I wasn’t going to post about this, because I do it so often and it’s so simple that I never even think about it. But the Pie suggested it might be a good idea to let you in on the deal.

I get dehydrated really easily in hot weather and summer in Ottawa is very, very HOT. Hot and long, temperatures often going up as high as 50°C (122°F) on humid days. And when I get dehydrated I tend to faint and that is super embarrassing. Therefore, I drink a TON of water. But water gets so boring after a while, so I dress it up a little and then I can pretend I’m at some fancy spa.

I have a pretty glass bottle that I keep in the fridge full of water, and it’s a simple thing to just add a bit of natural flavouring to it. My go-to refresher is lemon water. I just cut the ends off a lemon, and slice the rest of it small enough to fit in the mouth of the bottle. Then you just leave it for a few hours and BOOM. FLAVOURED WATER.
Another good refreshing option is adding a sprig or two of fresh mint from my mini garden to a handful of fresh raspberries.
For something more subtle, try cutting up half a cucumber and sliding that into the water.
And the extra fancy option is a few sliced strawberries and some fresh basil leaves. I think this one is actually my favourite now.
I find that I can keep topping up the bottle for a couple of days before the vegetable matter in it starts to get squishy and needs to be composted, and the water starts to lose the flavour.
What’s your favourite combination?