what I buy

We have all heard the benefits of drinking green tea. It’s known to be full of polyphenols and antioxidants.  It has been touted to help speed weight loss. Every time I turn around there is a new benefit. What made green tea super important to me was it’s benefits for cancer fighters/survivors.

I knew I had to find a way to get this super tea into my diet. In the winter this is easy for me, because I depend on cups of tea to stay warm! Once it became warm outside, I had to find another way to drink tea that would work for me. Well, I have done just that.  I have found a super easy way to get all those awesome benefits into may body, and in pretty large doses at that!

Lately, I have been making 2 quarts of green tea a day and drinking it ALL! I found one that I love, it is Celestial Seasonings Blueberry Green Tea Cold Brew.

Talk about easy, all I do is:

~fill 2 mason jars, quart sized, with filtered cold water
~add 4 bags to each jar
~let cold brew for 5 minutes
~add ice to one, a lid to the other
~start sipping on one, put the other in refrigerator for later

It has great flavor and no bitterness. I do sometimes add just a touch of sweetener, but it really does not need much.

My one and only complaint is that this tea is not organic. I figure the benefits outweigh that one negative, and the hot green tea I drink in the cold months is organic, so at least it is not all year!

I love that once I finish both quart jars of tea, I know that I have had 8 cups of fluid for the day. This is a great way to monitor the amount of liquids I get.  Bonus!

PS..did you see my favorite glass straw in the first photo?  I love it.  It comes with it’s own tiny little straw scrub brush.  You want one?  If you buy it from Amazon using this link, Foods Alive Glass Straw with Brush – Ecofriendly, 1-Ounce I will get a small percentage.  While you are there, you can pick up some Celestial Seasonings Cool Brew Blueberry Iced Green Tea — 40 Tea Bags!

Bob Red Mills 7 Grain Pancake & Waffle Mix

Now that I am having chemotherapy treatments, I really don’t have the energy to cook for my family. We have been receiving some of the most wonderful meals from family and friends, which is just a super huge blessing!!
This morning, I woke up feeling pretty good except for some achiness. It is funny how the definition of feeling “good” changes with chemo…anything but knocked out flat on your back seems “good”:), so I wanted to do something that felt “normal.”  Making pancakes on a Saturday morning is very normal for me, and I knew I had this mix sitting there in my cupboard, which was enough to motivate me to make pancakes for the family.
I do have a pancake recipe that I love, but sometimes the ease and convenience of a mix is wonderful.  This one is organic, high in fiber and protein, and the flavor of the pancakes is spot on— delish. My family loves them.  They take an egg, oil and water.  I love that you can adjust the water amount to get just the right thickness of pancake.  We prefer thinner pancakes in this household.
The mix itself is higher priced when compared to others on the market, but what you get for your money is more than worth it.  The mix makes a ton of pancakes, your family will not only get full, but also nourished from the wonderful ingredients in the mix.  The cheaper mixes are full of white sugar and flour that do nothing for the family’s nutrition, so in the end, it is worth paying a bit more.
I only used less than half of the mix today, and it made 20 4″ pancakes!

Ingredients-all Organic Whole Grain Flours; Whole Wheat Pastry, Rye, Spelt, Corn, Oat, Kamut, Flaxseed Meal, Quinoa and Brown Rice Flour, and Organic Vital Wheat Gluten Flour, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Baking Powder and Sea Salt.

*I was not compensated to review this product.

I love lemonade, especially in the summer.  I have tried a few recipes this summer, but keep going back to just purchasing it at the store, because of “Simply Lemonade“ brand lemonade.  I love this brand because it tastes good, only has 4 ingredients, and contains NO high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).  It is 11% lemon juice, and it is not from concentrate. 


The ingredients are filtered water, lemon juice, sugar, and natural flavors.  


Now, I would like to know what “natural flavors” are, and hope that does not mean some chemical cocktail added, but honestly, it is easy to turn a blind eye as it is the last ingredient and again, it is one of four ingredients.   


Check out this long list of ingredients in Minute Maid Lemonade:
 Pure filtered water, sweeteners (high fructose corn syrup, sugar), lemon juice from concentrate, less than 5% each of the following: natural flavors, citric acid (provides tartness), modified cornstarch, glycerol, ester of wood rosin, sodium hexametaphosphate and sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate and EDTA (to protect taste), yellow #5.  It only contains 3% lemon juice!  


 I don’t often bring simple processed sugars and HFCS in to our home.  I try to sweeten our food with honey, maple syrup, sucanat or stevia.  But when it comes to lemonade, (& ice cream!-post coming soon), I break our rule.  I tried a lemonade recipe that was sweetened with maple syrup, and it just was not what I was looking for.  I want the true, old- fashioned taste of lemonade, like Simply Lemonade or one like  this recipe at “How Does She…” –will be trying that one soon!
What about you?  Do you have a favorite recipe?  Do you know of any great recipes without processed white sugar?