Homemade Ginger Ale Is So Cheap, Easy, and Amazingly Delicious

I have always been a ginger ale fan.  What I didn't know, is there was very little ginger in any of the store bought ones.

Being a crafter (not a fantastic one) and a Do it yourself-er, I looked for recipes online. I was amazed by how many there are! I tried a few and decided to take components of a few, plus my own added touches to "create" my own. First you will make a syrup.

Now, I do not follow a strict recipe; I rarely do! But here is a really good idea of what I do:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped fresh ginger
• 4 cups Water
• 1/2 Cup lemon juice
• 2 cups sugar ( for this I mix regular with brown sugar equally) You could use date sugar, coconut sugar, any kind you like to your taste
• 1/2 T  Red Crushed Pepper Flakes

Directions:

• In a saucepan, bring to a boil all ingredients.  
• Let boil, stirring often, for about 5 minutes.
• Reduce heat and simmer covered for another 20-30 minutes. You really want to get all of that ginger out of the root!
• After simmering is done, strain the mixture into jars (I love mason jars for this). It should yield about 5 cups.

This is your syrup. The next step is to mix with seltzer.  I have a Soda Stream, so I fizz up my water and fill the rest of the bottle with my syrup. And I am done!

Without the Soda Stream, you can use bottled seltzer. To make one glass, mix in a ratio of 5 parts seltzer to one part syrup.  You can customize the ratio to your liking.

Sit back and enjoy this healthy, crisp treat!

I Just Bought An Aquazinger From Zing Anything!

I am a Pinterest addict! And for months I have been seeing all kinds of pins featuring fruit infused water recipes.  Intrigued, yes? But have I MADE any? Nope not one single recipe!

Now I know the benefits and all that jazz. And I agree. It is a great way to encourage yourself to drink more water while adding some additional benefit of the fruit. All I could imagine is how, well, watered-down it would taste. I just do not do too well with that "essence" of a fruit thing.

The other day, I bit the bullet and bought an Aquazinger. I have been using it for a couple days, and yes my water intake is sooooo much better. My problem? The watered down taste, just as I suspected. 

For now, I am adding a little sugar and loving it. My goal is to be sugar free by the time Summer comes.

So far I have only used clementines and I do have a grapefruit to use.  What fruit combos are your favorites? And how do you adjust to the hint of flavor?