"Rat Poison". That's how I described my daily Diet Dr. Pepper fix to my kids (who would eagerly steal any sip - or can - they could get their little hands on). I was drinking up to three of these time bombs a day, a relic of a high energy workplace with a giant refrigerator full of free soda. I left the job years ago, but the habit lingered on.

I read all the bad news about diet pop: it causes cancer, weight gain and migraines. But it was sooo delicious! I knew that if I wanted to kick the habit, I had to find something equally delicious to drink, preferably something that (a) I could afford to drink in quantity, and (b) wasn't unhealthy when consumed in said quantity.

After months of trial and error, I have three winning candidates! All are quick to make, delicious and will not send you to an early grave.

The simplest is seltzer water with juice. Pour out or drink 1/4 of a can of seltzer and then re-fill the can with grapefruit, orange, cranberry or another juice, and you have a delicious soda substitute. Of course, add some vodka to that and you have an even more delicious adult beverage. Bonus health points for using juice with calcium!

The next - requiring the use of a knife and cutting board - is cold water with fruit slices. Think of it like Sangria (again, with the alcohol...) with water instead of wine. I keep it in a quart mason jar stored in my refrigerator. Once you've cut the fruit, drink within 3 days. Fruits that work well include citrus, berries, melon and cucumber, a veggie that occasionally switches teams.

Finally, a cold-brewed iced coffee with milk and a bit of sugar is a tasty treat. There are many ways to flavor your coffee including:

• milk, sugar and vanilla,
• homemade caramel sauce, and
• Vietnamese style, with sweetened condensed milk and half and half.

Here is a great cold-brewed coffee recipe from Pioneer Woman as well as a photo of my go-to substitute, Dunkin decaf with extra milk and two pumps of caramel swirl.

These are my favorites, but I'm still new on this no-pop journey; if you'd care to share, please comment on your favorite soda sub!

Another day, another blizzard in Boston. Twelve to eighteen inches...yawn. Winds like a category 2 hurricane...is that all you've got?  Been there, done that, have the t-shirt. Just don't take my power, please!

If you haven't yet made your pre-blizzard run to the grocery store, pick up four granny smith apples, a package of high quality cheddar cheese (Cabot extra sharp comes pre-grated and it's perfect for this recipe) and four cups of chicken broth. Everything else you need, you almost certainly have in your pantry or refrigerator.

Once the snow starts to fly, you can make your delicious apple cheddar soup. Think of soup that tastes like a giant pot of cheese fondue only with the apples right in the soup! You don't have to go to the trouble of dipping them, just eat them up. Of course, this soup is best served with a fresh loaf of bread, so add that to your pre-blizzard shopping list too.

There is only one tricky part about the soup; one piece of special equipment that can make or break this recipe, and that is an immersion (or "stick") blender. If someone gave you this cool tool and you haven't yet taken it out of the box, go find that box now. Unpack it, click the top and bottom of the blender together, plug it in and you are ready to go. If you are using a regular blender to puree your soup, read the following carefully:

DO NOT FILL THE BLENDER MORE THAN HALFWAY FULL!!!!

I know that all caps may seem harsh, but this is important. We all like to save time, and we all think we are smarter than the instructions in the recipe. We think "my blender's lid won't fly off when I start it, spewing boiling hot soup to the farthest reaches of my kitchen." We think "If I fill it just a little bit more, it will only take two batches." We think, "I know how much my blender can hold."

Don't. Do. It.

When you turn on a blender full of hot soup, the process of pureeing releases a burst of hot steam which will propel the lid of a full (or more than 1/2 full) blender into the stratosphere, immediately followed by the blender's contents. Please, learn from my vast experience in this matter, and either use an immersion blender or fill your blender less than 1/2 full.

Scrubbing  your ceiling of hot, cheesy soup is no way to spend a blizzard. Trust me, I know.

Here is the recipe for Apple Cheddar Soup. Enjoy...and stay warm.

For a short video of a fabulous apple peeler, see my "Cool Tools" post here.