As the air gets warmer and the sun stays out longer to play, we most likely will need to up our intake of water. Actually, many people don’t drink enough water in general, which is crucial, and dehydration can become more apparent as we approach the warmer months. Our contributor, Kara Stout, is here to share some tips on hydration as well as some yummy infused recipes!

Check in to see how much water you are currently drinking per day. Ideally, a good gauge is drinking about half your weight in ounces per day. In the summer, you may need to actually drink a bit more. I would recommend checking in with your body, as it will let you know when you’re not drinking enough water.

Some signs of not drinking enough water are low energy, headaches, poor digestion, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, dizziness, always hungry, breakouts, dry skin and dry mouth, frequent muscle cramps when working out, inability to lose weight and even bad breath.

Even though I’m often encouraging a client to drink more water and writing articles that include drinking enough water daily, there are days I don’t do this well at all. I get so caught up in the busyness of my day, and all of a sudden, it’s evening, and I have to stop and ask myself if I drank enough water that day. Sometimes, it can be difficult remembering, but it really is one of the most important practices we can do for our health.

Here’s what I’ve found to be helpful: I put a daily reminder on my phone that goes off daily at 12 p.m. that says, “Drink more water!” It’s midway through my day, which gives me a good idea of how much water I’ve already had in the day and if I need to amp it up. There are also several apps you can download that will help you track your water intake.

Now that we covered the importance of drinking water and staying hydrated, it’s time for the fun part!  Fruit- and floral-infused waters can be so beautiful, simple to make and delicious. Not to mention, they are perfect for entertaining this time of year. Creating infused waters is a super easy way to delight your summer party guests, include at a barbecue or bring to a picnic. What also is fun is creating a make-your-own station where guests can create their own infused waters! Just set out all the cut-up fruit, fresh herbs, cooled herbal teas and floral waters for them to get creative making their own unique waters.

I’ve created five quick recipes infused with a variety of fruit along with food-grade floral waters and floral herbal teas. These are not only pretty and flavorful but can also be beneficial to our health, including the rose and orange blossom waters.

You can typically find the rose and orange blossom waters at your local Middle-Eastern market or online. Here is a link to the rose water (here’s an organic option as well) and here is a link to the orange blossom water (here’s the organic option).

The recipes are for one 8-ounce glass, however, if you want to make a pitcher, just multiply the amount according to the ounces in your pitcher.

Here are 5 fruit- & floral-infused water recipes you need to try now!

Servings for each recipe: 1 8-ounce glass

Berry Rose

Ingredients:

Filtered water

¼ – ½ teaspoon rose water

Fresh strawberries

Fresh raspberries

Optional: dried rose petals

Directions:

1. Add whole and sliced strawberries and raspberries to your glass.
2. Pour in rose water.
3. Fill remaining glass with water.
4. Optional: top with edible dried rose petals. FYI: the larger pieces tend to not get stuck in straws.

Blue Lavender 

Ingredients:

Filtered water

Fresh blueberries

Fresh blackberries

Fresh mint

2 drops lavender essential oil (make sure the oil is high quality and consumable)

Optional: dried lavender sticks

Directions:

1. Add blueberries, blackberries and mint to your glass.
2. Fill remaining glass with water.
3. Add two drops lavender essential oil.
4. Optional: garnish with a dried lavender stick.

Citrus Chamomile

Ingredients:

Filtered water

1-2 tablespoons cooled chamomile tea

1 mandarin orange

1 lemon

1 lime

1 key lime

Optional: citrus rinds

Directions:

1. Add mandarin orange segments and lemon, lime and key lime slices to your glass.
2. Pour in chamomile tea.
3. Fill remaining glass with water.
4. Optional: garnish with swirls of rinds to add an extra pretty touch!

Peachy Orange Blossom 

Ingredients:

Filtered water

½ teaspoon orange blossom water

1 peach

1 blood orange

Directions:

1. Add peach and blood orange slices to your glass. If you can’t find blood oranges, simply use regular oranges. They are great for this recipe, too!
2. Pour in orange blossom water.
3. Fill remaining glass with water.

Watermelon Hibiscus

Ingredients:

Filtered water

1-2 tablespoons cooled hibiscus tea

1 small watermelon

Directions:

1. Add watermelon cubes, or better yet, fun watermelon cutouts to your glass! I used flower cookie cutters for the watermelon cutouts pictured here!
2. Pour in hibiscus tea.
3. Fill remaining glass with water.

Need some more recipes to quench your thirst? Check out our choice of spring cocktails you need to sip on or our 5-day green smoothie challenge!