• Not too expensive. This is a big one since the low-carb canned energy drink I now buy is $30 a case at Costco or about $1.50 a can.
• Low calorie. I don't mind sugar substitutes too much if they're not too sweet.
• Healthy. I want B vitamins for energy and anti-oxidants (C or E), too. I also like added fiber, real juice, and green tea.
• Caffeine. The more the merrier I am.
• Fat burning. L-carnitine, chromium, guarana, hoodia, ginseng, etc. I'm not really sure that any of this stuff works, but I'd like to think so. And if I'm paying a premium for an energy drink that supposedly boosts your metabolism (like a bunch of them claim) then bring it on!
• Convenient. Cans or bottles are fine as long as they are recyclable. But I really like the single servings of powders available in the drink mix/iced tea aisle, too. Less waste and cheaper.

The latest energy drink I tried comes from a trusted fruit juice source.

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Always interested in satisfying my desire for the perfect energy drink - and a cheaper alternative to the $1.50 a can stuff I buy by the case at Costco - I told Aquafina's social marketing person to send me some samples.

First I tried Aquafina Alive Satisfy (10-calorie peach mango flavor with 3g of fiber or 10% DV). They claim that this is one of the only waters on the market with a significant amount of fiber to help lightly fill you up. However, I have seen drink powders from Kellogg's that contain 10g of fiber. Still, I thought it tasted pretty good and there was no noticeable "grittiness" from the fiber.

Aquafina Alive Energize (calorie-free orange lime with caffeine, and 10% DV of Vitamin B) is enhanced with about as much caffeine as an average cup of coffee and is a good source of B vitamins. LOVED THIS. It was tasty and not too sweet. Plus, I did get a little caffeine lift. I'd buy this again. However, my local store doesn't carry it at this time, darn it.

Aquafina Alive Protect (calorie-free berry pomegranate, with 10% DV of vitamins E and C) is a good source of E and C vitamins. This drink was way too sweet, and that's coming from someone who has a major sweet tooth. Still, I would recommend it if you were sick in bed with a head cold or the flue. You wouldn't notice the taste, you'd stay hydrated, and it contains vitamin C to help you get better.

There's also Aquafina Alive Hydrate (calorie-free lemon, with electrolytes, sodium and potassium), which is enhanced with electrolytes to replenish the nutrients an active body loses throughout the day. I didn't try a sample of this because it's not on the market yet. However, its seems like a good alternative to high calorie sports drinks like Gatorade.

Bottom Line: Aquafina Alive costs more than name brand diet soda and is obviously much more expensive than tap water with a slice of lime. However, it's comparable in price to similar health water drinks. Plus, unlike some of them Aquafina Alive is much lower in calories because it contains Splenda instead of sugar or corn syrup. If sports, health or energy drinks are your thing - and they are mine - I'd give Aquafina Alive a try.

If you're concerned about cost, you may want to look into the various energy/health drink powders from Kellogg's, Crystal Light, Lipton, and other drink companies. Seems there's a whole slew of new energy drinks coming to your local grocery store. Summer's coming and you'll be thirsty - give them a try!

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Since I wrote the post, I've come across some other terrific, healthy Mexican dishes. The first recipe comes from the April 2008 issue of Sunset magazine.

Crab Tacos
Makes 8 tacos

Ingredients:

• 4 Roma tomatoes, halved, seeded, and sliced
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 2 large jalapeño chiles, halved, seeded, and sliced, divided (or use canned instead)
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, divided
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 8 ounces shelled cooked crab (used canned to save time)
• 8 taco shells or tortillas (corn tortillas are the healthiest choice)
• 1 cup Iceberg lettuce, thinly sliced (cabbage is a good alternative)
• 1 cup shredded jack or cheddar cheese (leave out the cheese to cut back on POINTS, fats and calories)
• 1 avocado, thinly sliced (yes, they're high in calories, but oh so good for you)
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Put tomatoes, garlic, half of the jalapeño, 1/4 cup cilantro, and the lime juice in a food processor and pulse a few times to chop. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set salsa aside.
2. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Sauté onion and remaining jalapeño until soft, 4 minutes. Add crab and cook just until crab is warm, about 2 minutes.
3. Put tortillas on a baking pan and warm in oven, about 3 minutes. (I like to use my double burner skillet to do this. My husband puts the tortilla right on a low burner - we have an electric stove - a trick he learned from his hunting buddy, Jose. When I do this, I burn them, so be careful.)
4. Arrange on a platter and fill with crab mixture, dividing evenly. Top crab with lettuce, cheese, and avocado. Sprinkle tacos with green onion and remaining 1/4 cup cilantro. Serve immediately, with salsa on the side or on top.

Nutritional information for one taco:
Calories: 200
Fat:  12g
Protein: 11g
Fiber 1.7g

Weight Watchers POINTS = 5

Mojito Fruit Cocktails
Makes 4 servings at only 1 Weight Watchers POINTS each

I love how Women's Day serves these in martini glasses. However, in the spirit of Cinco de Mayo, you may want to use margarita glasses instead.

Ingredients:

• 3⁄4 cup diced fresh strawberries
• 3⁄4 cup diced fresh pineapple
• 2 kiwis, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)
• 2 oranges, peel and white part (pith) removed, cut in segments and diced
• 2 Tbsp white rum (optional - skip if you want to save some calories)
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
• 2 Tbsp sugar (you could cut back on calories using a sugar substitute)
• 1⁄2 tsp grated lime peel
• Garnish: sugar, red liquid food color (for pink-tinted sugar on glass rims) and lime slices

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients except garnish. Let stand, tossing occasionally, 10 minutes until juicy and sugar dissolves.
2. To garnish and serve: Spread about 2 Tbsp sugar on a plate. Add 1 or 2 drops food coloring and blend with fingers until sugar is evenly tinted pink. Pour a little water into a shallow bowl. Dip rim of martini or other serving glass in water, then the sugar, to coat rim. Spoon in fruit and juice. Garnish with a lime slice. This is best served freshly made.

Nutritional information per serving:
Calories 106
Total Fat 1g
Dietary Fiber 4g
Protein 1g

Weight Watchers POINTS = 1

More Tacos

Finally, the March 2008 issue of Health magazine features shrimp tacos. These are 5 Weight Watchers points per taco, so you may only want to have one and fill up on grilled pepper strips instead.

Cilantro-Lime Shrimp Tacos

Ingredients:

• 3/4 pound medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cooked (use the frozen, tail off, precooked shrimp to save time)
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup sliced scallions
• 1 medium diced peeled avocado
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup bottled salsa verde
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 8 (6-inch) flour tortillas (use corn instead - healthier, more fiber, and more more authentic)
• 1 1/4 cups red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch strips (about 1 pepper)
• Lime wedges, for serving
• Chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish

Directions:

1. Combine shrimp, beans, scallions, and avocado. Season with pepper. In a separate bowl, stir together the salsa, cilantro, and lime juice. Toss shrimp mixture with 1/4 cup salsa mixture.
2. Arrange tortillas on a microwave-safe plate in batches of 2. Place a damp paper towel over the tortillas and microwave at HIGH for 30 seconds.
3. Arrange 3–4 pepper strips in the center of each tortilla. Top with 1/2 cup of the shrimp-and-bean mixture. Drizzle about 1 tablespoon of the salsa verde mixture over each taco. Serve with lime wedges and cilantro.

Nutritional information for two tacos:
Calories: 453
Fat: 13g
Protein: 30g
Fiber: 13g

Weight Watchers POINTS = 10

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Here's the slide show:

I was staying at La Valencia in La Jolla, one of my family's favorite places to eat. I can remember the exact table in the Mediterranean Room where I had a big fight with my dad. Talk about a culinary trip down memory lane.

The food and service are still spectacular at La Valencia. It's pricey, but it's worth it - especially for the gorgeous view of the Pacific Ocean. For dinner I had the La Valencia Bouillabaisse. For lunch I had the Paella Valencia - delicious and hot enough to steam up my camera. At breakfast, I ate the most marvelous sausages. I couldn't get enough. Did I mention the chocolates and fruit that were delivered to my hotel room?

One evening my group had a meal at Azul, down the street from La Valencia. I had the Main Lobster and Artichoke Risotto, some wonderful appetizers, lots of wine, and a white chocolate cheesecake. No wonder I passed out in my hotel room before 10 p.m.

Then the real eating began! I went to stay with my mom and her husband, Joe, over the weekend. Mom mom loves seafood, sushi and vegetables. Joe is a steak, potatoes and dessert kind of guy. They're so different in their dining preferences that they almost never cook at home. (My mom is a fabulous cook, but Joe complains she uses too much seasoning.)

To prevent culinary calamity, they go out to buffets. Between the casinos like the Barona Valley Ranch, and the local Asian restaurants, there's lots of buffet dining going on in San Diego. In fact, I was so busy "buffet-ing" that I never had time to go to In 'N' Out Burgers or Roberto's. I was too full to care.

So now I'm back home, feeling HUGE, and trying to get back to my good eating habits. However, when your body gets used to having chocolate, wine, and rich seafood dishes every night, you go through withdrawal. So it's been tough. Yet, I'm determined to get back to losing weight, working out, and fitting back in my clothes that feel a little smug these days.

After all, I have a goal. In July, I'm speaking at BlogHer. It's a little embarrassing showing up looking chunky when you have a diet blog. If that doesn't motivate me, I don't know what will.

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My next assignment from my FoodieView Blog editor is healthy Mexican recipes. I have a few dishes and tips in mind but would love to get some recipes and pictures from my fellow food bloggers.

If you have a post on a low calorie/low Weight Watchers POINTS Mexican food recipe or show a way to make your favorite Mexican dishes healthier, email me at mama at thismamacooks dot com or leave a comment below with your name, email, your blog's name URL, and the URL of the post.

I'd love to feature your post, your picture(s) and of course will link back to your blog and give you full credit.

They're expensive, but cheaper than getting a latte at Starbucks, especially when you buy them by the case at Costco. Still, it does bother me that I drink them. Except for vitamins and herbs, most energy drinks are full of crap and a lot of things I cannot even guess to pronounce.

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Our group made eight meals. There was one dish per station with two to four people working on putting together the meals. Using printed instructions, we measured out the ingredients, and put them into labeled freezer bags or aluminum casserole dishes. When then loaded our pre-made meals into coolers and placed them in the freezer when we got home.

For $95, I walked away with eight dishes. This may seem like a lot of money, but I only spent a couple of hours making them, and I didn't have to drive all over town to buy the ingredients. I didn't have to do the prep work or clean up. And I have healthy meals in the freezer for those nights when I'm too busy to cook or out of town. The time savings alone made it a bargain.

So now I'm trying to figure out how to do a similar party with friends and not do all the work as the hostess. I'm thinking that each person could shop and prepare the ingredients for one dish for X amount of people. Then we could get together, assemble the meals, and help each other with the clean up and cost.

Healthy Freezer Meals for Dieters

It would be fun to get together with friends to make freezer meals, but it wouldn't be as easy as my class. Luckily, there are many terrific websites devoted to once a month cooking, like Once a Month Cooking World. Other sites have pages devoted to making freezer meals, like Real Food 4 Real People.

The challenge is finding recipes that are healthy for the whole family and will work with your diet. You can easily lower a recipe's calorie count by using leaner meats, adding more veggies, and using condiments like salsa and soy sauce.

Or you can pick your favorite Weight Watchers, low-cal, or low carb recipes and figure out if they can be prepared ahead of time, frozen and reheated in a microwave or slow cooker (crock pot).

Here is a recipe from my class. I did a search on it and found out that it's originally from Erica's Recipes blog. My kids love it and you can make it dieter-friendly by omitting the bun and serving it on spaghetti squash or brown rice.

Spicy Beef Sloppy Joes

Control the spiciness by adding more or less cayenne pepper and using a mild or spicy salsa. You could also substitute ground turkey. We used ground venison.

Because of the veggies, lean meat and salsa, I'm guessing that this is probably 4 to 6 Weight Watchers POINTS per cup. Serving it on top of steamed veggies will add zero POINTS.

Ingredients:

• 2 lb lean ground beef
• 2 (16 oz) jars salsa
• 3 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 ½ cups shredded carrots (3 medium)
• 1 ½ cups finely chopped red and/or green bell pepper
• 1/3 cup tomato paste
• 2 tsp dried basil, crushed
• 1 tsp dried oregano, crushed
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• 4 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:

1. In a skillet, cook beef over medium heat until brown, stirring to break meat into pieces. Drain fat.
2. In slow cooker, stir together beef and remaining ingredients.
3. Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-6 hours.

If you're turning this into a freezer meal, brown the meat and drain the fat. Then combine all the ingredients, except for the buns, into a freezer bag. Freeze and label with instructions.

Reheating instructions:

1. Remove frozen sloppy joe mix out of bag and place into crock pot for 4 hours on low.
2. If defrosted, place in pan and heat up on the stove.

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