I am trying to find alternative to koolaid and crystal light powdered drink mixes. I like making 2 qt and gallon pitchers of drinks but can't seem to find any powders that don't have lots of chemicals and aspertame in them. Anyone know of something I can try? I know the small stick packets for on the go water can be combined to make larger quantities but it seems really expensive to do it that way. I don't want to just give juice even though we water it down, I like drinking flavored water too but can't find what else there is out there. Even the health food store only carries small sticks.
thanks for help.
To get my son to water, I had to buy the stick packets to flavor it for him. I found a brand without aspertame in it. It said to mix with 8 or 12 oz. of water. I would mix one packet with a 2 quart pitcher of water instead and it still had a lot of flavor. Also, throw fresh fruit in a pitcher of water for flavor!
We add fruit juice to seltzer (carbonated water) as a treat for our son (my husband drinks it a lot too). Just a a couple tablespoons of juice to a glass of seltzer, or you can pour a cup out of the bottle and then add the juice to the bottle to taste.
We usually make fresh waters, just take your pitcher, mix water, sugar and limes together. You can also use cantaloupe or watermelon, just put the melon in the blender with a little water and pour through a strainer then add to the water with sugar.
we add a little fruit juice to sparkling mineral water (e.g. Crystal Geyser or the Trader Joe's brand version). Or if you add some frozen mixed berries to lemonade you get a great berry lemonade (I do this for my kids' b-day parties, the girls especially seem to love how the lemonade turns a pretty purply-pink color)
We drink Fresh & Easy fruit juice. Better than cool-aid!
my almost-4 year old drinks water and milk. any other drinks we have in the house (coffee, tea, crystal light) are "grown up" drinks and he doesn't miss them. my husband buys the occasional two liter of soda and has even let him taste it (grr!) but my son knows they're not for him. they're not necessary, and while i know i can't wait until he's an adult for him to have these things, at least at this age (don't know how old your kids are) he doesn't need them, and thankfully doesn't crave them or beg for them.
Water, it's the best thing for you. Try iced tea, you can use standard tea bags or try the herbal ones for something different. You can also try flavored seltzer.
Crystal Light has a new drink mix made with steevia. Great stuff. I highly recommend it!
Costco has some flavored waters right now that are simply carbonated water with natural flavors. Those are the ingredients. I like them, so do my kids. My husband....not so much.
When I was pregnant with our first, I started making decaffeinated tea (you can get Luzianne's family sized bags at Sam's Club). We try to keep a pitcher of that. I like to mix mine 75% tea to 25% Simply Lemonade. I'll also add a splash of lemonade to water.
Trader Joe's has liter sized carbonated waters for $0.69 that I like to have at work.
As a cancer survivor, I can appreciate being concerned about what you put into our bodies, but we really just don't understand enough. Aspertame is becoming less popular. Sucralose is Splenda and is becoming more popular in products - especially store brands. My Oncologist has not cautioned me away from any specific products - you would think that if anyone would make a bold statement it would be someone who sees cancer patients all day.
Good luck!
Whole Foods Market has these drink mix packets that are all natural and taste great. They are similar to the crystal lite drink mix packets that you see in the store but without all of the artificial colors and junk in them. If you go onto amazon.com and do a search of "nature's splash drink mixes", you'll be able to pull up the product and get more info on it.
Hope this helps.
I like the frozen concentrate as there are no chemicals or Aspartame. One of them makes 2 qts. They make Gatorade in powder form which you can use on the go or to make as much as you like.
add some fruit to your water: lemon, lime, orange slices. Ice cubes made w/ berries, grapes, etc. Make fruit purees & add to sparkling water for fresh juice drinks.
& honestly, the citrus slices work best-easiest-& cheapest!
