Thai Tea Icecream

Two days ago was the first day in many when I stuck with my meals for the day and did not binge. Good for me. Yesterday, I had two mini cupcakes that a coworker brought in for her birthday. So, I skipped dessert after dinner to balance it out. And although it does not seem like much, I did pick the mini-cupcakes and not the larger sized ones. Also, I was stuck at work late, so did not get to go for an evening walk. So, I made yesterday the rest day and am going walking today instead.

Here is the recipe for the Thai Tea Icecream that I promised. I will note that although the icecream was delicious, it did not taste as much of tea as I had expected. I will post some modifications at the bottom of the recipe that may help improve the flavor.

INGREDIENTS
2.5 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar (I used a mix of half honey and half brown sugar)
5 egg yolks
1 tsp pure vanilla essence *
3 pods of ground cardamom **
5 tea bags of black tea ***

METHOD
1. Bring the milk, heavy cream, vanilla, cardamom and half of the sugar to a slight boil.
2. Add the teabags to the milk mixture as it is warming up.
3. In the meantime, whisk together the remaining sugar and the egg yolks till fluffy.
4. Add the egg mixture to the milk mixture.
5. Stir constantly on low heat and do not let the yolks cook/curdle.
6. Continue heating until the mixture thickens to coat the back of a wooden spoon. (~5 min)
7. Remove from heat and discard the tea bags.
8. Cool to room temperature and then transfer to fridge to chill for at least 2 hours.
9. Add to ice cream maker as per instructions and freeze for a few hours before serving.

* I would skip the vanilla because this may have contributed to diminish the tea-flavor.
** Like the vanilla, the cardamom was quite a strong flavor. I will add only 1 pod next time.
*** For a stronger tea flavor, I would add more tea bags or use loose black tea. If using loose tea, strain it out after cooling.

My low-carb plan is not working as well as I would have wanted it to - of course, I am not really putting any effort into it. Maybe that's why! ;-)

And, here's the food for yesterday -

BREAKFAST

Oats, curry, mung beans - leftovers for breakfast! And I like savory breakfasts anyway.

SNACK

Mini cupcake. Then I had another one.

LUNCH
Had lunch at the cafeteria and forgot my phone - so no picture. Scrambled tofu, potatoes, artichokes, mushroom and vegan sausage. The veggies and sausage were good - the tofu was pureed and laced heavily with turmeric - it was bitter and awful. I ended up not eating most of it.

SNACK

Pepperjack Cheese

DINNER

Cheese Pizza; Cabbage-Cucumber Salad w. Cumin-Yogurt dressing.
I then had some more salad and a second slice of pizza.

EXERCISE
REST DAY