While there are many reasons not to indulge in alcohol for health and weight loss reasons… sometimes you just want to still kick back and enjoy a couple cocktails with friends and family. The summer months are filled with BBQ’s, outdoor events and friendly gatherings. You can still enjoy some tasty cocktails without totally blowing your health or weight loss goals. Try these Skinny Cocktails on for size.
Ginger Dark Cherry Champagne:
4 oz champagne
4 frozen dark cherries (you can drop these into the finer champagne or blend them with a little gin or vodka and 1 Ince cube to make a slush to add to the champagne)
1 tsp ginger juice (or 2 oz ginger beer – but this will add sugar)
2 tsp xylitol simple syrup**
Add ingredients to champagne glass and gently stir. Enjoy chilled.
Vodka Electrolyte Pink Lemonade:
2 oz vodka
6 oz lemon club soda
1 strawberry lemonade Nuun Tablet (electrolyte tablet)
Fresh lemon wedge, squeezed and dropped in
Optional basil or mint leaf
Add contents to glass over ice. Sip and enjoy!
Skinny Mojito:
6 oz lime club soda
2 oz vodka
4 leaves mint
1 Tbsp xylitol or xylitol syrup**
1/2 lime, squeezed
Muddle lime, mint and sweetener. Add in ice, club soda and vodka.
Acai Berry Cooler
1 packer Acai Berry Emergen-C packet
1 Tri Berry Nuun Tablet (electrolyte tablet) (Avoid hangovers by hydrating while drinking!)
2 oz Blueberry vodka
4 oz Berry club soda (or lime club soda)
Drop Nuun tablet into a glass. Pour in Emergen-C packet. Slowly add in club soda (careful it will fizz up quickly). Add in vodka and ice. Then stir. Enjoy!
Basil Daiquiri:
3 Basil Leaves
1-1/2 Vanilla Syrup Sugar Free
2 ounces Rum
1/4 Fresh Lime – Squeezed
Basil Leaf Garnish
Muddle three basil leaves with vanilla syrup and lime juice. Add rum and ice. Shake to blend and chill. Strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with remaining basil leaf.
**How to Make Xylitol Syrup:
Pour equal parts water and sugar in a saucepan. The sugar dissolves into the water, so 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water will not equal 2 cups of simple syrup. It’s more like 1 ½ cups simple syrup once dissolved. Adjust your measurements as needed. Heat the ingredients until dissolved. Stir the simple syrup and place the saucepan over medium heat. By the time the edges start to simmer, the liquid should be completely clear, not cloudy. Immediately remove from the heat source. Let cool and store in the fridge to use as needed.