Simply Sweet - Kick your sweet tooth craving with a cup of tea!

Sweets are my vice. I like pretty much most things sweet: ice cream, chocolate, cookies, strawberries, and if it's not sweet, I make it so: sugar in coffee, honey in tea, vanilla soy with my cereal, sugar on grapefruit, kettle corn popcorn... you get the idea. So since my sweet tooth is around pretty much 24/7 and I can't always be eating the sugar that I want.

A perfect way to stave off that sweet tooth is by having a cup of tea! Not only is tea used as a medicinal appetite suppressant but many blended teas, or tisanes to be exact, are already naturally sweet and have practically zero calories, unless you use your own sweetener. Therefore tea works as a perfect calorie free substitute.

Some of my favorites include Boulder Blues, which is a fantastic blend of two green teas with a strawberry rhubarb flavoring and is great brewed hot or cold. The first time I had this tea I was floored. I had always thought of green tea as something to choke down because I knew it was good for me. Having Boulder Blues was my first entree into the blended tea world. Since Boulder Blues is a green tea blend it is very high in anti-oxidants and so I'm not only getting my sweet fix but drinking something that is 100x healthier than soda, a coffee latte, or even juice.

Another one of my favorite teas to satisfy my sweet tooth is Creme Caramel. Creme Caramel is a black tea blended with caramel bits. If you're in the mood for a foamy coffee drink, instead, make a concentrate of this amazing black tea and add your own steamed milk and all that you're giving up of the calories are what's in the milk!

Lastly I think every single person in this country should own a tin of Red Rocks. Red Rocks is made with the Rooibos herb, which is from a South African bush, and is blended with vanilla and almond to give it a sweet kick right from the start. Rooibos is incredibly healthy for you and if you're in the mood for a late night snack but don't want to sacrifice the calories, substitute a cup of Red Rocks with a bit of honey and you're in for a treat! (pun intended)

(chocolate cake photo from http://knol.google.com)