Mint tea for me...

Some goddesses are puzzled by this...like me...
After sleeve bariatric surgery I was told to stop drinking carbonated beverages, and no caffeine. with the migraines I don't really drink caffeine anyway, but the carbonation was a BIG change. I used to never be seen without a diet pepsi in my hand. Then a diet Shasta when I realized how sensitive I was to aspartame. I now drink adult cool aid otherwise termed tisane, or herbal tea.

For a general, all around beverage that's cold, I normally drink some kind of mint infusion.
Here's what I think of the ones I've sampled.

Of the straight Peppermint teas I've tried the very cheap from the Dollar store which has almost nothing in the tea bags and costs as much as the Stash tea to buying my own loose organically grown peppermint leaves that I grind in a coffee mill. I like a smooth, light taste of peppermint that isn't overpowering that is sweetened quite a bit so I prefer the Stash peppermint. I don't know where they get their leaves, or what they do to them, but they are smooth and not harsh and nasty. The Bigelow tea peppermint has a harsh and heavy peppermint oil taste so it may be that their leaves are fresher, but I don't consider that a taste advantage in this situation.                                                                 

This Stash Moroccan Mint is one of my favorite teas. But it has green tea in it, and so it contains caffeine. I'm not allowed to indulge often. When I use this one bag is used in an entire pot so I don't overdo the caffeine allotment for the day. 

 The Bigelow Thin Mints tea is pretty good. It smells like a chocolate mint plant I had a few years ago until my black thumb killed it.  But this tea really only tastes good when it's hot. When it's cold it tastes like pretty nasty watery candy.

 

This Bigelow Plantation Mint is one of my all time favorite teas. I LOVE spearmint. unfortunately

 

this also has caffeine  in it so I can't really drink it anymore. I grind up spearmint leaves as well and that tastes good. The spearmint is less overpowering than the peppermint and so this tea is wonderful.
















The Mint Medley is a nice blend of Spearmint and Peppermint. Once again, if they used the peppermint Stash uses, the tea would be better.

From the goddess trying to keep cool with mint...

Chickening out for dinner...

Some goddesses are puzzled by this...like me...

For some reason if you add chow mein noodles and chicken and cashews to a salad...I like it better lately. I'm not sure my kids do, but what do they know? I'm the one that has to try to cook in this heat. And they're always the ones who complain I'm trying to overfeed them.

So I thought I'd share a recipe I just came up with that tastes pretty good. It's for a large group of people....but it should scale down just fine....next time maybe I'll add pineapple to it though....

Chicken Oriental Salad with Cashews


Number Of Serves: 16 Serve(s)
Preparation Time: 30.00 min
Cooking Time: 55 min


Ingredients

1. 8 lbs of frozen skinless chicken breasts
2. 0.5 t of vietnamese or chinese ground red chili garlic sauce (chilis in vinegar)
3. 1 c of Kikoman soy sauce
4. 1 T of Black Bean Sauce
5. 1 T of Hoisin Sauce
6. 1 t of chinese hot mustard
7. 0.5 t of ground ginger
8. 1 c of dried minced onion (1/2 c. if using fresh)
9. 0.25 c of Newman's own Lowfat sesame and ginger dressing
(may leave out, doesn't really add much)
10. 2 c of oiled, salted cashew halves and pieces
11. 16 oz of bag dry chow mein noodles
12. 3 oz of dry, candied ginger, sliced finely
13. 2 lbs of salad mix
14. 0.5 head of green leaf lettuce
15. 2 ea of tomatoes
16. 2 ea of kiwi
17. 1 ea of cucumber
18. 0.5 med of green pepper

Procedure/Direction:
1. Preheat oven to 375 F.

2. Mix soy sauce, chili sauce, minced garlic, black bean sauce, hoisin sauce, hot mustard, ground giner, minced onion and newman's dressing if using it in a small bowl.

3. Spread chicken breasts in single layer in two roasting pans and baste with sauce, careful to scoop onions onto chicken for flavor. Baste both sides of chicken before inserting in oven.

4. Put into oven. Cook 25 minutes. Turn chicken and switch racks that pans are occupying so all chicken cooks thoroughly. After about another 30 minutes chicken should be thoroughly cooked, juices should run clear. Cut meat into cubes and store the chicken along with all pan drippings in a large bowl in refrigerator to cool.

5. Prepare salad. Peel kiwi fruit and slice into thin rounds or strips. Peel cucumber, or not, to taste and slice into thin strips for color. Sliver the candied ginger. Mince the green pepper. Wedge and chop the tomatoes.

6. Layer salad and chicken into large bowl in an attractive manner with chow mein noodles and cashews. Add the kiwi, cucumbers, sliced ginger, green pepper and tomatoes and enjoy.

May be served with or without additional Newman's Sesame and Ginger dressing. I didn't think it needed it particularly.

Cuisine: American
Type(s): Barbecue/Grilling , Brunch , Main Dish , Meat , Poultry , Salad , Side Dish , Low-cal , Vegetables , Favorites , Original , Low Carb , Family/Historic

Author: Sondra Prowett
Source: Original

this recipe was produced using: Recipe Manager - Your Cooking Companion


Of course the 3 or 4 recipes I've read that are similar to this use tea in them somehow, but the last time I tried that it just tasted like I was trying to eat aromatic dirt in my salad...maybe I should have soaked the chicken in the steeped tea? But the recipe called for actually putting the TEA LEAVES in the salad. I'll never figure this stuff out. Oh well, just gives my family more to scratch their heads over as they catch me going down for the count.

For those in the know...they are taking bets now and tilting me in general directions of soft areas to land, "just in case." Sheesh! no respect!

That's the world right now for a puzzled goddess whose headed off to dream land. zzzzzzz.....

There be dragons in the teapot...

Some goddesses are puzzled by this...like me...

Thank you to the "goddess of everything" for the wonderful card! It made my day! It also made me remember that I hadn't updated people on my grand discovery about green tea!

I give up, the tea drinking mafia has come to call and let me know that tea is much better tasting when you actuall FOLLOW instructions and make it RIGHT!

Wow, who would have thought there would be so much taste change between dipping a bag and soaking a bag and having a little pot...even when you're using those nasty bags on strings.

Joany knew my pain and sent me this card to make the goddess feel better about her tea. Maybe dragons don't jump into your tea unless you have an open cup. Maybe that's what I've been doing wrong? Keeping the cup open so they have their place to bathe...that would explain the dirt and mould taste in the water....

Okay, I know that I've b*tched and moaned and k'vetched and just about everything else about my new habit of drinking green tea. I and "dragon water" just didn't seem to agree.

One more installment on this, at least for now. :)

I need to apologize to all those tea books I've read and all those tea websites who all said that you need to steep "in a teapot."

I really couldn't see that it would make a difference. I use filtered water, sometimes I poured the hot water over the bag of green tea, other times I dunked it, but it always tasted the same...gross.

And I remembered all the tea I drank at the Beanery and they always used a sieve that sat in the top of the cup...so a teapot shouldn't make a big difference, right? Especially if I don't care if the tea stays warm (lukewarm or cool spinach water tastes just as bad as hot...so does that moldy dragon water!)

BUT just to be on the safe side I picked up a second hand teapot. And surprise, surprise...it actually makes a difference. Now my favorite green tea is actually the Royal King that I hated when I steeped it by the cup. And my second favorite is the Stash premium green tea...the green teas they make that have other herbs in them now fall far down my list of which teas I want to drink. I still use the ginger peach green tea to help get me going and the wild rasberry green tea when I want to calm my stomach.

[just an aside, did you know that the straight wild rasberry herb tea tastes GREAT with Hershey bars...I just ah, happen to have found this out....]

So that's the update and I just had to share the roses my mom in law just sent over for me :)

blessings and good dragon water to you all from a puzzled goddess

The REALLY ucky green stuff...

Some goddesses are puzzled by this...like me...

As I sit here, drinking my cup of spinach flavored pseudo tea, I comfort myself with the thought that at least I'm not drinking the REALLY ucky green tea that's in my cabinet; so life could be worse, right? I just have to keep looking for those silver linings.

For those of you who read my last post on ucky green stuff this is a continuation. Same not-so-bat-time, but definately the same-bat-channel. (In case you are wondering? I'm the bat!)

Yes, I'm whining again about how nasty green stuff tastes. But the Stash green stuff actually tastes less nasty than the Royal King green stuff crap I bought at Uwajimaya in Beaverton. YUCK!

That stuff is the Royal King pictured on the lower right here. I don't know if the 'smokey flavor' everyone talks about is the flavor of dirt and mold I normally taste when drinking green tea, or if it's just particular to this brand and the cup I tried at the Corvallis Beanery many years ago. (More than I'd like to remember!)

My favorite green tea so far is not pictured here. (I drank it all!) I'm looking to see where that is local to me I can find the Tazo if I can't find anything that tastes better. :) Four of the packets above are Stash teas (an Oregon based company!) The premium green tea on the upper right is my least favorite of these (tastes like spinach water!) But the Morrocan Mint, Ginger Peach and Wild Raspberry green teas are part of my daily green tea intake of 4-8 cups. (I only force myself to drink the Royal King or Stash Premium Green after dinner....puts me off eating any more food *grin*)

Just so you know, I DO force feed my family green stuff, and I'll eat it occasionally. Dinner tonight was oriental steamed brocoli spears, teriyaki pork, and pork ramen (which I can't eat due to MSG so it's not on my plate.) The teriyaki was the Lighthouse brand that J & M introduced us to (and I have to blush because I've had the bottle in my cabinet for 2 years...I just normally mix my own teriyaki!) The ramen was the standard packaged crap. But the Oriental Brocoli Spears are one of my FAVORITE vegetables....crunch and nummy and not slimy and it doesn't taste like green sand as the top of brocoli can so often. NUM....

Clean brocoli and chop off the heads to use with cheesy brocoli or some other dish. Slice the spears left on a slant into bite sized pieces in a microwave serving dish. Mix 1/2 Tablespoon fresh minced garlic (jar) with 2 Tablespoons soy sauce and 2 Tablespoons water. Add 1/2 teaspoon of granulated onion and 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger (or 1/8 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger.) Pour over vegetables and microwave on high for no more than 3 or 4 minutes. Just so they are warm and still crunchy. MMMM! Good stuff. Could almost make me like green.....nah.

And my ds will pretty much ALWAYS eat the veggie leftovers. YAY! I trained him right!

Tasty cooking from a puzzled goddess.

Some tea...supposed to be good for you......

Some goddesses are puzzled by this...like me...

I want to be like Mikee, especially if the food that people want me to put in my mouth is GREEN!

I know that there are more nutrients in green stuff, and since leaving my mom's house, I've discovered that all things that are cooked and green don't have to be mush...I sometimes will eat the green guck I force feed my family.

But why does green tea have to be so GREEN? And smell like canned spinach water, ugh! It's like the poor little tea leaves jumped into the cup and committed suicide because they were embarrassed by the smell. I've read multiple articles and even a book or two about the benefits of tea, especially green tea, and they have assured me that green tea is not called green because of the color....couldn't prove it by my cup.

And it tastes like fermented spinach water as well. The only brand that tastes halfway decent so far is Tazo tea. I've got a whole lot of the Stash stuff I'm trying to drink because I want to support local business, but jeez, if I wasn't trying for this getting healthy thing it would be straight into the garbage. Aagh! Maybe if I hold my nose while I swallow?

90 days and counting from kicking the aspartame habit and switching to teas or waters....still haven't had a pain free day, but I'm not any worse so that's a blessing.

Maybe I can feed it to the jolly green giant? Oh, here sprout.....

A goddess puzzled by why it's green.