Healthier Creamy Iced Coffee



Shannon K. Moore

When I first had the idea of starting this blog, the first person I ran it by was my best friend, Shannon.  She was immediately excited and has continuously been a huge support as I continue along this journey.  When she had an idea about a blog article, I jumped at the opportunity to include her, and asked her to be my guest blogger.  I hope this is the first of many of her wonderful contributions.  Thanks, Shanny!

  

Women excel in teaching each other smart things that make our lives better.  One thing I have learned is that I would rather chew my calories than drink them.  I owe this “AHA” moment to my beautiful friend and the talented author of this blog, Jenn.  However, with summer approaching I find myself looking for a cold drink, often in place of (or next to) my mid-afternoon snack. My typical go-to drinks are water and seltzer; zero calories and not bad in any way but not “snack worthy” either. What I really crave is yummy, creamy, slightly sweet, Iced Coffee!  I am unwilling though, to justify a high calorie indulgence like a Starbucks Java Chip Frappuccino.  This admittedly delicious delight packs a hefty price tag both in cost (averaging $4.75) and calories (460 /Grande!!). I did the math (really, I did!!) and it costs about $.01 per calorie, or in terms I understand best:  about 45 minutes on the elliptical!  SO not worth it!  Especially when there are healthier options that are much more fiscally and physically responsible. 

Here’s my take on a much healthier version of iced coffee; made creamy and slightly sweet with vanilla almond milk or vanilla soy milk.  I’ve also included some nutritional information on both so you can choose which suits you best.

Coffee:  It’s the main event here and let me remind you we are choosing to drink our calories so let’s give them a nice little nest to settle down in; don’t hold back! Start with a good quality coffee like Italian or French roast, or something labeled bold or medium bodied.  Use 1 ½ - 2 Tablespoons of ground coffee for every 4 oz. of water.  This is a little more than you use for your morning Joe, but you want it a little stronger because the ice will water it down a bit. 

Now let’s talk about the creamy-ness factor:  Skim milk is a trusty old standby of the health-minded among us and it’s a great option since fortified milk has about 10% of your vitamin A requirement and 25% of your vitamin D requirements.  But its snack time people! This is an event not to be undervalued here and we all deserve a little excitement in our lives once in a while! Since other options are readily available, why not jazz things up a bit and lend a hand to our lactose or soy sensitive friends.  Vanilla Soy milk, or my favorite Vanilla Almond milk, have fortified varieties that offer similar nutritional values and calorie content to milk, like vitamin A & D and calcium with less saturated fat. Soy milk is a great source of vitamin A, B12 and Riboflavin and is lowest in sodium.  Almond milk is also fairly low in sodium, has no cholesterol and offers 50% of your daily Vitamin E requirement and up to 150mg of potassium.  Yet another bonus for Almond milk is that nearly 1/3 of its calories comes from either polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats, both known as healthy sources that have the ability to lower cholesterol levels. 

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups of strong, fresh brewed coffee, chilled

½ cup (or less depending on your taste) vanilla almond milk or soy milk

Pour over crushed ice (no skimping, it’s simply better and more fun than cubes, trust me!)

Serve with a straw!

Preparation:

Brew coffee using a drip coffee maker or my favorite, a French press.

Transfer coffee to a pitcher to chill in the fridge, or straight into a glass filled with ice.

Add your choice of Soy or Almond milk…a little Stevia/Truvia or even Agave nectar if you need it sweeter…and enjoy!

Approx. 2 cups per serving: 

Calories/Fat/Protein/Fiber/Sodium

Almond Milk:  60 / 5g / 2.5g / 1g / 90mg (fortified with calcium, vitamin D and protein)

Skim Milk: 86/ 0g / 8g / 0g / 125mg

Soy Milk: 100 / 4g / 7g / 0g / 100mg  (fortified with calcium and vitamin D)