You know you need it. You know it’s good for you. You also know it can help with weight loss. But sometimes it’s just hard to get that plain, old water down the hatch!
Well, you’re not alone. While some people seem to love their water and drink only that, the rest of us like variety – not to mention coffee. The good news is that you can makeover that water in different ways so that it goes down easily, and just makes it a bit more interesting.
Infusing 101
Infusing is basically soaking something so that the flavor is absorbed into the liquid. You use tea bags to infuse plain water with those flavors, and you can use vegetables, fruits and even herbs to do the same thing. The longer you let something soak in water, the stronger the flavor. So, while there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to infusing your water using these foods and herbs, the longer it sits the more you will taste that flavor you’ve added. Make a pitcher at a time, or just a glass at a time depending on your preferences.
Another perk of using fruits and veggies for infusing? You can use the rest as snacks for the week, or in your meals for some added green foods.
Common Infusions
- Lemon Slices – Slice up a fresh lemon, or cut into wedges. Drop into a glass or pitcher and serve immediately. Or let it sit a bit longer and let the lemon flavor become a bit stronger.
- Cucumber and Mint – Spas love to serve cucumber water! But you can also add some mint to give it even more flavor. If you’re just having a glass, add a few slices of cucumber and one to two sprigs of mint. Or you can do just cucumber or mint if you’d like.
- Citrus Infusion – Lemon isn’t the only option when it comes to citrus fruit infusions. You can do lime, orange, grapefruit or go crazy and put in a few slices of each into a pitcher.
Creative Concotions
The Wellness Mama has some great ideas for infusions on her site.
Here are some other good ones to try out:
- Citrus Blueberry – Pair slices of orange and fresh blueberries.
- Pineapple Mint – Mix slices of pineapple with fresh, muddled mint. Muddling an herb just means to break it up a bit by smashing it – think mortar and pestle. It helps to release the flavors in the herbs.
- Watermelon and Basil – Combine fresh chunks or slices of watermelon with muddled, fresh basil for added flavor.
- Strawberry Lemon – Slice your strawberries and lemons thinly and add for a refreshing twist.
- Cherry Lime – Wash and cut your cherries in half to release the juice into the water and cut those limes thin. Move over Koolaid!
Experiment Today!
The sky’s the limit when it comes to infusions. What fruits and veggies do you like? What fresh herbs or flavors do you enjoy?
Try some of these fruits: kiwi, mango, grapes, honeydew, cantaloupe, raspberries or blackberries.
Then add in some creative flavor: fresh ginger, jalapeno, star anise, thyme, or even rosemary.
You can also do more than just two flavors!
If you’re looking for more inspiration, try some of these combos from All Recipes:
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- Lemon and Thyme
- Cucumber, Lime, Strawberry, and Mint
- Orange, Star Anise, and Hibiscus
- Lime, Ginger Root, and Basil
- Lemon, Raspberry, and Rosemary
