Homemade Green Tea Iced Latte

When I started working as a teacher, I was riding the Starbucks wagon. Granted, I was riding it prior than that, but really only to grab a salted caramel hot chocolate during the cold weather seasons. I'm not a coffee drinker, which puts me out of some of the social cliques, because. . . well. . . why can't I addict myself to something that tastes so... bleeeeeh. I've tried. . . trust me. . .I've given it a fair go, but I just cannot make coffee work for me. I have to add too much calorie-building junk to it to make it work for me.

I have to admit, I am a tea addict. I mean. . . I love tea. My husband and I always look for new teas and then go whole-hog into tea drinking from the fall through the spring. During the summer it is sweet iced tea for my husband and the Green Tea Iced Latte for me.

But let me go back to the Starbucks train of thought. I always struggle when I go to Starbucks. So I started getting teas. Well, my tea pallet expanded and as I've cut more and more salt and fast foods (and Sugar Free Red Bull) out of my diet, I've developed an even more sensitive pallet that can really pick up on all the subtle flavors in the foods I eat and the drinks I drink.

The problem that this created was that my Earl Grey tea frequently tasted burnt. The right temperature of water was not being applied and the leaves were singeing while they steeped. So I switched to a Green Tea Iced Latte. Green Tea being the healthy, detoxifying tea. And I enjoyed it, but I am somewhat sensitive to dairy. I can tea yogurts and cheese and all that, but if give me a bowl of ice cream or a glass of milk and I really shouldn't eat or drink the whole thing. It's strange. Yet, I had raw milk on a visit to family down south and I could three two glasses with no gastrointestinal upset. Hmmmm....

I'm sure that note put you in the mood for this. Bottom line. . . I was unhappy with the products Starbucks were offering me. They didn't have Light Soy Milk. Their other milk options were not going to agree with me. So I searched the net for a make-at-home recipe which would give me control over the drink to tamper with it as I pleased.

It was over a year ago that I found the recipe and I have since then changed it enough to be what makes me happy. When I did the math and plugged information to MyFitnessPal, my current drink recipe was 75 calories for 16oz. The 16oz Starbucks drink fluctuates between 290 and 210 per 16oz drink! So right there I'm saving on calories with a filling drink. Also, my drink has 1.5g of fat and the Starbucks was between 4.5g and 9g, unless you did the nonfat milk. So I'm also saving on fat intake. Soy has all sorts of health benefits and, if you let the ice melt and drink this over time, you're getting additional water intake. I can't not love this drink!

Pricewise, well. . . you'll have to do your shopping for the most economical formula. I think I was paying something like $4.15 or so for my Starbucks drink. Here I'm spending about $2 per drink. I bought my syrup in bulk off of amazon, as well as the matcha powder. Then all I need is my soy milk, which I buy for about $3.45 at my grocer.

Here is my recipe for my healthier and delicious Green Tea Iced Latte.

Ingredients
1 cup Silk Milk - Light
1/3 cup Torani Sugar Free French Vanilla Syrup
1 teaspoon Matcha Powder (Green Tea Powder)
cubed Ice

Instructions
1. Pour all ingredients, except the ice, into a blender or a Blender Bottle.
2. Blend or shake until as combined as possible. Some of the matcha powder might still look slightly clumpy.
3. In a preferred glass, fill half with the ice. Then pour the mixture over the ice and enjoy!