Winter Drink: Apple Cider Tea

I wanted to make a wintery drink for a Thanksgiving breakfast, and I also wanted it to be non-alcoholic because, well, it's breakfast. Spiced rum at 9am is still a little trashy, even if you drink it out of a Santa mug. Want a non-alcoholic alternative to spiced rum? 

I found a recipe for apple tea from Serious Eats but I'm not a huge fan of black tea, so I made some alterations to balance out the flavor. (I don't know of any good substitutes to black tea, do you?)

Ingredients

• 1 sweet cinnamon spice tea bag (or any variety of herbal, holiday spiced tea)
• 2 irish breakfast tea bags (or any variety of strong black tea)
• 2 three-inch cinnamon sticks
• 1 25.4 ounce bottle sparkling apple cider
• 1 ounce fresh juice from about 2 lemons
• Garnish: additional cinnamon sticks

Preparation

Place tea bags and cinnamon sticks in a large mug of boiling water (about 2 cups, or 16 oz.) Let steep for at least 10 and up to 20 minutes. Remove tea bags and cinnamon sticks and chill in the refrigerator overnight.

When you're ready to serve the drink, combine the cider, tea, and lemon juice in a large pitcher!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Green Ginger Tea

I like light, herbal teas best. Rose tea, spearmint tea (peppermint is too strong for my liking), white tea, I'm all for it. My friend, Erica, is very generous with her tea collection and I love love love sampling from her collection.

Today she told me about green ginger tea. Most ginger-y drinks are too strong for me, so this green ginger tea made me nervous. But ginger is just so freakin healthy... sometimes you just have to suck it up. (Or, I guess, gulp it down.)


Why should you drink this tea?

Here are the benefits of ginger tea:

• Ginger soothes the stomach and helps ease nausea
• Heated ginger is an anti-inflammatory, and green tea improves blood flow--perfect for relieving muscle soreness and cramps
• Green tea lowers cholesterol, and helps maintain heart health and stabilize blood sugar
• Theanine in green tea can lower anxiety

Plus, the ginger-y taste in this tea isn't very strong at all! Perfect.

Here are the stats for preparation:

Happy sipping!

Natural Cold/Flu Relievers

I have this thing about medicine/pills... I don't like them. I'm not against them, I'm not an anti-vaccine movement nutso, no no no. I just try not to take medicine unless I have to. I was sick with a cold all week, and I want to share my top non-nyquil remedies:

(If you're looking for herbal remedies, stop reading this now.)

Still there? Great!

1. Sleep. Even if there's something good on TV. Even if there are a thousand funny pictures online. Sleep.

2. Shower, even if you don't want to. Sure, your body is achy and you already feel gross and you know that you'll become snotty and gross 2 seconds after you step out of the shower, but the warm steam will clear out sinuses and make you feel better. Promise.

3. Speaking of runny noses... I stuff tissues up my nose (who has time to reach for a tissue every 2 seconds?) It helps, I swear!

4. Stay hydrated! Chugging water is obviously the best, but if you need a little more flavor:

Mint Tea w/lemon & honey // Coconut Water // Blueprint Juice // Lemon-water & Cucumber-water

I previously wrote about why I stopped drinking coffee, but recently came across a new study that states that coffee doesn't seem to dehydrate you after all. That said, you should probably still keep away from it while you're sick, because it'll make you jittery when you should be relaxing!

Hope you're staying healthy and enjoying the sunshine!

Relax, Already

I love coffee. I love everything about coffee. I don't redeem my punch cards to get free coffee, I use it to get barista lessons at Fair Trade.

But, now, I am choosing water instead.

I'm not "giving up" coffee. I'm not even "reducing my coffee intake." I know my brain. If I actively try to avoid it, I will drink it every day. I get the "idea" of coffee in my head sometimes, and my neurons go "YES. enjoyable drink. Now. Yes." So I go to Dutch Bros, even though I don't really want it. And, the next morning, l solemnly empty my half-full cup into the sink.

Last week, I wrote about the trap I fall into when I'm trying to change my habits, and this is no different. If I try to deny myself coffee, I will inevitably justify why it's not that bad while I run downstairs to a cafe.

But I'd rather drink water.

Reasons I'm choosing H2O:

1. Coffee induces anxiety (because of the caffeine) 
2. I actually don't drink enough water. And coffee is dehydrating. Yikes.

Last month, while I was teaching--straight up in front of the class up at the whiteboard holding a marker in my hand--I passed out. Thankfully, my students caught me, brought me water, and gave me a granola bar (they're sweethearts!) The doctor told me it was a combination of dehydration, stress, and exhaustion. I spent 4 hours at the hospital hooked up to an IV and watching Tangled with Madhu and a 6-year-old boy, feeling more refreshed than I ever have before. I felt so much better when my body was fully hydrated, and I want to keep it that way.

I keep a big jug of water with sliced lemons and cucumbers in my fridge. But when I want a little bit more flavor, I turn to these:

1. Mango Kombucha: As much as the name "Synergy" drives me crazy, this is a pretty delicious drink. Kombucha is a fizzy, fermented tea that's big in the health food world, but there's actually no scientific evidence that it slows aging or improves the immune system. I drink it because it tastes good. This is the less-concentrated version, so it doesn't have the strong vinegar-y taste "pure" kombucha drinks supposedly have (I haven't tried them.) It tastes like mango juice mixed with Perrier.

2. Coconut Water: I'm not picky about brands; I get what's cheapest (Vita Coco happened to be on sale while I was at Safeway.) I've loved coconut water since I was a little kid so I'd drink it for the taste alone, but the electrolytes certainly help. 

3. Lavender Kombucha: Tastes like a bouquet in your mouth. Mixed with Perrier.

4. Tazo Tea: I love everything about tea. These specific kinds are all decaffeinated, so I can drink them to my heart's content :) 

Here's to staying hydrated through the Arizona summer!