Afternoon drinks

I made myself my standard hot matcha latte... 4 ounces skim milk, 4 ounces hot water, about a teaspoon of honey and a tablespoon of matcha powder. Whisk.

I asked my ten year old if she wanted something and she said to surprise her.

So I made her a decaf coconut chai/chocolate latte. I heated the skim milk (4 ounces), mixed in about 1 1/4 teaspoons honey. I dropped the tea bag in (Celestial Seasonings Decaf Coconut Chai) and added 4 ounces almost boiling water. Next I added about a tablespoon of mini chocolate chips and stirred until they melted. I topped with whipped cream & fresh ground cinnamon.

Breakfast after bloodwork

As some may know, I have a past history of stress-induced severe anemia. This is what ended my almost decade of a vegetarian lifestyle. This also ended my relationship with my former doctor, and led my to a new team of medical professionals who make me feel like they care whether I live or die.

That's a good thing in a doctor. 

So, today I pledged I would take care of my annual bloodwork. Fasting. And of course, my child, the early riser, sleeps until 9. 

But I manage not to eat and we walk to the lab about a half-mile from the house. It's about 9:30 and I'm sweaty already. 

We get home at 10:10 (walking home I'm mentally calculating the distance to the nearest diner). I am completely inept at making coffee. No matter what I do, my coffee turns out double strength. This made me very popular in the Lehigh Valley News Group newsroom. Reporters like caffeine.

To make a decent cup of coffee, I have to use my little espresso machine. Which I did. I took advantage of the fact that I had the espresso brewer out to warm and steam some almond milk to give my daughter a hot cup of chai with local raw honey. I drank what didn't fit in her cup and it was good!

Breakfast was scrambled egg wraps, with a pinch of garlic pepper and a drizzle of Annie's Organic Cowgirl Ranch and a few sprinkles of parmesan cheese.

Chai

I wanted something different so I tried my darneddest to make something as yummy as Oregon Chai. I think I did it. I put two Celestial Seasoning Honey Vanilla White Tea Chai tea bags in a big old mug and poured in 32 ounces of boiling water. Then, I left it sit, covered for about ten minutes. Then I took a teaspoon of honey and put it in the bottom of a glass. I added half a mug (about 4-6 ounces) of the tea. Then I added a couple tablespoons of half and half and topped the mug with about 4 ounces of one percent milk. I loved it, and I even served some to my daughter. She loved it too and said I should save some for Daddy.