wellness

Recipe: Sugar Free Chai Tea Latte

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Chai tea is my drink of choice at coffee shops. But when I started paying closer attention to my diet and really cutting back on sugar, I stopped enjoying this drink with the same frequency. While I’ve never had a chai I didn’t like, more often than not these beverages contain sugar — whether you get it at a downtown coffee shop or add a store bought mixture to your hot water.

But I still loved the drink and the benefits of the spices it includes (keep reading to find out the health benefits of chai). So, I figured I’d make my own. After doing some research, I settled on the recipe below, which uses a combination of ground spices for a strong yet refreshing drink that doesn’t include the sugars you’ll often run into with other recipes. I hope you enjoy this treat as much as I do!

(Note: this recipe makes about 4 glasses. To make more, increase the ingredients as much as you’d like while keeping the same proportions.)

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cup water
  • 1 1/2 cup milk (I use whole milk, but any milk of your choice will do)
  • 2 black tea bags (once again, choose your favorite brand/flavor)
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (great source of antioxidants, may benefit inflammation, blood sugar and protect against infections)
  • 1/2 tsp ground turmeric (positive impact on inflammation, memory, pain and depression)
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, boosts heart and mental health)
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves (contains antioxidants, can aid bone health and stomach ulcers)
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger (eases common ailments like nausea, osteoarthritis and menstrual pain)
  • 1/4 tsp powdered stevia (sugar alternative that can help weight loss, blood sugar and cholesterol)
  • Drizzle of honey (antioxidant, helps wound healing, soothes cold symptoms like cough and sore throat)

Steps

  1. Mix all ingredients except the tea bags in a medium pot until it reaches a gentle boil. Stir occasionally.
  2. Lower heat to a simmer, then add the tea bags and steep for five minutes.
  3. Serve hot or over ice (best this way if chilled in the fridge at least 30 minutes before serving). Small amounts can keep in the fridge for a few days, but make sure you stir again before serving leftovers.

Building a Daily Wellness Routine

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Are you ready to improve your holistic wellness practices but are at a loss about where to start? Look no further than this post, which will break down key focus areas to get you launch your health improvement journey.

We’ll take a look at each of the four areas of your health and wellness — physical, mental, emotional and spiritual — and walk through some questions that will help you determine what to implement in your daily wellness routine. Whether you use these questions or approach it a different way, it’s important to go through these steps:

  1. Assess where you are
  2. Reflect on where you want to go
  3. Identify strengths and weaknesses
  4. Commit to manageable goals

Keeping these steps in mind, let’s consider how each could be applied to the four areas of your holistic health.

Physical

It’s time to apply the four steps above to your physical health. Here are some questions to help you get started if you’re feeling stuck.

  • What does my physical health look like now? (Think about various aspects, including diet, exercise, weight, hormonal reactions, etc.)
  • What positive changes do I want to make to my physical health?
  • In what ways is my physical health good? Where is there room for improvement?
  • What is one (or two:) concrete practice(s) I can implement on a daily basis? (This could be eating more vegetables, exercising three times a week or getting into a more disciplined skin cleaning routine.)

Mental

Similarly, here are some questions to help you improve your mental health.

  • What does my mental health look like? (Consider any symptoms or situations that elicit stress, anxiety/worry, depression, etc.)
  • How would I like my mental health to be different?
  • What aspects of my mental state are healthy and what areas can be improved?
  • How can I implement strategies to improve my mental health on a daily basis? (I.e. journaling when anxious, relaxing activities, reflecting on life’s blessings.)

Emotional

Though similar to mental health, our emotional state is a unique section of our well-being. I like to consider this not as my consistent mental attitude but as my reaction to life challenges and situations instead. We all need a healthy emotional response to whatever life brings — joys and sorrows alike.

But I’ll be the first to admit that having a healthy emotional response is not my strength. Personally, I tend to bottle up emotions to the point where they may not immediately interfere with my life but they kind of explode later. So, here are some questions that have helped me better manage my not-so-well-processed emotions.

  • What is my current emotional state? How do I respond emotionally to good, bad and challenging things in life?
  • In what ways would I like my emotional state to be different?
  • How am I engaging in positive emotions and negative emotions? What are my emotional strengths and weaknesses?
  • What can I do starting this week to improve my emotional health? (Think about journaling, adjusting negative mindsets, etc.)

Spiritual

Last but not least we have our spiritual health. This has proven to be even more important in seeing tangible results than I originally suspected. Here are a few questions to help you assess and set goals for your spiritual well-being. (Please note that this is written from a Christian perspective but can be adapted to wherever you are in your spiritual journey.)

  • What does my relationship with God look like? Am I just going through the motions/church on Sunday or engaging in a personal relationship with Him?
  • How do I wish my spiritual/prayer life was different?
  • What are my strengths and weaknesses when it comes to God? (I.e. If you’re comfortable with prayer and what method you prefer, or ways in which you avoid God and prayer.)
  • In what ways can I improve my spiritual life/relationship with God starting this week? (Consider 10 minutes of daily prayer, spiritual reading, etc.)

I hope this guide to building your daily holistic wellness routine is helpful, whether you go through each prompt precisely as written or use the questions to develop your own approach. Just remember to tailor your routine to your own unique needs, incorporating some tangible challenges so you keep growing into the best version of yourself.

2 Recipes to Make Your Life Easier

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Does the quality of your nutrition ever get hindered by the busyness of life? Do you find that you regularly experience either missed or less-than-nutritious breakfasts or lunches because the day gets away from you and it’s going to take time to make something filling and healthy? If so, then this article is for you.

I get caught up in the busyness of the work week myself, to the point where I sometimes skip meals because I was worried that breaking my focus would lead to a complete lapse in concentration so I wouldn’t be able to finish the task at hand.

But this attempt to manage my forgetfulness and brain fog leads to an overall negative reaction from the rest of my system — which almost always last for the rest of the day, hindering my productivity and ultimately backfiring on my original plan. There are two meals, though, that I now keep on hand throughout each work week that make it much easier for me to eat well without significantly interfering with my work.

Read on to learn one of my absolute favorite life hacks when it comes to nutrition.

Prepped and ready to eat salad

I’m not just talking about vegetables here. The epiphany of making salad with canned meats and fresh vegetables is one for which I’m incredibly grateful — and the best part is you can store these easy lunches in your refrigerator throughout the week. Check out the ingredient list for chicken and salmon salads (please note that the fruits, vegetables and seasonings can be swapped for your favorite fresh produce).

  • Two cans of chicken breast or pink salmon
  • Celery (adds a nice crunch)
  • Red seedless grapes
  • White onion
  • Bell pepper
  • Mayonnaise (I use Primal Kitchen’s avocado mayo)
  • Dijon mustard (or your mustard of choice)
  • Slivered almonds
  • Leafy green of your choice (I’ve used romaine lettuce, arugula and spinach)
  • Salt and pepper (to taste)

While the specific recipe is left up to you, the two most important parts of these salads are the protein (chicken or salmon) and the leafy greens (which are incredibly healthy). As long as you have these, you’ll be getting solid protein and vegetable intake. I like to add a number of other plants so that I’m boosting my nutrition as much as possible (see ingredients list). But you can substitute or add your favorite fruits and vegetables as you like.

To make this recipe, all you need to do is combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir well. I typically add just enough mayo and mustard to moisten the mixture and then salt and pepper to taste. Once it’s finished, simply keep it stored in a bowl or Tupperware with an airtight lid, serving over your leafy green of choice when you’re ready to enjoy your salad.

Because I use multiple vegetables and fruits that requiring chopping, I like to make mine on a less busy day — either over the weekend or at the end of a Monday, when I have time to prep the salad. It’s super easy to serve in the middle of your workday or bring with you on the go.

Yogurt parfaits

My breakfast hack is a little different in that you don’t need to make it ahead of time. Instead, you can just keep the ingredients for a simple but nutritious yogurt parfait in your house and easily throw them together for a quick breakfast that can also be taken with you. Here’s what I typically use for this recipe.

  • Plain, sugar free Greek yogurt
  • Berries (or any fruit you like with yogurt — I usually use a couple different kinds)
  • Nuts (slivered or whole — almonds are great)
  • Sweetener (optional — I either drizzle some honey on top or sprinkle in mini chocolate chips, but make sure they’re at least 60% cocoa to have nutritional value)

Similar to the salad, all you have to do for this recipe is combine the ingredients. The yogurt and nuts provide your protein source which combine perfectly with your berries or fruit of choice and your optional sweetener.

I work from home and don’t make my yogurt parfaits ahead of time, but if you need it on the go for an early morning, it should store just fine if you make it the night before and store it in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

One tip that has made this recipe easier is washing the fruit ahead of time. Whenever I go shopping, I rinse the fruit I buy later that same day and store it in a sealed container. I even combine two or three different products in one, so it’s easy to just add a bit of fruit to my yogurt. I’ve also found that rinsing and storing the fruit together keeps it from molding too quickly (typically only an issue with certain berries).

I hope these two recipes that I use all the time to eat well during my busy work week are helpful and enjoyable for you, too!