🌱STEVIA🌿 is a plant that grows rather abundantly in my spring and summer garden. It's a hearty plant that stays around through the growing chill of October, but I cut and dry it before the topsy-turvy weather of November.
If you pinch a leaf off the Stevia plant (also called candyleaf), and nibble on it, you will find it tastes like sugar. EXACTLY like sugar.
If you are trying to cut back on sugar in this new year, one of the ways I do it is by adding my dried Stevia to my loose tea strainer. On sunny days, it's also excellent to add a sachet of stevia to a batch of sweet suntea on the front porch, or to brew some in a cup of hot water for a version of simple syrup to add to fruity cocktails. I like my coffee black--but if you are a sugar-in-your-coffee gal or guy, then just add a teaspoon of Stevia to a paper sachet and letting it sweeten your coffee for a bit.
Stevia will make a faintly green tea cast to your teacup (as shown) and you only need about one teaspoon to get a nice little sweet kick without the sugar!
And, yes. Stevia is sold on the shelves....as a white powder. And every version of the container says something undefined like, "from the stevia plant" or in very small print, "made with stevia and other sweeteners". So be careful with "made from" labels--they aren't the same thing as "made only" products. And besides--how they made a stable green plant into a blinding white powder that dissolves is beyond me.
Stevia plant tins are $10 each. They come with 6 paper sachets to get you started, but enough stevia plant is included to make 12-15 cups of tea. There is also a label on it, so people don't give you the side-eye for your tin of greens👀😄
Let me know if you'd like to try it out!
