When I was a wee tad I used to love soda. My mom was wise in only letting it be an occasional food, but I still have some fun memories of it.
I used to watch people drink Coke out of glass bottles. Really–I’m not that old, but when you grow up in a third world country cool stuff like that happens! I was never allowed to drink it (and really who can blame my parents? My daughter will be at least 30 plus before I allow her to drink caffeine in my presence!) but I do remember seeing it!
My mom used to take me on special dates. We would walk from our apartment down to the corner Cafe and have a SevenUp. I felt SO SPECIAL that I had time with just my Mommy! The whole time we were there we watched Looney Tunes too. Great times!
Then there was the time we stopped at a cafe to get a SevenUp because I fainted when they were drawing blood. Or the times I was allowed to have soda because it was the only thing I could keep down or my throat was sore (both recommended by our pediatrician!) Not so great times, but soda was definitely a part of my growing up!
During family vacations with my dad’s family soda was all over the place, but we still were limited to one glass–after we drank our glass of milk! I also remember scrapping together pennies with my mom in my teenage years so we could share a Cherry Coke. Living next to a gas station was not the best thing in the world, but the Cherry Coke tasted SO good on a hot day!
As I got older and tried to cut back on sugar soda was one thing that I cut out completely. At this point its been years since I had a soda…but until a year or so ago I still missed the “treat” feeling that a can or glass of soda would bring. Then I discovered La Croix!
La Croix is a sparkling water that has no sugar, no sodium, and no artificial sweeteners or flavors. Yes, I know…none of those, but does it taste like anything? Yes, it does! Their orange flavor reminds me of orange soda! The lemon or lime flavor is delightful when your stomach is a little off and their grapefruit flavor is one of my favorites for just whenever! I find it amazing that there is a gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, nut-free actually yummy product that I can enjoy without feeling guilty.