Be sure to treat this Sassy Water as you would any other perishable. Keep it refrigerated as much as possible and be sure to discard any leftovers at the end of the day.
what about using the water flavoring packets? are those ok to use as a quick substitute?
Yum! Thanks for the great ideas I can't wait to try the orange & green apple water. I also struggle with drinking enough water sometimes it feels like such a chore so this is perfect for me =]
Thanks for these recipes, Mary! I recently purchased a pitcher with fruit infuser. I've tried it with watermelon, berries, and citrus. You've given me more ideas for it.
P.S. For details on the pitcher, see QVC item #K23210. There are other places that sell it, too, which you can find by googling.
I love these recipes, and will definitely try the sassy water! My husband and I keep a kool-aid man type pitcher in the fridge with slices of lemon at all times, and it's helped us break our sweet tea addiction.
I'm in a remote community, and there's no chance of getting spearmint for the sassy water recipie. Could I use a couple peppermint tea bags instead?
I usually just cut a lemon in half and add it to my water bottles for flavour. But these ideas sound interesting. Will definitely try them!
I worked at a cafe in college where we served a daily 'flavored water' in the summer.. our usual two were Cucumber Rosemary, and Citrus Mint... So refreshing and pretty sitting in a big glass urn on the counter. We would also mix it up sometimes with blueberries, watermelon, strawberries, or whatever else we had on hand.
My massage place serves sliced lemons and cucumbers in iced water. Very refreshing. It is inexpensive and both are available year round in CA.
Lime and mint is a nice combo, as is mango and strawberry. Berry blends (blueberry, blackberry, strawberry, raspberry) are all great, too!
I love the ideas! In the past I've used strawberries, cucumbers, lemons, or limes to flavor my water. I never thought about herbs for that! I'll have to give it a try sometime!
What a brilliant idea! I used to love the "smartwater" that was just flavor, with no sweetening at all, but it was discontinued. Now I can make my own.
My son introduced me to iced green tea. His version has ingredients like lemon and cucumber and sometimes ginger in and is very slightly sweetened. Presented in an elegant tall glass with ice (and straw and umbrella perhaps) one can persuade oneself that it is a sophisticated drink that might replace an alcohol based one.
I love the sassy recipe, I was curious though if anyone knows how long the diet says to drink it for? I am just going to go until i am done with my ginger. Oh and then can you like use the veggies more than once or should you use fresh each time? I think fresh but then again you never know.. Thanks in advance..
I really want to know if you can reuse the fruits and veggies more than once too!
Original Post by: tofutti_cutieI really want to know if you can reuse the fruits and veggies more than once too!
I re-used the sliced lime once, in the space of 2 days. After that the fruit didn't look too good.
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Thank you so much for this post and for the 'How much water should i drink' quiz! I hate drinking water, and have to force myself. It helps to know just how much I need and ways to make it taste better!