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| Yerba Mate Latte with Herbal Powders and Coconut Oil Yes, that unicorn is pooping and puking rainbows |
I've Switched from Daily Coffee to Daily Tea
Up until recently I was a daily coffee drinker each morning, but a few months ago I switched over to tea. I'm not abandoning or shunning coffee or anything like that. I still love the taste. But I have also always loved tea, and to be honest, it's a lot easier, cheaper, and faster to make a plain cup of tea than a plain cup of coffee.
That being said, my tea routine is anything but plain!
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| ingredients for a yerba mate latte tea with coconut oils and powdered herbals |
My Morning Tea Lattes
As often as I can muster the with-it-ness to put it together, I have a tea latte in the morning. Pictured above are the ingredients for a Yerba Mate Latte with Coconut Oil and Powdered Herbs.
Here's the recipe:
Hot water
2 tsp of loose yerba mate from Teavana, in a tea infuser
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom
1 tsp honey
2 tbs coconut oil
1/4 c of plant-based milk (my choice, this works with cow milk, too)
This alone would be delicious. I steep the tea in hot water, adding til it just covers the infuser. Then in the bullet blender I put the other ingredients, including as much water to fill up the mug, after the other ingredients have gone in the blender. Just eyeball it, but be conservative.
But wait, there's more!
After I went to Herbstalk, the herbal convention in Somerville, MA, I added more herbals to my regimen. I attended a class on herbals for menstruation, and decided to try some of the recommendations of the herbalist who spoke. The shatavari, licorice root and milk thistle listed below are a result of info from this course. The other herbals are things I already had in my diet. Here is what I add for herbal powders and such to my tea latte:
1 tsp flaxseed oil
1 tsp bee pollen
1/2 tsp shatavari powder
1 tsp licorice powder
1 tsp milk thistle power
1/4 tsp gingko biloba powder
And I blend all that in the magic bullet. Then I remove the infuser from the mug and gently pour the contents of the bullet blender into the mug (to help keep the yummy foam part intact), and stir gently.
Another Tea Drink of the Morning - Green Tea and Ginseng
After my latte, which I drink while going to work, I also have a small cup of a very butt-kicking, energizing kind of tea drink once I get into the office. In a small mug, I steep green tea in hot water. I have loose leaf green tea for home and packets for work. After it's steeped for 5 minutes, I take out the bag. Then I add 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, 1 heaping tsp of honey, & 1 scoop of ginseng powder (VERY BITTER). I stir that very well and drink it up pretty fast. The bitterness is a bit much, but ginseng is a good energizer, and has other health beenfits, and tastes pretty good with the balance of spicy cinnamon, sweet honey and earthy green tea. I might also add some lemon balm and nettle ot the loose leaf tea if I'm at home.
Afternoon Tea - Part Earthy Herbal, Part Mellow Black Tea
In the morning, when I'm making my tea latte, I also make up a thermos of mushroom and nettle tea. I have this lovely little teal thermos with an infuser at the top. I put in a teaspoon of Tamim Tea mushroom tea blend and a tsp of nettle tea from Foster Farm Botanicals (both purchased at Herbstalk, the herbal convention I mentioned earlier). Then I let it steep as I drive to work.
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| I'm not always fancy; I love Wegmans black tea! |
In the afternoon, when it's time to switch to less caffeine, I have an extra large mug that I fill halfway up with hot water and let either plain black tea, or decaf earl grey tea steep in the mug for a few minutes. After that I add the mushroom and nettle herbal tea. And I'll have two mugfuls of that to get me to the end of the work day.
Bedtime Tea - Herbal Tea for Trying to Mellow Out, Man
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| Hot Drink Mug She is RISEN, Boys! "Barons of Suburbia" Tori Amos Lyrics Poster Art by Rabbit with Fangs, Jayne Lyn Lamb |
At bedtime, as part of my routine, I'll make up a small mug of tea, which I drink out of my wonderful, amazing beautiful Tori Amos mug, created by the super talented artist, Jayne Lyn Lamb. You can see her full shop online at https://www.facebook.com/ToriArtAndImages/
In case you didn't know, Tori Amos is my Best Friend Who I Met Once for Two Minutes.
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| gratuitous photo of me with Tori Amos because this is still one of the best days of my life because I am an unrepentant fangirl |
In my bedtime tea mug, I make different teas, depending. I have a dandelion one, a lavender one, a lemon ginger one, and I recently got raspberry leaf. Sometime to help relax and mellow out, as part of a nice bedtime ritual. Sometimes it helps (I have a TERRIBLE time falling asleep!)
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| Lemon Ginger from Steeped Tea with tea infusor & awesome drawing of Aunti Boo-Boo |
Side Note: this is a lovely lemon ginger blend of loose tea from Steeped Tea, which I won from my super duper good friend Rene. She sells Steeped Tea and has giveaways on her Facebook page. It also came with a postcard and a drawing of me (AKA Auntie Boo-Boo) by her 3 year old, "Grin." https://www.facebook.com/theinspiredmomma/
I also add a small dose (1/3 of recommended) of a tincture of ashwaganda from Foster Farms Botanicals and a glycerite tincture of olive leaf extract to my herbal tea.
And that's my Tea Routine every day! Regardless of whether you believe the health benefits of all these herbals, it's still good to drink a lot of liquids, so on that front alone, I'm glad I do this routine. I get to my "six good liquids" a day easily this way.