64 ounces....Are you kidding me?

I'm a water drinker... no ice, no lemon.  So, you're supposed to drink 2 ounces of water for every pound you weigh (the non-mathematically inclined just suggest 64 ounces).  That is a lot of water!  My kids aren't big water fans.  In addition, I try to watch their sugar intake, so they don't really drink juice, we don't have pop in the house and that certainly eliminates kool-aid.  We also avoid artificial sweeteners, so what are the options?  I have found some fun alternatives to water boredom and the kids LOVE them!  Our first experiment was with Root Beer flavored stevia.  Stevia is a natural sweetener extracted from the leaves of the stevia plant.  It is WAY sweeter than sugar, so you use very little of it.  It can have a bitter taste if you use too much. SweetLeaf brand has flavored liquid stevia sold in dropper bottles.  We have Chocolate, English Toffee, Vanilla Creme and now Root Beer.  The kids love the Root beer with some of the Vanilla creme (12 drops root beer, 4 drops vanilla for a 12 ounce cup of water).  In fact, they brought it in their water bottle to school the first time they tried it and were talking about how their water tasted like a root beer float.  Their friends thought they were crazy, so I had to send taster cups with them the next day for them to try!  We use the chocolate in coffee, tea, and oatmeal, the vanilla and english tofee with cottage cheese and fruit, or mixed with fruit for a pancake topping. 

After that was a success, I found Stevita brand had powdered, flavored stevia, so I bought: cherry, lime and grape.  It tastes like kool-aid without the super sweetness.  We're enjoying cherry limeades often these days.  I get both of the stevia products at vitacost.com, which offer it cheaper than the health food stores that sell it. 

I've gotten Donnie hooked on it now for his coffee.  It started with him discreetly carrying around a small dropper of plain liquid stevia.  It was a bit bitter for his taste alone, so he would still add some sugar to balance the flavor.  It was great for reducing the amount of sugar he put in it (a ton!).  Now, I have him using Xylitol in place of the sugar (another healthier option, also at vitacost.com) and he started using the chocolate stevia instead of the plain.  So, he looks like a real food snob when he dresses up his coffee, pulling dropper bottles and shakers out of his backpack.  I will admit that I've brought some along in my purse to jazz up the water at restaurants, too!  Both brands have a bunch of other flavors that I look forward to experimenting with.   Endless possibilities!!