Monday, December 29, 2014

Sweet & Spicy Coconut Tea!!

I love a variety of tea flavors. There are some tea flavors I prefer more than others. Like Celestial Seasoning's Decaf Sweet Coconut Thai tea. I like it, but it's not one of my "must haves". Well, as I made a stop in the tea section at a local grocery store, I saw a box and contemplated if I wanted to buy it. I decided not to get a box because I didn't think I would use it. Well, guess what!? Yup! Today was the day when I wanted to fix a cup of that tea and I didn't have ANY! Boo! LOL

I just started a new "diet" plan and I thought it would have been a nice "reward" for me sticking to my meal plan today. I WANTED that spicy coconut taste!! (growling) LOL Then BING! The Lord gave me a sweet idea! I had some coconut flakes in the cabinet. I also had some Good Nature's Sweet and Spicy as well. I wasn't sure how it was going to taste, but I decided to give it a try.

I added a cup of water, a sweet & spicy tea bag, and about 3 tablespoons of sweeten coconut flakes and boiled them all together. It turned out GREAT!!

I'm so thankful that the Lord gave me that sweet idea. I tell you, He truly is the One Who can help us to be creative. Here's my recipe. I called it, Sweet & Spicy Coconut Tea

1 cup of water
1 Sweet & Spicy tea bag
3 tablespoons of Sweetened Coconut Flakes
2 tablespoons of half & half

Boil the tea and coconut flakes together. Then pour in the half & half and enjoy.

When I do purchase a box, I'll make my other drink (that I really wanted to make tonight)

Coconut Delight

2 bags of Sweet Coconut Thai tea bags
1/4 cup of Coconut cream (or you could use about 1/2 cup of coconut milk)
2 tablespoons of hal & half

Mix and enjoy.

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Creamy Ice Tea Please

Starting yesterday, I've been drinking creamy ice tea. What?! Yes, just like I said, CREAMY ICE TEA!

It started with me having some Bigelow's Peppermint Bark tea leftover after spending time with my girls. I just poured the rest of it in my favorite cup with the straw. I added some green tea, syrup, half & half, and wow! I nice creamy, cool, taste!

I made another cup later on that night. I call it "Cool White Chocolate Drink". Here's the recipe:

Cool White Chocolate Drink
1/2 cup of green tea
1/2 cup of almond milk
1/4 cup white chocolate-peppermint syrup
2 Tbsp of half and half

Add ice, mix, and enjoy.

I loved that cool taste.

Today, I wanted to have another cup of ice tea, but I wasn't in the mood for peppermint. So, I fixed Vanilla-Caramel ice tea. Here's the recipe:






Creamy Vanilla-Caramel Ice Tea
1/2 cup of water
2 bags of Bigelow's Vanilla-Caramel tea bags
1/2 of Almond milk
2 Tbsp of Splendor
2 Tbsp of half and half

Add ice, mix, and enjoy.

I love the smell of this tea brewing on the stove. My five-year-old even commented about the smell. It gives such a sweet scent in the air. It just calls you to come over and enjoy a cup of it.

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Eggnog Chai

Yesterday, I shared my tea recipe JavaVana Eggnog Mate. Today, I'd like to share this Eggnog Chai tea recipe. I just made it. It's really creamy, but without the eggnog.

Eggnog Chai
1 cup of Bigelow's Eggnog tea
2 scoops of my Chai Mix
2 Tbsp of Half & Half


Brew the tea and add the mix and half and half.
Drink and enjoy!

Dry Creamy Chai Mix & Sweet, Creamy, Caramel Chai Tea

I'm thankful that when and if I'm near a Duncan Doughnut, Starbucks or Panera Bread, I can get a nice cup of Vanilla Chai tea. I love how creamy and sweet their chai teas are. But, whenever I tried to make a cup at home, it would NEVER taste the same. Some tea drinkers told me that most of the shops use a concentrated version. Okay, I get that. But, I didn't want to use one. It just feels "cheap" to me. LOL

So, I decided to use some of the chai recipes that I found on Pinterest. I first tried one similar to this one. It wasn't spicy enough. So, I found this one. It included some of the same ingredients as the first, only it included allspice and white pepper in their recipe. I confess, I thought adding white pepper would give it the heat that I wanted. Not!! LOL

When I made the chai tea mix, I didn't have any unsweetened tea mix. So, I omitted it from the recipe. You can pretty much say that I just made a creamer. From now on, I'll just call it my Sweeten Creamy Chai Creamer. Here's the recipe:

1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
1 cup French Vanilla flavored powdered non-dairy creamer
3 cups of Splendor
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon allspice
1/4 white pepper

When my husband and I came home after doing some Christmas shopping, I had a taste for some tea with my creamer mix, but I thought to brew some of Bigelow's Caramel Chai tea to put the mix in. I also thought to add a tablespoon of caramel coffee syrup. Wow! It had a caramel, sweet, and creamy taste.

I still didn't get a nice heat after every sip (other than the temperature), but it was close. Today, I fixed Good Earth's Sweet and Spicy and mixed the Chai creamer in it. It tasted great! If you are looking to try some new flavored Chai teas, try these:

Sweet Creamy Caramel Chai Tea:

3 teaspoons of the Chai creamer
1 cup of Bigelow's Caramel Chai tea
1 Tbsp of Caramel coffee syrup
1/4 cup of half and half

Mix and enjoy.

Spicy Creamy Caramel Chai Tea

3 teaspoons of the Chai creamer
1 cup of Good Earth's Sweet & Spicy tea
1 Tbsp of Caramel coffee syrup
1/4 cup of half and half

Mix and enjoy.



Saturday, December 20, 2014

Creamy JavaVana Eggnog Mate

This is going to be my new holiday tea drink! I found this recipe for Eggnog Latte. Now, of course I don't drink coffee. I had to tweak it to suit me as a tea drinker. It seems as if coffee drinkers get to have all of the fun of trying different kinds of creative coffee flavors. I think only tea drinkers get to find out about all of the cool and funky flavors through other tea drinkers or (for me) the grocery stores and tea shops. But, you can go into just about any coffee shop and find all kinds of flavors.

{record scratches}

Anyway...I just wanted to share my Creamy Java Eggnog tea. Here's the recipe:



Creamy JavaVana Eggnog Mate

1/2 cup of JavaVana Mate tea from Teavana
2/3 of Eggnog
1/3 cup of half & half
2 Tbsp of sweetener (or 1 if you'd prefer less sugar)

Mix and enjoy.

Monday, December 8, 2014

My Own Tea Cafe

Ever since I decided to decorate my tea section, I really enjoy fixing a cup of tea. After having a long day, I feel as if I'm stepping into my own Tea Cafe.

My Tea section has changed since my sweet hubby first put it together and it's funny to see some of the things that have been added like my sign and teapot.













I love my tea section! I can walk over to it and "order" what I want and fix it just the way I like it. I also love seeing my girls and guests come over and pick out tea for me to fix as well.
































I'm so thankful that my hubby puts up with m

Friday, December 5, 2014

My Own Winter TEA WONDERLAND!!


It's finish! I like my little display. Here are pictures of the finished project.


I made the labels for the featured goblets. For some reason, Gingerbread Spice has been my #1 go to tea so far this season. I also tried a new seasonal flavor by Celestial Seasoning Teas. It's called Cranberry-Vanilla Wonderland. I really like it! Although the Cranberry isn't as strong like I thought it would be, it's still a nice blend. Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride and Candy Cane Land are good as well.


 I attached them onto the goblets and then FILLED THEM UP!! LOL


 Here's how the top feature shelf looks!


Then I finished the cardboard boxes that I sprayed painted aqua blue and wrapped a glittery silver ribbon around it.


Now, here it is!!


I found these syrups at Bullington Coat Factory. They are called Skinny Syrups. I love how I labeled the box. LOL It says COFFEE SYRUPS!? It can be used for tea drinkers too. LOL




 The top shelf


 The second shelf


The third shelf


The bottom shelf

I love looking over at the corner of our kitchen to see this display. It's my little section of being free to express my creative side. I look forward to expressing myself a lot more in our new home. Until then, I'm thankful.

Saturday, November 29, 2014

The Glue Blues!

The winter tea display is coming along great! I confess, I have to learn to be patient with the process. Since spray paint has to cure for 24 hours, I can't do anything else until the things that I had spray painted is fully dry. But, in the meantime, I've been able to start arranging things on the display. Here are some of the pictures.

 I spray painted the candlesticks an aqua blue.

 Then I sprayed "snow" on the bottom of them.



 I love this holder. When I saw it on Pinterest, I wanted to try it for this display. But, I didn't think that it would be hard to get the bowls to stay in a tilted position. It was truly giving me the blues!!


 I spray painted some boxes. I confess, spray painting boxes to cover up all the writing has been hard! 

 Here are my cute little houses. I sprayed "snow" on them.


Here's an updated look. I still have more things to do with it.

Friday, November 28, 2014

My New Tea Thing

I remember finding out about this particular drink from this blog. I wasn't interested in trying it when I first found it. Until lately. I've been using my Java Tea from Guayaki and added about a half of cup of Almond milk. It's been a great morning drink. Here's my recipe.

Milk Tea
1/2 cup of brewed tea (any flavor) I used Mate tea.
1/2 cup of almond milk
a sweetener

Mix them together and enjoy!

A Nice Way To Relax...Doing Crafts!!

My Tea Boxes




The "Snow"








Lady Teapot's New Look!


I renamed the houses.



I spray painted the candlesticks and boxes aqua blue. 


I look forward to finishing up the crafts tomorrow.


Tuesday, November 25, 2014

My Winter Tea Display Is On The Way!!

Since I've been working on my Thanksgiving crafts, I couldn't help but to want to start gathering the craft supplies that I've been saving up to change my tea section from the fall season look to a winter season look. I bought supplies from Dollar Tree and I found some really cute stuff from the Thrift store. Here are some of the supplies:


 I found these cute house storage bins!

 One of the roof tops were broken. 

 But, I was able to glue it back together.



 I couldn't believe that someone gave these cuties away!! I can't wait to use these. Aren't they CUTE!!?


My "snow"!!


I glued it onto the shelf lining.

I plan on putting my display together right after Thanksgiving. I'm so excited. LOL