Honeydew Bubble Tea with a2 Milk®

This post brought to you by The a2 Milk Company™. It also contains affiliate links for some of the products shown. The content and opinions expressed below are that of Ceci Bean.

I have to be honest. This recipe is a little self-serving.

First of all, if you don't crave bubble tea to the extent that I do, it may not feel worth it to make all of these components. I mean, I had to plan ahead for this one. There are no giant tapioca balls available in my neighborhood grocery store, for example. Or giant straws which, let's face it, are pretty essential to the enjoyment of bubble tea.

Also, there are tons of ways to make bubble tea. You can certainly find a recipe out there that includes other types of dairy or even powdered tea mix. That exists and you can try it. But this recipe, while not light on sweetener, uses fresh a2 Milk®, brewed tea, and real honeydew juice. Why a2 Milk®? Well, because then you can serve this treat to your guests at your shindigs this summer without fear that you'll be giving them an aching belly. a2 Milk® is the natural replacement to chemically processed alternatives to milk for those who experience digestive issues from regular milk. It is also hormone and antibiotic free and contains no artificial ingredients or additives. It's the good stuff, folks.

Lastly, I wrote this recipe to be quiet. Oh, that isn't important to everyone? We don't all want to make delicious beverages to enjoy while our toddlers nap without the fear of waking them up? Well, if this is not a concern to you, you might as well use a blender or some loud machine that will juice your fresh honeydew for you. As for me, I'm over here mashing melons with a potato masher all Amish-style because shhhh, let's not wake the kid, for goodness sake! 

Honeydew Bubble Tea (made with a2 Milk®)

Ingredients (for two 12 oz servings)

• 2 Tbsp + 6 Tbsp simple syrup (or 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water)
• 1 cup hot water
• 3 green tea bags
• 1/2 honeydew melon
• 1/2 cup black tapioca pearls like WuFuYuan brand 
• 1 cup a2 Milk®
• 2 bubble tea straws
• ice

Instructions

1. If you don't have simple syrup, combine sugar and water in a small saucepan. Stir until dissolved, approximately 10 minutes. Allow to cool before transferring to a bottle.
2. Boil water.
3. Steep 3 bags of green tea for 3-4 minutes. Remove tea bags and chill tea in refrigerator until ready to use.
4. Prepare tapioca pearls as directed on the packaging. Combine pearls with 2 tablespoons of simple syrup and set aside until ready to use.
5. Remove the peel on the honeydew and cut into 2" pieces. 
6. Transfer to a large bowl and use a potato masher to crush the melon.
7. Pour melon through a fine mesh strainer. Discard pulp.
8. Mix remaining simple syrup with 3/4 cup of honeydew juice.
9. Spoon tapioca pearls into serving glasses. 
10. Pour 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup iced tea, and 1/2 cup honeydew mixture into serving glasses.
11. Add ice and straw.
12. Enjoy!
       

If you'd like to try a2 Milk® for yourself, grab this a2 Milk® $1 Off Coupon and check the Product Locator to see which grocery stores near you are carrying it. 

For more information on the a2 Milk Company™ as well as other delicious recipes, check them out on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Lemon Pudding with Gingery Crumble Made with a2 Milk®

This post brought to you by The a2 Milk Company™. The content and opinions expressed below are that of Ceci Bean.

My son has started a daily ritual of walking up to the lemon tree in our front yard and demanding, in his limited vocabulary, to be given a lemon. Or a ball, as he calls most everything. His insistence is cute so naturally I pick one for him and off he goes to look at bugs and splash in puddles, lemon in hand. Those lemons that haven't been destroyed during his adventures end up in our fruit bowl at the end of the day. And as you can imagine, we now have a mountain of lemons that need to be used.

Now our lemons are not the popular Meyer variety that are more sweet than sour (though those are pretty wonderful in their own right). Ours are the mouth puckering sour lemons that need a creamy milk and a bit of sugar to mellow out. Add to that a crunchy slightly spicy cookie crumble and you've got a pretty fantastic (and easy!) treat to enjoy. While I think true ginger snaps would really pair well with the tangy lemon, this crumble topping works pretty darn well in a pinch. And this recipe makes quite a bit more topping than you might need for the pudding. But once you taste it, I doubt you'll have much difficulty finding ways to use it up.

It was an easy decision to incorporate a2 Milk® into this recipe without fear of serving it to guests who couldn't eat much dairy. I've had the opportunity to try a2 Milk® a few times now and I have to say it does seem pretty gentle on my stomach too. If you have any concerns about digestive discomfort from dairy, you may choose to omit the butter in this pudding recipe and stick with milk which contains only A2 proteins. Similarly, you can use coconut oil for the crumble topping in place of butter. 

Gingery Crumble Topping

Ingredients

• 1 sleeve of graham crackers
• 6 Tbsp of melted unsalted butter (or coconut oil)
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tsp of ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp of ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF.
2. Crumble graham crackers in package and pour into a bowl.
3. Mix in butter (or coconut oil) and spices.
4. Spread crumble mixture on a lined baking sheet and bake until golden brown (about 10-12 minutes).
5. Let cool and store in a sealed container until ready to top pudding.

Lemon Pudding (made with a2 Milk®)

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups a2 Milk®
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (less if you want a tarter pudding)
• 1/4 cup of cornstarch
• 3 - 4 medium lemons juiced (approx. 1/2 cup)
• 3 - 4 medium lemons finely zested (approx. 2 Tbsp)
• 3 egg yolks (lightly whisked)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 2 Tbsp melted butter (optional)

Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan, combine together sugar and cornstarch thoroughly.
2. Stir in milk and turn on stove to medium heat.
3. Add egg yolks, lemon zest, vanilla, and salt.
4. Stir continually until mixture has thickened (approx 5-8 minutes)
5. Remove from heat and add lemon juice (and butter, for extra creaminess, if you wish).
6. Pour in glasses and let cool.
7. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving. 
8. Enjoy!

If you'd like to try a2 Milk® for yourself, grab this a2 Milk® $1 Off Coupon and check the Product Locator to see which grocery stores near you are carrying it. 

For more information on the a2 Milk Company™ as well as other delicious recipes, check them out on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Banana Date Shake with a2 Milk®

This post brought to you by The a2 Milk Company™. The content and opinions expressed below are that of Ceci Bean.

When Sebastian turned one year old, we slowly started introducing cow's milk into his diet. I had heard that some children don't respond well to the taste, but our kid took to it quickly. And just like that, our family's milk consumption soared.

However, we have friends whose kiddos have had a harder time with dairy (and other foods), so I feel sympathetic to the challenges of finding the best alternative to regular cow's milk. That's why I was interested to try a2 Milk® and learn more about it.

It seems that originally, all milk contained only something known as the A2 protein. Over time a genetic mutation occurred in cows and a new type of protein developed called A1. This A1 protein causes digestive discomfort for some folks and is in all cows’ milk in-stores today, even organic milk. Since a2 Milk® has the A2 protein, there's a good chance that folks (and kids) who have a little trouble digesting regular dairy might be able to enjoy it more easily.

Because I was a little concerned about how the protein was added and what else might be in the milk, I was happy to learn that their cows naturally produce the milk with only the A2 protein. Also, their farmers are certified in the humane treatment of animals, their cows are fed a vegetarian diet and never given hormones or rBST, and the milk is antibiotic free and contains no artificial ingredients or additives.

With this information, I was excited to try a2 Milk® in my Banana Date Shake recipe below.

You see, along with milk our kid also goes bananas for bananas. Or at least he does for days at a time and then every now and then decides he wants nothing to do with them. Does your kid do that too? Because of this, I buy large bunches of bananas regularly, but I also have to be ready to find other ways to use them up when Sebastian is not in the mood for them. Since a person can only consume so much banana bread (That's a lie. There is no end to the amount of banana bread I can consume. Om nom nom!), I end up freezing whatever hasn't been eaten at the end of the week. Since this has been going on for some time now, I have a sizable stash of frozen bananas to use.

So I guess it was inevitable that with our plethora of bananas and milk, we would end up mixing the two. Throw in some dates (which, by the way, you can totally pit a date with one hand when your darling banana-hating child wants you to hold them while you're attempted to make a snack for yourself) and a dash of cinnamon and you've got a satisfying and relatively healthy treat!

And, surprise surprise, your little one will probably want to try a sip of what you're having. And then he'll want the rest. Who can blame him? It is delicious! We will definitely be enjoying this quick and yummy snack again. And it must be said that the a2 Milk® was every bit as tasty as the milk we typically purchase.

Banana Date Shake

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup a2 Milk®
• 1/2 large frozen banana
• 2 dates (pitted)
• pinch of cinnamon

Instructions

1. Put ingredients in a blender.
2. Enjoy!

If you'd like to try a2 Milk® for yourself, grab this a2 Milk® $1 Off Coupon and check the Product Locator to see which grocery stores near you are carrying it. 

For more information on the a2 Milk Company™ as well as other delicious recipes, check them out on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

If you try this shake, please let me know what you think!