How to Make the Perfect Basic Iced Tea at Home (It's so easy!)

If you want to learn how to make iced tea at home, you are in the right place!

Iced tea is surprisingly easy to make from scratch.

I'll admit that I had NO IDEA how to make iced tea until I worked at Starbucks in college. Which was, ahem, a while ago.

Before I knew the secret for how to make iced tea at home, I thought if you wanted iced tea at home that you had to mix powdered tea mix into water or buy a gallon of ready-made tea.

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Starbucks Caramel Apple Spice Copycat Recipe

What are your favorite seasonal Starbucks drinks? If you said the Starbucks Caramel Apple Spice (a yummy, hot apple cider drink with cinnamon and caramel!), you aren't alone!

If you want to learn how to make a Starbucks caramel apple spice inspired hot apple cider drink, this recipe is for you!

Starbucks calls their version of this recipe a Caramel Apple Spice.

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How to Make an Iced Latte: A Paleo, Keto & Whole30 Coffee Recipe

You've recently gone Whole 30, paleo or keto and you are missing Starbucks! If you are trying to figure out how to make an iced latte that you can actually enjoy on your new eating plan, you have come to the right place! 

I love coffee and as a former barista myself, I've got your back. 

Making iced lattes is super easy. Thanks to NutPods (who is sponsoring this blog post), you can use their awesome Whole30 coffee creamer to make a Whole 30 compliant Starbucks style drink that is sugar free and only has 3 total carbs--making it perfect for people looking for awesome paleo and dairy free keto lattes as well!

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9 Delicious Infused Water Recipes to Try Right Now

Is one of your new year's goal to drink more water? Are you looking for great ideas for ways to help you drink more water? Infused water to the rescue!

While there are plenty of gimmicky "drink this much by this time" water bottles on Amazon, these water bottles still turn drinking water into a chore.

But what if you could enjoy drinking your water instead? What if, instead of sad tap water, you were sipping on a delightfully delicious beverage, flavored with fresh fruits and herbs?

By making fresh infused water (some call it detox water) with fresh herbs and fruit, you elevate your water drinking experience from a chore to something you enjoy.

If you have questions about infused water, how to make it, if it really works and more, I have answers!

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Delicious Strawberry Mint Infused Water Recipe (AKA Detox Water)

Have you caught on to the infused water (or as some like to call it, detox water) craze yet? Why drink boring, plain water when you can make healthy flavored waters at home for hardly any money?

Doing something as simple as add fresh fruit and herbs to infuse water with flavor increases how much you enjoy your water - which makes you want to drink more - which gets you to drink more of the delicious infused water effortlessly!

Pssst. Incase you didn't know, I wrote THE BOOK on infused water / detox water recipes. Check it out on Amazon here!

....but back to the strawberry mint infused water recipe, because that's why you're here, right? 

This is one of my favorite recipes in the book! 

Something about the combination of sweet strawberries and fresh mint just mingle together in a way that is crisp - yet slightly sweet - in a way that is oh-so-refreshing!

We grow a mint plant mostly so I have a ready supply of fresh mint available for infused water! If you don't have your own mint plant, that's okay! Just pick up a small pack of organic mint in the produce aisle of your local grocery store or at your local farmers market. 

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Organic Vanilla Maple Coffee Creamer Recipe

I love all the flavors of fall - pumpkin spice and apple pie and caramel. One flavor I've been loving to pair with my coffee this year is maple. This delicious coffee creamer marries the sweet flavors of cream, vanilla and maple together to make the perfect coffee condiment. This coffee creamer is all natural and perfect to add to both hot and iced coffee.

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How to Make Raw Honey Limeade (AKA The Best Limeade You Have Ever Had!)

Are you looking for a refreshing drink to cool you off on a summer day? Need a tasty mocktail to serve alongside the grown up beverages at a party? 

This raw honey limeade and honeyed blueberry limeades are the perfect blend of sweet and tart and 100% refreshing. 

By using honey you skip highly processed sugars and avoid GMOs. Using raw honey also keeps the recipe paleo friendly as well!

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Peppermint Hot Cocoa

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for hot cocoa.  My mom used to make it for us on cold winter nights, and would always tell us how when she was a teenager, her dad (my grandpa), would get up with her before school and make her hot cocoa and cornbread on cold winter mornings.  I think the world would be a better place if more dads made hot cocoa for their kids on cold mornings, don't you?

This delicious hot cocoa is not the recipe my grandpa used, but it is rich and sweet, with a light peppermint flavor to make it a little extra special for the Holiday season. It will be perfect for Santa on Christmas Eve, a holiday party or a cold winter morning with your family.

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Pumpkin Spice Vegan Milkshake

Fall flavors are some of my favorite.  I love crisp apples, sweet butternut squash, the early winter greens and of course, pumpkin.  This fabulous pumpkin milkshake is vegan and refined sugar free due to the maple syrup.  It is delicious with just a hint of decadence.  Perfect for vegans and non-vegans alike!  We couldn't get enough of it in our house, and likely your family will love it, too!  

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Gluten Free Apple Pie Smoothie

Do you love apple pie? I sure do. When our local farmers started bringing fresh apples to the farmer's market, my son asked if we could make an apple pie. It was 100 degrees outside, so uh, no. Sorry. BUT I did agree to see if I could make him an apple pie smoothie and I must say I am pretty proud of how this turned out!

Now you can enjoy apple pie all year round - even when it's hot outside - since this is your secret to no-bake apple pie!

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Strawberry Basil Lime Smoothie

Sometimes a side dish for dinner is beyond me.  The thought of throwing together a batch of biscuits or a decent salad sounds lousy, so smoothies have become a regular at dinner (and at breakfast and lunch).  

I often freeze fresh some fruit a few days in advance, and just throw in a little bit every time with a piece or two of fresh fruit.  It adds a nice sweet element to a meal while still providing lots of nutrients.   

This delicious vegan smoothie is a recent favorite!  It feels fresh and summery!  It will be perfect for your last minute dinner prep or even an upcoming brunch!  

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Best Creative Cocktail Recipes to Impress Your Friends

I love creative cocktails. Frou frous drinks that others might classify as "girly" are absolutely my favorite. Christmas and New Years are the perfect time to experiment with cocktail recipes. Whether you are trying a different approach to the classic mojito recipe or something totally new like champagne punch, when you use these Christmas cocktail recipes all your friends will be impressed!

It's easy to keep your bar stocked with some basics like vodka, rum, juice, soda and limes so that you are always ready to whip up one of these popular cocktail recipes.

If you have a favorite holiday cocktail recipe that I missed in this post, be sure to drop a link to it in the comments!

Enjoy the cocktails on this list but please drink responsibly!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~

New Year's Eve Champagne Punch
from A Spicy Perspective

Blood Orange and Thyme Paloma
from The Life Styled

Spiced Hibiscus & Cranberry Mojitos
from Pineapple & Coconut

Champagne Punch Bellini

from Crazy for Crust

Raspberry Champagne Fizz

from The Daily Meal

Raspberry & Orange White Wine Punch
from Keep it Simple Sweetie

Cranberry Margarita Recipe
from The Domestic Superhero

Zinfandel Grape, Rosemary + Gin Crush
from The Bojon Gourmet

About the Curator: 

Carissa is a green lifestyle expert and mom to two boys. The owner and lead writer for Creative Green Living, she is also the author of two e-books including the best-selling beverage cookbook, Infused: Recipes for Herb & Fruit Infused Water, Tea and More. Her goal is to empower families to make healthier choices that are easy, taste great and are fun!

Follow her on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter or join the Creative Green Living community group on Facebook.

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Download My New E-book: Infused!

Do you wonder if you're drinking enough water? What about your kids? If you're subbing coffee, soda, sugary or artificially flavored drinks for the water your body needs every day, my new book, INFUSED is for you!

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{Recipe} Blackberry Lime Spritzer

This post contains affiliate links.

On a hot summer day, there are few things as refreshing to me as something with a little bubble to it. This blackberry lime spritzer is perfect, hydrating and refreshing. Adult it up with blackberry vodka if you wish but I really like it as-is.

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Low Calorie Blended Coffee - Inspired by a Starbucks Frappuccino

This post is brought to you by Silk.

Everyone loves to get fancy coffee drinks at their favorite coffee shops but the price and calories can add up fast! Using the new Cashewmilk beverage from Silk, you can blend up your own Starbucks Inspired blended coffee - with entirely organic and Non-GMO project verified cashewmilk and for only half the calories!

Cashewmilk is the latest offering from Silk and comes alongside some of my other favorite dairy alternative products such as their almond milk and holiday nog. While I usually prefer the sweetened, vanilla flavor of most alternative milks (like almond milk), for Silk's Cashewmilk, I preferred the unsweetened version both for things like poured over cold cereal and in blended recipes like this blended coffee drink!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Breakfast Shake

This post is brought to you by Silk.

Do you find it hard to get a healthy breakfast in your belly in the mornings? I definitely have mornings when I don't think I'm hungry when I'm home but 10 minutes later, I'm driving down the road and realize my body needs breakfast. If I planned ahead, this isn't a problem. On mornings I didn't plan ahead? Let's just say it can get ugly when your only options are Starbucks or fast food.

With a little bit of forward planning, you can have have a nutritious breakfast smoothie that takes just a couple minutes to whip up and is easy to take on the go. Use my mason jar / blender hack and you'll have next to no clean up. Swap your daily coffee drive through habit for this instead and you'll have plenty of fuel to help you make it through your morning - no caffeine needed! Serve this recipe to your kids and they'll think you've gone nuts (dessert for breakfast?!) but you'll be happy because you know that's it's good for them! This recipe contains more than 10 grams of protein, 25% of your daily calcium intake and 15% of your daily iron recommendation

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How to Make Coffee Creamer

Coffee creamer is one of those things that really makes or breaks your cup of coffee. Almost all store bought creamers, however, are made with a variety of GMO derived ingredients including corn syrup solids or high fructose corn syrup. EW. Luckily, making your own creamer is super easy and cost efficient, too!

Ingredients

• 1 cup organic milk
• 1 cup organic sweetened condensed milk (I get mine at Trader Joe's)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

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Frozen Fruit Salad Daiquiri & GIVEAWAY

This post brought to you by ALO Drink. All opinions are 100% mine.

Once upon a time when I worked in Call Center Land, one of my co-workers would frequently bring bottles of ALO, an aloe vera drink to work. I'd never heard of drinking aloe vera and thought the whole thing sounded weird - I mean, isn't aloe vera for treating wounds? Once I actually tried one, though, I was hooked - this stuff is SO good! It's even become my four year old's favorite treat. If I really want to reward him for extra awesome behavior, he gets a bottle of ALO.

ALO takes organic aloe vera juice and pulp (not powder like some competitors) and mix in fruits, vegetables and other good-for-you tasty things (like honey) to make drinks that are nutritious, super hydrating and flat out tasty. They're also naturally low calorie, fat free and gluten free - and Non-GMO Project verified.

While I love drinking ALO straight from the bottle, I was challenged to come up with a fun cocktail using ALO as a base and had a lot of fun doing it. I took my favorite flavor from the ALO original line and blended in some frozen fruit to make a tasty daiquiri-style drink (feel free to add rum to yours but I think it's pretty good by itself!)

Because ALO drinks are so hydrating, it's perfect for the super hot weather we've been having. If you decide to add rum to yours, be sure to drink responsibly!

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Tropical Greens Smoothie Recipe

I love how much variety there is in the world of green smoothies. You can make a smoothie that tastes green or you can make a green smoothie that isn't even green at all (like the sneaky green smoothie).

This smoothie is more of an intermediate green smoothie - it's clearly green and while you can taste a bit of of the green as you drink it, the overall flavor profile is tropical and delightful. Even my four year old loves it!

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Limy Minty Charm Smoothie Recipe

There is no shortage of love around here for smoothies (check out my Smoothies and Juice category for more tasty recipes!). Lately, as I've been approaching my due date, I've been trying to be more intentional about my iron intake - which means a lot of green vegetables. And a girl can only eat so many salads! Smoothies have been my savior in this regard.

Recently, Skyhorse Publishing sent me a copy of The Healthy Smoothie Bible by Farnoosh Brock. Farnoosh blogs at Prolific Living and has compiled a collection of 108 healthy smoothie recipes in this book - including a nice collection of green smoothies (perfect for helping me boost iron!). I gave a couple recipes a whirl (see what I did there?) and loved this Limy Minty Charm. Not only was is delicious but it had a great consistency and didn't separate when my husband drew out how long it took him to drink it.

Check out the recipe but be sure to scroll down to the bottom to enter to win a copy of The Healthy Smoothie Bible for yourself!

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