Last week I shared some facts about tea – green, black and oolong – and some good reasons to drink it. 

But there are other things you can do with tea too… 

Use it to make a cooking liquid for fish – make a foil parcel around your fish fillet, add an Earl Grey tea bag and a slice of lemon and pour in about 50ml water. Scrunch up the foil loosely to seal the parcel, and cook for about 12 minutes on a baking tray in the oven. 

Poach pears in Earl Grey tea – this is another idea for a tasty and healthy recipe, this time for pudding. Use ripe but firm pears, peel them but you don’t need to core them. In a saucepan, bring some water to the boil and reduce to a simmer. Add your tea bags (and if you like, a teaspoon of cinnamon, which enhances the tea flavour). Add the pears and let them simmer for 15-20 minutes on each side, then sit them upright and let them steep in the warm water for about an hour, basting every 10-15 mins. 

Reduce the tea to a syrupy glaze – this can be a drizzle for steamed fish, or vegetables. Most syrup is made with one part sugar to one part liquid, but you can use natural alternatives like honey or maple syrup for a slightly healthier option.

Use with oats and dried fruit to make a healthy tea loaf – in most receipes for this tasty treat (and there are lots online), you steep dried fruit and oats in black tea  – you can choose your favourite – before mixing them in with the other loaf ingredients. The tea makes a lovely moist loaf with great flavour.  

Use cooled tea bags to reduce redness around eyes – they are the perfect size to use as cold and warm compresses to the eyes to help relieve symptoms of many eye and skin conditions. And although not conclusive, evidence is accumulating to suggest that black and green tea may be useful for eye and skin health too.

Spread dried tea leaves in a smelly cupbaord to neutralise odours! – Tea leaves have antibacterial properties and are very good moisture absorbers. Not only can you use tea leaves in cupboards, washed and dried used tea bags can be used in cat litter, in your bins, in trainers or a shoe cupboard. 

I’d love to know if you try any of these ideas, or have more tea tips and tricks of your own! 

And if you would like more ideas and inspiration including a monthly podcast then come and join us at Fitfish for a Fiver!