Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Things I Am Loving This Week

Time for the "Things I Am Loving This Week"--those (mostly) food-related things I am enjoying and want to share.

I have the greatest collection of small tea cups, some pretty blue and white ones from Japan and some beautiful green pottery ones, and they are perfect for when I brew a tea press of loose tea and want to feel very "zen" by drinking little cups of it. Sometimes though I drink tea bag teas and I want a big old mug of it, one I can wrap my hands around and drink while studying or reading a good book. My small tea cups and regular size coffee mugs were not fitting the bill and my one red jumbo mug, circa Starbucks Christmas Collection 2001, was starting to look a bit grungy so I headed to Ross, a nearby discount store to see what they had. I found these two beauties for $1.99 each (love that price!) so I snapped them up. Solid, curved and nice to hold and with room for lots of tea, they are so perfect I may have to go back and get a couple more.


Of course the cups need a good tea to fill them and my tea collection is vast, filled with tons of loose and bagged tea--in fact I am not allowing myself to buy any more tea until I drink through some of it. (Wonder if that will be as *successful* as my "buy no more cookbooks" rule?) My latest two favorite tea bag teas are an Orange Sencha from two leaves and a bud tea company. Made with organic ingredients like Japanese green tea, orange peel, sunflower petals and orange flavor, it is smooth and slightly tangy with a lingering orange finish. I love it on a gloomy day.


The other tea I am loving, the Mangosteen Green Tea from Stash Tea is fun and has the sweet, citrus taste of mangosteen (see here for a picture of this fruit), along with a touch of juicy pear flavor. It also has orange peel, rose hips, hibiscus, lemongrass in a Matcha tea base. This was my Mom's favorite tea when she was staying with me and it's perfect any time of day. A bag of this tea is also great for perking up (or maybe masking), the not as tasty immunity-building tea I have been drinking.

Finally all that shopping for mugs and drinking tea makes me hungry so I need a little something sweet to munch on. I usually have a LÄRABAR or two in my purse, ready to go when I want/need a little healthy snack to tide me over but that tastes great too. If you have never tried one, LÄRABARs are made of dried fruit, nuts and spices and are all natural and have no more than 8 ingredients (many of the flavors have just 3 or 4 ingredients). The two newest flavors, Peanut Butter and Jelly and Tropical Fruit Tart finally showed up in the stores here and I got to try them. I am now loving them and they have replaced Banana Bread and Key Lime Pie as my favorites.


Peanut Butter & Jelly
is made up of dates, peanuts, unsweetened cherries and salt and tastes like the sandwich only better. Tropical Fruit Tart has dates, pineapple, unsweetened coconut, almonds, coconut oil, cashews, orange juice concentrate and orange peel and it counts as a full serving of fruit. I love how they fill me up and give some good fiber, protein and vitamins but still taste like a treat.


So that's it--the "Things I Am Loving" for this week. So what things are you loving in your corner of the world?

13 comments:

  1. The mangosteen tea sounds tantalizing with the different fruit flavors. I also adore the tea mugs, gorgeous! You have the life, Deb!

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  2. mmm tea in nice mugs...great things!

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  3. I always look forward to your picks of the week. I love the mugs.

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  4. I could go for some hot tea right now....it's cold and rainy outside. I've never had a larabar, but I hear great things about them. The peanut butter and jelly sounds great to me.

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  5. I am loving those mugs!
    Herbal teas are a real pleasure. I have a tea station upstairs and down. We do get Stash here, I will keep an eye out for the Mangosteen.

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  6. The teas sound yummy as I sit here drinking my soy latte. Any suggestions for getting off coffee? I love green tea in the afternoon, but it just doesn't do the trick in the morning.

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  7. I am a tea lover and a larabar lover! I have a limited variety of larabars available - haven't seen these two yet. They both sound good.

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  8. I LOVE lara bars. Especially the peanut butter and jelly bar (no surprise there). But my absolute favorite is probably cocoa mole. Or cinnamon roll.

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  9. I love those mugs! They have the rustic look that makes you feel all cozy with your coffee/tea. I got to try the Tropical Fruit Tart Larabar recently and it is so good! All the citrus gives it a different kind of flavor. Haven't tried the PB&J yet, but it's on the list.

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  10. Pretty mugs! I like the sound of the larabars too - a very nutritious snack to carry around!

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  11. Thanks everyone!

    Susan--I gave up coffee "cold turkey" a couple of years ago. I find that a good, full-flavored black tea in the morning works better for me, then I switch to green in the afternoon. If you drink milk & sugar in your coffee, try it in your black tea. Hope that helps!

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  12. Larabars! I'm in love with these bars too! They are refreshingly tasty because of their raw naturalness. I've had the lemon, cherry, coconut, and chili cacao one so far. I have to say the coconut and lemon are far better than the cherry and cacao. I haven't tried the banana or some of the others, but I really want to. Lara really knows how to make a small package taste good!

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  13. I am loving the snow! I plow snow for the LaraBar property on Grant Street in Denver. Ironically I ate a LaraBar on my way to the property.

    I felt energized and went all night in the snow! They are the best for skiing. Happy Holidays!

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