Cooking Baking Eating

Since giving up soda, I’ve been reduced to water and tea. There is only so much water or tea you can drink before you just become tired of it, even with all of the nifty flavored teas out there.

And now it seems I’ve given up caffeine too! Since being sick a while ago I haven’t still had caffeine, and now I really feel the effects of it whenever I try to drink it. This is especially hard when I have to get up at 3:00AM to go to work. That early and no legal chemical stimulants? People must think I’ve gone crazy!

Well, “gone” not really, I always was crazy.

So lately I’ve been drinking this unfiltered gala apple juice, trying to find something else besides water, but sadly its horribly sweet.

Gala apples by themselves are quite sweet so just having the juice without the “buffer” of fiber and skin, it is really incredibly sweet. There is no added sugar BUT it has 28 grams of natural sugar. That’s a lot of sugar! One big difference in drinking natural, unfiltered as opposed to the over processed stuff is the color. Unfiltered is darker, cloudy, and you can’t see through it. It has a similar color to an apple that has been cut open and left to sit out for a few minutes, just slightly brown. In contrast to the store bought type that is actually clear with a little bit of added color.

I love my unfiltered stuff. However, it still is too sweet.

So now I’ve taken to mixing it with some cranberry juice. REAL cranberry juice. If you’ve never had real cranberry juice you would be quite surprised at the taste. Tart, bitter, and it makes your mouth almost dry.

Can you see a theme here with the cranberry? YUM.

The apple juice cuts the tartness of the cranberry at least a little bit, making it a little easier to drink. Though I find myself almost craving that dark, bitter flavor that is still there with the mix. Even though I fill my glass most of the way with apple, the cranberry is still the dominant flavor, and color.

I still need something else to drink, and I do miss my morning tea. I guess I’ll just have to start looking more into herbals now.