SCD Peppermint Hot "Chocolate"

My new obsession is re-inventing "bad" foods to make them Slow-Carb friendly and help get you through cravings til Cheat Day. I think the winter months are tougher because we're so used to warm, comfort foods at the end of a bitter cold day. This morning I wasn't in the mood for plain tea, so I looked around my cabinets and came up with this genius idea. Most people love hot chocolate, and I personally love chocolate-mint combo, but obviously the high sugar levels prohibit this heavenly beverage. For me, I'm quickly getting over my self-proclaimed sugar addition (thanks Slow-Carb!!!) and I found this to be really the best, closest thing to traditional hot chocolate that's totally allowed on the SCD - YAY - plus there's a caffeine boost from the tea! For those of you who don't like mint, my next attempt will be to make a SCD friendly plain hot "chocolate" - it tastes weird with regular Lipton tea but I've got a big arsenal of random Celestial Seasonings tea flavors so I'm bound to find something that works!

Slow-Carb Diet friendly Peppermint Hot "Chocolate" (makes a BIG mug, 16oz I think, just cut quantities in half for a standard mug size)

1 Lipton Mint Black Tea bag (if you don't want the caffeine and can't find decaf, you can use Mint herbal tea, just don't let it steep as long, 1.5mins max or else it will taste weird)

1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1-2 tbsp light cream, NOT milk or half & half (** Or see Dairy-free note below)

water, to boil

if you absolutely can't handle unsweetened beverages, you can add a tiny bit of Stevia, personally I stay away from it, but Tim says its allowed in small quantities, so its your call...

1. Boil the water in your tea kettle, or a pot, or however you boil water for tea.

2. Meanwhile, put the cocoa powder in the mug, add 1-2 tbsp water, and stir until powder has dissolved and is smooth.

3. Add the tea bag to the mug, pour in the boiling water. Let tea bag steep 3 minutes.

4. Stir well, add in the cream, and stir again.

5. Curl up on the couch with a good book and enjoy!

Dairy Free Version

You can substitute Coconut Milk Creamer here if going totally dairy-free, you will need to use double the amount, and since Coconut Milk Creamer gets a little weird/chunky with boiling water, it works best if you initially blend the creamer with the cocoa powder (instead of water) and only use very hot water to steep the tea, NOT boiling. If you try both versions, let me know which you think tastes best!