Monday, September 26, 2011

Powdered Lemonade Mix

My husband loves zero calorie bottled drinks.   First, we made the switch to powdered drink mixes, like Propel Zero and True Lemonade.  Then I thought there must be an even better and possibly cheaper way to do this without all the little packets.  Since this is an item that can’t be found in bulk, I thought I’d make some myself.  There are only two ingredients:  Truvia, and True Lemon Crystallized Lemon.  After some web searching and experimentation, I came up with this:  
You will need
1 3/4 tsp Truvia ($6.99 for 9.8 oz, or 59.25 tsp, $6.99/59.25 tsp = $.12 x 1.75 tsp = $.21)
3/4 tsp True Lemon ($19.99 for 10.7 oz, $19.99/95 3/4 tsp servings = $.21) 

Throw the powders in a pint glass.  Add ice and water, stir till dissolved.
I felt very proud, I thought it tasted fantastic… my husband didn’t like it.  Well, surely it was at least more economical, right? 
Try It:   
$.42 per glass
Buy It: 
Propel Zero $3.99 per box of 10 packets, or $.19 per glass (only 1/2 a packet used per glass)
Verdict: 
Buy it.  Sorry to say, but I just don’t think it’s worth it economically, and you’re stuck with two plastic containers with big plastic lids if you ever get to the bottom of either powder.

**added 9/28/11**
I just wanted to say that the love of powdered drinks is actually a love of bottled drinks in our house.  Our current solution to this issue is this:  We bought a six pack of Snapple (glass bottles), I drank the tea, then my husband regularly fills them with drink powder and water and keeps them in the fridge.  Now he gets to drink his bottled lemonade, and I get a load of plastic out of our fridge and off my mind. 

2 comments:

  1. This is a longer term project, but worth it. Next spring, buy a stevia plant if you can find it. I grow stevia and lemon balm and mint grows itself. Boil some water, throw in a bunch of leaves and steep like tea. You get what is essentially a sugary concentrate. A few stevia leaves go a really long way! If you squeeze in a fresh lemon or lime, you have lemonade with essentially no calories. (Throw the lemon in the jar, too.) A couple of tablespoons in a bottle of water is enough if you used a handful of stevia. I always have a jar of this concentrate in the fridge--at least until the first freeze.

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