Did you know that February is Children’s Dental Month? BRITA has teamed up with children’s nutritionist, Jenny Edelstein to create three healthier alternatives to children’s much-loved drinks. This half term we have being trying them all out, they are great fun to make together, and we will be sharing these recipes with you today. They are alternatives to fizzy pop, squash and a milkshakes.
Water is the main drink I offer the children, but I would be lying if I said it was the only thing that they drank, and as a treat they do occasionally drink sugary or fizzy drinks. So any help with encouraging them to choose healthier and more natural alternatives is very welcome. We also hadn’t tried a BRITA water filter before, but once we set it up, its been such a convenient way of having fresh filtered water available for the girls throughout the day. This was especially true for my eldest (12) who drinks a lot of water throughout the day.
First up we tried an alternative to squash : Tropical Agua Fresca with Jewelled Ice (Healthy and Fun)
Jenny says : “Agua frescas are fruity but refreshing flavoured waters popular in Mexico. Served ice-cold, agua frescas are thirst quenching with a hint of sweetness. This version is made with coconut water, rich in potassium,
calcium and magnesium. To keep the drink fresh and tooth-friendly, the fruit is used to infuse the water, and jewelled fruit ice cubes makes the drink look exciting for children.”
Ingredients:
- 100 ml BRITA filtered water
- 20 pomegranate seeds
- 10 blueberries
- 400ml coconut water
- 1 lime, washed and quartered
- ½ orange, washed and
roughly chopped - 50 g chopped fresh mango
- 2 tablespoons honey
Method :
First, make the fruit ‘bejewelled’ ice cubes. This was Miss A’s job, and we will definitely continue doing this for our drinks now. You simply place the pomegranate seeds and blueberries in an empty ice-cube tray, fill with BRITA filtered water and freeze. They loved eating the remaining fruit at the end of the drink, as did I.
To make the agua fresca, place the lime, orange, mango and honey in a large jug and bash well with a wooden spoon to blend and release the juices. A great job to do to get your pent-up half term aggression out!
Add the coconut water and stir well.
When ready to serve, strain the agua fresca into two glasses and add the bejewelled BRITA fruit ice cubes.
Serves: 2
Nutritional information per serving: 98 cals, 0.1g fat (0 sat fats), 0.3g
protein, 25.3g carbs (23.4g sugars*)*22g sugar from natural sources
Everyone loved this drink, it was tasty, but felt healthy too as it wasn’t very sweet, I think the ice cubes were a brilliant idea. This one is going to be perfect once the weather gets a little warmer!
Next up : Berry Fizz (Refreshing)
I am looking for an alternative to fizzy drinks, so was particularly interested in this one.
Here is what Jenny says :
“Not all fizzy drinks have to be unhealthy! This one is packed with flavour, but without all of the sugar in branded soda. The raspberries in this Berry Fizz are rich in antioxidants and vitamin C, and the drink is sweetened just with a little maple syrup.”
Ingredients
- 2 teabags of berry flavoured tea ( I use raspberry and strawberry)
- 200 ml BRITA filtered water
- 70g raspberries, rinsed
- 50 ml maple syrup (using up the pancake toppings)
- 200 ml soda water
Method
Boil the BRITA filtered water, and use it to steep the teabags in a pan on the hob.
After steeping for 15 minutes, remove the teabags and add the raspberries and maple syrup. Bring to the boil then simmer for 10 minutes stirring regularly.
Strain this mixture in a mesh sieve, cool and refrigerate until you are ready to use.
To serve, divide the raspberry syrup into two glasses. Then top up each glass with soda water.
Serves: 2
Nutritional information per serving: 91 cals, 0.1g fat (0g sat fats), 0.3g
protein, 22g carbs (22g sugars)*22g sugar from natural sources
This was my favourite, but then I am really into flavoured teas. It again didn’t taste overly sweet and was very refreshing.
Finally everyone’s favourite of the three drinks:
Chocolate Coconut Milkshake (So Yummy)
Jenny describes “This thick and creamy milkshake is made with coconut milk, which contains healthy fats and provides a great alternative to cow’s milk. The milkshake’s sweet taste comes not from refined sugar, but from dates and bananas, which are alkaline and pose no issue to teeth. With the cashew butter providing protein, this milkshake really has it all.”
Ingredients
- 150 ml coconut milk
- 150 ml filtered water
- 2 medium frozen bananas (peel and slice the bananas before freezing)
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon cashew butter
Method
I would say only make this one if you have a powerful blender. It’s so quick and simple to make, and without doubt tastes amazing! It actually was so good, I’ve had to make a few batches of it, for friends who came to visit too, as well as family…a big hit!
Everything needs to go in the blender except the BRITA filtered water. You need to blitz on pulse until it is smooth.
Very gradually add the BRITA filtered water until it’s at the consistency you need, I think we used 150 ml. Serve in small glasses with a straw or alternatively if you are my daughter, drink it straight from the glass, as that creates the most epic moustache!
Serves: 4
Nutritional information per serving: 134 cals, 7.7g fat (5.6g sat fats), 1.8 g
protein, 26.6g carbs (9.65g sugars)*Fat from: 6g from coconut milk, 0.15g
from bananas, 0.55g from cocoa, 1g from cashew butter
We loved these healthy alternatives to squash fizzy drinks and milkshakes, I would love to know if you have tried them too.
I love the sound of these drinks. We don’t have many fizzy drinks, so its good to have a few different options to offer to add variety. Pinning these. Thanks for sharing.
That chocolate coconut milkshake looks so nice, we will be trying this out at the weekend.