I’m finally following up to my first food prep post!

Let’s discuss hydration!

I like to add ginger, cucumber, mint and lemon to my water. My current routine is waking up and drinking some mint or ginger water. I regularly prep water to take to work and it takes about 5-10 minutes each morning. I like to buy the cases of Smart Water at Costco’s and wash/reuse the bottles. I have several Nalgene bottles, but the Smart Water bottles are easy to fit in my bags and stuff.

Ginger Water: Each week I buy a large piece of ginger, peel it and then I chop into sticks or slice it (depends on the shape!). I fill up mason jars with distilled water and stick my ginger pieces in! I prep this on Sundays, as I wake up and drink a jar of water while I’m waking up, filling up the kettle for coffee and watching/listening to the weather. It’s good to drink at least 8 oz. of water when you wake up to get your insides moving (Google it, you’ll find it). I add ginger because it’s soothing to your stomach and I happen to like the taste. I have 5-6 jars in my fridge at a time. Ginger is best to prep like this in batches, as it keeps for a weeks time. I’ve never had an issue with ginger going bad in water.

Cucumber Water: I don’t always drink cucumber water, maybe a few times a week. This is a prep the night before kind of drink, as you don’t want the cucumber slices to get slimy. Slimy cucumbers are the worst! Cucumber water does taste refreshing and I guess it is fancy… it’s the only fancy appearance during my work day.

Mint Water: Again, this is a prep the night before drink. I will also prep these for 2 or 3 days in advance, but depending on the freshness of your mint leaves this can also go bad. Make sure to quickly rinse the leaves and stuff them into your water bottle or mason jar. They’re easy to get out of your water bottle: stick your pinky finger in to pull out leaves or put a little water in to swish around the leaves and dump them out. You’ll most likely have to repeat the second method a few times. Or use a mason jar, they’ll come right out. 

Lemon Water: Lemon water is great! And super easy to prepare a few days in advance or fresh each morning. I have a cute glass carafe I bought at Target that I like to use for lemon water. I prefer to put lemon water in a glass container, when I put it in plastic (reused water bottle or Nalgene) it builds up on the sides… what is it that builds up on the sides, anyone know? Either way, I can reuse my water bottles for a limited time before I notice a build up on the inside from the lemon. 

Not only are there health benefits to this, but it adds a nice touch to your beverage. Your not just grabbing a bottle of water for the day and commute, but you’re practicing good health habits. It always became a conversation starter for me when people saw ginger or mint floating around in my water bottle.

Here are some links to read:

4 Detox Ingredients You Need to Add to Your H2O

Martha Stewart Ginger Mint Water (she gets fancy with a mortar and pestle)

The Truth About Lemon Water

If You’re Not Putting Cucumber In Your Water, You’re Missing Out

These links aren’t necessarily scientific, but you can search and read all sorts of articles. I do use Pronamel to brush my teeth because of acidity from fruits, veggies, and lemon water.

Do you add fruit or herbs to your water? Do you make them each morning or have a built in prep time?