a blog by:
HEATHER ANDERS
All-NAtural Summer Drink.
07.29.2015
Ok, I won't make this post too long because it just doesn't need to be. What it does need is to contain this simple recipe for maybe the most refreshing, natural, drink for you this summer.
Green Tea Lemonade
What you need for a 16-ounce glass:
1 bag Yogi Green Tea
1/2 tsp raw honey (organic agave nectar is another option!)
1/4 lemon
First things first, let one tea bag steep in 16-oz of hot water for about 20 minutes. I prefer Yogi tea because I know I only need one tea bag for this drink. Another brand that I tried for less money that still kept the flavor was Bigelow Green Tea, but I've also tried other brands like Lipton that did not turn out well at all. The tea bags in the much cheaper options just didn't carry the flavor needed to offset the fresh lemon.
Plus, when it comes to the Yogi brand, the tea bags always have such smart little sayings on them that always make me smile! ("Act, don't react" pretty much goes perfectly with my post last week about patience)
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While the tea is steeping add about 1/2 tsp of raw honey to it and stir to dissolve. This is your only real means of sweetener, so add more or less depending on your "sweet" palate.
When the 20 min is up, discard the tea bag and squeeze in fresh lemon juice from about 1/4 of a standard-size lemon. If your lemon is small you'll want to adjust, essentially adding lemon until you can smell lemon over the green tea scent.
From there you just need to add enough ice to cool it and a slice of lemon for good measure and enjoy!
I started drinking this early spring in place of coffee since it still has caffeine, but much less, plus I get the health benefits of the green tea. It didn't take long for Husby to ask for a sip and, well, the rest is history.
Our weekend tradition is that I now make a big batch Saturday morning to enjoy in the sun throughout the day and get this, he even started making it on his own during the week sometimes.
My husband isn't what you would call patient when it comes to anything he's going to ingest, and his cold beverage of choice has always been Coke, so the fact that he not only swtiched out his daily soda for this but also makes it himself is a pretty good testament to how tasty the drink really is. And the best part is that we don't add anything processed to it!
Let me know if you try it, I hope you do :)
FILED UNDER: Health+fitness
JULY 22, 2015 BY HEATHER ANDERS
It’s not my thing. In fact I don’t think it’s ever been my thing, but it’s become progressively less and less of my thing the older I get. And the older I get, the more I hear the words I hate almost more than any other words coming out of my very own mouth:
I just don’t have the patience for this.
As in, end of discussion, because I said I don’t have the patience for it I therefore don’t need to even attempt to find the patience.
Wait, what?
That’s like saying “I don’t want to go to work today” therefore I won’t and still remain employed with a steady paycheck. That’s just not the way life works, but for some reason I still say (and usually mean) that insanely obnoxious phrase written above.
[Continue reading...]
JULY 15, 2015 BY HEATHER ANDERS
TWO MONTHS. You guys, it's been TWO MONTHS since I last posted. Since starting this blog I don't think I've gone longer than three weeks between posts, so please believe me when I say I'm sorry for this time lapse. I've received emails about my absence, but the truth of the matter is life just took over.
So instead of making excuses, I'll catch you up a little on what's been going on in our world. Since I "talked" with you all last I've been in four cities around the country, completed our company's annual Executive Committee meeting, attended six live music events (all outdoors, yay!), started going to yoga in the park, averaged 30K-40K steps a day according to my fitbit, bought fresh produce from three farmer's markets and, most importantly, my baby turned TWO.
The last two months, among partaking in all the fun things listed above, also brought a couple of not-so-happy events, two of which happening far too close to home. I've drafted a couple posts about emotions that never made it up, [Continue reading...]
Saws, sand & starbucks: the summer s's
MAY 19, 2015 BY HEATHER ANDERS
As always, weather in the Midwest is beyond unpredictable. But this weekend we finally got that warmth with the underlying humidity, and as much as my hair hates it my heart loves it. Hot, humid summer days are on their way to us and our little family couldn't be more excited! We started the season with pigtails and knee scraps, bruises and tan lines. From our family to yours, cheers to summer weather heading our way (after a few more off and on cooler and rainy days of course)!
MAY 12, 2015 BY HEATHER ANDERS
The problem with my DIY projects is that I usually only get around to making them as gifts. I really want to become more of a DIYer in every day life and I have a ridiculous list of things I want to “craft” if you will, but when it really comes down to it I’m not usually willing to make the time investment on something for myself.
This is a project I took on after seeing so.many Pinterest pictures with these painted jars and always being drawn back to them. Our new house is going to have a full-fledged modern rustic feel to it, so these painted mason jars will be perfect enhancements to a number of areas. Alas, I still haven’t made any for myself, but I did make some for my mom and my mother-in-law for mother’s day last weekend so I have a tutorial for you!
I read a lot of posts on these (probably because I’m not a natural DIYer so my confidence level isn’t always quite there) and combined a couple of different tutorials to make these.
For starters, this project is über easy. [Continue reading...]