What to do with your leftover Tea

If you’re a stay at home tea-fiend like me, you’ll sometimes find yourself talking to your tea kettle (yes, I hear you, thank you, etc.) and stumbling upon mugs of lukewarm leftover tea in unexpected places (bedroom floor, bathtub’s edge, bottom of stairwell). Over the years of living as a working-and-tea-drinking-from-home creative, I’ve gotten, well, creative with these leftover cups. Here are a few of my favorite ways to make use of those unexpected findings:

Oatmeal

Soak one quarter cup of steel cut oats, a tablespoon of chia seeds, tablespoon of ground flax seeds, teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice, and a handful of dried fruit in a glass jar. Will keep in the fridge for a few days until you’re in the mood to put this mix in a pot and boil a perfect breakfast!

Best with one cup of herbal or rooibos teas that have cinnamon and/or chocolate notes. Some amazing dried fruits for tea-soaked oats are currants, goji berries and golden berries.

Lentils

Rinse quarter cup lentils (or more! of any kind!) in plain water then soak in tea over night, for an quicker-to-cook and easier-to-digest meal base. Bring to a boil for 20 minutes, adding vegetables and spices that go best with the soaking tea.

I usually use ginger-turmeric tea for this one, and add turmeric, cumin, and coriander to the lentils the following day. Paprika and smoked chipotle are wonderful too. For the vegetables, it’s nice to create a balance between starchier vegetables (squash or sweet potatoes) and leafy greens (mustard greens if you’re feeling bold, spinach to play it sweet and safe.)

Banana bread

I stopped using recipes for banana “bread” many years ago, back when I stopped eating wheat/gluten and also began to prefer muffins to loaves, so please tailor this to fit your mood (I certainly do). Soak one cup almond flour, one cup oats, couple tablespoons chia seeds and any dried fruits you like in leftover tea. Add three or four almost-unappealing, overly-mushy ripe bananas. Use a fork to incorporate the ingredients until the batter is consistent. Add spices (cinnamon, nutmeg), vanilla, and a little bit of salt (crucial) to the mix. Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake at 350 until it smells good and is firm to touch (usually 25 minutes).

Any floral or cinnamon based tea will work well for this one, though feel free to experiment with green teas, black teas, chamomile, or even coffee (!). Banana bread is pretty forgiving.

Wishing you creative times in the kitchen! Cheers!