In this blog post I will be introducing not one, but two new blog categories. The first of which is “The … Challenge”. Bas (my fiancé) and I like to challenge ourselves. Setting out challenges for ourselves keep us growing and helps us to make more conscious choices about our lives. A lot of the things you do every day, you do only out of habit. Now habits aren’t bad, as long as they’re good habits. Thing that’ll make your life better somehow. However, a lot of our habits are not so good for us. We act in certain ways only because it’s socially accepted, and because we were taught so when we were younger.
Drinking soda is a good example. Everybody knows soda is bad for you, so why do so many people continue to hurt their bodies like that? Because it is socially accepted. “Everybody” drinks soda. We start drinking it when we are children, and that’s how we get used to extremely sweet flavors. As we get older our bodies will crave that sweetness, because it’s grown accustomed to it. This is why even light soda’s are bad for you. Your body thinks it’s getting sugar and will prepare for it. When it doesn’t get any actual sugar you will start to crave it, and most likely end up eating half the contents of cookie-jar.
Because drinking soda is so normal, most people won’t even question it. I think it’s good to question things in life. Questioning things will make you smarter and help you make conscious decisions about your life. This is why, last month, Bas and I decided to challenge ourselves. We wanted to find out if we could go a month without soda.
Our month is almost up and we did really good. We had some trouble at first, craving sweet drinks. But we managed to stay away from all soda’s and no longer crave it in any way. In fact, we may never drink soda again. I personally found drinking out the hardest. There are not many alternatives to soda to be found in bars. And drinking water gets boring after a few glasses. Coffee and tea are good substitutes when it’s not too hot outside, but in these summer months, we want something cool and refreshing. At home I have found the perfect solution, which brings me to the next blog category: “Make Your Own…”
In this post: Make Your Own Iced Tea
We all know water is the healthiest drink there is. We’re made of water and drinking plenty of it is essential for a healthy lifestyle. But water gets boring after a while, and we want to drink something more flavored. Iced tea seems like a great substitute, but whatever you do, don’t buy bottled iced tea if you want a healthy drink. Bottled iced teas are full of sugar and artificial flavoring. The same things usually goes for flavored mineral water. If you want to be sure if something is actually healthy, check the label. You’ll be surprised how many junk most seemingly healthy drinks contain. The most logical choice is to make your own drinks. I chose to make my own iced tea.
Now there’s a number or ways to make iced tea. Here’s how I make mine:
– Take a two liter bottle or jar (or two one liter jars, like I do).
– Add about half a cup of smooched fruits (I use strawberries) to the jar.
– Fill it up with water, but leave some room at the top.
– Add six teabags in whatever flavor you like. Try mixing different flavors to see what you like.
– Add some honey, sugar or sweetener if desired. (I add a very small amount of brown rock candy it the strawberries aren’t very sweet.)
– Fill up the rest of the bottle
-Leave in the fridge overnight
-In the morning sift out the strawberries and teabags and keep the iced tea in a jug in the fridge.
I make a fresh batch of iced tea everyday. My three year old stepson loves it, even though it’s not very sweet. It’ll take some getting used to if you usually drink super sweet sodas, but once you lose the sweet-tooth it’s actually a great drink.
Homemade iced tea isn’t just healthier than soda, it’s much cheaper too. You’re also going to create a lot less garbage. Even if you live in a country where there’s deposit on the plastic bottles, it’s still better not to buy them at all.
Over all, making your own iced tea will help your family drink more healthy, save you a ton of money and help the environment at the same time. Are you making your own iced tea? You can share tips, tricks and recipes in the comments below.
Enjoy your new drink!
Gree(n)tings,
Cyndi