Chai Tea for Two (latte, if you like)

I  remember the first time I tasted chai, in a friend's kitchen. The creamy texture and slightly spiced flavor took me by surprise. "Oh wow!" I said. "This is like drinking pumpkin pie!"

image: livesimply.me

Since that first taste, I've loved chai, but I don't drink it often because if you make it with a purchased mix or buy it in a coffee shop, it's usually loaded with sugar. However, inspired by this recipe for Chai Tea Latte from Live Simply (and modified to reduce the syrup), I've been making this the past couple days, and it's the perfect cold-weather pick-me-up when you want something richer than plain tea. (The original recipe makes enough for four servings, so you can enjoy one right away and then keep the extra on hand in the fridge. Smart! I love make-aheads!)

It uses maple syrup for the sweetener, but you can substitute the sugar or sweetener of your choice. I also replaced the half-and-half with culinary coconut milk; the canned kind; not the thinner stuff that comes in quart cartons. But you can use half-and-half, or another dairy substitute that you like. I've also streamlined the process a bit because, well, I'm impatient! I use a ready-made spice mix. And I use the microwave, and just let it steep for two or three minutes. But if you're patient and have the time, you can let it steep the full five minutes at each step.

Chai mixture:
1 cup water
1-1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice*
1 tea bag or about 1.5 teasp. loose tea -- any unflavored black tea will do
1 TB pure maple syrup
1 or 2 grinds of freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Latte additions:
1/2 cup milk of your choice     

    (recommended: something rich and somewhat fatty, like coconut milk or half-and-half.)

maple syrup to taste

Put the water and spice mix in a glass measuring cup or other microwave-safe container and heat until it steams. Take it out, and let sit for at least two and up to five minutes. Cut open the tea bag and pour the contents into the hot water. Add a couple grinds of black pepper if you like. Return it to the microwave and heat again till steaming. Let it steep for three to five minutes.

While it's steeping, prepare the milk. Heat it slightly in the microwave. Do NOT let it boil. 

Frothing the milk is optional -- but it's the thing that takes this drink from chai to chai latte. There are various ways to froth the milk. You can do this with a stick blender, or by hand, using this method, or just by holding a wire whisk and rolling it quickly between your palms like this: 

(The baby orangutan is optional.)

At this time, you can also preheat your two serving cups, to help the chai stay hotter. Fill them with the hottest water that will come out of your tap, and let that sit till you're ready to serve.

Once the tea is done steeping, dump the hot water out of your serving cups. Pour the tea mixture through a fine sieve into another container. Rinse the sieve, then pour through it again as you're decanting the tea into each serving cup. Top with even portions of the milk, and taste to see if you want more sweetness; sweeten to taste.

Then snuggle into a cozy chair and drink that pumpkin pie!

*If you don't have pumpkin pie or apple pie spice mix, you may use:
1 whole clove (optional)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
pinch ground nutmeg (optional)
pinch ground allspice (optional)

Super-simple creamy Italian dressing

Creamy Italian is one of my husband's favorite salad dressings. It's getting harder to find in the grocery store, and the ones that we had tried tasted so fake and sugary -- the side effect of making pretty much all your salad dressings from scratch.

Then I found this one! The original recipe is on AllRecipes, but I've tweaked it to make it my own; I reduced the sugar and made a few other minor tweaks.

Tried it; loved it; it's a keeper!

I made it as a spread/dip for homemade submarine sandwiches a couple nights ago. My husband still misses a sub that Pizza Hut used to have on the menu, which had a similar spread on it, and this recipe is a good fit. Then the next day for lunch, I had a sub-sandwich-inspired salad (shown in the photo above). Romaine lettuce with diced ham, pepperoni, and salami; mozzarella cheese, and diced tomatoes. And pickled onions -- which are also a great sandwich topper (recipe coming soon).

It's really quick and easy to make. Tastes best if you make it a few hours or a day ahead, but I've made some notes in the recipe about how to adapt it if you need to serve it right away.

Yay! No more store-bought creamy Italian dressing!

Creamy Italian Dressing (low or no sugar)

 1 clove garlic, minced
 1 T. olive oil
3/4 cup mayonnaise
 1 T. red wine vinegar
 1 T. water
 1 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. granulated onion
 1/4 t. white sugar*
 1/4 t. Worcestershire sauce (optional??)

Place the minced garlic and olive oil in a small dish and microwave for 30 seconds.

Combine this and all the other ingredients in a 12 - 16 oz. jar and shake well.

Refrigerate for a few hours; better overnight.

*If you will be storing it 24 hours before use, you might skip the sugar. If you are living sugar-free, you can leave it out or replace it with your favorite sweetener. If you will be serving it right away, you might want to reduce the vinegar slightly and increase the sugar to taste.

Emergency peanut butter cookies

Midnight: you've got a bad cookie craving. What to do? Making a whole batch of cookies is a recipe for waking up to regrets! This is perfect: a quick, easy peanut butter cookie recipe with a batch size of two.

Oh, and by the way, they're sugar-free. Sweetened with good ol' maple syrup! (Which is important for vegans, and those of us trying to avoid white or brown sugar. Learn more.)

This recipe is from Chocolate Covered Katie's blog, but I've neatened it up a bit.

Quick, easy sugar-free peanut butter cookies

Makes two cookies.

• 2 T. flour (I used white whole wheat)
• 1/16 tsp baking soda
• generous pinch of salt
• 1.5 T. peanut butter
• 1.5 T. maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
• optional: add some chocolate chips if you wish!

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a cereal bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the remaining ingredients. Mix well and form into two blobs on a parchment-covered cookie sheet. Flatten into cookie shapes (use a fork, and wipe it clean between the first and second cookie). 

Bake in preheated oven for 8-11 minutes. Check at 8 minutes, and add one to two minutes at a time until it's lightly browned in some areas.

Let cool for as long as you can stand it. Enjoy with a glass of milk, if you like. Wake up in the morning with no regrets about having devoured too many cookies the night before!

Seven simple salad dressings

One of the easiest and most delicious things you can do to put healthier food into your body is to learn some recipes for homemade salad dressings. Once you start, you'll probably never buy the bottled stuff again! Homemade dressings just taste so much fresher. And you can be sure there's no corn syrup or {insert evil sweetener of your choice here} in it! I usually use Splenda, but use whatever you want. Most "Lite" salad dressings you buy in the store are low fat, but that just means a higher percentage of the product is carbs, and most likely, sugary ones.

Here are seven of my favorite homemade salad dressings I've posted here in the past. For a healthy body, happy taste buds!

Buttermilk Ranch (made with Greek yogurt)

Creamy Balsamic Vinaigrette

Tex-Mex Dressing (three ingredients!)

Ginger-peanut Salad Dressing

Almost-Panera's Asian Chicken Salad Dressing

Lemon (or Citrus) Poppyseed Dressing

Caesar Salad Dressing

Update: bonus recipe...

Creamy Italian Dressing

Emergency blueberry crumble for one

Blueberries in the freezer, snow outside on the ground, and a hankerin' for something warm and sweet. What to make, that's slightly healthy but also bona fide comfort food?!

Blueberry crumble, of course! (Blueberries are a super food. Old fashioned oatmeal's not bad either.)

Based on this recipe for Microwave Blueberry Crumble (four servings), here's a version that goes together super fast and easy (less than five minutes!), can be made sugar-reduced, and is scaled to make just one serving. And if you use gluten-free oatmeal and cornstarch, it could also be gluten-free!

I'm including instructions for topping it with a bit of vanilla-flavored cream, but you could, of course, top it with ice cream instead. Depending on the severity of your emergency and the contents of your freezer.

Emergency blueberry crumble for one

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
2 t. sugar (or one Splenda packet)
3/4 t. cornstarch
2 T. old fashioned oats
2 T. packed brown sugar (or 1 T. brown sugar Splenda blend)
1 T. chopped pecans
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon and/or a wee pinch of nutmeg
1 T. cold butter (no exceptions)
3 T. heavy cream
splash of vanilla extract

Place the blueberries in a 4- to 5-" microwave-safe dish (I used the cover of an extra-wide butter dish). Sprinkle the sugar and cornstarch on top. Cover and microwave on high for 30 seconds; stir and heat on high another 30 seconds. Repeat until the blueberries are softened and the sauce is slightly thickened.

In a small bowl, stir together the oats, brown sugar, pecans and cinnamon. Cut in the butter into the oat mixture using a fork, until the mixture resembles very coarse crumbs. You want there to still be some globs of butter, though; not completely smoothed out.

Sprinkle the oat mixture over the blueberry mixture. Cover and microwave on high for 30 seconds; stir and heat on high another 30 seconds.

Pour a splash of vanilla extract into the cream; stir till combined. Drizzle over the blueberries. Grab a spoon and enjoy!