DrinkWire is Liquor.com's showcase for the best articles, recipe and reviews from the web's top writers and bloggers. In this post, Eat, Drink, and Be Skinny! offers lower calorie drink options for the 4th of July.

Woot! Fourth of July is sneaking up on us again and the great news this year? It’s on a Tuesday — which means a 4 day weekend for most of us! What could be more fun? How about not gaining an ounce this long holiday weekend why you live up your Skinny 4th of July? Here you have my best Red, White and Blue SkinnyTini recipes to keep you sipping and slim all holiday weekend long.

Did you know that the average festive 4th of July Cocktail has on average 300 calories?

At least? Now let’s do some math, let’s say you have 3-4 a day over this glorious, fun filled, party packed, BBQ of the century weekend. That’s going to cost you 4200 calories, which is over 1 lb of weight gain and less that you would burn after running a full marathon. In fact, most of us would have to run over 40 miles to burn that off. OMG, I’m so sorry to be so blunt — but it’s scary! And if knowledge is power, I want all my readers to know how to avoid the 4th of July 4000 calorie gain! I want you feeling beautiful in your bikini, bouncing at the beach, and enjoying this weekend’s festivities guilt-free!

Skinny 4th of July Step 1: Start with SkinnyTinis!

You can easily cut the calories in half if you just make a few simple modifications to your mixers. I’m a published author of the original low calorie cocktail book “SkinnyTinis — All the Fun for Half the Calories” and know for a fact it’s possible. And more often than not, the SkinnyTinis is not only half the calories, it’s twice the fun because the lower sugar content cuts back on your headache and you can find yourself shaving a few hours off your hangover. This book has 70 unique, well tested and delicious recipes – YAY! Amazon has the new paperback version for $10. It is light, compact and quite frankly, just a really good book.

RED: SkinnyTini’s Strawberry Daiquiri

Show your patriotism and protect your posterior with this gleaming red daiquiri! Traditional daiquiris are actually quite skinny, as they originally contained just rum, lime juice and a limited amount of simple syrup. The problem is, that is not what most typical restaurants use to create their daiquiris these days. Most establishment stock a readymade syrup based concoction that is dreadful from a sugar and calorie perspective. Then they top it off with full dairy whipped cream and you have yourself something more equivalent to a cake, not a cocktail. I think you will find this SkinnyTini to be lighter, fresher and more natural. Not only does it have less than half the calories, it carries twice the flavor and truly is better than its original, high calorie counterpart.

• 1 1/2 oz white rum
• 1 1/2 oz sugar-free strawberry flavored water
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• 5 fresh strawberries
• 5 drops liquid Sweet’N Low
• 1/2 – 1 cup ice for blending

Calories: 110 (versus 366 in your traditional recipe — 70% fewer calories!)

Directions: Add all ingredients to a blender. Mix on high speed for a minute. Use more ice and water if you want to puff up the the volume of the cocktail and not the calories. Pour into your preferred cocktail glass, garnish with a fresh strawberry and serve!

WHITE: SkinnyTini’s Pina Colada

Similar to the daiquiri, most Pina Coladas are made with a product called coconut cream that most establishments stock to make the preparation process easier for the bartender. And sadly it does not carry the fun health benefits that it’s coconut counter parts (coconut water, light coconut milk, and coconut oil do). And again, the problem is that it is a caloric nightmare! And it really is unnecessary. Getting to the core coconut and pineapple flavors is much more effective if you get closer to the natural source. Again, here you will find, the SkinnyTini far outperforms the original, high calorie counterpart.

• 1 1/2 oz white rum
• 1 oz light coconut milk
• 1/2 oz pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz sugar-free coconut syrup
• 1/2 – 1 cup of ice

Calories: 124 (versus 242 in your traditional recipe — 49% fewer calories!)

Directions: Add all ingredients to a blender. Mix on high speed for a minute. Use more ice if you want to puff up the the volume of the cocktail and not the calories. Pour into your preferred cocktail glass, garnish with a fresh pineapple and serve!

BLUE: SkinnyTini’s Skinny Blueberry Lemonade

Ok, I know, Lemonade is not blue. But totally perfect for your outdoor celebrations and just looks like a BBQ cocktail! I say skewer some high antioxidant fresh blueberries and use as a garnish. Or freeze some and drop them in the drink in lieu of or addition to your ice! Not only will it complete your red, white and blue theme, your guests will also get a little punch from the vitamins and fiber content! And each blueberry only has 1 calorie, so you can really load ‘em up without making much of a dent in your low calorie cocktail offering.

• 1 1/2 oz citrus vodka
• 3 oz club soda
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1 packet of sugar-free sweetener
• Few frozen or skewered blueberries

Calories: 88 (traditional lemonade has 14 calories per oz. So you save ~50 calories per 5 oz serving with this one! 35% fewer calories)

Directions: Fill your desired cocktail glass with ice (or frozen blueberries!), add all ingredients. Stir well and serve!

So that autta server you pretty well. Three, fun, festive and seasonal cocktails that should keep you and your guests entertained all weekend long!

The post Skinny 4th of July Cocktails and Recipes appeared first on Eat, Drink, and Be Skinny!.