Make Your Own Turmeric Latte Mix!

If you haven't heard, turmeric lattes are the next big thing. They taste similar to chai lattes, but are super super good for you. The compound curcumin found within turmeric is widely known to fight cancer and inflammation and all kinds of bad stuff. I'm not a scientist nor a medical professional, and don't want to give mis-information, so. . .Google it!

Anyways, it can be kind of time consuming to make a real turmeric latte as it requires heating nut milk on the stove and using a hand-held blender to foam it.

When processes are that involved, let's be honest, we AREN'T going to do them every day.

So, here is a scaled-down easier method that you can do every morning in lieu of or in accordance with your morning coffee!

First of all, you will need at LEAST the following spices: turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon. All three of those spices can be found at Aldi or Big Lots for $1.00-2.00. (I suggest buying them soon as once big corporations find out that their low-cost items are now considered "health foods," they go and jack up the prices.)

I also added a tiny bit of cardamom, but that is because I have it. Be warned, though. Cardamom is like. . .upwards of $16 a bottle at Wal-Mart! It's really good for you, though, so if you have it, add it.

The ratio I have found on other blog posts and online recipes seems to be something like: 1 part turmeric to 1 (or less) part ginger to 1/3 part cinnamon. But if you like one of these spices more than the others, feel free to tweak. (You could also add pumpkin pie spices like nutmeg and clove if you want.) The important thing is to keep turmeric as the biggest part. I added a 3.75oz. bottle of turmeric, two 1.5oz. bottles of ginger, about 1oz. of cinnamon, and about a tablespoon of cardamom to this mason jar cup. (If you don't have a mason jar, an old washed out pasta sauce jar will work equally as well.)

Then, I shook it all together.

So now on to how to make the latte.

You can add as much of your powder to your nut milk (almond, coconut, etc.) as you want. I do a heaping tablespoon, and I add it to just a little bit of milk to start.

I stir that together for a few seconds. I do this because sometimes if you add the powder to a full glass of milk, it causes annoying lumps. If you stir a little milk with the powder to make a paste, the powder breaks down more evenly. (This trick is helpful with any powder-to-drink mix.)

Then, I filled the mug with milk. . .

. . .and added a little honey. I do highly recommend honey or some other sweetener as the spices can be kind of bitter/harsh on their own. But don't add very much! It doesn't take but a little bit of sweetener to counteract the bitterness. 

Don't cancel out the healthfulness with sugar! (You KNOW that is what the big corporations are going to do once these lattes catch on. They will create their own "ready made" mix and it will promise to be all healthy, meanwhile it will be LOADED with sugar. Happens every time!)

You can also add a tablespoon of coconut oil or ghee butter (if you real real fancy!) and heat it all together. That's what you are supposed to do, actually, but. . .anyways. . .I was running late this morning, so I didn't.

Then, I put the mug in the microwave for two to three minutes.

To make a really foamy latte, you can put this mixture in a separate microwave safe container, heat it for a minute, shake the container, heat it for another minute, shake it, etc., until you get a nice thick foam--you know, like a regular latte. Anyways, I didn't have time for that mess, so I just heated it up and sprinkled some cinnamon on top. My drink still had a little layer of foam on the top, so it wasn't like I was missing out on the latte experience or anything! 

So, there you have it! For a couple of dollars, you can have a ready made nice cozy spicy drink mix on hand for the whole winter (that ISN'T loaded with sugar)! You can also use the mix for other things besides lattes. You can add it to coffee, or like. . .muffin mixes. . .or wherever you feel appropriate.

(P.S. these jars make great gifts!. . .You're welcome!)

Simplified Directions:

Drink Mix:

1 part turmeric

1 (or less) part ginger

1/3 part cinnamon

(other spices - optional)

1 glass jar

Latte:

1 tablespoon of mix to a cup of nut milk

A bit of honey

1 tablespoon of coconut oil

Heat for 2-3 minutes

Enjoy!

One last note!!! Swallow a few peppercorns before drinking and your body will absorb the nutrients more fully! (Or you can add pepper to the mix, if you want.)

The End!

Tikka Masala with Tons of Vegetables and Optional Chicken

My friend, Stephanie Blok, asked me for this recipe, so I figured I'd throw it up here. I actually stole and modified the ingredients from the recipe from here: http://mongoliankitchen.com/vegetable-tikka-masala/ and...totally didn't follow the directions.

If you are trying to limit meat in your diet, the beans and other ingredients still give you plenty of protein, but you can add chicken for taste if you so desire.

The main idea for this recipe was to clear out some space in my freezer, so...some of these ingredients aren't really in Indian recipes, but...anyways, it tastes just like it's from an Indian restaurant, so there!

Ingredients:

    Spices: (If you don't have all these, play around.)
1. 1 tsp ginger powder
2. 2 tsp curry powder
3. 2 tsp cardamom
4. 1/2 a dried chili
5. 1/2 tsp cinnamon
6. 1 tsp garam masala
7. 1/2 tsp turmeric
8. 2 tsp tandoori spice
9. 1 tsp chili powder
10. 1 tsp coriander

    Vegetables and Meat (optional)
1. 2 handfuls of frozen onion
2. 2 medium sweet potatoes (chopped to 1")
3. 1 bag of dried beans (I used split peas, but I bet lentils would be awesome)
4. 1 handful of frozen colored peppers
5. coconut shavings (add to your taste)
6. asparagus (clearing the freezer)
7. chicken cut into 1" pieces (Optional. I just had to get rid of some chicken in my freezer)

     Sauce
1. 2 cups frozen pumpkin (or a can of pumpkin, but not pumpkin pie filling)
2. 1 can of chopped tomatoes (look for low sodium)
3. 2 cups of frozen butternut squash (you don't have to have this, I just needed to...you guessed it!...clear out the freezer)
3. 4 cloves of garlic


Directions:

(If you don't have a pressure cooker, soak the beans over night.)

Put the sauce ingredients in a blender and puree them. Either in the bottom of a pressure cooker or in a sauce pan, saute the vegetable ingredients (except the dried beans). Put both the sauteed ingredients, the beans, and the sauce into a pressure cooker or a slow cooker. Bring to a boil and add the spices. If you are doing a pressure cooker, you will have to take some of the mixture out so the cooker has room to come to pressure. In a pressure cooker, let it all cook under pressure for five minutes and let the pressure come off naturally. This will assure the beans are nicely cooked. If you are cooking in a slow cooker, let it all cook for a few hours--turn the heat down to medium after the first hour or so. Serve it over rice. (I made saffron rice, but you don't have to if you don't want.) It serves about a million people. I had to, ironically, freeze half of it.

It tastes sooooo good! I wish I'd made naan.

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