Hot drink ideas?

[Anonymous]

Of course, I quit drinking coffee and switched over to caffeine-free herbal tea, but after 2 months, I am getting sick of it. I do want to have some hot drinks in the morning, just to warm me up. Does anyone have any suggestions about making tasty caffeine-free hot drinks?

[Anonymous]

-Decaf coffee
-Warm milk with vanilla/hazelnut/raspberry/whatever flavor
-Teechino - an herbal, no caffeine, coffee that you can get at whole foods
-spiced cider

[Anonymous]

I really like just hot water with lemon.

[Anonymous]

i second the warm milk with flavor, or a "white hot chocolate"...or, if you don't mind a little bit of caffeine, occasionally, regular hot chocolate. it is a great way to make your milk needs a bit of a special treat....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really like just hot water with lemon.

I second this suggestion. I love having it just to warm up.

[Anonymous]

I think it's ok to have a little bit of caffeine, just not too much of it.

[Anonymous]

I dilute regular applejuice with some water and microwave it.

But, you can buy hot cider mix and do it the "normal" way.

I also find myself drinking a ton of hot chocolate. Somebody gave us a hot chocolate maker as a gift that comes with a frother...never thought I would have use for it until now!

[Anonymous]

Decaf raspberry tea

[Anonymous]

Hot Cocoa? I know chocolate has some caffeine, but I drank hot cocoa a lot while I was pregnant. Buy the chocolate from Penzeys online or at their store and you will be addicted. It's soooo good, not like the little packets of hot cocoa you buy at the grocery store. I figured it was a good way to drink a little extra milk.

[Anonymous]

hot cider from real apples; chai from powder sold at Trader Joe's

[Anonymous]

Try hot milk with a teaspoon of molasses stirred in. The molasses also adds vit B6, potassium, calcium and iron, if I'm remembering right.

[Anonymous]

I made the BEST drink I never thought I would like, since I am not a milk drinker. But it was so good. Warm milk, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp honey, cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg. It was Chrismasy, a little sweet, and put me right to sleep. I also like the molasses idea!

[Anonymous]

Not that I am advocating everthing on the hands off list but I will tell you that one cup of caffeine tea or some coffee every once and a while will be FINE. Just think when our grand parents and parents were pregnant these pregnancy restrictions weren't around and we are more than fine. That being said, I have didn't know until very late in my pregnancy and had no reason to cut back until I found out and my doctors will confirm that my child is extremely advanced, so a diet coke now and then is no big deal!

[Anonymous]

If you're truly committed to skipping caffeine (or if, like me, you're totally open to an occasional cup of coffee or tea but your nausea says otherwise) there are lots of hot drinks to consider. I'm a huge fan of the hot milk, honey, and vanilla (you can use, vanilla extract, a flavored syrup like Torani, or vanilla sugar).

If you don't mind a tiny bit of caffeine, I am crazy about a Japanese tea called Genmaicha. It's a very low caffeine (but note, it does contain some caffeine) tea that has a soothing but energizing effect all at the same time. It is a green tea, but it's very different from your typical chamomile or other supermarket tasting variety.) It has almost an oaty taste to it, which might not sound appealing but it really is. Before I was pregnant I thought it was great for a hangover and now that I'm pregnant I feel it helps with my morning sickness. I believe tea-ism downtown carriers it in looseleaf (which is the only way I recommend drinking it)

I also think hot apple cider is another nice alternative. Last month's Cooking Light featured 4 or 5 non-alcoholic cider drink recipes. (If you can't get these online, email me at famst7 (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll send them to you. Here is one of the recipes I've recently been into (though this might be a bit labor-intensive for the AM, depending on your schedule):

1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
6 c. fresh apple cider
whipped cream for serving - optional
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Place the cream and sugar in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Stir in cinnamon and cider. Heat through until cider begins to steam. Serve hot with a dollop of whipped cream. (You could probably double or triple the batch and keep warm in a slow cooker on low/warm for a party).