Mango soda

What to buy: Soda water, Naked fruit juice
Where to buy: Vons
Why we approve: diluting juice with soda saves calories and carbohydrates and can be very refreshing

 It's summer and it's hot and you wish you could just chug down a bottle of ice cold fruit juice. For me, that moment of strong desire comes as I wait in line at the grocery store, where hundreds of little colorful bottles of fruit juice stare at me. It's after a workout and I am thirsty, but I also know there is too much sugar and calories in one of those little bottles.

The solution is easy: dilute to get more liquid and lose some calories, but dilute with ice and soda water, so you get the satisfaction of the cold drink and soda pop all wrapped into one healthy drink.

Preparation:
For this experiment I used mango juice, but you can use any of the natural fruit juices you see at the store. The bottle usually serves 2, but when you make Mango soda you can serve 6. Instead of 180 calories, you only get 60 per glass, and you can enjoy a rich juice flavor, quench your thirst and not add inches to your waist.

Here is what you need to make 1 glass of mango soda:

1/3 cup mango juice
3 cubes ice
soda water

Place mango juice and ice in the glass and pour soda water to the top. Enjoy! Let us know what other flavors you tried, I am really excited about some berry or pomegranate juice!

Variations:
You can take this experiment a step further and fresh squeeze your own juice at home, it may even be something you can teach your kids, it makes for a fun summer afternoon project!

Pros: easy to make, delicious and refreshing
Cons: it's still better to squeeze your own juice