Probiotic drinks: I'm here for the flavors, the healthy part is just a bonus

Despite the fact that I'm a foodie, I must confess I do not have an iron stomach. In fact, ever since I was in middle school I have always had quite a sensitive gastrointestinal system. New ailments seem to pop up every other year for me. I tried taking a probiotic once, and the instructions on the back said you might feel worse for the first two weeks of taking it, but when two weeks came and went and I still felt terrible, I figured perhaps that was not the best course of action for me. I've tried eating yogurt regularly as well but sometimes that upsets my stomach too.

Well one of my new favorite Whole Foods discoveries has been probiotic drinks. I was a bit skeptical at first, but to tell you the truth, I was drawn more to the flavors than the fact that they were labeled probiotic. That's the thing for me: if it doesn't LOOK good, I don't care how good for you it is, I'm probably not going to want to try it.

My two favorite brands of probiotic drinks are Good Belly and KeVita. Good Belly is strictly a juice drink and KeVita is a sparkling drink.

Both brands have some really great flavors (like mango, pomegranate blackberry, grapefruit, lemon ginger), but my Whole Foods only carries a few of them. I'm hoping they eventually start carrying more.

KeVita, while delicious, is on the pricey side (close to $4.00 for a 15 oz bottle), so I only buy a couple at a time, but I especially love the lemon ginger flavor. It's very refreshing and has a nice little kick to it.

I have also noticed a small improvement in how my stomach feels since I started on these drinks. Only time will tell if they show any sort of long term effects. But as of right now, the probiotic part is just a bonus. I wouldn't be drinking them if the flavors weren't appealing because to me, that's the most important part. So I will keep drinking them for the yummy flavors, but I will keep my fingers crossed that they will continue to improve my gastrointestinal health.

I'm here for the butterbeer

One of the main reasons I wanted to visit Orlando during our road trip to Florida was NOT to go to Disney World. I'm so over Disney and theme parks in general.

But you see, I had to visit one particular theme park. Not because of the rides, but because of the setting it brought to life for the book lovers. Yes, I'm talking about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park.

Hogsmede

The fact that I as a lover of this series could enter Hogsmede and look up at Hogwarts castle was amazing to me. As someone who was initially insistent that I would never read the Harry Potter series, I ended up becoming so enchanted with the vivid world JK Rowling built within the pages of these novels that to stand in this place and witness it come to life was awe-inspiring. I have to thank Allison over at Reading Everywhere for insisting that I listen to the audiobooks. If it weren't for her, I don't think I ever would have ventured into this magical world.

As a side note, I have to say that all of  the "islands" at Universal Islands of Adventure felt like you were walking on a movie set. The designers and builders of the park did an amazing job of bringing the whole park to life, not just Harry Potter.

But back to Harry Potter.

HOGWARTS!

I'm not ashamed to admit that one of the main reasons I wanted to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was to try the butterbeer. When I first read about butterbeer in the books I thought it sounded delicious. I wanted some. So when word got out that the WWOHP was going to have butterbeer I was all like, "I have to go there!" Oh yeah, and I wanted to see Hogwarts and walk through Hogsmede and all that, but no I really just wanted some butterbeer.

So was it worth it? Did the butterbeer deliver?

I'm here to say that yes it most definitely did.

JK Rowling describes her made-up beverage as  "less sickly butterscotch." Universal definitely got it right then because it wasn't sickeningly sweet but it definitely had a butterscotch flavor. The best way I can describe it is that it tasted like butterscotch and cream soda with a buttery whipped cream foam on top. It was perfection. I had two glasses.

Not my most flattering picture but I don't care... I'm having a moment with my butterbeer

Now I have to figure out how to make it myself because of course no one at Universal is giving up the recipe. I'll have to experiment with some of the recipes floating around on the internet. I think I'll perhaps start with this one.

"But Beth," you ask, "what about the rides? Were they awesome?"

Honestly, I didn't go for the rides. I know that's a stupid thing to say when you're paying like $90 a ticket to go to the theme park, but I really just wanted to go and experience the world of Harry Potter. Did we ride the rides? Of course we did, but that's not necessarily what I'll remember the most from that day.

But if you must know, the main ride, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was cool, but not worth waiting hours in line for. Resist the urge to do any ride with long, multiple-hour waits because chances are, later in the day, it will be much shorter.

The best ride in the Harry Potter section of the park was definitely the dragon challenge roller coaster. It had two different coasters that were extremely fast and exciting, and the best part is, their lines were never long so we rode it three times and never had to wait more than ten minutes in line for each ride.

If the line is long, do yourself a favor and skip the Flight of the Hippogriff coaster. We waited over an hour to ride that stupid thing and it only lasted like 20 seconds. Total waste of time.

I'll leave you with two final pictures that kind of capture why I wanted to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in the first place. The strange hue of the sky later in the evening made the ambiance of Hogsmede even more enchanting and made you feel like you had really been swept away inside the pages of a book. Isn't that the ultimate dream for all book-lovers? To live inside the pages of their favorite book for a while?

My version of Starbucks Passion Tea Lemonade

I used to make fun of people who were addicted to Starbucks. I didn't understand how or why anyone would regularly pay $5 for coffee. But, I can't drink coffee. It tears up my stomach. It's not that I don't like it; it just doesn't like me.

But then I started teaching and families started giving me Starbucks gift cards as Christmas and thank-you gifts. At first I started giving them away, but after doing that a couple times, I realized that they have drinks other than coffee there. Thus my addiction to chai lattes was born. Then I ventured to green tea lattes and vanilla frappuchinos.

Then last summer I introduced myself to the passion tea lemonade and it was all over. Last summer though I had a lot of gift cards to spend so I didn't bat an eye every time I was thirsty and had a hankering for one of these delicious beverages. This year, however, I think I only got one Starbucks gift card at Christmas which has been long since spent. If I didn't come up with my own recipe soon, my wallet would be bowing down to the Starbucks gods all summer. 

There are a few recipes going around Pinterest right now about how to make Starbucks Passion Tea Lemonade. Many of these recipes are using store bought lemonade like Simply Lemonade, which I have tried and to me it tastes "simply" awful. I personally think Simply Lemonade tastes fake no matter how "all natural" they try to claim it is. Even my husband, who is not picky in the slightest when it comes to food and drink, said that Simply Lemonade is nasty.

So I have created my own passion tea lemonade recipe by doing it the slow, old-fashioned way of using real lemons.


Beth's version of Starbucks Passion Tea Lemonade

Basking in the sun with a book and a less-than $5 beverage

7 Cups Water
3 Tazo passion tea bags
3/4 cup lemon juice (from about 6-7 lemons)
3/4 cup agave nectar or 1 cup simple syrup

Fill a tea kettle with 6 cups of water and bring to a boil. Steep passion tea bags for 5+ minutes. Let cool.

In a pitcher, pour in the lemon juice, agave nectar (or simple syrup), 1 cup water and cooled passion tea. Stir.

Fill a tumbler with ice, take a book with you out on the patio, enjoy the fruits of your labor, and relish in the fact that you just saved yourself $5.




Like what you see? Check out my other food-related posts this week:
Recipe: Flank Steak with Black Beans
Cookbook review & recipe: Weeknights with Giada and grilled cheese with spinach and pancetta
Restaurant review: Logan, Ann Arbor, Michigan