The Tea Spot

What a day! Did anyone else wake up to blizzard like conditions? I popped out of bed all ready to hit up the gym only to realize it was snowing… again. We weren’t suppose to get much snow so I decided I should still go. Although I did play it safe by driving Isaac’s (4 wheel drive) vehicle. It’s a good thing I did – everything was cool on the way there, but the way back was treacherous. Not only were the roads slick, but heavy winds were blowing the snow every which way. I went 5-10 mph the for the entire drive home while listening to the radio and realizing schools were closing left and right. I came home and realized that my office was closed and everyone was working from home. It was definitely nice to stay at home with Isaac (since he was off school as well).

After getting everything straight I was starving. I made some stove top pumpkin oats, using a mixture that I had prepared the night before and left in the fridge to do its thing, and by thing I mean, get creamy. The mix: 1/2 cup oatmeal, almond milk, and water mixed with 3 tablespoons of canned pumpkin, cinnamon, stevia, and raisins.

The blob on top is chocolate tofu pudding I made as an after din snack in honor of this lovepie. It was frothy and quite tasty, but the recipe hasn’t been perfected so I’m not going to post it just yet.

I also had a mug of Climber’s High tea.

Oh yea, I wanted to show you all what I use to steep loose leaf tea – it’s an Finum mug size brewing basket that a friend gave to me as a gift during college. I use it almost everyday and love it.

Obviously a high energy tea was necessary for sitting on the couch all day with Olive snuggled beside me.

Despite being home with a fridge full of food, I was craving Indian for lunch so I heated up my favorite Amy’s meal.

I snacked on a little granola

Notice how the bag is almost empty and it’s only been 1 week. It’s that good. Almost better than the Raisin Cinnamon, but not quite. I think they’re about equal.

So crunchy!!

For dinner I made a new recipe starring some tomatoes that were canned from Isaac’s parents’ garden last summer.

Tofu, that doesn’t look like tofu

And, frozen basil cubes that I picked up for the first time this weekend at TJ’s.

Just want I need, considering the state of our basil plant.

The final dish, Tofu Tomato Sauce with ww noodles, turned out looking like this:

This homemade creation was WAY better than plain ol spaghetti — with no meat or dairy!

I promise I’ll share the recipe at some point, but I’m submitting it to the Nasoya Tofu recipe contest!

Boo. I feel badly that I tried out two new recipes and didn’t share either, but I shall have them for you soon enough. Just don’t leave me.

-Brittany

{ 11 comments }

I woke this morning and decided to meet up with an old pal I haven’t seen in a while, Mr. Stove Top Oats.

This bowl was the standard oatmeal / oatbran combo with 1/2 a banana cooked in and topped with Zaydie’s Almond Blueberry Granola, sunflower seeds and TJ’s Sun butter! It’s funny because all the almonds and blueberries have been picked out of my granola at this point, but it still tastes sweet, nutty and delicious.

In other news, I received the coolest gift for Christmas from one of my best friends who spent the majority of 2009 working in Estes Park. Both items she gave me- a mug and loose leaf tea, were from Colorado.

I’m a sucker for pretty mugs so I absolutely adored this gift.

And the tea she gave me is from The Tea Spot, a Boulder, CO based company that was founded by a cancer survivor drawn to the health benefits of tea during her recovery. Their line of full leaf teas include organic and Fair-Trade Certified™ estate teas and hand-crafted signature blends. The company is committed to clean, sustainable, and fair manufacturing standards and 10% of every sale is donated in-kind to cancer wellness and community programs.

She got me The TeaSpot Red Rocks, Rooibos Loose Leaf Tea With Vanilla & Almond Bits, as it was a favorite of hers while in CO.

It’s a caffeine-free, South African red rooibos tea with vanilla, and small pieces of almonds. I love naturally sweet teas and I think it’s so cool that this one has bits of real almonds. The tea is relatively sweet on it’s own but I added a couple drops of SweetLeaf Stevia and the extra sweetness completely enhanced all the flavors. I’m excited to have this tea on hand as it will be perfect when I’m craving something sweet after a meal.

Here’s the description from The Tea Spot website: Our blend of naturally caffeine–free South African red rooibos, vanilla, and almond bits is an herbal delight! Rooibos is full of antioxidants and healthy minerals such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper, and fluoride. It has a wonderfully smooth flavor, and is a great cold buster as well as thirst quencher. It brews into a dark red liquor and has a naturally sweet, earthy scent, reminiscent of pipe–tobacco. You cannot over–steep this tea (the longer the better!) and it is fantastic by itself, or with cream and a bit of sweetener. Red Rocks is the perfect, healthy, all-around herbal tea – a favorite amongst athletes and as mom’s choice for children.

I know I’ve seen The Tea Spot Tea at one of the organic grocery stores that I go to but I can’t remember which. From looking at store locations on the website it looks as thought they are in many Whole Food’s locations so that is probably were I have seen these cute little tins before. After trying the Red Rocks flavor and loving it, I’m excited to try out some of the others, particularly the Climber’s High, Holiday Spice Rooibos, and Meditative Mind. They even have one for all you Twilight fans- Organic New Moon Darjeeling.

On a side note, my uncle who was sick passed away. Isaac and I will be attending the viewing tonight, staying the night with my Dad, and attending the funeral tomorrow. With that said, posting may be sporadic.

- Brittany

PS. What are your plans for New Year’s this year? Our plans are still up in the air and we really don’t have many options. Perhaps you all can inspire us with your ideas?!?