Healthy Flavoured Creamer

   Good morning to you. First of all, I'm from Canada, and that is indeed how we spell flavour here! O.k, I'm glad that's out of the way!
   We got back last night from a weekend away with just enough time to pack lunches, put away things from our travels, have a cup of tea and watch an episode of Bones. 
   The wedding we went to this weekend was such a refreshing event; not too traditional, but still beautiful and, most importantly, really reflected the people who were getting married and their tastes and true personalities. 
   At the reception they had a proper Irish céilí....which is basically like square dancing, except not always in a square...I don't know quite how to describe it except to say it was riotous and celtic, and great fun. So much fun.
   Anyway, let's talk about creamer. Store bought coffee cream should make you gag a bit when you read the ingredients...and if it doesn't make you gag a bit you need food therapy of some sort. Corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils should not be in coffee cream. They really shouldn't be in any food at all, but that's a whole different story. 
   So, my flavoured cream is truly a whole food idea, and it can be customized with whatever milk option you can drink, and to many, many flavours. 
    Get ready to be amazed.... :)  

Healthy Flavoured Creamer

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup cream, milk, or milk alternative (coconut, almond, soy, rice, etc.)
• 3-4 Tbsp loose leaf tea. You can also use a pre-made tea bag. 


(Make more or less depending on how much creamer you would generally use within a week)

Method:

1. Place your milk and loose leaf tea into a heavy bottomed saucepan, and gently stir to combine-read step 6 before adding the tea to the milk!
2. Turn the heat to medium, and bring the cream/milk/milk alternative to a gentle boil 
3. Turn the heat down slightly, and allow the mixture to simmer
4. Leave it like this (stirring every so often) for 10-20 minutes depending on how strong you want the flavour. I like it to be strong, and generally leave it for 20 minutes
5. Remove pot from heat, and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes.
6. Using a tea strainer, pour the milk into a container while leaving the loose tea caught in the strainer. Alternately, you could have put your loose leaf tea into a tea ball, or one of those tea bags that you stuff yourself. If you are still thinking...."um...I have none of those things....", then take a coffee filter, put your tea in there, and tie it up tight with kitchen twine, and, voila! A tea bag! I know, it's brilliant. Obviously these options need to happen at the beginning when your adding the tea to the milk.
7. Cool the mixture a few minutes more before putting it into the fridge (or use it hot right away in your coffee!)
8. Store the creamer in the fridge for a week at most. 

Some tips: You can add a few drops of honey or maple syrup to the steeping milk if you want it a little sweeter, you can also add extras like cinnamon, a pinch of salt, vanilla extract, or a pinch of cocoa powder. Perhaps don't add all those at once, but make some flavour combos that you think might work!  

I choose Macchiato Dream this time.

   Can I just say that if you don't like cream in your coffee, you can make flavoured milk for your tea, or you can use a fruity tea to steeped with a milk alternative as a strait-up drink. I made the kids "strawberry milk" (almond milk steeped with strawberry tea), and they loooooved it! I have also steeped chai tea in my milk for a proper-ish chai tea latte.

   Well, dear people, that's all I have to say for now! I hope everyone has a fine monday!