Weight a Minute Monday! Whats the tea?

In effort to keep us at our SPICIEST, our Weight a Minute Mondays series explores ways to maintain optimum health and keeping fit!

Summer is upon us and presents the ideal backdrop for getting out and about! In the summer heat, its easy to fill up on sugary drinks in efforts to cool off and stay refreshed. You would be surprised how many calories you can take in from one glass of juice or tea. Keep in mind not all "sugar" is bad, but all sugar requires moderation. Get your sugar in from FRUIT and minimal amounts of REAL SUGAR and avoid synthetic sweeteners. Don't forget to spice up your glass of water with fruit or berries too!

Here are some low fat, low sugar and low calorie beverages that are sure to cool you down without weighing you down!

So you know all about the health benefits of green tea, but maybe you don't like the taste by itself. Maybe you want to kill two birds with one stone, and make a smoothie that can double as a snack or meal, but will give you your green tea fix.






Green Tea Smoothie
Ingredients
•1 cup fat-free vanilla yogurt
•1/2 cup fat-free milk
•1 Tbsp green tea powder
•3 cups frozen fruit
Instructions
Whisk together vanilla yogurt and green tea powder. Transfer to blender and add milk and frozen fruit. Process until smooth.

Green Tea Ginger Cooler
Ingredients
•1 Tbsp hot water
•1/2 tsp green tea powder
•1 cup ginger ale
•1/2 tsp honey (or to taste)
•ice cubes
Instructions
Dissolve green tea powder into hot water. Pour over ice and stir to cool. Add ginger ale and honey to taste. Stir until combined

Very Berry Iced Tea
Prep Time:10 min
Start to Finish:10 min
makes:8 servings (1 cup each)

4 cups water
3 tablespoons instant iced tea mix
3 cups raspberry-kiwi fruit juice, chilled
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
1. In 2-quart pitcher, mix all ingredients except raspberries. Stir in raspberries.
2. Serve tea over ice in glasses.

* For a special touch, freeze fresh raspberries in ice cubes and use them in glasses for this tea.
Garnish with a small skewer of fresh kiwi fruit pieces

Watermelon Lemonade
Prep Time:15 min
Start to Finish:1 hr 15 min
makes:12 servings

3 lb watermelon (without rind), seeded and cut into chunks
3 or 4 medium lemons
2 medium limes
4 cups cold water
1 cup sugar
Watermelon or lemon slices, if desired
1. In blender, place watermelon. Cover; blend on medium speed about 45 seconds or until smooth. Strain through fine mesh strainer into 2-quart or larger pitcher.
2. Squeeze juice from lemons and limes; add to watermelon puree. Stir in cold water and sugar. Refrigerate 1 hour.
*Honeydew melon balls taste great and add a colorful touch to this crowd-appealing drink. To make melon balls, scoop out balls from honeydew melon with a melon baller. Freeze the balls about 1 hour or until frozen. Just before serving, float balls in lemonade.

Reciepes courtesy of Eat Better America and hubpages.com.