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Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: Ben on September 02, 2014, 04:18:29 PM

Title: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: Ben on September 02, 2014, 04:18:29 PM
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.

Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: MechAg94 on September 02, 2014, 04:23:56 PM
Crystal Light grape or lemonade flavor?  Tea?
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: makattak on September 02, 2014, 04:34:53 PM
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.
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: SADShooter on September 02, 2014, 04:39:27 PM
For your consideration: http://botabox.com/Wines/ (http://botabox.com/Wines/) Instant portion control. =D
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: Fly320s on September 02, 2014, 04:44:18 PM
Water or flavored seltzer.  Sometimes beer or wine.  Occasionally a Coke.
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: Ben on September 02, 2014, 04:46:30 PM
For your consideration: http://botabox.com/Wines/ (http://botabox.com/Wines/) Instant portion control. =D

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.
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: Perd Hapley on September 02, 2014, 04:48:06 PM
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.
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: charby on September 02, 2014, 05:11:22 PM
Cold sun tea, no sugar, no lemon, just in a tall glass pored from the fridge.

We don't drink sweet tea up north.

Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: Tallpine on September 02, 2014, 05:28:31 PM
coffee, or water from the well
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: Regolith on September 02, 2014, 05:31:31 PM
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.
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: lupinus on September 02, 2014, 05:42:22 PM
Sweet tea with most meals. Occasionally a soda.
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: Waitone on September 02, 2014, 06:08:25 PM
filtered water
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: Boomhauer on September 02, 2014, 06:24:10 PM

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.

Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: charby on September 02, 2014, 06:48:19 PM
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.
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: Balog on September 02, 2014, 06:59:05 PM
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.
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: Ron on September 02, 2014, 07:03:38 PM
coffee
green tea
water
V-8
wine
beer

pom and grape juice get added in there occasionally


Title: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: TechMan on September 02, 2014, 07:51:11 PM
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.
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: Scout26 on September 02, 2014, 07:58:27 PM
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.
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: Monkeyleg on September 02, 2014, 08:14:46 PM
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.
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: BlueStarLizzard on September 02, 2014, 09:37:00 PM
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.
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: BlueStarLizzard on September 02, 2014, 09:41:15 PM
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.
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: wmenorr67 on September 02, 2014, 09:45:24 PM
Mixed drink of the day.....
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: BobR on September 02, 2014, 10:39:25 PM
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
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: Brad Johnson on September 02, 2014, 11:16:33 PM
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
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: Perd Hapley on September 03, 2014, 07:24:53 AM
I had no idea so many people were drinking Kool-Aid, or other drink mix thingies.
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: mtnbkr on September 03, 2014, 07:29:26 AM
Mostly water, coffee (black, no sugar), or beer.  Maybe unsweet tea if I'm at a restaurant and am not in the mood for water.

I almost never drink soda and haven't since 1998 or so.  I'll occasionally drink a glass of milk.

Chris
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: KD5NRH on September 03, 2014, 09:39:45 AM
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.

In traffic.

Had some friends that spent a year in Minnesota.  Blizzard came through.  Only the Texans made it to work.  All the natives either wimped out or got stuck.
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: charby on September 03, 2014, 10:16:21 AM
In traffic.

Had some friends that spent a year in Minnesota.  Blizzard came through.  Only the Texans made it to work.  All the natives either wimped out or got stuck.

Aren't Texans known to tell tall tales?
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: Brad Johnson on September 03, 2014, 10:29:14 AM
Aren't Texans known to tell tall tales?

There was this one time when it was eight hunnert 'n three degrees out...

Brad
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: brimic on September 03, 2014, 10:40:18 AM
water or coffee, milk with dinner.
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: Sindawe on September 03, 2014, 11:34:07 AM
If not water, then usually unsweetened iced tea, or Canada Dry seltzer,  I cannot abide sweetened tea  [barf]
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: Scout26 on September 03, 2014, 01:52:17 PM
I had no idea so many people were drinking Kool-Aid, or other drink mix thingies.

I find it not surprising in the least.   I can buy a "can" of knock-off Crystal Light for anywhere from $.99 to $1.99 at Aldi or Walmart.  That can will make six 2 quart pitchers of that flavored drink.  That works out to $0.002578125 to $0.00518229166 or less then one half a penny per ounce.  Far less then the price of any other beverage.

And one thing I've learned about APS'ers is that I'm not the only one here that can squeeze a quarter until the eagle craps. 



P.S.  While re-creating Sherman's March this summer Robert got the chance to try some good ol' Southern Sweet Tea.  After making a face that looked like he had just sucked a raw lemon, he poured it out, and went back to drinking water.    If you can make a 13 year-old say, "There's too much sugar in it.  It doesn't even taste like tea, just sugar water." then it's bad.
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: charby on September 03, 2014, 01:55:00 PM
I have a hard time drinking most things that have artificial sweetener, to me they taste like a middle school chemistry experiment gone bad with too much salt.

I do like to have plain old Kool-Aid in the fridge most of the time, I make it with about 3/4 sugar instead of 1 cup per package. My favorite flavors are Black Cherry and Grape.

Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: Ben on September 03, 2014, 01:57:42 PM
P.S.  While re-creating Sherman's March this summer Robert got the chance to try some good ol' Southern Sweet Tea.  After making a face that looked like he had just sucked a raw lemon, he poured it out, and went back to drinking water.    If you can make a 13 year-old say, "There's too much sugar in it.  It doesn't even taste like tea, just sugar water." then it's bad.

Yeah, when I say I like my tea sweetened, I mean just a little bit of sugar or Stevia or something.  I can't really drink full on Southern sweet tea myself.
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: mtnbkr on September 03, 2014, 02:22:42 PM
I grew up with Southern Sweet Tea, but I prefer unsweet tea.

Chris
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: Scout26 on September 03, 2014, 02:51:47 PM
Yeah, I wouldn't even let him try that abomination unto G-d you all call "cornbread".
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: Brad Johnson on September 03, 2014, 03:23:35 PM
I have a hard time drinking most things that have artificial sweetener, to me they taste like a middle school chemistry experiment gone bad with too much salt.



Tried sucralose/maltodextrose (Splenda or generic equivalent)?  I get a bitter taste or lingering metallic aftertaste from other artificial sweeteners.  I don't get that with Splenda, though I do have to be careful how much I use as it's easy to oversweeten with it.

Brad
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: KD5NRH on September 03, 2014, 05:32:31 PM
I find it not surprising in the least.   I can buy a "can" of knock-off Crystal Light for anywhere from $.99 to $1.99 at Aldi or Walmart.  That can will make six 2 quart pitchers of that flavored drink.  That works out to $0.002578125 to $0.00518229166 or less then one half a penny per ounce.  Far less then the price of any other beverage.

$0.88 for five packets of KoolAid at HEB.  Unsweetened, so I know how much sugar goes in and that it's only real cane sugar.  No HFCS, or anything I can't pronounce.
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: charby on September 03, 2014, 06:10:45 PM
Tried sucralose/maltodextrose (Splenda or generic equivalent)?  I get a bitter taste or lingering metallic aftertaste from other artificial sweeteners.  I don't get that with Splenda, though I do have to be careful how much I use as it's easy to oversweeten with it.

Brad

Yep tastes a little less like salt/alkali/bitter but still doesn't taste sweet and too much of that irritates/sets off my GI issues.
Title: Re: What Do You Drink With Your Meals?
Post by: Chester32141 on September 04, 2014, 05:18:33 PM
I like my beverages diluted ... my #1 drink is Ocean Spray CranGrape mixed 1 to 1 w/ either tap water or spring water, depending on my location ... 1/2 the calories, twice the hydration, lower cost ... very refreshing !

A store near me has Ocean Spray Buy one Get one Free about once a month ... I keep about 15-20 on hand in a hot garage for months w/ no problems from spoiling.
 :cool: