"Diet Mountain Dew" Low-cal Powdered Drink Mix

Why a DIY "Crystal Light" version of Diet Dew, you ask?? Simple: I want the taste of my favorite soda at mealtime when backpacking (when it is totally impractical to haul soda; plus the carbonation and caffeine isn't my friend on the trail). The recipe below is the result of a lot of trial and error (thank you, friends and family). Even the color is a good match. Enjoy!

Ingredients per serving

Standard bottle of water (16.9 ounces)

4 packets (about 1 teaspoon) Great Value No Calorie Sweetener (from Walmart)

1/4 teaspoon Great Value Orange Early Rise (from Walmart)

1/4 teaspoon True Lemon Lemonade (from Amazon or Walmart)

1/8 teaspoon True Orange (from Amazon or Walmart)

1/8 teaspoon True Lime (from Amazon or Walmart)

Dash (1/16 t?) True Grapefruit (from Amazon or Walmart)

Other essentials

Measuring spoons (1, 1/4, and 1/8 teaspoon)

Small bowl and spoon for mixing

Small baggie (I put each individual drink mix into a snack-size Ziploc)

Measure the dry ingredients into a small bowl. Line up lots of bowls and prepare several mixes at once!

Mix the dry ingredients and transfer into a small baggie until you are ready to add them to a standard-sized bottle of water (16.9 ounces). I bite off a corner to funnel the mix from the baggie to the bottle.

Ah, the best part!! If you make tweaks to this recipe, please leave your comments so I can keep upgrading. Thanks for reading.