My Every Morning (DELICIOUS) Coffee!

Ok, so lets just go ahead and get it out there – I’m a total and complete coffee lover. I haven’t always been, but in the past 10 years I’ve slowly, year by year fallen more and more in love with the fabulous, decadent, warmness of coffee. When I first started drinking it I was a Starbucks only, 90% creamer with a tiny dash coffee kind of girl, but I’ve finally come to a point where I’d rather drink it black than go without my coffee for a day!

I realize for a health conscious person who is writing a blog about healthy living, this may seem like a very weird topic since coffee is not exactly considered a health food, especially considering the ingredients typically added into most coffee drinks. But the concept I want to share is a guilt free way to allow myself that beautiful moment of sipping my coffee at 6:15 because some precious little boy is ready to go and needs his mama. I cherish this moment (probably way too much) not just because of the little caffeine boost, but also because there is just nothing that can get me in a good mood at 6:15 quite like a cup of coffee can. So here is the thing- I’ve found my own personal perfect, easy, guilt free concoction of chocolatey, cinnamon-y goodness that I can whip up in no time. So without further ado, here is my daily morning coffee recipe and a little explanation of why I use these ingredients-

Healthy Morning Coffee – serves 1

Organic regular and/or decaffeinated coffee

2-3 Tbs organic coconut milk (or 1/2 and 1/2 if not dairy free)

dash of cinnamon

dash of cocoa powder

dash of vanilla (Yes there are lots of dashes! Probably about an 1/8 of a tsp.)

1 to 2 droppers liquid stevia (or a few spoonfuls of coconut sugar to taste)

 

Brew your coffee as desired (I prefer to do half to 3/4 regular coffee and the rest decaffeinated). Stir in the cinnamon, cocoa and vanilla until dissolved, then mix in the coconut milk and sweetener. Enjoy the heavenly deliciousness while it’s hot!!

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Super duper easy, and contains none of the awful ingredients in so many of the typical coffee creamers. Some of the main ingredients in most coffee creamers include sugar, corn syrup solids or high fructose corn syrup, vegetable or soybean oil, carrageenen, natural and artificial flavors- and the list goes on.

I will probably do many blog posts in the future about the dangers of some of these ingredients, but for now here are two things to think about-

Many oils are unhealthy, but soybean oil, which is in TONS of foods and drinks that we eat all the time, is one of the worst I have researched. It contains a compound that resembles estrogen which can disturb hormones, and has even been shown to potentially cause infertility. For this reason soybean oil along with many other soy products are especially something men should watch out for. In addition to this, much of the soybean oil in foods today is genetically engineered (GE), and some studies show that GE soybean oil is strongly linked to health problems and infertility in animals. So we can only guess how that is effecting us as well!

Corn syrup solids are a concentrated form of corn syrup, which is a sweetener made from corn. It is quite potent and contains incredibly large quantities of fructose- much more than our bodies were designed to consume in a single serving. This concentrated sugar is basically processed and stored as fat in our bodies, which contributes to the frustrating weight problems that are so prevalent in our society. Scientists are also claiming that this substance is quite addictive and essentially tells your body to desire more and more food. Instead of satiating your hunger and desire for sugar, it just increases it. The more you eat, the more you want, and it just continues the vicious cycle. This is a VERY basic description of these high fructose sweeteners, but hopefully you get an idea of why it isn’t the best thing to be consuming. Natural sweeteners such as the herbal sweetener stevia, coconut sugar, raw honey or syrup are much easier on your body because they are pure, real sweeteners that are much lower on the glycemic index (they don’t raise your blood sugar near as much or quickly!), especially when consumed in moderation.

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I believe that both coconut milk and organic 1/2 and 1/2 are both much better substitutes than creamers with these kinds of ingredients! But I personally decided to try to use as many dairy free options as possible for a few reasons-

Firstly because of the hormones in most dairy products today. From the research I’ve done, it appears to be that whether natural or added, many of the hormones in much of the dairy we eat can affect us hormonally as well. It can also raise your insulin levels, much in the way that sugar does, contributing to a myriad of health problems. I’ve struggled with acne for much of my life, and it seems that lowering my dairy intake has definitely helped! Ezra also seemed a little intolerant of it while I nursed him as a newborn, so I cut it out primarily for his sake. It doesn’t seem to bother him much any more, but I amazingly haven’t felt much of a desire to go back to it since! That is definitely saying something too, because I literally used to put half a package of cheese in nearly every dish I made. Since backing off of dairy I feel better, my skin is better, and I’ve found lots of great alternatives so I don’t feel like I’m missing out. My mom even had some breathing problems and after cutting her dairy intake, they are nearly gone! I’m not saying all dairy is bad by any means; we still LOVE butter in this house 🙂 But for me personally, I’ve found lots of benefits to using some dairy alternatives. I know it sounds insane to consider giving up any amount of dairy, but we’ve found it to be so worth the health benefits it has provided.

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So there you go! A healthy coffee recipe and some of the reasons why I decided that this was a much better option for my health than the coffee drinks I was so accustomed to getting! Hopefully you can try it out and love it just as much as I do 🙂

5 Comment

  1. Carrie Stallons says: Reply

    LOVING your blog & LOVING this new coffee recipe!!!! HOLY COW!!

  2. Ali Struble says: Reply

    Yum!! Cannot wait to try

  3. Kari Barlow says: Reply

    Love your blog! Can’t wait to try the coffe and looking forward to your next post!

  4. Valerie Buckingham says: Reply

    I love this recipe. This is the only way I drink my coffee now. Thank you so much for sharing it. Cahle and I are making these changes right now ourselves, and I can’t tell you how encouraging your blog has been!

    1. KelseyHodge says: Reply

      This makes me so happy, Valerie! Thanks so much for letting me know 🙂

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