How to Make (or order) a Skinny Margarita

(Plus, read below for my recipe on making it a SuperFood Margarita!)

I’m sure if this headline caught your eye you are well aware that most delicious margaritas are at least 500 calories.     95% of those empty calories are from all of the sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup in the sour mix used or from added syrups that are added many times.

While I do not advocate getting full blown drunk if you want to have a lean and healthy body, I also want to be realistic and understand that most people have no desire to give up drinking altogether… and I believe it can be perfectly healthy to have a few drinks a couple times week.

In fact, some studies even show moderate drinking of alcohol (1-2 drinks a day 3-4 days a week) can possibly extend your lifespan and improve health.

Personally, I love margaritas but I have come to avoid them as I’ve become more nutritionally aware.   This avoidance has also made me want to try my own versions at home knowing what to avoid.  I’ve also now started to add powders and proteins (see below)!  Might as well get some added nutritional benefit!

If you want to be lean, a typical Margarita when you’re having a couple drinks with friends is one of the WORST things you can order, and all of that sugar or corn syrup is going to do nothing but go straight to your belly.

But there is a way to enjoy delicious Margaritas WITHOUT all of the sugar or corn syrup…

First, how to order a low-sugar healthier margarita at a bar:

If you’re ordering at a bar, make sure the bartender is 100% clear that you do not want any sweet and sour mix in your margarita. Make sure they don’t add any agave nectar either, as that is just pure sugar as well. There’s nothing healthy about agave nectar despite the healthy sounding name. Just tell them you want nothing but tequila, a little triple sec or cointreau, and a little club soda. And then you want 5 or 6 (or more) lime wedges to squeeze into the drink. I’ll usually use a whole lime if they can give it to me.

This modified margarita has very little sugar and even has the health benefits of the fresh limes too. You can easily save 400 calories on this compared to just ordering one of the standard Margaritas.

Now, if you want to go one step further, here is my SuperFood Margarita recipe I’ve been playing with lately… this may sound weird, but I’ve honestly had at least a dozen friends try this and every single one of them LOVED this margarita recipe!  It’s the same as above with a twist.

Christy’s Strawberry Margarita

Into a glass, mix:

1 shot of your preferred tequila

2/3rds shot of either triple sec or cointreau

the juice of 1 full lime squeezed (if you don’t have a squeezer, cut into wedges and squeeze all juice out of each)

2-3 oz of club soda and/or unsweetened iced tea

and the magic superfood ingredient: 1/2 scoopful of Tropical Shakeology (this gives you tons of powerful ingredients such as probiotics, prebiotics, greens, enzymes, exotic foods, superfood berries, and more)

Mix all of these with a spoon in an ice filled glass…. and voila, you’ve got about the healthiest mixed drink that’s possible…  and delicious too!

By adding Shakeology, you are also having 70 superfood ingredients like acai berry, wheatgrass and other greens, probiotics, prebiotics, enzymes, etc, it also has a nice fruity sweet flavor (with no added sugar) that goes perfectly with a Margarita.

I think you’ll be shocked at how delicious this is!  I’ve made it for several friends and they all wanted the recipe.

Remember that heavy drinking will definitely hurt your efforts for a lean and healthy body, but 1-2 drinks a couple days a week I think can actually be a healthy part of your plan.

Drink responsibly, and make it a healthy drink!   

An Ode to Stay At Home Moms!

This is for all you Stay-At-Home Mom’s out there… 

I don’t get much time these days to do this (being a SAHM and all) but I love it when I can sit down while the baby is sleeping and read a good book! 

Recently, I have been feeling a little negative about my current situation and trying to find some creative outlet (besides blogging!) that I could do in my spare time.  Then, while catching bits and pieces of the Today Show last week I heard what sounded like a knowledgable voice talking about how we should be praising the “Stay At Home Mom” and it got my attention.   

Author, Dr. Laura Schlessinger was speaking to Meredith Vieira about how SAHM’s really get a bad reputation but they should instead be given credit to forming the next generation of people. 

Me, being in need of an ego boost and an internal pep rally, went right out to Barnes & Noble to get this book.  I finished reading it the next day and I truly loved it.  It was the pick-me-up I wanted and so badly needed.

Yes, there are parts that sound a bit 1950′s but when you cut to the core of what she is trying to say it all makes sense and it is very truthful.   SAHM’s put their families as priority #1 and we rarely get credit for it.   After all, these are the women who are choosing to take responsibility for the choice they made to have a child and want to actually be there to raise that child with our own morals and views of right and wrong instead of a minimum wage day care worker.

We are also perceived as being unintelligent, lazy and/or unmotivated.  But we’re not.  We are not lazy since we know being a Mom is work 24/7,  not just 8-5  and we’re not unintelligent.  We are trying to share our intelligence and instill it in this brand new beautiful mind we’ve created.  We want to be there to teach our children the morals we grew up with, our beliefs, our truths, and our knowledge of the world so that when they are presented with a choice that could dramatically change their life they will be equipped with the skills needed to make an “intelligent” decision. 

To me, it is extremely smart to choose to be there for your children and one of the best and most important decisions a woman can make.

I am very aware of the women who have to work due to financial situations and I’m not saying we should accept just cooking, cleaning, and taking care of children all day as a means that defines us.  So please don’t be offended by what I’m saying.  If you have a skill, a talent or a dream by all means fulfill it!  But rearrange your goals and dreams around your children, not the other way around.  They are only in our care for 18 years!  In the bigger picture of life, that is not very long!  Make the most of it!

What I enjoyed most about the book is the letters and emails from other Moms that the author shared.  Heartfelt and uplifting true life stories of other moms and children brought tears to my eyes many times throughout the book.

Most importantly, it inspired me.   As I was reading it, I couldn’t wait for the baby to wake up from his nap and the girls to walk in the door from school. 

There are days I get so frustrated I want to pull my hair out, getting upset over something so miniscule, or that certain things didn’t get done that day or I am so totally exhausted by the end of the day that I think to myself that any other job would be a pleasant relief.  But then I remember there were also so many moments I would never trade in for any other job on the planet:

Those moments when your child gives you a smile or just a look of sheer happiness, moments when they would give you a kiss, a hug, or just hold your hand for no reason, or one that just happened to me the other day:  my daughter told me that when she grew up she wanted to be just like me!

Those are the moments a mother treasures forever in her heart.  They cannot be replaced.

No, SAHM’s don’t get a paycheck at the end of a very hard week.  We get hugs, kisses and an immense joy that fill our hearts so deep that money feels like… well,  just that …. money.