Clean Iced Chai

Sometimes, I take too much on.  It's a weakness of mine.  I'm starting to read Hope for the Weary Mom.  I couldn't make it through the first chapter without crying my eyes out.  And craving coke and dark chocolate.  If you've read it, you'll understand.  I have what seems like an endless list of activities I have signed myself up for.  All because I love to help.  I love to be a part of things.  But I think that's my weakness.  Dare I tell you my weakness?  I am your typical words of affirmation people pleaser.  (gasping for air...deep breaths...my heart is racing and I haven't even hit publish. Did I just say that out loud?)  Do I volunteer myself for these things because I'm dying for words of affirmation from people?  No, I do most of them because I love what it all entails.  And yes, if you want to think I'm amazing too, that would be great.  But the reality is, I'm feeling fresh out of amazing lately.  These last few weeks, while juggling my commitments, my toddler is morphing into a 3 year old thrower of tantrums, sending me into a bottomless pit of despair where it's so deep I'm afraid people won't be able to see me waving my white flag.  But there, in that pit, where I feel the most alone, is where God meets me and shows me that it's His grace that is amazing, not me.  Time and time again we have a habit at meeting in that pit. If I am strong all the time, I have no need of His all encompassing grace.  And I guarantee you, I don't ever what to lose that.  So, I guess from now on, I'll be weak.  Because when I am weak, He is strong.

I recently posted a recipe for my favorite clean iced coffee, which people loved!  But if you're not a coffee drinker, don't worry, I've got you covered.  I know several people who loved iced chais and a few have requested a clean version, such as my lovely sister.  I, myself, am trying to take as much of a break from coffee as I can and am looking for some better alternatives.  Today was my first day.  We'll see how tomorrow goes.  Is black tea really better than coffee?  I don't know.  Maybe.  I guess it all depends what you put in it.  This one is clean as a whistle.  There are different diets so whichever category you are in, you can easily adjust this recipe per your diet.  Use splenda instead of raw sugar, or brown sugar instead of raw if you don't care about that sort of thing...or hey, you can even use maple syrup if you want an extra dash of fall.

What I love about this drink is that it isn't overly sweet. I used to love chai lattes from Starbucks but now the sweetness just kills me.  Whether I bought the concentrate in the box or fresh from the store, I could never finish the whole thing because it was so sickly sweet to me.  But this is perfect, the raw sugar adds a hint of sweetness, not too much and not too little.  I topped with extra pumpkin pie spice and stirred it with a cinnamon stick to add even more spice.  This is heavenly, you're gonna love every sip of it.  How do I know?  I made two today.

So here is the recipe, you're welcome.

Ingredients:

3 bags of your favorite chai tea
10 ounces of HOT water
4 packets of raw sugar
Unsweetened vanilla almond milk
pumpkin pie spice
cinnamon stick

Directions:

1.  Prepare tea, using 3 tea bags in 10 ounces of hot water (I used the large cup setting on my Keurig which measures 10 ounces).
2.  Immediately add sugar and stir to dissolve.
3.  Let tea steep for 5-7 minutes. The longa, the stronga.
4.  Fill a large glass full to the top of ice and pour halfway-three quarters with tea.
5.  Add almond milk and top with pumpkin pie spice and stir with cinnamon stick.

And because it was naptime, I took ALOT of pictures.  So enjoy :)