Time for Tea!

We had a nice weekend with almost perfect weather and we were all almost in perfect in health . . . that is tornado warnings, thunderstorms, and the stomach flu not considered. DS went down Saturday, DD on Sunday, DH and I today. It appears to be a type that hits hard, fast and leaves us feverish and weak. We ate oatmeal, green bananas and green seedless grapes today... my stomach comfort sick food. Weird maybe, but DH appreciated it also.

Despite all this I decided to blog about tea . . . since the weather is turning warm I have decided it was time to start making iced tea and this blog is about how I can have cold tea in the frig for my drinking pleasure whenever I want. Today it was also a handy to sip on the fennel tea, the rooibos seemed a bit to flavorful for my tender tummy.

I buy my tea in bulk and store in large jars like those in the middle of the picture. I am making ROOIBOS and FENNEL SEED tea here. I purchased reusable cotton bags from the Frontier Co-op so that I can put 2 Tbsp tea or seed in it and add the bag to the boiling water that I put in the quart jar. I allow my tea to steep on the counter until it is cool enough to pick up and put in the frig. I remove the bag, rinse and use again. I also make any other herbal or regular tea by using 2 regular size bags per jar in this same way. That is what I do with my all time favorite hot or cold is GOOD EARTH TEA, original flavor in regular or decaf. I love Ghandi's (1869 - 1948) saying that I found posted on Good Earth's website, "Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes."

I was also at the library looking up some children's books to make for some fun and easy information tools for history class and I happened across this book: FRESH FROM THE VEGETARIAN SLOW COOKER by Robin Robertson, 200 recipes for healthy and hearty one pot meals that are ready when you are. So far from what I see all the recipes in this book are vegan. I really like her method of making dried legumes in the slow cooker and having them prepared ahead for other recipes that call for beans.

I probably wouldn't cook beans in the slow cooker because I have a "slow cook" setting on my stovetop and make legumes huge batches to freeze ahead for when I need, but I would if I didn't have that option. I have burnt beans before and THEY STINK! Also, a great thing about preparing beans from the dry state is that it really saves me alot of $$ compared to canned and also is a bit more environmentally friendly. Beans are versatile, if I happened to have pinto beans on hand in my freezer this will work for any bean recipe. This way I can watch for when other COOP members want to split a 25 lb bag of legumes, so my savings REALLY add up. I don't do this for tightwadery, but I'll do like to take advantage of making my $$ stretch.

Oh back to the book, I tried a couple of the breakfast porridge recipes and still find I don't like grains cooked in the slowcooker, they are mushy. For me perfect grains are separate and somewhat dry, not in a thickened starchy goo. So far a basic simple Zorushi ($2.99 Goodwill find) rice maker is my best grain making friend (except for steel-cut "irish" oats) ... just gotta make sure not to add to much liquid.

:)

Here's to hoping for a happy day blog readers! I have some great pictures of my stuffed Easter mushrooms and seitan roast to get posted soon, as well as my trip to get garden plants.