Monday, March 19, 2012

My Green Tea Ritual :)

So Green Tea is a great way to stay hydrated, get a little caffeine and some other great benefits. I found this link on Pinterest and pinned it the other day. Just FYI. OK link won't link so here is what it said...

11 Reasons You Should Drink More Green Tea!
1-It is an excellent source of antioxidants
2-It burns fat and enables you to exercise longer
3-It prolongs your life
4-It lowers stress but boosts brain power
5-It reduces high blood pressure
6-It helps protect your lungs from smoking
7-It helps protect your liver from alcohol
8-It prevents tooth decay and cures bad breath
9-It helps preserve and build bone
10-It boosts your immunity against illnesses
11-It rehydrates you better than water.

So I do this EVERYDAY at least once... sometimes twice. Sometimes I get SO thirsty and this is the only thing that will satisfy ;) I found a cheater way to make the Starbucks shaken green tea at home and most times I like mine better then the ones I buy there. It's a little less diluted.


I have a reusable cup I use. I used to keep my venti Starbucks cups and keep a few on hand just to trick myself into thinking I had gone there :) But now I don't need to be tricked :)

Start with 8 ounces of water in a coffee mug. I microwave it.1 minute 40 seconds gets it nice and hot, but not quite boiling.


*Be careful handling hot water. I saw a special on people getting burned by hot water that randomly exploded out after being microwaved. So be safe!


I use TAZO Zen Green Tea, that is what Starbucks uses. You can get it at the market or at Starbucks. It is my favorite.


#2 Take 2 (TWO) tea bags, submerge and steep for 5 minutes!





While my tea steeps I microwave a second glass of water for 1:40.


Get your martini shaker and fill with ice. You want it full, because the hot tea will melt a lot of it.


When the 5 minutes is up I take the tea bags out of the first mug and put them right into the second mug I just microwaved. It will take a little longer (more then the original 5 minutes) to get to my desired potency but will be ready later when I want it. I just leave the tea bags in, most times for hours.



Pour the hot tea over the ice in the shaker.


Shake for a few seconds until cold.


I put more ice into my cup then pour through the strainer, so it gets REALLY cold.


enJOY!



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