44 replies to this topic

[alternativista]

Drink Recipe thread:

Teas, milk substitutes, zero caffeine coffee substitutes and all kinds of alternatives to cocktail mixers.

Please post any low/no sugar recipes for healthy, hopefully antioxident and nutrient rich drinks.

Please, Do SCROLL DOWN. The first several posts do tend to be about cocktail mixers, but there are other, excellent anti-oxidant rich drinks for your daily diet.

Ginger Beer/Ale -

Used so much in bar drinks. Make your own so you can indulge a little.

This recipe of course, calls for sugar. You will want to use a substitute and use it to taste and according to the directions for using that substitute in place of sugar in recipes. Hopefully your tastebuds are adapting to your better diet and you no longer like things to be as nauseatingly sweet as most commercial products.

2 Cup cold water
1 Cup lime juice
4 tsp fresh ginger - mince or grate
3/4 Cup superfine sugar or substitute of course, use to taste
3 Cups sparkling water or seltzer water

Process water, lime juice and ginger in blender

Strain through cheesecloth into pitcher

Stir in sweetener to dissolve, add sparkling water.

If you like it, it might be worth getting a seltzer maker so you can make the seltzer water from your own filtered water.

Edited by alternativista, 11 October 2011 - 11:47 AM.

[alternativista]

Simple syrup recipes

This is something used in many mixed drinks to sweeten. It's just water and table sugar, in more or less one-to-one amounts, heated to boiling to dissolve and separate the sugar's two bonded sugars making it taste sweeter than just sugar. So by making simple syrup, you end up using less sugar in your drinks, and on top of that, hopefully you use a very small amount of syrup. Or try a substitute.

Simple syrup from fresh stevia leaves:
Add a cup of warm water to 1/4 cup of fresh, finely-crushed stevia leaves. This mixture should set for 24 hours and then be refrigerated. It works perfectly for sweetening beverages.

I've also always thought you could just crush stevia leaves along with the mint in drinks like mojitos, making them more acne friendly.

I thought I was going to post splenda and other sugar substitute recipes, but apparently there's no advantage to heating them and they dissolve well anyway, plus already taste a whole lot sweeter than sugar I don't care what they say about using them one to one in place of sugar, so you might as well just use them straight.

I did find this post in a forum in which a woman claims she does make splenda simple syrup and am pasting it because she named several ideas for flavorings.


QUOTE
My husband is diabetic and we love the Davinci syrups. Unfortunately the selection in our area is very limited so I've taken to making my own. It is very quick and easy to do.


Simply boil 1 cup of water in the microwave and then stir in 3/4 to 1 cup of splenda granular and voila, syrup!

For citrus flavors I grate the peel of one fruit (lime, lemon, grapefruit, orange, etc) and add it to the water BEFORE I microwave it and then I add the splenda and the juice of the grated fruit to the boiled water/peel mixture. Once its cooled I strain it into a container and store it in the fridge. This also works great with fresh ginger root! Once it's cooled we mix it with sparkling water for homemade ginger ale. Its also delicious in tea.

I use food extracts for other flavors (i.e., vanilla, almond, etc) and add the extract after the water/splenda syrup has cooled and skip the straining step.

We use the flavored syrups for coffee, tea, smoothies and italian sodas. To be honest they're much stronger and more flavorful than the bottled type and I can make any combiniation I like.


Honey Syrup:
Dilute 1/3 cup honey in 1 cup very hot water and set aside to cool. (but this is not an indorsement or an indication that honey or agave nectar are better than sugar. Agave is certainly not, honey has it's benefits, but it will still impact your blood sugar)

Edited by alternativista, 11 October 2011 - 11:48 AM.

[alternativista]

Chia Milk Recipe - Chia is a seed from the salvia plant common in Mexico and used by the MesoAmericans i.e. the Aztecs. It's high in Omega 3s, Magnesium, and Calcium. You can also make Chia Fresca, a Mexican drink. And it thickens, so add it to smoothies and other drink recipe experiments that are turn out too thin.

http://www.acne.org/messageboard/Chia-Seed...46#entry2183846

Edited by alternativista, 23 August 2010 - 09:07 PM.

[alternativista]

Blackberry liqueur

Not trying to encourage alcoholism, but it's a recipe I just came across that sounds good. And if you make it yourself, you can control the sugar in your drinks. Which is why I thought we needed the simple syrup recipes.

Place 3 cups berries in glass container with tight lid, add zest from one lemon, mash with wooden spoon. Add one 750-ml bottle vodka, stir. Seal jar and place in cool dark place for 2 weeks, swirling occasionally. Add 1 3/4 Cup simple syrup. Stir and reseal. Let sit for 2 more weeks. Strain through 2 layers of cheesecloth into pitcher, strain again with new cheesecloth into bottles or jars. Makes 3 1/4 pints.

Note on lemon peel/zest. Be sure to wash, and ideally use an organic lemon. If you don't have a zester or microplaner, you can also use a vegetable peeler to cut strips of peel, then scrape off and discard the white pith. Also, lemons come in a pretty big variety of sizes. I'd say you want a smallish one. More lemon flavor will just make you want more sugar.

Edited by alternativista, 08 September 2009 - 04:35 PM.

[I'mHeather]

Almond Milk:
1 cup finely chopped almonds, 1 tbsp finely chopped dates, 1 tbsp flax seeds, 1 inch piece of vanilla bean, 2 cups just-boiled water (boiled water should not be boiling when added).
Combine ingredients in a clean jar with lid. Shake well, cool, blend using a blener or food processor and use immediately or return to the jar and place in refrigerator for up to 2-3 days.
Cononut/Carob Milk:
Use fresh coconut and shred it if possible. If not available use unsweetened dried type. Coconut is naturally sweet so when blended with carob, it's even sweeter.
In a blender or food processor, combine 1/2 cup shredded fresh coconut or 1/3 cup shredded dried, 3 tbsp powdered carob (optional), 1 inch peice vanilla bean and 1/2 cup just-boiled water. Cool and process until smooth. Use immediately or store in refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Apricot Milk:
Use organic dried apricots if possible.
In a blender or food processor, combine 1/4 cup chopped dried apricots, 1 inch piece vanilla bean and 1/2 cup just boiled water. Cool and process until smooth. Refrigerate for up to one week.

[alternativista]

This recipe is part of the Flat Belly diet. It's delicious and has good stuff in it. Anti-inflammatory and good for digestion. Meant to reduce bloating.

Sassy Water
2 liters water (about 8 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 medium cucumber. peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium lemon thinly sliced
12 small spearmint leaves

Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher and let flavors blend overnight.

Edited by alternativista, 02 January 2011 - 09:59 AM.

[meat_pirate86]

Mojito

2 cups Sparkling water
tsp. lime juice
tsp. lemon juice
fresh mint leaves, crushed and torn with fingers
stevia to taste

add ice and stir, serves two small glasses or one tall glass of summer refreshment!

Blueberry juice

1/3 cup frozen blueberries
tablespoon water
1 cup ice cubes
stevia
vanilla
sliced strawberries

boil the blueberries with a tablespoon of water. Strain. Add ice cubes. Stir in vanilla and stevia. Add a couple sliced strawberries for garnish. Use a straw! Freeze again to make popsicles.


Nourishing Cream

1 container heavy whipping cream
2 egg yolks
splash of goat's milk

seperate and break the egg yolks. fold into the cream, add a touch of goat milk. Stir. Place in container and use with fresh fruit for breakfast during the week. Have some with dark chocolate and strawberries for desert once or twice a week.

[EddieE]

Mojito

2 cups Sparkling water
tsp. lime juice
tsp. lemon juice
fresh mint leaves, crushed and torn with fingers
stevia to taste

add ice and stir, serves two small glasses or one tall glass of summer refreshment!

Blueberry juice

1/3 cup frozen blueberries
tablespoon water
1 cup ice cubes
stevia
vanilla
sliced strawberries

boil the blueberries with a tablespoon of water. Strain. Add ice cubes. Stir in vanilla and stevia. Add a couple sliced strawberries for garnish. Use a straw! Freeze again to make popsicles.


Nourishing Cream

1 container heavy whipping cream
2 egg yolks
splash of goat's milk

seperate and break the egg yolks. fold into the cream, add a touch of goat milk. Stir. Place in container and use with fresh fruit for breakfast during the week. Have some with dark chocolate and strawberries for desert once or twice a week.

The blueberries juice seems good
going to give it a try some day.

[alternativista]

I made the above sassy water recipe last night and am having some right now. It's really delicious. I'm surprised you can really taste the cucumber. I think you should muddle the mint leaves though. That's bartender speak for crushing, but they have specific tool for it called a muddler.

And I don't think it would hurt to add even more ginger. It's very anti-inflammatory and good for digestion. And I think circulation. Anyway, it's a good thing.

Also, cucumbers really need to be organic, so you might also make it without cucumber. It's still delicious. And on the other hand, cucumber water is also delicious.

Edit to add: I make this all the time, and usually with just half a lemon, with or without cucumber but never with a whole half a cucumber, usually with only a couple of small sprigs for mint from my plant and one mint tea bag. It's delicious anyway I do it. And since I drink the whole thing nearly every day, it would be expensive to put a whole organic lemon, cucumber and that much mint.

Edited by alternativista, 06 July 2010 - 11:04 AM.

[alternativista]

From a stevia site:

Ginger ale

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup peeled and chopped ginger root
2 TBS vanilla
1 TBS lemon extract
1/4 tsp stevia concentrate powder
Carbonated or sparkling water

How to Prepare:
Rapidly boil ginger root in water for 10 minutes. Strain and place liquid in a jar. Stir in vanilla, lemon and stevia. Cool and store in the refrigerator.

Root Beer

Ingredients:
3 TBS sarsaparilla root
1 TBS licorice root
1 quart water
1/2 tsp stevia concentrate powder
2 quarts carbonated water

How to Prepare:
Simmer sarsaparilla and licorice root in the quart of water for 45 minutes, do not boil. Add stevia in the last 10 minutes. Strain and return the liquid to the stove, simmer until reduced to half the quantity. Remove from heat, strain in cheesecloth and chill. Combine 10-12 oz carbonated water to 2 oz of rootbeer concentrate. Add more stevia if required.

[meat_pirate86]

From a stevia site:

Ginger ale

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup peeled and chopped ginger root
2 TBS vanilla
1 TBS lemon extract
1/4 tsp stevia concentrate powder
Carbonated or sparkling water

How to Prepare:
Rapidly boil ginger root in water for 10 minutes. Strain and place liquid in a jar. Stir in vanilla, lemon and stevia. Cool and store in the refrigerator.

Root Beer

Ingredients:
3 TBS sarsaparilla root
1 TBS licorice root
1 quart water
1/2 tsp stevia concentrate powder
2 quarts carbonated water

How to Prepare:
Simmer sarsaparilla and licorice root in the quart of water for 45 minutes, do not boil. Add stevia in the last 10 minutes. Strain and return the liquid to the stove, simmer until reduced to half the quantity. Remove from heat, strain in cheesecloth and chill. Combine 10-12 oz carbonated water to 2 oz of rootbeer concentrate. Add more stevia if required.

WOW. These sound delicious. I've been wanting an alternative to my mojito for this summer. I bought a fancy little tray/glass/pitches set at a yard sale. *sigh* I love yard sales!

[alternativista]

Caffeine-free Coffee substitutes and other warm drink suggestions

http://www.acne.org/messageboard/Warm-wint...st-t181740.html

Edited by alternativista, 02 January 2011 - 10:00 AM.

[alternativista]

Frozen drinks can be made in an ice cream maker! There was a segment on the Today show the other day about using appliances for other things. They also made brownies and hash browns in the waffle maker and roasted green coffee beans in a popcorn popper.

So anyway, if you are into frozen drinks, don't waste money on a frozen drink machine. Get an ice cream maker so you can also use it to make sugar free ice cream and ice cream like treats. See recipes in the dessert and other recipe threads.

Edited by alternativista, 08 September 2009 - 04:37 PM.

[Pimple Princess]

Thanks for posting these Some sound really good

[alternativista]

Another almond milk recipe from whfoods.org:

An alternative to prepackaged, processed almond milk products, of course, is homemade almond milk. Here is a recipe for homemade almond milk that I created for The World's Healthiest Foods: Essential Guide for the Healthiest Way of Eating, which is featured on page 537.

* 1 cup almonds, soaked overnight
* 3 pitted dates
* Pinch of salt
* 3 cups water

1. Combine almonds, pitted dates, salt, and water in a blender and blend on high for two minutes.

2. Strain through a cheesecloth-lined strainer into a large measuring cup or bowl. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Sounds awfully sweet to me though. I'd try fewer dates.

[meat_pirate86]

Another almond milk recipe from whfoods.org:

An alternative to prepackaged, processed almond milk products, of course, is homemade almond milk. Here is a recipe for homemade almond milk that I created for The World's Healthiest Foods: Essential Guide for the Healthiest Way of Eating, which is featured on page 537.

* 1 cup almonds, soaked overnight
* 3 pitted dates
* Pinch of salt
* 3 cups water

1. Combine almonds, pitted dates, salt, and water in a blender and blend on high for two minutes.

2. Strain through a cheesecloth-lined strainer into a large measuring cup or bowl. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Sounds awfully sweet to me though. I'd try fewer dates.

Agreed. You can also use stevia in place of dates and omit the salt!

I've been making home-made almond butter, which costs a fortune at the store!

I usually blend about a 1/2 cup of soaked and de-skinned almonds with an equal amount of olive oil until smooth. Keeps for a while and it's a great salad dressing or dip if you can't tolerate dairy. Thickens soups and smoothies really well too. Stir in a teaspoon of softened butter to make a spread.

[forever16]

If your looking for substitutes or healthy recipes check this site out->

http://my4everrecipes.weebly.com/

[rakbs]

I usually blend about a 1/2 cup of soaked and de-skinned almonds with an equal amount of olive oil until smooth. Keeps for a while and it's a great salad dressing or dip if you can't tolerate dairy. Thickens soups and smoothies really well too. Stir in a teaspoon of softened butter to make a spread.

Does it taste good with the olive oil?

I always thought you needed a food processor to make nut butter, but if not, I'm going try this tonight maybe...

[meat_pirate86]

I usually blend about a 1/2 cup of soaked and de-skinned almonds with an equal amount of olive oil until smooth. Keeps for a while and it's a great salad dressing or dip if you can't tolerate dairy. Thickens soups and smoothies really well too. Stir in a teaspoon of softened butter to make a spread.

Does it taste good with the olive oil?

I always thought you needed a food processor to make nut butter, but if not, I'm going try this tonight maybe...

This tastes great with olive oil, even with a strong-flavoured one in the recipe because I wanted to use it up. The key was to blend the mixture long enough into a very thin consistency. The nuts mask the peppery EVOO taste.

You can keep the mixture runny and add a teaspoon to salad dressings or drizzle over steamed veggies. Add clarified butter and salt for a true nut butter.

[alternativista]

'nother almond milk recipe. From someone on treehugger.com

Organic Vanilla Almond Milk

1 cup raw almonds
4 cups filtered water
Pinch of sea salt
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp raw honey

Method

1. Soak the nuts in water for 12 hours. You should rinse and drain the nuts at least once during this period.

2. Combine the nuts with the filtered water in a blender. Break all the nuts down but don't let the blender heat the mixture.

3. Strain the mixture through the nut bag. Add sea salt, raw honey, and vanilla extract and mix thoroughly.

4. The milk should keep for about five days.