124. Lifestyle // Teapigs Chai Tea

It's a common notion that 'bloggers love tea.' When browsing bloggers Twitter feeds, Facebook pages and their 'About Me' sections, 'tea' is almost guaranteed to pop up at least once. Tea is relaxing, soothing, tasty and comforting, so it's no wonder we're such big fans of it! 

Last week, I left my job as a Telesales Advisor for a local newspaper, after 11 months and my colleagues teamed together and surprised me with a lovely selection of gifts; from bits and pieces for my holiday, to delicious chocolate, a lovely bottle of cava and - of course - tea, one of which was Teapigs Chai Tea.

I'm a huge fan of Chai tea, I've even blogged my own recipe for how to make it yourself! So I was really excited to get brewing and give it a go as I'd only ever tried their Chilli Chai before and, unfortunately, didn't let it brew long enough. Cue sad-face.

My packet of Chai, which retails for £3.99, contained 15 tea temples. Tea temples? Yeah, I know.. I was a bit unsure too, but Teapigs' packaging reassured me that a tea temple "allows maximum room for perfect infusion," making it even better than a standard tea-bag plus they're biodegradable too, woo-hoo!

So far, I'm yet to try this Chai in the form of a latte but I left my Chai to brew for 5 minutes (they recommend at least 3) and then added a dash of milk and half a teaspoon of sugar, to add a little sweetness, and boy, was I impressed?!

The scent was strong but not overpowering; the cinnammon was warming whilst the cardamon and ginger added an extra kick. The flavour was much the same; it wasn't too strong, it was spicy, smooth and just rich enough, making it the perfect tea with just that little bit of vibrancy thrown in for good measure.

If you're a lover of a good cuppa, or like that little bit of spice in your drinks, then I'd really recommend trying Teapigs Chai tea, it's gorgeous and available to buy here. 

98. Recipes // Honey, Apple, Chai & Oat Muffins

Yesterday, after getting a little sick of being practically bed bound for three days, I decided to try and cheer myself (and my tummy) up by doing one of my favourite activities: baking. 

Although I'm trying to avoid fatty, processed and oily foods at the moment, I thought I'd try a recipe which involves lots of good stuff (and quite a bit of naughty stuff too) to balance it out, and from that brainwave Honey, Apple, Chai & Oat Muffins were born.

Unfortunately, I can't find my cable for my camera so you'll have to make do with the one photograph that I took on my phone (sorry) for this post. Next time I'll make sure I'm more prepared, so here goes...

Ingredients

300g porridge oats

200g plain flour (I used wholemeal)

200g brown sugar

250ml semi-skimmed (or skimmed) milk

2 medium eggs

3tbsp honey

1 x apple (finely diced)

4 Chai tea bags (rip open and pour the contents into a bowl)

3tbsp baking power

1tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to gas mark 5

2. Mix together the sugar and eggs until well mixed

3. Add the oats and flour and mix until a nice, thick consistency (don't over mix)

4. Add everything else and mix until even

5. Spoon into muffin cases (fill them about 3/4 full)

6. Bake in the oven for between 15-20 minutes

7. Serve warm

As you can see, this is a lovely, simple and quick recipe. These muffins are ideal for a tasty pick me up in the afternoon, or even as a yummy breakfast, served with natural yogurt and fruit (which is exactly what I'm about to do...)

46. Recipes // Chai & Banana Cake

After a long, challenging day at work on Wednesday I decided to relax by baking something that I could enjoy whilst curled up on the sofa, whilst watching the television with my family.

I didn't have much spare money to spend on ingredients, so instead I scoured the cupboards and threw together what I could find and they just happened to be Chai tea and bananas... it's basically banana bread but with a twist.

The recipe is incredibly simple, it takes a while to cook, but the end result is delicious! I'm not really one for measuring things out, especially not spices, so you may want to chop and change the recipe a little bit as it won't be one hundred percent accurate anyway.

Just to note: I used 'cups' rather than weighing my ingredients. Where I say '1 cup' I mean short, fat tumbler.

Ingredients

2 cups wholemeal flour,

1tsp baking soda,

Pinch of salt,

1/2 cup of softened butter/margarine,

1 cup brown sugar,

2 eggs (I used duck eggs to make it that little bit richer),

4 bananas,

8 Chai teabags

Method

1. Mash up your bananas and rip open the Chai teabags - tip the contents into a small bowl,

2. Add all your ingredients (inc. banana and Chai) into a large bowl,

3. Either whisk or mix all ingredients until it's a smooth (apart from the chunks of banana!) mixture,

4. Pour mixture into a pre-greased loaf tin,

5. Bake in a pre-heated oven on Gas Mark 4 (180 degrees C/350 degrees F) for one hour, or until cooked through.

This cake honestly is so tasty! The fact that it contains wholemeal flour, brown sugar and bananas sort of makes it healthy... kind of... a little bit? Maybe not. But, either way, it's a lovely little treat and is best enjoyed warm.

Love, 
Becci xo

11. Recipes // Homemade Chai Tea

Afternoon lovelies, two posts in a day, aren't you lucky? (or not, it may seem!)

A couple of weeks ago, there was a Spring Fair near to me which I snooped around for a good few hours! I managed to find a few lovely gifts from local businesses and one of them included a little Chai making kit, which I'd love to share with you as Chai tea is quite possibly my favourite drink and I think everyone should try it!

You can find out more about Chai, it's history and it's ingredients here 

The ingredients for the Chai came wrapped up in a piece of muslin cloth with a cute ribbon wrapped around the top. It looked absolutely adorable so I think they'd make a brilliant little present or stocking filler for somebody.

Inside the package was the following:

Cardamom,

Star Anise,

Cinnamon,

Ginger,

Nutmeg,

Cloves (sorry these aren't in the photograph!)

All Spice

I looked online for some recipes and ingredients lists and the quantities of each of the spices varied hugely, so I guess you can just choose depending on your personal preference. However, I will link some other recipes/ingredients lists at the end of this post.

The recipe I followed makes 4-6 cups of tea and any left over tea can be put in the fridge (once cooled) and used within 24 hours.

The Method:

- Wrap your ingredients in muslin cloth and tie quite tightly,

- With a rolling pin, break up the ingredients by bashing them,

- Fill a pan with 4 cups of cold water, put the parcel inside and bring to the boil,

- Simmer for a further 10 minutes then remove from the heat,

- Add 2 tea-bags and steep for 10 minutes,

- Add 1 cup of milk and 1-2 teaspoons of sugar (depending on preference),

- Re-heat slowly until frothy on top,

- Strain to ensure none of the little bits of spices make their way to your tea,

- Serve and enjoy!

There are some other excellent recipes for Chai here and one of my favourite bloggers, Rosalilium, also has a recipe for Chai concentrate here

Alternatively, if you don't fancy the hassle of making your own Chai, Marks and Spencer do a delicious Chai tea for a very reasonable price! Tesco's also make a few varities, including vanilla Chai for anyone who isn't quite as keen on the spice.

Let me know what you think of the recipe, is there anything you'd add or take away?

Lots of love, Becci