Fancy Ginger & Blueberry Bellini – Healthy Cocktail #3

Posted on February 7, 2010 | Leave a comment

Brief: A quick and easy, low-calories cocktail that looks like it would cost $8.00 at a restaurant but really is pretty cheap to make.

Makes: 5 cocktails

ginger, you are one hot tuber

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons minced ginger
  • 1 cup fresh whole blueberries
  • 2 tablespoons of honey (sub w/ 1 tablespoon sugar if needed)
  • 1/2 oz lemon juice (fresh squeezed – 1 lemon)
  • 2 1/2 cups of blueberry juice (recommend Just Blueberry from Trader Joe’s – no added sugars, flavors, etc.)
  • 1 bottle dry sparkling white wine (or Vodka is a great sub)

Directions

  1. mash the blueberries, minced ginger, honey, and lemon juice together
  2. add blueberry juice and ice (if the juice is cold enough, it’s OK with out ice).
  3. mix and let sit for 5-10 minutes
  4. strain the juice and pour 3 or 4 ounces into champagne glasses (the glass should be about 1/3 full)
  5. top it off with the dry sparkling white wine
  6. if you’re fancy, add some blueberries in. they’ll float!

This is a good option for a dinner party. The drier the sparking white wine, the lower the calories. Dry white wine, in general, is one of the lowest calorie drink options (around 60 calories a serving). Vodka actually makes a great substitute for the wine if you’re looking for more of a kick; serve it martini-style.

Again, I use the Trader Joe’s pure blueberry juice because it doesn’t have gross additives that inflate the calories and make you feel worse in the morning (not to mention, just more natural).

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Cranberry & Blueberry Martini – Healthy Cocktail #2

Posted on January 29, 2010 | Leave a comment

Brief: a strong antioxidant-rich martini combining blueberries and cranberry juice. It tastes GREAT and won’t punch you in the head upon awakening.

Makes: 2 cocktails

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup fresh whole blueberries
  • 4 oz cranberry juice (trader joe’s pure cranberry is best & healthiest!)
  • 1/2 oz lemon juice (fresh squeezed – 1 lemon)
  • 3 oz gin
  • 1 cup ice
  • 1/2 oz of honey

Directions

  1. in a cocktail shaker, add all ingredients except ice
  2. shake it up (feel free to smush up the blueberries for extra nutrients)
  3. add in ice and shake vigorously
  4. strain into martini glass (I don’t have martini glasses, so I just strained into normal cups with ice)
  5. if you’re fancy, garnish with toothpicked blueberries

Hope you like this; It’s one of my favorites. As per my usual preference, it’s a little on the bitter side because of the pure cranberry juice. If you’re a sugaraholic, feel free to add more honey (or use sugar).

Let me also stress that the Trader Joe’s pure juices are amazing for mixing and don’t have all the gross sweeteners added. They are pretty expensive (~$5), but a little goes a long way.

P.S. If you’re really feeling ambitious, combine the

fresh hand-picked blueberries from my garden (NOT)

blueberries and gin and let sit for a while (blueberry infused gin).

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Cucumber & Lemon – Healthy Cocktail #1

Posted on January 26, 2010 | 1 Comment

awkward cucumber

Brief: nutrient-packed, lower calorie, will treat you better the next morning, and will effectively mask the vodka taste. Cucumber drunk > gross sugary mixer drunk.

Makes: 2 cocktails

Ingredients

  • 1 cucumber
  • 6 oz water
  • 1-2 lemons (1 large or 2 small)
  • 3 oz vodka
  • ice
  • (optional: 1 tablespoon raw sugar or honey)

Directions

  1. peel cucumber if you don’t like the skin (but eat it if you can; it has a high concentration of nutrients)
  2. squeeze lemon juice into cup
  3. fill blender half way with ice.
  4. combine cucumber, water, lemon juice, vodka and ice in blender.
  5. blend until smooth.

I recommend blending everything together for the added cucumber nutrients, but you can also just slice the cucumber and serve it on the rocks. If you must have sugar, a good alternatives to normal sugar is honey raw sugar or raw sugar. Personally I like it bitter.

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Posted in Vodka

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