The Healthy Margarita: It's My Birthday, Time for Homemade Magaritas

It's my birthday so I'm making a homemade Margarita to celebrate! I have a bunch of extra fruit so this is basically like a smoothie turned margarita. It's not super low calories or sugar, but it's high in fresh fruit and the nutrition it provides.

For example the recipe uses 3 strawberries. That's 53% of the daily value of vitamin C, 1 gram of fiber and only 17 calories!

And the one mango I use has 3 grams fiber, 2% iron and calcium, 32% vitamin A and 96% vitamin C.

So you can feel good while drinking your margarita, that honestly you were going to have anyway ;)

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In addition to being healthy, my version is also the lazy/ poor man's version because I'm making it from only the alcohols I happen to already have.

Follow this recipe exactly or I'll tell you in parenthesis the actual types of alcohol you'd want to use for a legit margarita. Either way it's packed with nutrition and alcohol! 

(Whether those two cancel one another out is a debate for another blog, here on becomingcoco, we think positive.)

Ingridients: Serves 2-4 (depending on how big your glass is, or 1 if you're ambitious) 

Mango-Peach Fruit Fushion Magarita:

- 2 shots Bacardi gold rum, 3 if you like it strong  (see measuring tips at bottom if you don't have a shot glass)

- 1 cup Strawberry Daiquiri Malt Cooler 

- 1 mango

- 1 peach

- 2-3 cups ice (add to your desired thickness, I used an entire ice tray, about 16 large pieces of ice)

- 3 strawberries

- 10 or a handful of blueberries 

- Optional: dash of orange juice to thin the mixture and add flavor

(Now a Traditional margarita calls for:

1 shot Jose Cuervo tequila and 1/2 shot orange liqueur like Cointreau per serving.

Then add a squeeze of lime. 

If you want to use these proper alcohols but still get the mango-peach flavor just substitute and follow the remainder of the recipe exactly. But if you are like me working with what you've got rum, vodka and/or wine cooler will still make a delicious drink. Gin, scotch or whiskey? Your on your own.)

1. Cut up mango (peel it first) , strawberries and peach into medium size slices, as if for eating.
   
2. Combine the wine cooler (or Cointreau) , rum (or tequila),mango, peach, strawberries and blueberries in a blender; blend until smooth.
   
3. Add 2 cups ice and blend until smooth again
   
   (It gets much larger after the ice)
4. Pour in a classy cup and drink !

If you're used to very sugary and sweet drinks you can add extra sugar, the natural fruit sugar may not be as sweet as the syrups used by margarita places, but it's more healthy!

Verdict: Tastes great and healthy! In the future I may try either a lemonade flavor malt cooler like Mike's Hard to add some tart or just ex the malt cooler, add 1cup OJ and another shot of rum! 

MEASURING TIPS:

- 1 shot is approximately 1 1/4-1 1/2 ounces

- 2 ounces is 1/4 a cup

- 3 ounces is 6 tablespoons 

I recommend using 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons for an exact measure or 1/3 cup for an approximate amount. Using less utensils means less liquor losing.