Mint Tea for Three

Partial day success. Over a simple macaroni lunch, I broached the subject of setting aside our electronics to live simpler and spend more time together. The kids were immediately on board. My youngest ran, barefoot, into the jungle of last year's garden because he spotted some rogue mint a couple of weeks within five minutes, I had a red-faced imp of a boy with two overflowing fistfulls of VERY fragrant mint.

So some of my main agendas with project Spend Some Time include living smarter, simpler and getting together as a family in the garden. SO while the children washed the mint leaves, I prepared homemade sugar-free sweet tea. We dropped a few sprigs into the finished product, chilled for an hour and voila! homemade sweet mint tea! It was amazingly refreshing and we spent time in the kitchen and (our unruly jungle of a) garden.

I'd say our first evening went well. NOW I need to research uses for fresh mint and get plans together for the rest of the garden. Enjoy our recipe!

                                              SUGAR-FREE MINT SWEET SUN TEA

1 gallon           water
1 1/2 cups       sugar-free sweetner (Splenda, Truvia, etc.)
12                    tea bags individual sized (black or grey preffered) OR 7 family sized
3                      4" sprigs of fresh mint (more or less to taste)


Normally you would boil water for tea in order to dissolve the sugar and steep the tea but you can substitute warm tap water since the sweetner dissolves with water. SO pour your sweetner into the bottom of a gallon pitcher, top off with warm to hot water, stopping 2" from the top. Tie teabag strings together for easy removal and drop them right into the water. At your discretion, tie the mint sprigs with twine or just leave them loose and drop them right into the pitcher.
I like to set my pitcher in the window to steep in the sun. If you prefer to set yours outside, that's a wonderful idea! Just remember to cover the opening of your pitcher with a cheesecloth or hand towel to keep any curious bugs at bay. Steep for about an hour or until thoroughly golden throughout. Stir your tea, pour over ice and enjoy!
(I like putting mine right into the freezer for 30 minutes for that extra chill before serving) Try different techniques and you'll learn what works best for you. It tastes great and is very easy for little children to help with.