Low calorie/kilojoule drinks

HI,

Thanks from me too, I am going to paste them into my little file and remember them for summer.

The mint sounds fantastic.

Cheers Gail.

Thanx....the mint cooler sounds nice

There are times when water will just not do for a cold drink. With spring now a reality I thought I'd list some of my favourites.

Iced Tea

This has my dietitians seal of approval, even though it contains real sugar the quantities are low enough to count as low joule. You could replace the sugar with sweetener though if preferred.

Make a big pot of tea. Fruit teas are really good for this (i.e. black tea with added fruit rather than tisanes). Leave to brew for a long time until quite strong.

While tea is brewing, in a 3 litre jug places 2 tablespoons of sugar. Add a little boiling water and stir until dissolved. Leave to cool slightly and then half fill jug with ice (being careful to ensure none of the hot water splashes up and burns you). When tea is brewed pour on top of ice. Stir well and top up with ice if required.

Keep refrigerated. Tastes best if drunk on day made or day after making.

Lemon Barley Water.

Again this contains small amounts of sugar. Either make as is or replace sugar with sweetener, but don't increase the amount of sugar. The recipe makes 1 litre, but you then dilute it down to taste with either plain or soda water - 50/50 is a good starter but adjust to taste.

Put 100 grams pearl barley in a sieve and pour a full jug of boiling water over the barley
Place barley in a saucepan with 1 litre of water and the peel from 1 lemon.

Boil for 20 minutes and strain off and retain the liquid. The barley is now cooked and can be used elsewhere (its surprisingly nice with chilli). Place liquid back in jug and add the juice of the lemon and 2 tablespoons sugar. Stir till dissolved.

If you want to drink straight away then I see no reason not to add equal amounts of ice like with iced tea. Best drunk within 24 hours. Try freezing into ice cubes and drinking mixed with water.

Mint Cooler

I was given this recipe by one of my GPs many years ago. Its supposed to be good to soothing allergies.

I've also made it with some lime cordial or the juice of a lemon or lime.

Fill a tumbler with 2-3 stems of fresh mint. Top up with soda water and add a couple of drops of angostura bitters. Stir and drink immediately.