Cooking foods that adhere to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet rules can be time (and energy) consuming. If I am not careful, I can spend entire afternoons in the kitchen as I whip up sweet concoctions, snacks and meals. Every now and then, I like to sit down with a cup of tea and relax.
The tea that I like best is from a plant that I grow myself. It is Chocolate Mint, or Mentha x piperita ‘Chocolate’, if you are a plant nerd like me. This variety actually smells chocolate-y.
This is how I make my Chocolate Mint Tea:
1. Pick 2 – 3 sprigs that have large leaves
2. Rinse Mint sprigs to make sure they are clean
3. Put them into a sauce pan with 2 cups of boiling water for 3 minutes.
4. Throw out the boiled stems and leaves, pour myself a cup of tea!
I also find this tea especially reassuring because I used to drink it before I ever heard of SCD. It makes me feel like I can still enjoy many of the things that I used to eat and drink. And if you want a little extra piece of mind about the legality of this tea, all “peppermint and spearmint herb teas are legal” per Breaking the Vicious Cycle legal/illegal foods list, under tea.
And here comes my big, inner-plant nerd: I suggest you try your hand at growing your own Mint. There are tons of varieties (apple, lemon and others) and are easy to grow, even if you don’t have a green thumb! Check out this website. Mint plants are perennials and will happily thrive for years if the conditions are right. But make sure that you plant it in a container because they are very vigorous, invasive plants. When they take off, they take over and spread as far as they can go.
Enjoy!
i love a good cup of tea—so comforting and calming:)
There really is nothing like fresh mint tea. The dried stuff is good, but it doesn’t do it justice!
I agree! Sometimes I wonder about the tea that I buy from the market – are the teabags full of anything but twigs and dust?
Haha! I hear ya on the twigs and dust.
Love love love mint teas!!
Mmm. Yes, I too drank chocolate mint tea before SCD. Where do you buy it now? Did you buy a chocolate mint plant and grow it yourself at home?
Sarah,
I do grow mine at home! Do you? My little mint plant has taken a beating lately though, because we’ve experienced some really hot temps over the past month. I’m going to let it recover a bit before I make more.