Skinny Strawberry Mojitos

So I know, it’s Sunday – and I’m posting Thirsty Thursday’s cocktail – I’m a bad blogger!  This weekend in Boston was AMMMMAZZZZZNG so I was trying to take advantage of the fabu weather (this is New England afterall – it could be snowing tomorrow).

BUT, I do have a delicious cocktail recipe for you guys, whether it’s for Thirsty Thursday or Friday or Saturday – or heck maybe even Sunday! Who said you can’t enjoy a cocktail on the Sabbath?

I had bought some herbs at a local farmers market, one of them being mint.  I love the smell of fresh mint. It’s just so – minty.  And this mint plant really seemed to take off all of a sudden! And I was afraid that if I didn’t start snipping it and doing something with it, it would die.

So what’s the first thing I think of when I think of great uses for fresh mint?  MOJITOS, obvi!  So I decided to make my own mint infused simple syrup.  Most mojito recipes call for simple syrup and mint as well.  So why not infuse the mint into the simple syrup?

The mint simple syrup was super easy to make – 3 ingredients (I swapped out the sugar with Splenda to save some calories) – splenda, water and mint leaves.

Mint Simple Syrup
Adapted from Epicurious.com

INGREDIENTS

1 cup water

1 cup splenda (24 mini packets – oof)

1.5 cups packed mint leaves

1) Chop mint. In a saucepan bring sugar, water and mint to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Simmer syrup, undisturbed, 2 minutes. Pour syrup through a fine sieve, pressing hard on solids, and cool.

You can use this right away, or let it sit for up to a week.  It’s so yummy!

Skinny Strawberry Mojitos

INGREDIENTS

3 strawberries, sliced

10 mint leaves, chopped

Juice of 1/2 lime

1.5 oz rum

1 tsp. powdered strawberry drink mix, like Crystal Light

1 tbsp. mint simple syrup

Seltzer water or Club Soda

1) Take the strawberry slices, chopped mint leaves and the lime juice and muddle at the bottom of a cocktail shaker until combined.

2) To the muddled mixture, add the rum, strawberry drink mix and simple syrup to the cocktail shaker. Shake for about 10-15 seconds until the liquid is fully combined with the muddled fruit.

3)  Fill a glass with ice – pour the mixture from the cocktail shaker into the glass and then fill the remainder of the glass with seltzer or club soda.

So, by the power vested in me, go – go now – make yourself one of these mojitos! I’ts Sunday, tomorrow’s Monday, so that means you need to live up these last few hours of the weekend as much as possible. And I would advise doing it with one of these in your hand (maybe in both hands! They’re skinny, so you can have two….or three…..or ten:))