Among Friends Thursday- Maria's Bubble Tea

Chia seeds are a curious thing. But then, so is Bubble Tea. Today's adventure was not my first into the world of crazy textured tea. My chia fresca was among my first tastes of chia way back in 2009. It has been on my shelf every since. Thanks to a shipping mix up with Nutty Guys, I think I have a lifetime supply of chia seeds!

Maria's recipe is different from mine. It was fun, doing it more in the Asian style of Bubble Teas. No the little gelled globules are not as big as the tapioca pearls or gelatin balls found in similar teas, but these are good for you. And besides, the interesting texture is there. Maybe even more interesting.  I took mine on the road for our big contract signing this morning.* I love the thick sweet blobs traveling up the straw and into my mouth. Different from anything.  Not thick like a shake, but a little more like a jello. Hard to describe, so just try it! For those of you with texture issues, this may not be for you. I really liked it--as long as I didn't try to chew the seeds. Mine happen to be the black seeds, so one word of caution, check your smile before exiting the car as I did this morning. A stray seed could stay with you all day if you know what I mean.

Maria's recipe called for vanilla almond milk and plain tea sweetened and flavored with Capella flavor drops. I switched that according to what I had. Plain almond  milk and my favorite sweet tea--vanilla caramel truffle tea from Lipton. Click that link or this one to find out how much I like this product. It is fabulous made into Maria's Bubble tea. I was planning to add a few drops of Capella Boston Cream Pie flavoring, but at first sip, I knew it didn't need it. The flavor is there! Now, one thing to be careful of...Maria's recipe called for a full tsp of stevia. Not sure what brand she was using, but I knew that would be way too much using my bottle. I used a dropperful, a bit less than 1/4 tsp and it was plenty sweet. My advice is just to taste a little at a time, or use what you usually use to sweeten coffee or tea. Sweetening is such a personal preference anyway! The recipe is in Low Carbing Among Friends, page 94. If you haven't buy the book already! Click the photo of the book on the right side of the page.

This specialty drink is a great way to get some extra nutrition in and way better for you than those summer shakes and smoothies all the fast food places are tempting us with these days. Drink one and pat yourself on the back for being so smart!

* Hurray! We signed our contract to move into the fabulous old building for our school program!