Have you ever been to a spa where they serve you water with slices of orange, kiwi or cucumber? Yeah, me neither, but I hear that it’s all the rage.
I try to live healthfully. Really I do. But there is one evil, horrible, delicious, (did I mention addictive?) habit that I have ‘quit’ about 10 times. And that substance is Coke Zero. Well, in order to make this eleventh detox as pleasant as possible, I am once again turning to other beverages that are better for my health. I did a post on basil-water about 2 years ago while trying a Coke Zero detox.
First I take either plain water, iced tea or soda water. Then I take anything that looks squeezable or muddlable (is that a word?) and squeeze/muddle my heart out.
I’m about to head out of town for a few days and I have a perfectly good cucumber in the fridge that I just can’t send to an untimely death in the compost heap, mainly because I don’t have a compost heap. So my motto is “When in doubt, FREEZE.”
I pulled out my ice cube trays and within a few hours, I had day-spa-worthy ice cubes.
Fresh cucumber
Cut lengthwise, then slice
Place slices in water
Muddle herbs of choice
Iced tea & soda water
Cubes done
Pretty and tasty
My current favorite combo: Iced tea + Soda water + muddled mint + pink grapefruit slices + cucumber. Yes, all together. Yes, it’s delicious. Almost as delicious as Coke Zero. Maybe AS delicious. Hey, if it stacks the odds in my favor against that formidable adversary, I’m willing to try it.
Q: Are you trying to kick a habit for the eleventy billionth time? Do you have tips?
I recently gave up soda but sometimes I get BORED with water! This is the perfect solution! Thank you for sharing!!
Hope it makes water more palatable for ya. Congrats on giving up soda!
I wish I could kick the Zero habit – I will try this. I quit cold turkey a few years ago, but this past Christmas at my Dad’s, I had one in a moment of desperation. It has been downhill ever since! If not for my health, then I need to at least quit for my wallet, they are expensive!
Where ya going? Have fun as always!!
Ha! I wrote this post a few weeks ago so I’ve gone and returned (went to Sacramento, then Sonoma county to visit my cousin) and saw several friends along the way too- fun. I will admit that I had a diet coke bender on one of the days I was away. I had hoped that it would taste chemically and gross, but sadly, it was delicious as ever.
sigh.
Yummy! You know how much I love sparkling water, and I love that this is extra fancy
I’m proud to say I haven’t had a Diet Coke/soda for a year now! I thought I might start up again after the baby was born, but sparkling water keeps me happy. I’ve had the occasional Sprite (I know it’s still evil but I figured real sugar at least isn’t a chemical) when I was pregnant, but that was rare.
Now I just need to kick wine, carbs, and Chinese food
I guess we are all working on something to ‘kick’
Congrats on kicking the diet coke!
thats a lot of work for water. But looks good. will you come make it for me? I’m spoiled.
I guess it is a lot of work, but I just do it so automatically that it doesn’t feel like work
As a fellow coke zero/diet coke addict, man do I ever feel your pain. An expensive but worthy replacement for me has been kombucha. The gingerade and citrus flavors are so satisfying. I know I could make my own, so maybe I need to try that. I will have to get on this water too! Be strong!
“BE STRONG” << I love that!
I had cucumber water for the first time at KooKooRoo in LA. I think KooKooRoo has changed the last few years. I went there before we left hoping to have this super yummy curry bowl I remembered and it was just rotisserie chicken more like Boston Market.
Speaking of addictions you know how I’m struggling right with portion control well that includes sugar.
Soda has never been a struggle for me. I don’t know why everything else is. (Maybe because I’m cheap and I don’t like to spend money on drinks.) I’m guessing I’ll have a soda about every 4-6th months. I have heard of people breaking soda habits using kombucha or kefir. There is some sugar in both of those though but it might be worth the try. Regardless, you’ll get the healthy bacteria. Now that I think about it I sort of remember you not really liking kombucha right?
Coconut water at Koo Koo roo?? Wow! I had no idea!
Kombucha- I didnt’ LOVE it enough to spend fat cash on it. However, if I got a scoby I might be down for giving it another try, assuming the sugar content just comes from the fermentation and is minimal. I don’t know anyone in the desert who has a scoby they want to donate, so I guess I won’t yet be joining that craze just yet
i like where you’re going with this! i love the idea of putting grapefruit in sparkling water! now i need to find a grapefruit. i’m addicted to seltzer – sometimes i drink it so much that i get heartburn at the end of the day hahahaha #truth
To be clear, I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t spend major cash on grapefruit for water-flavoring purposes…I’m just blessed to have a tree. And when they aren’t ripe, they are just like lemons, so I use them in whatever fashion I’d use a lemon. When you come visit, I’ll send you home with arm-fulls of pink grapefruits!
These are so flippin fancy. I wish I had a baby shower or something like that to make them for. I could just fancy up my own water.. but I don’t even own ice cube trays. I know, that is unheard of for you, the woman who freezes everything including her belly button lint, but it’s true! I love you so much and am always happy to see you post. More, please
LOL belly button lint! You kill me! <3
PRETTY! i bet with berries it’d be nice too…
Yes! I bet that would be fabulous!
I’m trying (for the gazillionth time) to quit sugar. It is driving me bonkers. I’ve got something close to an allergy (my face gets pimples every time I eat anything with sugar), and I’ve tried going cold-turkey and did not have it for 60 days, and I’m back to square one again. Sigh… Maybe one day…
I hear ya, Olya. The only reason I can claim to have ‘kicked’ the sugar habit currently is ONLY because I lost my taste buds for 2 weeks and there was simply NO point eating sugar if I couldn’t taste it. Didn’t it get easier after 60 days? Perhaps you are someone who can have it in tiny doses (ie a couple of bites of chocolate) and be ok with that (as well as keep breakouts to a minimum?) As is the theme here “Stay strong”
DUDE. ShUt up. Why have I not thought of this?! I am obsessed with cucumber and have had it in my fridge since I discovered it in July! I need to make the ice cubes- SUCH a brilliant idea!
Have you tried adding DILL to cucumber water? DO IT.
I haven’t done dill! Great idea- thank you!