Most people when starting a health journey are told to stay away from alcohol. I don’t subscribe to that rule but, I DO think when we DO have alcohol we can make smarter decisions… I don’t understand total avoidance – it just makes me want something more!

In this case, I was craving something sweet and romantic for our Valentine’s Dinner and this was just the thing.

You Will Need:

• Vodka
• Monk Fruit
• Frozen Wild Blueberries (or organic fresh blueberries)
• Vanilla Creamer – your choice (we ONLY use this brand’s creamers – they have a store locator section on their website if you don’t want to order online) – You can substitute with vanilla extract or, add to the creamer for additional flavor
• Small Pot and Strainer
• Measuring Cup

We always have frozen wild blueberries in our freezer for smoothies or top with our keto French toast, and to make sauces for salads or in this case a “syrup” for our martini, I always start by cooking them down.

In a pot put at least a cup for four drinks of small frozen blueberries. If you purchased fresh organic, throw in the whole container. You will see how many you need based on how many people you’re serving.

Cook them down on medium high.

As they start to bubble and break open, mash them with a potato masher, a whisk, a wooden spoon, etc.

They will continue to burst open and as they do you can lower the heat to medium, medium low. Leave the lid on throughout this process, cocked a bit to let steam out.

In a bowl or your measuring cup, put one and a half cups of water and place it in the microwave for one minute. Then whisk in two tablespoons of monk fruit until dissolved.

Pour in a container to cool.

Place your strainer / collander over a bowl and empty the pot of blueberries.

You will see some immediate juice however, you’ll want to leave the strainer over the bowl to continue dripping, encouraging this by macerating the berries against the holes periodically.

Then, while that cools, prep your drink station.

(You can see the vanilla extract is out as an example in case you’d rather have that instead of the vanilla cream – or add it for additional flavor.)

In your shaker, fill half with ice, add your two shots of vodka (one shot per drink – which is about what fits in a shaker), some of your simple syrup, some of your blueberry liquid, add your cream (we used roughly two tablespoons – one per drink) and we did use one splash of the extract.

Shake. Pour directly into your martini glasses.

Or, put in a pitcher enough for your guests by measuring and shaking over ice each two glasses at a time.

My husband topped his off with some berries but I did not… Something about the sinking berries in the bottom of the glass wasn’t appealing to me…

I set the table to have pink, blue and white… It was romantic and the taste was like dessert. It felt special and was so gorgeous to look at.

If you want drinks sometimes while still trying to get on – and stay on – a healthier path, there’s no reason you can’t make your own simple syrup, or choose wiser mixers… You can have fun with it; getting healthy is not a punishment. Cheers!

The martini glasses and pitcher are from Waterford. The domes and flower centerpiece are from afloral. The napkins and tablecloth are from Bed Bath and Beyond. The dishes are from Pier 1.