Remove all sugary soft drinks, 100% fruit juices and alcohol from your weekly liquid consumption and that pretty much leaves you with ....filtered water. In fact right now, I'm not even drinking my beloved kombucha, but that's a whole other story for another day.
Needless to say, drinking plain water all day every day (and night) gets a little dull. Whilst I fully understand it's benefits and hold filtered water dear to my heart (you may have read my recent post How to water your body (and what happens if you don't) ), a girl (or boy) surely deserves to mix things up every now and then. So it was with absolute pleasure that I recently received a Sodastream machine and was able to start doing exactly that, spicing up my daily hydration with a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Early evening drinks with friends certainly looks a whole lot prettier (and more interesting) now.
I love getting creative in the kitchen and indeed that's what I've been doing. There's been sparkles a plenty; whizzing up concoctions to keep myself interested, better hydrated and 'rewarded' with special sparkling water combos to greet me at the end of each day. There is little doubt in my mind that this machine is also now increasing my daily water consumption.
Now before I go on to share my favourite sparkling water recipes, let me say this. I am not advocating that you swap your plain filtered water with sparkling water entirely. However, you and I know that few if any of us subside on plain water all day every day, nor do we want to.
In my opinion, sparkling water is a great alternative to those who consume sugary soda waters and cordials. It's a great alternative to those who are off the grog like me.
If it means the kids will be enthused at the idea of running home from school to have some fun with a Sodastream machine, well I'm all for it.
Another great bonus is the sheer convenience of a Sodastream machine. Within seconds I have sparkling water at my fingertips. Within minutes I can create one of the gorgeous recipes below as a friend arrives at my door. Quite simply, my Sodastream makes it easy (and more fun) to rehydrate.
A note on the below recipes. All recipes are designed to be super simple to make and very low or no sugar/sweetener; that's the way I prefer everything that I consume. So, if you need a little more sweetening, go for your life; up the quantities, just taste as you go.
Herewith my 6 healthy sparkling water recipes (all recipes serve 2)
Strawberry Delight
1 cup fresh strawberries
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1-2 heaped teaspoons coconut sugar (optional)
2 tablespoons boiling water
Whizz up the strawberries and lemon juice in a food processor. If your strawberries are not super sweet feel free to add the coconut sugar, disolved in the boiling water. Pour into a glass with ice, top with sparkling water and a sprig of mint.
Spicy Apple Chai
2 cups of brewed chai tea, chilled
1/2 apple, finely chopped
2 teaspoons honey (optional)
When your tea is brewing add the honey if you enjoy your tea sweet. Pour 1 cup of chai and apple into each glass, top with ice and sparkling water for fizz.
Kombucha Fizz
2 cups homemade kombucha, any flavour
Top 3/4-1 cup of your favourite homemade kombucha with sparkling water and ice.
Golden Turmeric Sparkles
5cm piece turmeric, peeled
5cm piece ginger, peeled
1/2 lemon
2 teaspoons raw honey, to taste
Cayenne pepper, to sprinkle
Juice the turmeric, ginger and lemon with peel (alternatively, peel the lemon and blend with turmeric and ginger, then strain). Stir through the honey. Pour a couple of tablespoons into a glass, add ice cubes and top with sparkling water. If you can cope with more kick, sprinkle some cayenne on top!
Pear and Rosemary Fizz
2 pears
2 large sprigs of rosemary
Juice the pears and pour into 2 glasses with ice. Top with sparkling water and a sprig of rosemary.
Pomegranate and Blueberry Infusion
1 cup Pomegranate (or cranberry) juice
1 cup coconut water
1 large handful blueberries
Freeze your pomegranate juice in ice cubes. Combine the blueberries and coconut water in ice cubes and freeze these too. Throw a handful of frozen cubes into the glasses and top with sparkling water. Sip away as the delightful infusion unfolds!
Don't forget, if you want to save these healthy sparkling water recipes for another day, pin them to your healthy drinks Pinterest board for use at a later date!
Please note: this is a sponsored post. Know that I only ever share products and services on this website that I believe will add value to the lives of this community.
