Five years ago, if you knew me then, you would have seen me walking around with humongous cups of soda, the extra large energy drinks, or any other caffeinated beverage that I could get my hands on. Nowadays, if you see a caffeinated beverage in my hand, it’s likely to be fresh brewed unsweetened iced tea, otherwise I am usually drinking water or fresh juice.

Before my Hippy reformation, I was extremely unhealthy due to my consumption of all of the food and drinks that I was consuming. The sodas and energy drinks had to go. This change made such a huge impact on my health and how I felt. After the detox period, (that was the hardest part!) I started to feel more energy and I even lost 10 lbs. without lifting a finger. I noticed that my face broke out less often, and my headaches became a lot fewer and far between. My body was really feeling the difference, but my tongue really wanted more.

Whenever I (and I am assuming you guys too, it seems only natural) think of the challenges of changing my lifestyle for my health, I always end up thinking very simplistically about my options, never aware of the many choices I might actually have. I assumed that taking all of those “tasty” beverages out of my life would mean boringsville for my taste buds. I am trying to be healthier but that doesn’t mean I have to suffer because of it! Yes, iced tea is one of my all time favorite beverages, but you can have your water and LOVE it too!

One day, while bored and thirsty, I happened upon the Prodyne Water Infusion Pitcher on Amazon and decided I HAD to have one for myself. When it came in, I was super excited to put it to work, and make up all kinds of infused drinks. Since then, I have experimented with all kinds of different beverages and found that there are a TON of different ways that you can use this pitcher! I have infused peaches into iced tea, berries and citrus into water, and even all kinds of different herbs with the fruits! I will give you a few of my favorites for you to try out, but the list is endless.

You do not need a infusion pitcher to make infused water, it just makes it a LOT easier. Before I finally purchased this pitcher, I was using mason jars to infuse water with. Let me tell you, the water is good no matter what, but pouring it from a mason jar without getting the fruit in my glass was kind of an art form. With the Prodyne water infusion pitcher, you can leave the fruit in the pitcher for a week before having to change it, AND you don’t have to worry about any loose fruit falling into your glass (Some people like that, but I don’t like gulping fruit when I am REALLY thirsty lol). Just make sure that you scrub the inner part that holds the fruit, because it will mold on the edges if you don’t pay attention!

The Hippy Homemaker’s Top 10 Favorite Fruit Infusions

1. Citrus - oranges, clementines, lemons, limes, & grapefruits are all delicious in this one!
2. Berries - strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, even cranberries would be delicious in water.
3. Cucumber Mint
4. Grapefruit Lavender (I am such a fan of these essential oils together, that I had to try it in my water too…VERY DELICIOUS!)
5. Strawberry Orange
6. Strawberry Pineapple Orange
7. Pineapple Blueberry (this was a syfy favorite)
8. Watermelon Rosemary
9. Melon Rainbow (cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon)
10. Raspberry Lime (My personal favorite)

The Hippy Homemaker’s Top 5 Beverages to Infuse 

1. Water
2. Iced Tea (I also like to make my own chamomile iced tea infused with berries just for Syfy!)
3. Juice (yes! You can infuse juice too…seems kind of redundant but the strawberry apple juice that we made was really tasty and Syfy LOVED it!)
4. Milk (we infused Strawberry Coconut milk and it was freaking delicious!)
5. Lemonade (I know this could be considered a juice…but the many delicious combinations that we came up with made this one deserve it’s own category)

Now that you have learned how many ways you can infuse your beverages, who wants to win a free one for themselves? I bought an extra one just for one of you guys to win! In honor of my Facebook page reaching 1000 fans (I will before this giveaway is over!!!) I wanted to celebrate by giving away something that my Facebook fans seemed really interested in…this water pitcher was definitely a fan favorite when I posted a picture of mine!

This giveaway starts today 8/15/13 and goes until 8:00 pm central time (US) on Tuesday 8/20/13. This is open to all residents on Planet Earth (so if you don’t live in the US you can still enter this one!) and I will announce the winner withing 48 hours of the giveaway closing.

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