I love tea. I enjoy a regular ‘cup of tea’ but I adore herbal teas. This year I grew some herbs and flowers, dried them and made healing teas with them. I love spending time in the garden and getting my hands in the soil. There is something hugely satisfying about growing plants for teas. I’m still learning and experimenting. It really is my happy place and I find flow and relaxation in the whole process. I’ll share more about the teas I made in another post because I want to share three drinks that I find very soothing for the mind, body and soul.
Healthy hot chocolate
Regular hot chocolate tends to be overly sweet and doesn’t contain any nutrients. This hot chocolate is tasty and can really hit the spot when you fancy something sweet but don’t want the crash after eating processed sugar.
This is the basic recipe I have created and it is adaptable so you can throw in anything you like.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon organic cocoa (not ready-made hot chocolate powder) or cacao
1/3 of the mug of milk of your choice (dairy or non-dairy)
Hot water
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (or any other spices)
a kiss of maple syrup/honey
Method
Place cocoa into the mug with the milk and make a paste. Top up with hot water and stir well. Tip this into a saucepan and gently heat and add the other ingredients. To make it feel more indulgent you can whizz it up using a stick blender. Experiment with the quantities.
Amongst other benefits cocoa is good for your brain, heart and mood.
I found this blog post about the benefits of drinking cocoa.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/cocoa-powder-nutrition-benefits#TOC_TITLE_HDR_7
Golden Milk
Method
Use equal portions of nutmeg and turmeric powder, half the portion of black pepper powder
milk of your choice
Bring the spices in the milk to a boil at least 1-2 times until the spices have thoroughly dissolved through the milk. Stir regularly. Take off the heat, pour into a mug and add some raw, unheated honey.
I tend to make up a batch of the powder mix for convenience. I also like to add a little dried ginger to the dry mix or add grated fresh ginger into the finished drink. I sometimes add a little cinnamon. You could whizz up this one too for a creamy finish.
Turmeric has become a popular spice to use as it has anti-inflammatory properties.
Here is a link to the benefits of Turmeric or golden milk.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/golden-milk-turmeric#TOC_TITLE_HDR_2
Linseed tea
This is a drink that I have just started making and I love it. It’s sometimes referred to as a ‘hug in a mug’. I think all three drinks in this post could be called that.
The main benefit of this tea is that it is super hydrating as the mucous creating effect of the drink helps your body to hold on to the water.
Linseed are full of soluble fibre and the mucosal effect can help soothe inflammaed bowels.
They are great for peri/post-menopausal women as they contain Phyto-estrogens.
They also contain healthy EFA’s Essential Fatty Acids – Omega 3 which has anti-inflammatory benefits.
I buy my seeds direct from a local linseed farm. I know the seeds are fresh which means they still have their healing properties.
How I made it.
6 tablespoons of linseed in 2 litres of water and bring to a gentle boil and quickly turn off the heat. The mix can boil over and is messy! Leave the mix to stand for 6-8 hours (I left it overnight). The next morning I gently simmered for about 20 minutes then I strained the seeds out using a sieve.
The seeds are discarded and I put the ‘tea’ in a flask to sip throughout the day. The tea can be kept in the fridge for 2-3 days. If the finished drink is too gloopy you can add more water to thin it.
This website explains the many benefits
Here is the link to the traditional recipe from this website and it worked really well. There are quicker ways to make it but I think it’s worth taking longer to ensure you get all the positive properties out of it.
