In an effort to be healthier I’ve been playing around with some coffee recipes. I’ve heard all of the talk about dropping coffee altogether, but eliminating coffee from my diet is just ridiculous and I won’t have such talk on my blog!
Since coffee is usually the first thing most people put into their bodies upon waking up – it’s nice to get some added benefit to your buzz.
For the past year I’ve followed these two rules and have seen great results:
- No processed sugar, not even a little.
- No animal milk (unless it’s the super butter called ghee)
Buttered Coffee
The butter coffee method wasn’t something I immediately jumped on board with. Our roommate enjoyed drinking it in the mornings and since he was a pretty big foodie I figured it couldn’t be so bad. Actually, it’s pretty dang good! I put my own spin on it adding things to give the drink more benefit. I found that ghee turned out to taste a little more sour then the Kerrygold butter, but I stuck with the ghee anyways because it has anti-inflammatory properties. I then add turmeric which also helps ease inflammation.
Ingredients
8oz of hot coffee
1 tbsp. ghee or inferior butter
1 tsp. coconut oil
1 tsp. turmeric
Preparation
Put all ingredients together and blend for 20 seconds until frothy. Voilà!
Cinnamon Coconut Coffee Blend
This is a two part blend, but I promise it’s worth it. First of all, coconut creamer is the shit. I used to use coconut milk which was too watered down and then someone obviously felt the same way and coconut creamer was born. For this blend you’ll need a cinnamon syrup. It’s pretty easy to make and will last you a few servings. Cinnamon has great health benefits for your brain and is perfect for those early mornings before you hit the road.
Cinnamon syrup
Bring one cup of water, 2 tbsp. ground cinnamon, and 1 tsp honey to a boil. Stir mixture every few minutes. Once it starts to boil bring the mix down to a simmer and let simmer for five minutes. Strain into a container and set aside.
Cinnamon Coconut Coffee Blend
Ingredients
8oz hot coffee (medium roast preferred)
½ cup plain coconut creamer
½ cup cinnamon syrup
Preparation
Add all ingredients to your coffee and stir.
Café Turkish-ish (AKA my take on Turkish coffee)
Arguably, this is the healthiest option. One of my favorite things to do when I travel is try coffee around the world. It’s fascinating that we can all take one drink and make it so different depending on the region. Turkish coffee is a super strong blend of coffee with tons of great spices. Cardamom is a natural anti-depressant and cancer fighter! Cloves improve digestion and saffron has tons of magnesium which helps regulate blood sugar. Through trial and error I made my own blend that’s a little easier to make…just a little easier, and still has the great taste. For sweetness add honey.
Ingredients
3 cups of water
2.5 tbsp. ground coffee
1 tbsp. cardamom crushed (about 15 whole pods)
5 cloves
Pinch of saffron
Preparation
Mix water and coffee in a pot
Softly boil water + coffee for 8 minutes
Add cloves and cardamom to the coffee and boil 5 more minutes
Remove, let settle and add saffron
Let mixture sit for 5 minutes
Strain the coffee into a serving pot
Boom! Done. You’re f’in healthy and ready to go do some work!
