What Do You Drink With Your Meals?

[Ben]

Outside of breakfast that is.

The reason I ask is that I recently pretty much gave up soda. I actually don't know how. I've been drinking one form or another of Dr Pepper with lunch and dinner since I was a kid. Then out of the blue a few months ago, I started losing my desire to drink soda. I went from buying a 12 pack a week to having the same 12 pack in the fridge for the last couple of months. If I break one open, I actually don't really even enjoy it. I still might get one a few times a month if I do fast food, but if I'm in a sitdown place I'll usually just order a beer now instead of soda.

So my problem is that I need a replacement for soda for lunch and dinner. As much as I like water as a drink throughout the day, I still crave something flavored to drink with my meals. Since I've been on a craft beer kick lately I've been having one of them, but those ginormous liter bottles they come in are going to give me a beer belly if I keep that up. One small beer is not enough liquid for me though, because I like to drink a lot when I eat. Right now I've started doing similar to what I do in restaurants, and having a 12oz beer with a water on the side. So far that's been working okay by giving me some flavor plus the hydration from the water.

I'm just looking for alternatives to beer or water to try, and wondering what other people drink with their meals.

[MechAg94]

Crystal Light grape or lemonade flavor?  Tea?

[makattak]

Outside of breakfast that is.

The reason I ask is that I recently pretty much gave up soda. I actually don't know how. I've been drinking one form or another of Dr Pepper with lunch and dinner since I was a kid. Then out of the blue a few months ago, I started losing my desire to drink soda. I went from buying a 12 pack a week to having the same 12 pack in the fridge for the last couple of months. If I break one open, I actually don't really even enjoy it. I still might get one a few times a month if I do fast food, but if I'm in a sitdown place I'll usually just order a beer now instead of soda.

So my problem is that I need a replacement for soda for lunch and dinner. As much as I like water as a drink throughout the day, I still crave something flavored to drink with my meals. Since I've been on a craft beer kick lately I've been having one of them, but those ginormous liter bottles they come in are going to give me a beer belly if I keep that up. One small beer is not enough liquid for me though, because I like to drink a lot when I eat. Right now I've started doing similar to what I do in restaurants, and having a 12oz beer with a water on the side. So far that's been working okay by giving me some flavor plus the hydration from the water.

I'm just looking for alternatives to beer or water to try, and wondering what other people drink with their meals.

Up until milk followed the price of gas into the stratosphere, I would generally drink it with my meals.

Now it's occasionally milk, with Lemonade, Pink Lemonade, Tang, Iced Tea (brewed, not instant!), or water making the majority. So, other than the iced tea, some type of powdered drink that I tend to make by the glassful.

[SADShooter]

For your consideration: http://botabox.com/Wines/ Instant portion control.

[Fly320s]

Water or flavored seltzer.  Sometimes beer or wine.  Occasionally a Coke.

[Ben]

For your consideration: http://botabox.com/Wines/ Instant portion control.

Ha ha! Actually, I could throw some red wine into the mix (for the antioxidants). :)

I might have to give iced tea another go. I've had it with lunch once in a while, but in this part of CA it's practically impossible to find plain Jane iced tea at a restaurant. It's always some kind of hippie fruit or berry flavored stuff. I should whip up some Liptons or some green tea. Problem is,  I like it sweetened, so I'm probably taking in as many calories as a beer.

[Perd Hapley]

I find tap water works most of the time, or lemonade. When I was growing up, if the family sat down for supper, or Sunday dinner, plain, unsweetened iced tea was de rigueur. If I'm eating, I'm not really going to relish a soda, like I would on a cleaner palate.

Congratulations on going off soda.

I think you'll enjoy tea quite a bit more, if you learn to enjoy the taste of the tea, sans sweetener. I know I do.

[charby]

Cold sun tea, no sugar, no lemon, just in a tall glass pored from the fridge.

We don't drink sweet tea up north.

[Tallpine]

coffee, or water from the well

[Regolith]

I've been drinking ice tea with meals mostly. Used to drink milk with each meal, but decided that it wasn't doing my waistline any good, and kidney stones are not an experience I wish to have...

I make 6 cups of tea, and add in 1/4 cup of lemon juice. I started off also adding in 1/4 cup of sugar (which adds up to around 32 calories per cup), but I've dialed that back and have been skipping it altogether lately.

[lupinus]

Sweet tea with most meals. Occasionally a soda.

[Waitone]

filtered water

[Boomhauer]

We don't drink sweet tea up north.

That's because you ain't right with the Lord.


Ben, try some sweet tea, try varying amounts of sugar. I like mine sweet enough to give it flavor but not tooth-achingly sweet like my father likes it.

[charby]

That's because you ain't right with the Lord.

I dunno, you drop any Yankee down South on your worst winter or summer day and all of us will survive. You drop a southerner up North on our worse winter day or summer day, many probably will die.

[Balog]

Coffee in the morning, water the rest of the day, often but not always a beer with or after dinner. That's me %99 of the time, the rest are special occasions (I got 2 hours of sleep and get some horrific energy drink), I'm a restaurant with a vendor picking up the tab and get a soda, etc.

[Ron]

coffee
green tea
water
V-8
wine
beer

pom and grape juice get added in there occasionally

[TechMan]

In speed reading of Ron's post I thought he said "porn and grape juice get added in there occasionally". I need to get a refund on my speed reading course.

[Scout26]

Mostly some flavor of Crystal Light or the Wal-mart/Aldi knock-off brand.  I can't drink Beer, Wine or milk because of the dialysis and whiskey or some form or hard liquor is not enough liquid to wash down a meal.  Unless I simply became a raging alcoholic.

I also make pitchers from frozen concentrates of orange, grape, apple and lemonade, etc.

[Monkeyleg]

Sprite Zero. It has a slight citrus fruit taste to it, but not very heavy. It has no calories, no sugar, no caffeine, no fat, no carbs, no protein, and just a tiny bit of sodium.  When I've introduced people to it, they've been pleasantly surprised.

I started drinking it in mass quantities after I gave up alcohol. I got tired of lemonade and other fruit drinks, as they were too sweet.

[BlueStarLizzard]

I pretty much survive on diet Coke/Pepsi.

But you can also try the concentrated water flavoring, like Mio. I like those. Plus the bottles are very little, so you can easily take them along when eating out. The nice thing is you can use as much or as little as you want. The only issue is if you are very heavy handed, they can taste odd.

[BlueStarLizzard]

oh, and apparently something is wrong with me because I don't like traditional iced tea, sweet or not.

and no one in my family seems to go crazy for sweetened ice tea. They all order unsweetened, although occasionally they will add sugar at the table.

I do like to make iced herbal tea (celestial seasonings, especially the zingers and sleepy time) with honey instead of sugar.

[wmenorr67]

Mixed drink of the day.....

[BobR]

Iced tea, every meal, always a insulated mug within reach. I go through about a gallon a day, on slow days, when working and building up a sweat it is not unusual to go through 2 gallons.

Although mine is not straight black tea, I do a half and half mixture of green tea and black tea bags when I make mine. No sugar or lemon please.


bob

[Brad Johnson]

I drink water if I eat out, KoolAid pink lemonade made with Splenda most of the time at home.  (I actually use the sucralose/maltodextrose equivalent generic from Walmart as it's fully half the price of Splenda and has identical ingredients.)

The only caveat is Splenda's/sucralose's claim of "measure's just like sugar".  Not.  KoolAid calls for a cup of sugar per packet.  Using an equal cup of sweetenter makes it so sickeningly sweet it's almost undrinkable.  I use 1/3 cup of sweetener per packet of KoolAid.  Nice balance of tart, tangy, and sweet.  Mixes quickly, too.  A couple of stirs is all it takes for both mix and sweetener to completely dissolve without worry of any settling out.

I'm partial to the pink lemonade but Walmart keeps a bunch of different KoolAid flavors in stock.  Another bonus is cost.  About twenty cents a packet for the Koolaid.  About five bucks for a bag of sweetener that will make 20-25 gallons.  Well under a buck a gallon vs $7-10 a gallon for brand-name soft drinks.

Brad

[Perd Hapley]

I had no idea so many people were drinking Kool-Aid, or other drink mix thingies.