A to Z Food Challenge: T

Let me start off by saying thank you to all of you awesome followers, for being supportive and understanding during my health issues. I will say that I got relatively worse today - my throat got better though - but thankfully my mom and her husband (he's a doctor) came over to check on me. My Step-Dad was nice enough to even get me a prescription (none of my doctors would see me until next month), so I'm on the road to recovery. A little rest and I should be back to normal soon. 

Besides the whole "being sick" thing, I did have an opportunity to pick up a few things for today's Food Challenge. I will say this is more of a "Drink Challenge", because I decided that for today's letter "T", I chose to talk about a few tea's I purchased from Trader Joe's. I picked them all up yesterday (since tea was all my stomach could handle), but really I just picked up more of what I already own.

The tea's I'll be reviewing today are as follows:

Rooibos and Honeybush Tea $2.49 (I've talked about his before)
Pomegranate White Tea $2.49
Well Rested Herbal Tea $2.29
Chamomile Tea $1.99
Peach Apricot Black Tea $3.99

For those times when I'm drinking it with creamer (yes I do occasionally add creamer to my tea's), I go with Trader Joe's Lactose Free Vanilla Coffee Creamer. The sugar I stick to is Trader Joe's Organic Pure Cane Sugar. When it comes to my honey, I vary between two. Either Trader Joe's Raw Honey or Trader Joe's Turkish Honey. The raw honey is very straight forward, with no additional sweetness. It gives a subtle honey taste, without overpowering any flavors from the tea. The Turkish honey has a mild sweet taste, which will enhance the sweetness to your tea, along with giving it an additional "floral" taste. 

For my mornings, I tend to stick with my Peach Apricot Black Tea and my Pomegranate White Tea (either after I have coffee or in place of coffee). Both have mild caffeine, but neither of them will wire you like coffee. 

The Peach Apricot Black Tea is a very sweet tea. It resembles regular iced tea, but with a hint of sweet peach. The smell is absolutely intoxicating in it's cute little cylindrical tin container. I tend to make this one into iced tea (again, it's so close to actual iced tea, just sweeter), but on cold days I'll sometimes make it into a nice hot batch. With this tea I'll pair it will a salty or meaty meal (eggs and bacon for example). I feel like a really simple honey (I prefer raw for this particular tea) compliments it quite nicely and I do NOT add creamer to this tea. Too sweet for me to add vanilla with. 

The Pomegranate White Tea has a very mild floral taste, with a hint of fruity flavor. It definitely has a strong smell of pomegranate, but the fruity taste of pomegranate isn't nearly as strong. It's a very "light" tasting tea that I love after a workout or during errands. This is an antioxidant tea, that really makes me feel good when I'm not feeling my best. I tend to drink this tea at least once a week, but I mix up which honey I pair it with. Either do well, but the Turkish honey will give you a little bit of additional sweetness, although I feel it works amazingly with this tea. I haven't tried this tea with creamer, only because I'm not sure how I feel about floral, pomegranate, and vanilla. I like this tea with a light snack like an elderberry bar or some crackers. 

My everyday and anytime tea would definitely be my Honeybush and Rooibos Tea. I've mentioned this tea in a prior post I'm sure. It's filled with amazing benefits for your body and you definitely gives you an "I feel amazing" feeling, without any caffeine. Regardless if I drink this tea hot or cold, I always add my vanilla creamer (although it tastes delicious without creamer) and I tend to add my Turkish honey more often than my raw honey, unless I'm sick. Either work amazingly though. This tea is refreshing, has a slight floral taste, but leans more towards the herbal flavor. It's my all time favorite tea and I love love LOVE it! I will drink this tea with absolutely any type of food or as my dessert. 

My tummy tea is of course Chamomile, which is fairly self explanatory. Many many people have had this tea, as it's known as the "upset tummy tea". It's a caffeine free, herbal tea, that has health benefits and helps upset stomachs. I tend to only drink this if I'm feeling nauseous (which happens mostly if I'm up at 2 am from insomnia) or if I have a sore throat. It's soothing, calming, and can be used for a nighttime tea as well. Either the raw honey or Turkish honey will work great. I do add creamer to this tea sometimes, if I crave pure chamomile tea. If I do drink chamomile, without an upset tummy, with creamer, I pair it with a light sandwich. Perhaps a tuna, avocado, and sprouts sandwich. 

My number one nighttime tea is the Well Rested Herbal Tea. It's a caffeine free tea with a mix of calming herbs (including chamomile), but with this tea I definitely feel my body calm down. With all the anxiety and panic attacks I tend

to deal with on a regular basis, my mind can be run at full speed when I'm trying to rest. I've only started drinking this tea recently, but I have noticed a difference. I don't necessarily feel like I have melatonin or benadryl in my system, but I do have a nice "relaxed" feeling. It's not a miracle, but for the taste and soothing benefits, I will continue to buy it again and again. I tend to only use my raw honey with this, to not add any sweetness before bed, and will only eat toast with this. Most of the time I don't even eat anything with it. 

And there you have it guys! The breakdown of my favorite tea's, for different times and different meals. 

Have a wonderful weekend guys and remember to stay safe! I'll be resting and having a movie weekend with my son, because I really want to kick this crap in my system. With the help of my tea's, I'll be set! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to make myself a nice cup of Well Rested Herbal Tea