'Granite' Vitamin Water

Living in a super dry, desert-like, climate it is imperative for me to keep hydrated. A few weeks ago, my bestie S.K. shared a post, on Facebook, on home-made vitamin waters and I was hooked! Since I don't really drink much on my own, I thought this was a great idea! 

This is my first try using what I had in the fridge this week. I will be posting more, as I experiment, and give you my feedback on flavors. This recipe is called 'The Granite' the ingredients are Strawberries or Raspberries & lemon or lime. I had lime leftover (from a tex-mex night with friends) and my bff S.I. brought me organic strawberries, so I was set. 

Here are my mis en place: 8 cups of filtered water (better if you have a 10 cup pitcher) a few strawberries, one lime and several mint leaves (I wish I had more).

You can see that I chose the ugliest strawberries, since they will be soaked and look wilty anyhow ;)

I sliced the lime very thinly and dunked it in the H²O

Then I halved the strawberries and off they went into the pitcher too.

Then I added the finely chopped mint. The more the merrier ^__^

And this is what my pitcher of vitamin water looked like after being assembled. Unfortunately I don't have a nice clear pitcher, so I used my Pampered Chef batter bowl instead...but a pitcher would be much easier to pour from! Tjmaxx here I come ;)

The fruity water has to sit in the fridge overnight to soak up the flavor of the fruit.

This is what it looked like the next day...

...the water got a bit red once the flavor was extracted from the fruit. This is a glass view...

Conclusion: I loved this idea! I drank all of it in 2 days (which for me is astounding). The flavor of the lime is WAY too bitter for me! I don't usually buy limes, in fact, this was brought over by a friend and left in my fridge. I always prefer lemons, as they are much sweeter and I am more accustomed to the flavor. But since I never waist anything, I used this lonely lime instead ;)

To cut some of the bitterness I added a cup of water to the pitcher each time I poured me a cup. That way, I actually ended up watering it down to double it's original volume. It was a win-win for me, I did not have to make 2 pitchers, but in reality I did drink two! I really enjoyed the flavor of the water-soaked berries too, so I ate them. 

I will definitely make it again, using lemons instead of limes, and I may try raspberries (if I can ever find them organic for a good price) just to switch it up. I also think that the mint is absolutely necessary. So refreshing! Also if you have a pitcher with a strainer of sorts, that will work best in keeping the fruit from getting in your glass. Not everyone may enjoy eating the mint leaves or wilted strawberries like I do ;)

I can't wait to try the other 7 recipes! Stay tuned for more, and enjoy this delicious and natural vitamin water ^__^