Every time I find something new I’m not sure how I lived so long without it.
Last Summer I couldn’t get enough of elderflower drinks. A friend made this awesome recipe I’m about to share a few weeks back and I had to recreate it. It also was the perfect excuse to use my SodaStream and silicone ice cube trays. Why did we settle for plastic, rectangular ice cube trays for so long?
This cocktail is the perfect balance between sour citrus and sweet elderflower liqueur. It’s a great introduction if you haven’t tried it before. Using soda makes it even more Summery and refreshing.
Make sure not to shake the ingredients too vigorously or you’ll lose the carbonation. I used SodaStream’s diet grapefruit soda for this. If you don’t have that, you can opt for Fresca or a different brand.
The Elderflower Fizz
Prep time: 2 minutes
Cook time: 0 minutes
Ingredients(Makes 2 drinks):
Method:
-
Mix the vodka, elderflower liqueur, soda, and juice delicately in a cocktail shaker.
-
Pour into two glasses over ice. Drink cold.
Sometimes when you try something new it takes a while to warm up to it. Other times it’s love at first sight. This was closer to love at first sip.
I’ve been to parties where people have SodaStreams but I’ve never owned one until SodaStream sent me their Source machine along with plenty of flavorings to review. I only drink soda usually when it’s with a cocktail but I’ll drink seltzer every day. If it wasn’t for seltzer I probably wouldn’t be half as hydrated.
By far my favorite advantage of using a SodaStream to make drinks is adjusting sweetness and flavor. I’ve always found most sodas too sweet, or sometimes you’ll get a pack of flavored seltzer and it tastes totally plain. You never have that problem when you’re making your own drink. They give you suggested portions of mix for each liter but I’ve been using 2/3rds of the suggested amount and it’s just the right sweetness.
For that reason I didn’t really like the caps or samplers that are designed to be just for a 1 Liter bottle but I could understand those being convenient for people who want to use just that amount or plan on using it on the go.
The MyWaters have been great for adding natural flavor without calories to seltzer. I could see myself going through a LOT of those tiny bottles. I’ve also been using them to make really simple vodka sodas that pack a lot of flavor. One of my favorite tricks is using frozen berries instead of ice cubes in clear drinks for extra flavor and extra color.
Berry Vodka Soda
Prep time: 2 minutes
Cook time: 0 minutes
Ingredients(Makes 1 drink):
Method:
-
Mix the club soda and vodka delicately in a cocktail shaker.
-
Pour over a handful of frozen berries in a short glass.
Of course there’s also a TON of flavors of soda for the SodaStream. I admit I’ve started drinking more of it since I got the machine. The diet orange mango and diet pink grapefruit are too good to pass up after dinner.
If you’re trying to have less sugar or less chemical sweeteners I still think this is a good product. Like I mentioned, I’ll usually use 2/3rds the amount of mix suggested to cut the sweetness and sugar. It’s especially useful when mixing cocktails with sweet liqueurs like this version of a blue whale.
Fizzy Blue Whale
Prep time: 2 minutes
Cook time: 0 minutes
Ingredients(Makes 1 drink):
Method:
-
Gently shake all of the ingredients together in a cocktail shaker.
-
Pour into old-fashioned glasses. Garnish with a fresh lemon wedge.
Of course another huge advantage of using a SodaStream has been reducing bottles and cans and saving money. I never have 1/2 a flat bottle of Coke or recycling building up. It’s also very easy to clean which I definitely appreciate.
Have you ever played around with a SodaStream before? What kind of fizzy cocktail recipes would you want to try?
Saturday I didn’t want to get out of bed in the morning, because I knew I had to at least attempt a long run even after a less-than-stellar week of running. The plan was to shoot for 14 miles and—if I made it—continue marathon training for a week, and if not accept that I should drop down to the half-marathon. Unfortunately(fortunately?), I did make it. It was long; it was hard(TWSS). But somehow I pushed my tired bones along 14 miles in 2:18:17. I can only assume that my stellar diet is to thank.
Every time I workout, whether it’s running or going to the gym—no matter how long—, I need something sweet to get me out the door. It doesn’t matter if it’s 7am or 3pm. And I’m fine without coffee, but without sweets? Keep dreamin’. I recommend double chocolate oh baby bars.
After finishing 14 miles, I stopped and waddled(think John Wayne in a Western only painful and without the chaps) into my home, took a few swigs of water and then went for a sports drink:
Gatorade, soda—it’s all sugar anyway so what’s the difference? Besides, this drink tells me I’m a grown-up whereas the other one only makes me worried I’m going to sweat purple, so this seemed like the better choice.
It didn’t last long.
And then of course there’s the importance of vegetables…
Spinach on one leg and broccoli on the other, because variety is important in your diet. I’ve also learned that small vegetables like peas and corn are good, whereas clunky ones like green beans are not. These are really just a starter until I give in and finally go to take a cold shower, which by the way are as awful as they sound and never get easier no matter how many you do.
And that’s how I would eat differently on a day that I run 14 miles. I would also eat in bed, where I would watch 27 Dresses and do some reading for 8 hours because the thought of walking anywhere is not appealing. Marathoning is the sport of masochists.
