Tea to Try

With Christmas over, everyone's settling in for a long hard winter.  (Except Southerners - pore things.) When sharp winds and plummeting temps drive you indoors, brew a cozy cup of tea and settle down with your favorite book for the afternoon.

Tea seems to make everything feel a little cheerier, and its a writer's best friend.

Here are a few of my favorite cups.

(None of these are my images.)

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Type: Black


         - Helps lower cholesterol
         - Helps your teeth, skin, and bones stay healthy
         - May help keep your blood sugar at the right level

My favorite tea in all the world! Super Irish Breakfast is a hearty tea that's a good substitute if you dislike coffee.  It has a creamy, robust taste and goes down smoothly.  I have mine with a splash of milk and a spoonful of sugar.

Type: Black

If you can't find Irish Breakfast, English will do...but I think it tastes a little "dirtier" than the Irish.

Type: Black

Needless to say, I had this on December 25th and it was very good.  It's silky and light with a hint of spice.  Take with milk and sugar.

Type: Herbal

          - Good source of antioxidants / vitamins (Especially Vitamin C)

          - Other benefits depend on what herbs are used

          - Caffeine free

This fresh and minty tea is tasty and has sentimental value for me.  A long time ago, my grandma would come over every Friday with a box of doughnuts and we'd have mint medley and sit around the table scraping off frosting with our fingers.  We still get to do that sometimes - but doughnuts every week can't be very good for you :) Many people use sugar in herbal tea, but I prefer honey.

Type: Herbal

Soothe your nerves with a cup of this chamomile.  Take with a spoon of honey. 

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Those are my favorite bagged teas.  But there's also loose leaf tea.  It's been a long time since we've had any black loose leaf tea, but that was all pretty good.  It's just kind of a hassle to make, so we switched back to bag tea.  Something my mom does still make (which is very good) is mix Teavana's Blueberry Bliss with Teavana's Peach Bloom.  It's fruity, red, and has a hint of candyish taste.  Take with honey.  

Type: Rooibos

          - Caffeine free

          - Helps digestion

          - Good for skin / complexion

          

What are some of your favorite teas? Are they White (great for complexion)? Oolong (burns fat)? Or green (which is very healthy but I think is disgusting)? Whatever you like, I'd love to hear about it.

Happy brewing!

- Ellyn

P.S.  There is only ONE MORE DAY for you to enter my giveaway! If you haven't, there's not much time left! :O

Days 21-25

Day 21: Something you know you do differently than most people

Well...I rarely eat cookie dough while I'm making cookies :D Though I admit that if there are chocolate chips or M&Ms, I will pick out a great quantity and eat them. But my hands are clean! (Can you tell I couldn't really think of anything?)

Day 22: A website

Christian Cowgirl is a great website for horse-lovers who ride Western and English both. Visit the forums for talk about your horse life, your God life, and much more. My name on there is "indyluv"

Day 23: A way in which you want to be remembered

Definitely through my writing! I want to write books that aren't dark, morbid, and vulgar, but still appeal to teens. (Especially Christian teens)

Day 24: A movie no one would expect you to love

The Hannah Montana movie. I actually really enjoyed it. Too bad Miley Cyrus isn't taking the high road.

Day 25: A recipe

Here's a really simple snack treat that I made for a Victorian tea at our Bible study. Actually, the tea was called off last minute, so my plates of dainties were swarmed by hordes of brothers. But these are SUPER good.

Here's what you need: Pickles (not too small, not too big), Cream cheese, sliced cold-cut ham, toothpicks

Here's how: Spread the cream cheese on a slice of ham. This is harder than it looks, people! Be delicate! My mom had to use her fingers to get it on smooth. The piece I tried to spread looked more like something off a scarecrow when I was finished. Roll up a pickle in the ham. Simple enough. Now, cut the pickle into slices, poking toothpicks into the slices as you go. Ta-da!!! It may sound weird, but just wait until you taste it. :)

Eat Your Fruit...First?

According to Dr. Oz, we should eat the fruit part of our meals first. When we swallow fruit, it doesn’t mosey down the pipe like everything else – it wants to zip through the stomach to the intestines as fast as it can so that it can clean out our system.

So, if you eat your chips or a sandwich before a piece of fruit, it can’t go as fast as it wants and clogs up behind all the other food. That’s why you sometimes burp after eating fruit on a full stomach…

Here is some info on certain fruits and how they can help us. And I quote…

KIWI: Tiny but mighty, and a good source of potassium, magnesium, vitamin E and fiber. Its vitamin C content is twice that of an orange!

AN APPLE a day keeps the doctor away? Although an apple has a low vitamin C content, it has antioxidants and flavonoids which enhances the activity of vitamin C, thereby helping to lower the risk of colon cancer, heart attack and stroke.

STRAWBERRY:Protective Fruit. Strawberries have the highest total antioxidant power among major fruits and protect the body from cancer-causing, blood vessel-clogging free radicals.

EATING 2 – 4 ORANGES a day may help keep colds away, lower cholesterol, prevent and dissolve kidney stones, and reduce the risk of colon cancer.

WATERMELON:Coolest thirst quencher. Composed of 92% water, it is also packed with a giant dose of glutathione, which helps boost our immune system. Also a key source of lycopene, the cancer-fighting oxidant. Also found in watermelon: Vitamin C and Potassium.

GUAVA & PAPAYA:Top awards for vitamin C. They are the clear winners for their high vitamin C content. Guava is also rich in fiber, which helps prevent constipation. Papaya is rich in carotene, good for your eyes.

Endquote. Also, canned fruit juice is void of a LOT of the natural vitamins and minerals. So is cooked fruit, because it has been under heat. Growing your own fruit is great, because you can be sure they are wholesome. We have lots of apple trees, and also plum and pear. I think we might have a sour cherry, too…no regular cherries, though. Minnesota isn’t good for that We’re also growing strawberries this year. Unfortunately, we won’t have a prime harvest of them until next year, because if you want your plants to thrive, you have to pluck off all of the strawberry flowers the first year.

Hopefully, you have learned a few new things about fruit from this post!

- Ellyn

June 14, 2010