Giving up soda and losing weight are some of the most common New Year’s resolutions out there, but as we all know, it’s easier said than done. We’ve got some tasty and simple drink recipes to help you stick with your New Year’s Resolutions.
Apple Pie Float
Upgrade your root beer float by swapping Cascade Ice McIntosh Apple with root beer. To try it, pour 6oz of Cascade Ice McIntosh Apple in a chilled glass and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Top it off with a cinnamon stick or graham cracker crumbs. You just cut over 80 calories from your float!
Berry Spicer
Ditch the traditional rum and coke for this berry-flavored cocktail. Mix 5oz of Cascade Ice Wild Berry with 1oz of spiced rum in a glass. Stir the cocktail and garnish with a cinnamon stick or fresh berries. By substituting Cascade Ice with coke, you are saving about 70 calories.
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The holiday’s can be the toughest time of the year to maintain your healthy habits! It’s ok to indulge a bit but we want to keep your eyes on the prize by introducing you to Dianna Muscari, food blogger at The Kitchen Prep. We could all use a dose of healthy living tips right now!
Why is “Healthy Living” important to you?
Because health is everything! If you don’t feel your best, then you’re not living your best life.
Who are your “Healthy Living” role models and why?
I don’t have any specific role models when it comes to healthy living, because I believe that being “healthy” can mean different things to different people. If I had to choose a public figure, I’d say Giada DeLaurentiis is a good example of what I consider healthy — she takes care of herself, understands nutrition and eats right, but also indulges and finds the balance between decadent foods and good daily choices. She may not be Jillian Michaels, but her common sense and attainable lifestyle is one that resonates with me!
What is your go-to healthy meal when you are short on time?
Quinoa salads, usually. They take no time at all to prepare, can be eaten hot or cold, packaged for days when you’re “on the run”, and you can toss in just about anything from your fridge to make a healthy, tasty meal.
Do you have any tips for families who want to make some healthy lifestyle changes?
Start small! You don’t have to revamp everything in one day. Swap juice or sodas for water; try to cook at home as often as possible; try new, healthy foods and recipes and get the family involved in making them; avoid those grocery aisles that tempt you to make poor choices. If you don’t have the bad stuff at home, then you won’t eat it. Get moving and make it fun by going on family walks or bike rides and spending time outdoors when you can.
In addition to eating right, do you have any other tips to share on overall wellness (i.e. sleep, relaxation techniques, fitness routines)?
Being “healthy” should not stress you out. Do the best you can. Don’t punish yourself for less-than-perfect moments. I truly believe that moderation and balance are the keys to a truly healthy lifestyle… and yes, that means eating a chocolate chip cookie every now and then!
What is your favorite Cascade Ice flavor and why?
I love all the organic flavors! I can feel good about getting hydrated while enjoying some sparkle and fun flavors without any artificial ingredients, which is a wonderful thing for me as I have trouble drinking water throughout the day! Motivation. 🙂
The holiday season is upon us! Try our delicious holiday cocktails and enjoy the most wonderful time of the year!
Mix up a Candy Cane-tini to enjoy while appetizers are served. To mix, use 3oz of Cascade Ice Cranberry Pomegranate, 2oz of vodka and the juice of a lime. Stir the contents in your shaker with a handful of ice and garnish with a candy cane and crumbs.
The Poinsettia Punch is a great alternative to traditional party punch. Simply pour 4 parts Cascade Ice Pomegranate Berry over ice. Then, mix mint leaves, the juice of 1 lime and 1 part club soda together and you’re ready to serve
This one’s for the kids! Instead of serving soda for dinner, try our Santa’s Sparkler. Simply mix 4oz of Cascade Ice McIntosh Apple and 2oz of apple juice in a glass with ice. Add a green apple wedge and a cinnamon stick to complete the yummy drink.
Be sure to stock up on Cascade Ice this holiday season to have fresh drinks whenever the time calls! Check out our Where to Buy map to find a retailer near you.
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If there’s one dessert I L-O-V-E, it’s cheesecake.
I always forget that I love it (which is weird, I know), but when my taste buds are reunited with it, I instantly remember how much I love it. There’s something so unbeatable about that tangy sweetness and the lush fluffiness of a cheesecake.
Now, normally I’m not a big fan of fruit in my food. Don’t get me wrong, homegirl — I LOVE me some fruit & eat it constantly. I’m pretty sure my blood type is raspberries. But when it comes to fruit and food, I’m kind of on the fence.
This probably has to do with my grandma’s affinity for “fruit salads” and all the many versions of them I had to try growing up. I use the term “fruit salad” very lightly because it was probably as close to a fruit salad as a T-Bone steak is. Technically, it was a super sugary fruit cocktail mixed with Cool Whip and whatever else, yet the flavor was about as nonexistent as the nutritional value.
And for every family get-together, every dinner, every holiday, there was always some kind of fruit salad. And every time I was offered the salad, I would politely decline. But she would continually push the salad onto us like some kind of fruit cocktail drug dealer. “Want some salad?” she’d ask one minute. “Hayley, want some salad now?” she’d ask a little later. “Are you ready for some salad, Hayley?” “Try a little salad, Hayley.”
Orrrrr the time she put crushed pineapple in her sweet potatoes. OMFG NO. I was so stoked for my marshmallow-y, gooey sweet potatoes and after they hit my tongue my face distorted itself into some expression of disgust, shock and disappointment. Whaaaaat were pineapples doing all up in my yams? What kind of sick joke is this? Needless to say, that was a year I was yamless and offered to take care of the sweet potatoes after that.
Anyways, but lately I have been experimenting with reforming my ways. There are plenty of desserts out there that get their infamy from fruit: cobblers, crisps and shortcakes, to name a few. Also, all of the pies I like best are fruit-based: apple, blueberry, cherry… so I know I’m not past the point of no-return. Hence why I wanted to make a cheesecake topped with tons of luscious, fresh fruit and prove to myself I could eat it and like it.
And not surprisingly, this was pretty easy to do. Who would pass up a crispy sugar cookie cup filled with creamy cheesecake and topped with fruit? Especially that it isn’t fruit cocktail. Or called a fruit salad. And doesn’t have any surprise pineapple lurking anywhere that ruins your Thanksgiving. It’s just straight-up, easy-peasy, in yo face cheesecake cups. And you’ll LOVE them!
{Fresh Fruit} Cheesecake Sugar Cookie Cups
Author: Hayley Parker, The Domestic Rebel
Recipe type: Cookies, Cheesecake
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 24
Celebrate the spring and summer seasons with these easy, tasty cheesecake cups! Luscious, no-bake cheesecake tops chewy sugar cookie cups that are loaded with fresh fruit.
Ingredients
2 pkgs (24 count per pkg, or 48 total) refrigerated sugar cookies, room temperature
1 (8 oz) pkg reduced fat cream cheese, room temperature
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 (8 oz) tub Cool Whip Free, thawed
Fresh fruit (I used blackberries, strawberries, mango, peaches, and mandarin oranges, but feel free to use whatever you prefer/whatever is in season)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. VERY LIBERALLY grease 2 12-cavity standard-sized muffin tins with cooking spray and set them aside.
Take two pre-portioned squares of sugar cookie dough and smash them together. Press them in the bottom and up the sides of a greased muffin cavity to form a cup of dough. Repeat with the remaining dough until all 24 cavities are filled.
Bake for approx. 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown and the centers are just about set. Remove from the oven and cool in the pans for about 10 minutes. While the cookies cool in the pan, use the handle of a wooden spoon to gently create an indentation in the center of the cookie cup. This “well” will be used to put the cheesecake later.
Very gently run a knife along the edge of each cookie cup and lift each cup out of the cavity. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with a handheld mixer until creamy. Fold in the Cool Whip gently to combine.
Spoon the cheesecake mixture into each of the cookie “wells”. Likewise, you could also pipe the cheesecake filling in if you’d like. Top each cheesecake cup with fresh fruit as desired. I garnished mine with lime zest, but feel free to garnish yours with leaves of mint, lemon zest, or orange zest. Serve immediately.
Aren’t these cookie cups gorgeous? Nothing beats the creamy, tangy cheesecake filling with the chewy, crispy-edged cookie cups. And the fresh fruit makes this dish healthy, so feel free to eat all the cookie cups you want without guilt these little bites of heaven won’t last long at your house and they certainly didn’t at mine.
these little bites of heaven won’t last long at your house and they certainly didn’t at mine.
