March 2023 – of windowsills and breezy hills

A chilled morning calls for warming with a hot cup of tea. I can hear you coffee drinkers disagree. Yes it’s tea for me, is it tea for thee? (Did you know I can rhyme?)

This winter I became aware of the potential chemicals and toxins that often come with the packaged deal of teas. I dove into researching typical brands we used and also healthier options to consume. Teas aren’t automatically healthy simply because the box looks bright with herbs and fruits. Looks can be ever so deceiving! I enjoyed the task of trying out a variety of new teas, and I’m happy to share results with you!

For an outcast, non-coffeee drinker such as I, a cup of tea is healthy, right? We tend to assume that since teas are herbs they are nourishing for us. But did you ever slow down your life and meditate on just what might be hiding out in that tea bag?!

Here’s information on what to beware of in your teas. Not that this list is all-inclusive, but it’s a good start.

Avoid teas that have natural flavors, soy lecithin, maltodextrin and cornstarch. These can all contain GMOs.

Many teas are laden with pesticides, carcinogens, and polypropylene, especially if the bags contain plastics. Plastic leaches before it melts- hello boiling water! Heavy metals, additives, and flouride are more bad guys often found camping out in that innocent little bag. And, I’m ever so sorry to deflate your joy but K-cups have got to go!

Things to look for when buying teas:

Choose organic and non-GMO certified teas. These won’t be the cheapest brands either.

Do your own research on your favorite brand of tea and see what information the company shares. Are they testing for heavy metals? Are their tea bags made out of plastic? How do they package their tea? Is their bag sealed with a metal staple? Are they transparent about their ingredients?

Here is a list of typical tea brands to stay away from for the above reasons:

Twinnings

Lipton

Luzainne

Celestial Seasonings

Tazo

Bigelow

I know it’s worth groaning over! I’m right there with you, convicted guilty of drinking these teas. But hey, that makes two of us listening to our conscience. Cheers for us! It brings the shudders when I think of the gallons of iced Lipton or Luzainne tea we’ve drank for years! But I’ve found a few kinds to replace that.

Is your cup of tea feeling cold and disgusting yet?! Cheer up; here are safe brands you can choose from. ⬇️

*Traditional Medicinals- their tea is organic, non-GMO and their tea bags are free of plastic and are compostable. They perform rigorous testing for heavy metals and microbial contaminates. Currently I’m in a streak of drinking their Cup of Calm Lavender Mint for my morning tea. Who cares if it’s supposed to be a tea for bedtime; I can drink it when I want. And it is a cup of calm because I drink it at my desk while I read my Bible.

*Choice Organics- this tea is also tested for chemicals, heavy metals, and lead. It’s made without flavors or additives. It’s packed into natural fiber plastic free tea bags. The tea string is from organic material. The packaging filteration paper is oxygen bleached using a natural process completely free of chemicals or toxins. We’ve tried their grapefruit honeybush tea as well as their peppermint- both are tasty. Also, their black tea makes wonderful sweet tea to replace the Lipton or Luzainne we used to drink.

*Numi- this is another clean tea that is organic, non-GMO, and free of pesticides. Their tea bags are made of Manila hemp and are compostable. Hurray for no plastic in their bags! Numi also has a good black tea labeled Breakfast Blend, which makes a good sweet tea.

*Organic India- they test each batch of teas/herbs for contaminates like mold, fungus, bacteria, pesticides, and heavy metals. They don’t add fillers, artificial colors, or preservatives. Their bags are made out of organic Manila hemp and are compostable and biodegradable. The strings are from unbleached cotton fiber.

*Rishi- this company too is organic and performs spot testing for pesticides and contaminates. They use plant based materials for their bags and are not petroleum based. No glues, staples, or metals on their bags either. The downside is that their price is higher than the previous ones I’ve mentioned.

*Pukka teas are also organic and super good quality, but same as Rishi, super expensive.

*The Republic of Tea- is another brand of delicious teas. They are tested for pesticides and do not use staples or strings in their bags. Their Peach Ginger tea is one I absolutely love! It’s delighful as a hot cup or refreshing as iced. I’d love to say it’s 100% safe, but from my research, they don’t quite meet all the requirements. They carry some organic teas, but they are not all. Shop wisely. I also couldn’t find that they’re tested for heavy metals. The bags are unbleached, which is great, but I couldn’t find that they are totally free of plastic. Another concern was the natural flavors, although they say their natural flavors are free of chemicals. It will be a better tea to drink than the average, but not the best.

Stash, Yogi and Earth Mama are teas that I also researched. They appear like good teas at first glance. But upon investigating further, I couldn’t find that they were completely free of plastics or else not properly tested for heavy metals/pesticides, or didn’t reveal satisfactory information. Drink at your own risk.

All these teas can be found at health food stores or some main line grocery stores. Amazon carries most of these as well. Whole Foods will delight any tea lover with their advanced collection of teas; some healthy and some not so much. Shop with your eyes wide open for pesticides and plastics!

There are definitely more safe brands out there. Some I did not include because the price was fit for kings, not peasants like me.

And yes, you don’t need a fancy tea kettle to make tea. I use my plain-Jane little pan that has ever so many uses. It hangs on a hook inside a nearby cupboard. It’s out of sight and doesn’t clutter my stove top like a kettle would. I have an affinity for multipurpose products.

I found these cute stackables at Target. Perfect for storing teas, yet easy to see

Three tips for your cup of tea:

● Use good water! This makes a difference. We have a distiller and wouldn’t want to drink anything else. It boils the water to a steam, and thus removes all bacteria, chlroine and the like. It leaves you with the cleanest, thirst quenching water! Reverse osmosis is about the same as distilled.

● Don’t stir in the sugar. Sweeten it with a choice stevia or honey. Raw honey is healthy but remember it’s also calorie laden, which may contribute to fluffiness.

● Stir in a teaspoon or two of collagen. There’s no taste but it simply adds a bit of protein to help out your blood sugar levels. There’s a wide variety of collagen out there. I use Anthony’s collagen powder. It’s hydrolyzed, non-GMO and grass fed.

I’m sorry if you don’t like avocados because avocados are little bundles of healthy happiness! If you’ve not aquired a taste for them, it may be that your taste buds simply need adjustment. Give it a fair try. Get over their texture and color and keep trying until your taste buds say “more please!”

Avocados are nutritious gems! Full of healthy fats, vitamin C, vitamin E, magnesium, potassium, B6, folate and more. A single avocado has 975 milligrams of potassium while a banana, which is well known for its potassium, only delivers 487 milligrams per large fruit.

I would love to taste avocados grown in their native country- I’ve heard they surpass anything we buy in the grocery store. Avocados are nutritious for the whole family including your 6+ month old who’s beginning to eat table foods. A much more nutritious choice than the typical applesauce and yogurt for sure!

So if your trying out avocados for the first time, make sure they’re in the perfect stage of ripening. Press on the shell. If they feel soft enough to press into the flesh, they’re ripe. If they feel like mush, they’re past prime and will be brown and yucky looking inside. If they’re hard with no budging to your squeeze, they need more time to ripen. You’ll need patience because they’re ain’t no good way to speed up the process. I’ve laid them in the sun or on a heat register with some sucess, but nothing instant. I store my avocados in a basket along with bananas to help ripen them. Thanks to Google, I once tried baking avocados wrapped in foil, to ripen them. The result was a total fiasco! They got softer but tasted horrible! Please learn from my mistake. Actually, you should probably blame Google instead of me.

If your hesitant to try avocodos, I recommend sprinkling a few slices with plenty of salt, and eat alongside soft eggs for a trial test.

🥑 Here’s how you eat this delightful green fruit. (Yes, they are a fruit! Not a vegetable. Although I wouldn’t recommend adding them to your fruit salad!)

Toss them on top of salads. Sprinkle on top of Mexican foods or soup. Eat with rice and beans. Make guacamole. Slice and eat them plain sprinkled with salt and a squeeze of lemon juice. Put a few slices on a sandwich. Make Avocado toast. Basically, eat avocados anyway you choose. It will fill the day and your belly with happiness. 🥑

Here’s how you make Avocado Toast:

Toast a piece of sourdough bread. It doesn’t have to be sourdough but I’m awfully partial to it. It’s super crunchy, chewy and drool worthy. In a small bowl, smash the avocado and sprinkle liberally with salt and Nutritional Yeast. (I prefer Redmond Real salt for health benefits.) Spread on toast and sprinkle with more Nutritional yeast and Parmesan cheese. Bow your head and thank God for a delightful breakfast, then chow in. I can hardly eat this without moaning around! 🤤

You could scoop them out and slice them in an artful arrangement on the toast but I choose to simply squeeze them out and smash for efficiency.

This is my favorite breakfast on the market. I started eating this a year ago and haven’t got tired of it. Ok, so I don’t eat it every single morning because it takes skill to keep avocados in my pantry at just the perfect stage of ripening- not too hard and not too ripe. Either way is disgusting. But the perfect blend of ripening is superb! I often buy one bag avocodos with a couple soft ones and a second bag on the hard side, to further ripen. And oh how we miss those green gems when we’re out of stock!

My children did not like avocodo toast at first. They saw me eating it faithfully and eventually asked for bites. And more bites. Until I was making whole pieces for each of them. And now it’s everyone’s favorite around here. They also now love avocados served in any form. Taste buds really can change, so don’t give up after the initial trial!

Sometimes we top our avocodo toast with a soft egg, which is super tasty as well. But even without an egg, the combination of avocodo, sourdough, and the vitamins in the Nutritional yeast, makes a super filling and healthy breakfast. I’m not pining to eat a snack at 10 AM because this keeps me full a long time.

In case you’re not familiar with Nutritional yeast: These golden flakes have a cheesy, nutty type of flavor. Rich in nutrients they’re a good source of some trace minerals, B vitamins including B 12, fiber and antioxidants. It contains all nine essentials amino acids, making it a complete protein. I buy mine at our local bulk food store but most health food stores would carry it as well. We also sprinkle this on eggs or popcorn along with salt.

Month: March 2023

Now That’s My Cup Of Tea!

Avocado Happy