The Healthiest Green Tea Ever!

I recently read about the healthiest way to prepare green tea, and I can't believe someone didn't tell me about this sooner.

I was always under the impression that, if you wanted to make iced tea, you had to first brew it hot and then wait for it to cool down or pour it over ice.

As it turns out, you can actually cold-steep your tea by throwing a tea bag in some water and then waiting a couple of hours.  Not only does it taste less bitter, it also has significantly more antioxidants this way.

Apparently, when you make hot tea, the heat from the water may actually destroy some of the antioxidants that it pulls out.

Don't get me wrong, a hot cup of green tea is still a super healthy drink choice, but it's nice to know that there is an even easier and more effective way to prepare it.

This entire week, I added a green tea bag to my water bottle and stuck it in the fridge each night before going to bed.

Here's the before picture.

When I was ready to go to work in the morning, I had a refreshing bottle of cold-steeped tea ready to go.

It's been great to have a water alternative to sip on all day that is so easy to prepare, and all of the antioxidants are an added bonus.

By the way, this habit is not expensive.  You can buy 100 bags of organic Uncle Lee's Tea for super cheap on Amazon, or for even less at Wal-Mart.  

Have a great weekend!

Recent Happenings and a "SOUP"erfood Recipe

Good afternoon!  Hope you are having a great week so far...almost halfway there!  It has been a busy week around here, but luckily we were well-rested after a low-key and relaxing weekend.  I got lots of to-dos taken care of, including recovering Wendy and Oliver's pet steps in a cute chevron fabric.  (The carpet that they came with was falling off, so it just had to be done.)  Wendy is very pleased with the new look.

The weather was nicer-than-average, and on Saturday I had the best run I've had in at least 6 months.  It was a great feeling, and now I'm starting to get the itch to sign up for some kind of race in the spring.  To celebrate, I made these pomegranate mimosas:

Delicious!

I also bought a ton of veggies at the grocery store, only to realize that, between Jay's work schedule and a couple of social obligations, we are only both going to be at home for dinner one night this week.  In an effort to not let things go to waste, I put together a creamy, dairy-free broccoli "superfood" soup last night.  It was inspired by a recipe I saw recently in a Humane Society e-mail.  The soup was tasty and about as healthy as it gets!

Broccoli Superfood Soup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large leek (the white part only), chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 large sweet potato, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 teaspoon thyme

2-3 cups broccoli florets
4 cups vegetable broth

3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

Fresh ground pepper, to taste

Salt, to taste

1. Finely chop the broccoli and, if you have time, wait half an hour (see video below).

2. Using a bit of olive oil, saute the leeks, onion, and garlic in a large saucepan over medium heat for approximately 2 minutes.  

3. Add in sweet potato and saute for a few more minutes.  If the ingredients begin sticking to the pan, pour in 1-2 tablespoons of water.

3. Add the thyme and cook for another minute, then add the broccoli and vegetable broth. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium. Continue to cook the mixture, covered, until broccoli and sweet potatoes are tender (about 10-15 minutes).

4. Add nutritional yeast and carefully puree the soup using an immersion blender.

5. Season with salt and lots of fresh ground pepper.  Of course, I also added a little Sriracha to mine. 

So what makes this soup so healthy?  Check out these great resources:

Broccoli:  Breast Cancer Survival Vegetable video
Garlic, onion, and leeks: #1 Anti-cancer Vegetable video

Sweet potato: The 7 Hottest Anti-Aging Superfoods to Eat in 2014 article

Nutritional yeast: Preserving Immune Function in Athletes With Nutritional Yeast

Why the pre-chopping and half-hour waiting period? Sometimes the Enzyme Myth Is True video

Can you tell I am a big fan of NutritionFacts.org?  The guy is SUCH a nerd, but he provides the best research-based info on the web.  

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Guest Post by Jay {Part I} - How to Make Your Own Sparkling Water

I have been wanting to write a guest post for some time now, and since today is the last day of my winter break, it’s probably now or never! Because this may turn into a long post, I will break it up into two parts - part one being on how to make sparkling water from home, and part two on the quality of the water going into the keg.

PART 1:

This may sound like a lame gift, but I gave Laura her own sparkling water system for Christmas. It is kind of like a Soda Stream on steroids. I simply added another home brew kegging system to our current kegerator. You can purchase all this equipment online and convert any refrigerator or freezer.  (If you are interested in building your own kegerator, you can find instructions here.)

My kegerator resides in the garage.  Here is what it looks like:


Laura has been putting lemon-lime water in the keg, although you can use just about any fruit or vegetable to flavor the water. Not only is this habit delicious, it's also a very good way to keep your antioxidant levels up. Here is a great video by nutritionfacts.org that explains why this is important:

I like to think of the recommended daily allowance for antioxidants as a steady amount flowing in the bloodstream, rather than a giant bucket that needs to be filled up just once per day.

Making lemon-lime sparkling water is simple!

Step 1: Add lemon and/or lime juice to your keg. We used roughly one cup of fresh squeezed lemon and lime juice for a 5 gallon ball lock keg. A great trick for getting more juice from the lemon or lime is to microwave it for about 15 seconds before squeezing.

You could also use other fresh fruits or juices to flavor the water.  We plan to experiment with pomegranate juice, berries, and more.

Step 2: Fill up the 5 gallon keg with water and cool it to 32 degrees (or as close to it as possible).  You can use ice or just put the keg in the kegerator for a while to cool. Leave a little bit of room at the top for carbonating and shaking purposes.

Step 3: Pressurize the keg to 30 psi and shake for about 5 minutes. This will carbonate the water. 

Step 4: Reduce the pressure to 12 psi and serve!

Cheers!

Jay

Better-Than-Candy Beet Juice

A few months ago, Jay and I watched a documentary called "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" on Netflix. In the film, the narrator, Joe Cross, is able to entirely regain his heath and cure himself of a rare autoimmune disease by drinking nothing but fresh fruit and vegetable juice for 60 days! While that situation is a bit extreme, the transformation that he goes through is nothing short of amazing. It is definitely a must-watch!

Of course, Jay and I were psyched about juicing after watching the film. While experts agree that you should not rely on juicing as your only source of fruits and vegetables, it is definitely a healthy way to add tons of vitamins, minerals and plant chemicals (phytonutrients) to your diet. We got on Amazon right away to look at juicers, and we found a slightly smaller version of the Breville juicer that was used in the film for only $99. It got great reviews and was one of the most reasonably priced by a long shot. We figured that, even if we didn't use it all the time, it would still pay for itself in no time. After all, buying fresh juices from a health store or juice bar is expensive!

We have really enjoyed the juicer so far and have used it quite a bit.  It is super powerful and instantly liquefies big chunks of fruits and veggies with ease.  My only complaint is that, like any juicer, there are quite a few pieces to drag out of the cabinet and, while it is not difficult, it does take a few minutes to clean.  Most of the parts can be quickly rinsed off, but I still find juicing to be too much of an ordeal to do on a rushed weekday morning.  But then again, I am really lazy when it comes to cleaning appliances and avoid using blenders, food processors, and just about anything with a motor for that reason.

So, we have been aiming to juice about once a week or so, and right now I am happy with that frequency.  I prep the fruits and veggies and Jay does the cleaning, so it works out well.  We have found that it is really hard to make a bad juice.  As long as you include a bit of something sweet, like an apple, you can throw in all the spinach, kale, cerlery, etc. you want and it will still be delicious.

Last week, we put a creative spin on our usual recipe and accidentally created a masterpiece!  At the beginning of summer, my cousin and his wife gave us a stevia plant as a gift.  We planted it in our garden, and it has since taken off like a weed.

The leaves are really sweet and delicious, but I haven't used it a whole lot because I never knew exactly how to get the sweet out of the leaves and into whatever I was making.  We decided to see what would happen if we put a handful in the juicer, and I am so glad we did - the juice came out tasting like a delicious candy dessert!  Here is what we used:

(Serves 2)

• 1 large red beet, peeled (beets make lots of juice and last forever in the fridge, so we try to always keep one on hand)
• 1 small handful stevia 
• 1/2 large cucumber
• 2-3 stalks celery
• 1 apple, core removed
• 3 large carrots, or a big handful of baby carrots
• 1 large handful of spinach

I was craving this juice so much after writing this post, we made it again today...I may even be willing to break out the juicer on a weekday - it is that good!

Mega Matcha Addiction

My friend Eva recently blogged about a secret drink at Starbucks that is super healthy, tastes good, and costs under a buck.  When I first read her post, I thought it had to be too good to be true.  No way can you order a venti anything at Starbucks for that cheap.  I set out to my nearest store to try it out, and, low and behold, she was right!  This drink really is amazing!

So, on to the details.  The drink is called a Venti Matcha on ice.  You simply ask for three scoops of matcha powder (they use this to make their green tea lattes) mixed with water.  You'll end up with a big green refreshing beverage that tastes a lot like iced tea.  The reason it's so cheap is that they do not offer matcha as a stand alone item on the menu, so instead they just charge for an ice water and then hit the "add matcha" button.  The up-charge at my store is a whopping $.84! You can add in some sweetener or milk if you like (just wait to pour the milk in at the condiment bar so you don't get charged extra), but it is pretty delicious on it's own.

So what makes it so much healthier than green tea?  Well, when you drink matcha, you actually ingest the whole ground up tea leaf as opposed to just the brewed water.  It contains lots of trace elements and is rich in catechin polyphenols.  These compounds contain powerful antioxidants that help prevent cancer, heart disease, and slow the aging process.  It also contains fiber and almost no calories!

I read recently that, in order to ingest enough of the catechin compounds to actually benefit your health, you would have to drink at least three glasses of green tea per day.  Well, I like green tea as much as the next person, but there's no way I am going to squeeze in that many cups on a regular basis.  Fortunately, just one glass of matcha is equivalent to TEN glasses of green tea in terms of it's health benefits and antioxidant content.  Now it is easy for me to get more than enough of these antioxidants on a regular basis.

Needless to say, Eva and I are both hooked on these drinks!

But at least our addiction isn't breaking the bank!

Kombucha: The Elixer of Life

Since Jay and I both work in education, we are SO fortunate to have the summers off.  Aside from wheat grass growing, we have picked up numerous other hobbies this summer that may or may not last into the school year (when our free time is diminished by 1000%).  There is one thing, however, that I genuinely believe we can stick with, and that is making our own Kombucha.  It is truly the easiest thing ever and so much cheaper than buying from a store.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with Kombucha, it is an ancient Chinese brew made by fermenting tea with a live culture of yeast and bacteria.  If you think it sounds gross, it's because it sort of is.  It has become super trendy and popular in recent years not because of it's amazing taste (it's kind of sour and vinagar-y) or ingredients, but because it is known to be the "elixer of life."  The Chinese have been making it since 221 B.C., and it is said to increase energy, detoxify the liver, strengthen kidney function, prevent cancer, and balance the body's PH levels, among other things.  

Although there have not been any scientific research studies performed on humans, Jay and I figured that if it has been around for over 2000 years, there must be something to it.  But if you've seen Kombucha on the shelves at Whole Foods, you know that the stuff is not cheap.  It generally costs around $3-5 for a single serving!  I had heard of people making their own Kombucha before, but the fermenting process sounded complicated and I just assumed it would be too hard or time consuming.

Jay really wanted to take a stab at making his own, so he ordered a Kombucha starter kit from Amazon just to see how it all worked.  The main reason the kit is helpful is that it comes with detailed instructions and a "kombucha mother" or "SCOBY."  That's the slimy yeasty bacteria disc that fuels the whole process.  Once you have a SCOBY (we call them "SCOBY snacks" at our house), all you have to do is boil a large batch of tea, add sugar, and allow it to cool to room temperature.  Then you add the SCOBY, cover the container with a cloth to keep bugs out, and wait for your Kombucha to brew.  The longer you wait, the more sour it will become, as the fermentation process eats up the sugar.  While the Kombucha brews, a new SCOBY will form on top that you can later share with family and friends so that they too can make their own Kombucha!

The instructions that came with the starter kit were very straightforward, and we had our first batch brewing in no time.  We were told to store the Kombucha in a warm environment while it brews (80-85 degrees).  We usually keep our house around 78, so I figured that would be close enough.  Sadly, our first batch started to grow mold (despite the fact that mold on Kombucha is very rare).  Even though it is normal for the SCOBY that forms to look white and slimy, we felt pretty certain that the whitish green fuzzy stuff on our batch was mold and not typical growth. 

 The folks at Oregon Kombucha were nice enough to send us a new SCOBY, and we tried again.  This time, we used a 1 gallon Ball jar as our brew container rather than a crock pot (less surface area exposed) and stored the brew in the toastiest place in our house: the electronics closest.  We were confident that the hum of the Playstation would keep the Kombucha nice and cozy.  

Our second attempt was successful, and after around 10 days we had Kombucha that actually didn't taste half bad!  Since we hadn't let it sit too long, it wasn't overly sour or bitter.  And a beautiful new SCOBY snack formed on top that we will be happy to share!

We bottled our Kombucha in some plastic PET bottles that Jay had on hand from an old beer-brewing kit, and they are currently sitting at room temperature for the next 24 hours to increase carbonation.  Then we will stick them in the fridge and they will be ready to drink!

This batch actually tastes pretty palatable, but we may try adding in some fresh fruit juices, herbs, or spices next time before bottling, just to kick it up a notch. 

Once you get the hang of it, the Kombucha brewing process really doesn't take much more effort than brewing a batch of regular tea.  And it costs just pennies per serving!  We look forward to enjoying this miracle health beverage for years to come!