Stevia 101

I've had stevia growing in my herb garden for two years now and I've never been really sure what to do with it.  When you chew the leaves, it is very sweet, but drop those leaves into tea and not so much!  Making a stevia extract can be quite labor intensive so I just bought the little packets of "Stevia in the Raw" to sweeten my tea.

Until now.

I recently read an article that told how they put stevia through a 40 step process to extract the sweetness from the leaf by relying on chemicals like acetone, methanol, ethanol, acetonitrile, and isopropanol. Some of these chemicals are known carcinogens (substances that cause cancer), and none of those ingredients sound like real food,

do they?

So after a little research, I found that drying and grinding dried leaves works just fine.  There's really no need for a fancy extraction process.

I picked some fresh stevia stems from the garden and put them in the dehydrator for about 4 hours.

I placed the dried leaves in a mortar and pestal (you can also use a spice grinder) and ground them into a fine powder.  The dried leaves or powder can be stored in an airtight container.

I used about a teaspoon and a half to sweeten my tea.  The powder does not dissolve into the tea like sugar or stevia extracts, so it looks kinda weird and leaves a residue on the inside of your cup.  It does sweeten my tea nicely though, and I'm very happy using it.

Stevia is an excellent sweetener for diabetics like me because it does not raise blood glucose levels.  Stevia leaves have also been shown to help with insulin resistance, lowering blood pressure, and can help combat certain types of cancer 

(you know, like the cancers caused by using processed stevia leaves!).

And yes, I know I'm putting homegrown, organic, natural goodness into a Sonic iced tea.
Don't judge me until  you try it,
it's DELICIOUS!