Marathons and Margaritas!

Finals are officially complete! That means I now have time to re-focus on things that have been majorly on the backburner for the past few weeks. Like updating my blog. And buying toothpaste. You know, the little things.

On the bright side, since my last post I raced in two races - a 10k and a half-marathon and they were both and absolute blast.

Plus I made fresh fruit mango margaritas. You tell me which is more exciting.

(Shhh - they are actually pretty healthy too. Minus the tequila. Which is healthy is small doses I always say...)

A half marathon action shot. Proof that I've actually been doing something over the past two weeks :)

But back to the margaritas. I am not a huge fan of sugary drinks or really mixed drinks in general but these margaritas are nothing short of a religious experience. And they are actually not bad for you - always a plus when it comes to mixed drinks!

Mango Margaritas
Serves 4

• 3 cups frozen mango 
• 2 cups ice
• 1 cup Trader Joe's Low Calorie Lemonade (sweetened w/Stevia and cane sugar)
• 1/2 can FRS Peach Mango Energy Drink 
• The juice from 1 lemon + 1 lime
• 8 oz (or 5-6 shots) Milagro Tequila

As a general rule I'm not a fan of juices from concentrate and I'm especially not a fan of "low-cal" juice options, however, I think juices have a special purpose (like in these margaritas) and I am particularly partial to this Trader Joe's interpretation.

The ingredients are as listed: Water, Organic Lemon juice, Organic Cane Sugar, Citric Acid, Organic Lemon Extract + Juice, Organic + Natural Flavors, Stevia Rubiana Extract

Compare that with the ingredients in Crystal Light's Sugar Free Lemonade: Citric Acid (Provides Tartness), Potassium And Sodium Citrate (Control Acidity), Aspartame (Sweetener), Maltodextrin, Magnesium Oxide (Prevents Caking), Contains Less Than 2% Of Natural Flavor, Lemon Juice Solids, Acesulfame Potassium (Sweetener), Soy Lecithin, Artificial Color, Yellow 5 Lake, BHA (Preserves Freshness).

Gross. Usually I see the word "Aspartame" and I immediately chuck whatever product it is that happens to contain the nasty stuff without giving the rest of the ingredients and second glance but, in the name of blogging, I will go ahead and further critique this stuff.

1. What is a "lemon juice solid"? How does one go about creating a lemon juice solid?
2. Artificial Color is too ambiguous of an ingredient to be an ingredient and that worries me
3. If an ingredient is so scientific that it requires an acronym, it should not be an ingredient (i.e. Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA))
4. Why is there soy in my lemonade?

It's like night and day difference between the Trader Joe's Stuff and the Wal-mart original.

So all I'm sayin' is - if you are going to use and drink juice (never as a complete substitute for good old fashioned H20 of course) - READ the ingredients. Don't end up with soy in your lemonade.


Anyway - back to the reason we are all here:

Place all of the margarita ingredients in the blender as listed and blend until smooth. Add more ice if necessary. Same goes for the tequila...

Pour the delicious frozen concoction into glasses, add a little fresh lime and enjoy!


Live Long and Propser! And ALWAYS read ingredients.