Looking for Warm/hot Drinks.. That Exclude....

Could you warm up chocolate or vanilla almond milk? They have plenty of alternative drinks in Whole Foods and a few at Trader Joe's. I would think you would be able to warm up any of these....
Thank you for this question, I'm enjoying reading the answers!

Also, iHerb.com has many drinks that have the specifics you are looking for.
Just do a search on iHerb. I really enjoy their site!!

Hope this helps....

My mother used to give me the warm milk with a drop of vanilla and a little sugar. The taste takes me right back to when I was little.

Also, warm, freshly squeezed orange juice is delicious! Just heat it up in the microwave - so comforting!

My mother used to make Celestial Seasonings Mandarin Orange-- no caffine, no sugar--nothing bad. She also prepared peppermint leaf tea (I didn't know the difference without the sugar), and chamomile with honey. Celestial Seasonings has lots of great varieties, and is clearly labelled.

Have you considered apple cider?

If your child isn't dairy-free, you could warm some milk with a little vanilla, cinnamon and honey.

Warm up a mug of apple juice and sprinkle a little cinnamon in it.

Many juices taste pretty good warmed up. My kids like lemonade with a little ginger in it warmed up. And apple cider is a good stand by.

We also like warm vanilla milk. Just add a bit of sugar and vanilla to the milk. It's tasty.

You can also make your own warm banana milk. I cup of milk and banana with some vanilla and blend until smooth. Then warm it up. But warm milk and bananas are both foods that make you sleepy, so it may not be a great one to start the day.

My children aren't huge fans, but my nieces love teas of all kinds. They don't add anything but touch of milk sometimes.

Warm cider is great - and you don't have to put anything into it.
There's really no reason you can't warm up any fruit juice
Drinking tea is great too - you don't have to put any sugar into it.
Teavanna has some wonderful fruity teas (loose tea) that are good hot or cold (I like mine with just a little lemon - no milk or sugar) - some have some caffeine and some don't.

http://www.teavana.com/the-teas/teas-by-flavor/fruity-tea...

I agree that Tea is your best alternative. I don't put sugar in mine, but my children like sugar in theirs (what kid doesn't). Have you looked at the sugar content in quick or hot chocolate? Compared to the sugar content in the drinks you mentioned, a teaspoon or two in your daughters tea is minor in comparison. You don't have to use sugar either. You could use raw honey, natural organic maple syrup, or agave. They are natural sweetners that your body can process easier then refined white sugar.

My kids love the new Goodnight Grape tea from Celestial Seasonings. It has some stevia in it for sweetening. They also like the Candy Cane Lane and Wild Berry Zinger flavors (no sweeteners in them and I don't sweeten them myself but once in awhile let them use a natural flavored candy cane as the stirrer).

If you're doing regular old tea with leaves or bags...you could sweeten it with agave syrup or honey naturally. And honestly, if you don't offer it, would he miss it?
I generally won't offer my kids the sweeteners or stuff like that the first time I give them something (like Corn Flakes...I'll just give them the cereal with nothing else in it)...to see if they take it like that.

Maybe he won't ask to "improve" the flavor....

Hello,

I have not been a tea drinker, but this one I fell in love with! http://www.vitacost.com/good-earth-herbal-tea-blend-caffe...

Make sure you get the 25 pack or you'll get artificial flavors (just as bad as dye - talking from experience). For some reason they changed their 18 count formula.

Anyways, this is SO perfect with just water. The flavors that are in the tea are perfect!

H.

Another suggestion for you, have you thought of Carob Powder to make a faux chocolate drink? I have known more than a few people who couldn't have chocolate switch to carob. Just a thought if your little one starts to feel left out if other people are having/wanting hot chocolate.

Ghiradelli White Moca.
No chocolate, Gluten Free
http://www.amazon.com/Ghirardelli-Chocolate-Premium-Bever...

Banana mix
http://www.amazon.com/Nestle-Nesquik-Banana-Flavor-Shake/...

Honey, freshly grated ginger, and lemon are good together. It is also great for a cold or sore throat. You can adjust the ingredients to fit her tastes. (Lots of ginger works best for a sore throat, but it does get a bit spicy. So less ginger will probably be better for a younger child. Although my 5 year old loves anything spicy. He doesn't like the lemon though, so we leave it out on this one for him.)

My son likes warm milk with honey and cinnamon.

Just so you know, you don't need to use sugar to sweeten your drinks. I often use sugar, but agave nectar can work as well. Agave nectar has a low glycemic index, which keeps your glucose levels, well, level. For me, which I choose depends on the tea. Dr. Oz talked about rooibos tea on his show, and I finally picked some up. It's an herbal rather than a tea, so there's no caffeine. Dr. Oz touted its natural sweetness, but I find adding agave nectar helps bring out that sweetness. It has a pleasant smell as well. I often use agave nectar in black tea, as well. It should also work with any tea that has vanilla in it. I'm not sure how the flavored teas rank on your list of what she can have, but it's worth mentioning! Agave nectar can be a bit pricey depending on where you get it. Agave in the Raw is less expensive (per ounce, especially, since it's a much bigger bottle) than Domino's agave nectar, at least at the Strack's I shop at. Good luck!

I've always given my kids tea (caffeine free). I add some honey instead of sugar and add milk. They love it. They also like to go shopping with me and pick out new teas.

Also just warm milk tastes good. Maybe add a little vanilla for flavoring. Also I add a little flavored coffee creamer to their milk for a treat.

I would think the Quick drinks would be full of emulsifiers and additives, and just a terrible idea. A lot of kids I work with use a hydrator (superior to Gatorade and those types of drinks because there are no dyes and the only sugar is pure fructose - NOT high fructose corn syrup! - which they would get in an apple). Moreover, the sugar is mitigated by the addition of a niacin-bound chromium which keeps blood sure levels steady, and it's used effectively by diabetics. It can be used very warm - not with boiling water but just shy of that. It comes in lemon or orange, but they are colored with beta carotene and not dyes - most people think the lemon is better hot, but that's a personal choice. It's patented so it's been proven safe and effective and unique. You can order on line.

I think SOME herb teas are okay but double check because not all are okay for kids. If you are using real tea bags and not a mix, you shouldn't have sugar added, so that's not a problem, right? A little squeeze of honey is okay, and also the same company that makes the hydrator drink makes a totally natural sweetener with no calories - it's from rebiana which is from the stevia plant, and erythritol which is also all natural. You might not want him to develop a sweet tooth, but then again, if you can meet it naturally and without worrying about tooth decay, it can't hurt. Overall, I think exposing your child to different flavors is probably a good thing to develop a taste for new foods. The teas won't help him nutritionally but if you want to warm him up, great.

And there's nothing wrong with plain hot water and a squeeze of lemon. Have you seen all the warnings about washing fruit even if you don't each the rind? There's plenty of bacteria, pesticides, and salmonella on them - I saw a segment on "The Doctors" about washing things like cantaloupe before cutting, and there was recently something on the news about people who order drinks in bars that come with lime or lemon and what they're getting! So we wash all our fruits including bananas, melon and citrus - then we let them dry in the dish drainer in a colander, and then refrigerate them.

Good luck!

I've been making my own "tea" and it's quite good. In a large stockpot, boil a dried fruit (I've been using prunes, but I imagine you could use whatever you like that's dried), a cinammon stick (a large one, I buy them in the bags at the Mexican store...and while I'm at it, you can buy dried guava there as well that works WONDERFULLY for this, in place of the prunes), and some chamomile flowers (which I also bought at the Mexican store.) If you don't have a Hispanic grocer, you can check the "ethnic" aisle of whatever grocery store you have.

Anyhow, boil it all down and reduce it...takes a bit...and it's delicious. No sugar was necessary at all for me to enjoy this, and I'm the type to add sugar to every hot drink.

My two year old is gluten free because she has Celiac disease, and chocolate free because she has a SEVERE lactose intolerance...I am curious, though, about your reasoning for the dyes. We seem to be dye free just by virtue of what we eat, but not on purpose...would just like more info, if you have the time to pm me or want to share it here.

Nothing wrong with tea...you can get Celestial Seasonings that aren't even really tea and have no caffeine. My children love these, and I did too, as a child. There's nothing wrong with sprinkling a teaspoon of sugar into a mug of tea, honestly.

Not all of these are for children-or chocolate free-but some look good:

http://mycountrycookin.com/winter-2010-country-warmers

Agave is a good sweetener-hits the bloodstream differently than sugar.

Warm milk with honey. I make it half milk/half water for my kids.

I make my son Chai Tea Latte (not the mix though).

Boil water. Steep chai tea bag (we like Lipton's) for several minutes. Remove tea bag . Add a couple of shakes of cinnamon, a good-sized teaspoon of honey and a little bit of milk (we use almond milk) and enjoy. It should be the color of coffee with cream - that is how you know the approximate quantity of milk. My little man loves it, and me too! :)

It is black tea, so there is some caffeine. I would not give it at night.

Chamomile tea sweetened with local honey.

Ginger tea (ginger root stewing in the kettle and a little in the cup; no tea bag) sweetened with local honey. Ginger is good for digestion, so it's a win-win.

You can squeeze a little lemon into any tea.

I really like Tazo Passion fruit tea with fresh lemon juice and a little honey. It's tart and a little sweet. My 10-year-old likes it hot or cold.

My kids LOVE "ling maht". It's a drink my (Chinese) husband drank as a child, and we order it every time we find a Chinese bakery for breakfast. It's just a cup of hot water, with plenty of lemon and honey, but it's like the best lemonade you've ever had. It's amazing when you have a sore throat, and just generally cures what ails you. ;-)

One of my new favorite warm drinks is pineapple juice. I would never have thought to warm up pineapple juice if I hadn't seen a recipe for it, which was merely pineapple juice with some honey and a cinnamon stick to which you can also add a mint tea bag. I leave the tea out because it's just as delicious without. I LOVE this warm drink- it's also great for fighting that first sign of a sore throat and loaded with vitamin C!

My son loves herbal teas from Celestial Seasonings. We are also very fond of the Tazo herbal tea flavor Passion. You can buy both in the store.

I read through a few of the last responses and they are good!
I just wanted to mention that if you do go the herbal tea route don't be afraid to add some sugar or stevia to sweeten it up. The 2 drinks above that you were considering had far more harmful ingredients including fructose to sweeten them! Herbal tea with a bit of natural sweetener is far better for anyone!!! Good Luck!