Naturally sweetened Apple Cider Soda spiced with cinnamon and ginger.

Tonight is the start of the season for sugar overload. What to do? Spicy apple cider soda! A perfectly healthy drink that will satisfy your sweet tooth with a variety of delicious and healthy super spices including cinnamon and ginger.

While I love homemade Hot Apple Cider, I find that this naturally sweet, cold cider drink is a festive alternative to the customary hot cider beverage. And since you’ll still be mulling your cider on the stove to make this soda, your house will reap the wonderfully smelling aroma.

We all need a good nutritional boost during the holiday season when we are inundated with junk food and an abundance of sweets. I find that if I have something sweet to sip on it is easier for me to avoid the dietary pitfalls that leave me lagging.

Apple Cider Soda

• 1 quart organic apple juice
• 1 orange, sliced (leave peel on)
• 5 sticks cinnamon
• 1 finger length ginger, sliced (leave skin on)
• 2 quarts sparkling water or club soda
• ice cubes

1. Combine apple juice, orange slices, cinnamon and ginger in a medium pot and bring to a boil
2. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes
3. Remove cider from stove and cool for 10 minutes
4. Fill a tall glass with ice
5. Pour ½ cup sparkling water into glass over ice
6. Pour ¼ cup apple cider into glass
7. Serve

Makes about 16 sodas

Spices can be superfoods and cinnamon is no exception. Cinnamon is a sweet and warming spice that is good for controlling blood sugar; it is also thought to boost brain function and improve colon health. Further, it has antimicrobial properties.

Ginger is spicy and pungent. I like to cook with fresh ginger and also use it in the homemade teas that I brew on the stove top (when the boys are coming down with a cold I make then Ginger Licorice Tea). Ginger has warming properties that make it an effective aid in digestion. It is also anti-inflammatory and immune boosting.

Cinnamon and ginger are two of my favorite spices –they are both healing, flavorful and delicious.

Here’s hoping that this sweet drink with warming herbal properties helps to satisfy our sweet cravings during this holiday season. What strategies will you use to stay in balance during the holidays?