Time For Iced Tea - Spanglish Spoon

Disclosure: This is not a paid review. Opinions, purchase, and thoughts are 100% on my own.

Being a food blogger has opened my eyes to all sorts of fun food facts. One of the best things that could have happened to me as a result of becoming a food blogger and learning anything I can about food (and drinks), is developing a habit of reading food labels. It all started while trying to cut down on fat, then sodium, and now sugar. Sweetened drinks are especially high on my radar these days. Have you seen some of those ingredient lists and nutrition facts? Some of them are kinda scary. My rule now days is if I can make it at home, I’m going to try my best to do that. Keep reading to see why.

As a daycare provider, I was part of a state-funded food program that reimbursed me for providing nutritious and well-balanced meals to the children. I was trained for it, randomly inspected every other month or so, and even logged every meal every day as proof. One of the things I learned while being in the program was to read the ingredients list first. The rule was, whatever the first ingredient is, that’s what the majority of the product is made of. Does that make sense?

So if you go to a juice box, and the first few ingredients are water, high fructose corn syrup, natural and artificial flavorings, etc., then guess what; you’re most likely drinking watered down sugar syrup with a few color and flavor additives. That’s worse case scenario.

A gentleman by the name of Andrew Wilder (also a blogger) whom I’ve been following for a while now, wrote a great post that explains how to read the ingredients list better.

Just remember, there are some good juices out there, you just have to read the labels ON THE BACK. Labels on the front can sometimes be misleading, so look at the ingredients list FIRST. The fewer the ingredients, the better.

Having learned all this now, I often find myself in search of a juice that doesn’t scare me after reading the first 3 or 4 ingredients. I’ve been avoiding store-bought juice all together at home in fact. The only time my kids get to drink juice and soda now is when they are either not with us or at a birthday party. Even then it bothers me.

Luckily we have been blessed with a daughter who loves to drink Tea as much as she loves fruit smoothies. She will ask for Tea on a hot day sometimes, so every now and then I make some tea, sweeten it with honey, let it cool, add some ice, and she loves it!

While at Target last week, she picked this one out. The price was right, I’m in control of the sugar, the ingredients were simple. Score!

It’s super easy to make.

Add one bag of Tea to a heat resistant pitcher and add 4 cups boiling water.

Let it steep 5-7 minutes.

Remove the tea bag and add the sweetener of your choice.

Pour another 4 cups of cold water.

Stir stir stir, and you are done!

Tagged with: Drinks Teas

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