Chai Tea Recipe

I was never one for hot tea until I visited my sister in England earlier this year. Since then, I've had several tea parties and learned to love the English treat with a little sugar and milk. Though Chai Tea is probably not necessarily English, it still has tea as an ingredient and it's very yummy. The following is the recipe that my mom and I used for Christmas gifts this year and it won't let your taste buds down.

Instant Chai Tea Mix
1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup powdered nondairy creamer
1 cup French vanilla-flavored, powdered nondairy creamer
2 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups unsweetened instant tea
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoons cloves
1 teaspoon cardamom (we made one batch without, but I do like it better with cardamom)

Mix all ingredients except spices in large bowl. Stir in spices and mix well. In blender or food processor, blend 1 cup of the mixture at a time until well blended. Do not skip this step. It gives the tea a great consistency and it dissolves well in water.

To make a cup of tea, place 3 heaping teaspoons into an eight ounce mug of hot water.

Calories approx. 80 per cup. 

The following are pictures of how I packaged it as gifts.

Brownie Pops

Brownie Pops are one of my favorite treats to make. Here are some step-by-step directions.


















What's needed

• Mini Muffin Pans (I use Pampered Chef and some cheapy ones. Cheapy ones work fine)
• Small Pampered Chef Cookie Scoop (Not a have to have, but quite handy)
  
• Brownie Mix (I use the Betty Crocker 13x9 mix)
• Chocolate Melts or Chocolate Bark
• Sprinkles
  
• Brownie Pop Sticks (Available at Hobby Lobby or other craft stores)
• 4x6 Treat Bags
• Stampin Up Circle Scallop Punch
• Stampin Up 1 3/8" Circle Punch
• Hole punch
  
• Coordinating Papers
• Your choice of ink
• Your choice of stamps
• Ribbon

To Make Brownies

1. Follow the directions on your brownie mix
2. Spray your brownie pans with cooking spray
3. Use small cookie scoop to put batter in the pans. Should fill approx. 48
4. Cook for approx. 10 minutes at the temperature your mix recommends
5. Cool for 3 or 4 minutes
6. Use a butter knife to run around edges of brownies being careful to not tear the brownies up
7. Remove brownies from pans to cooking racks

Sticks

1. Turn all of the brownies over with the larger side facing down
   
2. Melt chocolate
3. Spoon a dab of chocolate onto the top of the brownies
4. Insert a stick into the center of each brownie
5. Let the chocolate dry

In this picture I didn't put the chocolate on the top before I put the sticks in. (I forgot and had to do it after the sticks were in. What a pain!) Putting chocolate on the top before you put the stick in helps hold the stick in place.




Sprinkles

1. Melt Chocolate
2. Hold a brownie pop at a 45 degree angle
3. Roll the edge of the pop in melted chocolate then roll in sprinkles
4. Let the pops dry

Tags

1. Make the tags as you would like
2. Punch two holes in the top of the tags.
3. Thread about 6" of ribbon through the holes

Finishing Touches

1. Place pops in bags
2. Thread tag over the top and tie

Enjoy!

Monkey Book

I love to scrapbook, but....I haven't put a real scrapbook page together for nearly 3 1/2 years. OMG did I really just admit that???? I even use to pedal Creative Memories products. My oldest daughter has nearly two whole scrapbooks full journaling her first two years of life, but my two youngest have not faired so well. Gabby has two pages and Lainey has well, none. :( However, I have made the little ones some board books which are a lot of fun to make.

When I was in one of my favorite scrapbook stores awhile back, I found the cutest Sock Monkey paper. I fell in love will it and knew I could come up with some project to use it on. So I came up with the idea of making a counting book for the little ones. Each page has a picture of one of my girls daycare pals and one verse to the poem with the child's name. For example, Lainey's page says...Ten little monkeys jumping on the bed, Lainey fell off and bumped her head, Linda(our sitter) called the doctor and the doctor said, "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

The next book will be an alphabet book...stay tuned.

Supplies used:

• Sock Monkey Paper http://www.blackberrypaper.com/18212.html
• Zip Dry Glue (This stuff is awesome, but way stinky)
• Bo Bunny 6x6 board book
• Chipboard numbers (mine were self stick from Hobby Lobby)
• Various ribbons and buttons
• Poem 10 Little Monkeys printed on white cardstock
• Pics of my little girls daycare friends