Hello everyone! I was recently introduced to this brand, Pique Tea, when they offered to send me a set of their Organic Mint Sencha. They make instant brew tea, which is a concept I hadn't heard of before. To be honest, I was also skeptical. I was worried that an instant brew tea would be low quality, because I picture the powdery, tasteless tea leaf crumbs that you find in some tea bags. However, I was pleasantly surprised by Pique Tea!
I would honestly put the Organic Mint Sencha alongside some of my favorite green teas. You get the complex earthy and flowery taste you would expect from Sencha. This is paired with a subtle, yet welcoming hint of mint. What I really enjoy about their concept is that you can take it with you on the go easily. If you have a quick morning and don't have time to brew a proper tea, just grab some hot or cold water, dump the powder in and you're good to go.
It's also a fun way to experiment with cooking. I have added this tea powder to my chia pudding. I have seen it incorporated into smoothies, pancakes, and I can even imagine it to be a lovely addition to macaron batter.
Overall, I would give this tea a 10/10. No complaints whatsoever. The green tea is high quality and the mint is perfect.

Happy Tea Drinking,
<3 TTT

Once I figured out how easy it was to make my own broth (vegetable or chicken), I have rarely since purchased boxed broth. It's so delicious, there are no preservatives, and I can control how much salt I add. It's also a delicious way to use up what you would have thrown out. I hope you give this broth a try and I hope it changes your soup game.
I don't use measurements in this recipe because it's all up to you and your taste. It'll also depend on what you have on hand, because a large portion of this stock is veggie scraps. What is that, you ask? Well, it's the peel of the carrot you used for a sauté, it's the butt of an onion you were going to throw away, it's the stalk of broccoli, it's the fronds of fennel, it's any piece of any vegetable you were going to throw away. There are only a few key ingredients that I add each time -- the bulk of it, the scraps, changes each time and creates a fun touch of new flavor. To make chicken stock, I simply added the remains of a rotisserie chicken that I was about to throw out (the bones, the remaining skin/meat). If you would like to make this vegetarian, simply omit the chicken and add more veggies.

Ingredients:
Veggie scraps (I used carrot peel, end of an onion I chopped earlier, fennel fronds, young stalks of celery, cilantro stems)
1 carcass of a rotisserie chicken (omit for veggie)
4 Bay leaves
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1/2 an onion, roughly chopped
Water to cover
Salt, soy sauce, or coconut aminos to taste

Directions:
1) Put all ingredients into a large pot
2) Cook on medium heat at a simmer for 2-3 hours
3) Strain the broth
4) Use immediately or store in the fridge for up to a week
** If making chicken broth, the broth will form solid film at the top when refrigerated. Don't worry! This is good stuff! This is flavoring from the skin/fat and collagen from the bones

See? It's that easy. Enjoy!

Happy Broth Making
<3 TTT

Here is our final installment of the review of Trader Joe's Tea Party Set!(See the others linked here: Bergamot Flavored Tea, Vanilla & Rooibos Red Tea, Moringa Matcha Tea, Raspberry Flavored Black Tea, and Calming Herbal Tea Infusion). I will share my final thoughts on the set at the end.
This tea is a very light brew. I don't know about you, but I find light brews to be so gorgeous -- probably because they stray from the normal brown/amber colored brew. I was confused by the taste at first, I'll be honest. On the first brew, I likened it to Pez candies, but not in an unappealing way. On the second and third brews, though, I didn't taste the candy-like quality as much as the subtle citrus and floral notes, which were quite pleasant albeit subtle.
This tea contains lemon grass and rosehip shells (duh). There is also apple pieces for subtle sweetness and citric acid to enhance the sour taste. This also has natural flavors, which is probably where I was getting that initial hint of Pez candy from. Overall, this was a pleasant tea, but nothing I would write home about. I'll give it a moderate 6.5/10.

Overall, my favorites in this set were the Calming Herbal Tea Infusion (10/10), and Vanilla Rooibos (10/10)
In the middle were Matcha Moringa (8.5/10) and Bergamot Flavored Black (7.75/10)
Least favorites were this one (Lemongrass Rosehip), and the Raspberry Flavored Black Tea (5/10).

I would say, this set is worth the purchase, mainly for the Calming Herbal Tea, Vanilla Rooibos, and Matcha Moringa. I was very impressed by those. However, I wouldn't say that this is a must buy as the last three were just alright. They weren't unpleasant, but they weren't spectacular, either. Worth the price, though, for sure.

Happy Tea Drinking,
<3 TTT

Lately I've been looking for a little something sweet that isn't too unhealthy. I came up with these cashew bars, that have no added sugar, as a way to curb my sweet tooth. Let me say, they came out quite pretty and quite delicious.

Ingredients:
White Layer:
1/2 cup soaked cashews
1/2 cup reduced fat coconut milk
1 tsp coconut oil
Pink Layer:
1/2 cup soaked cashews
1/4 cup reduced fat coconut milk
1 tsp coconut oil
1/4 cup strawberries
Optional: chopped pecans to top

Directions:
1) Cover the cashews in water and soak overnight
2) Put all of the ingredients for the white layer in a high speed blender (I used a Nutribullet) and blend until smooth
3) Pour white mixture into a square tray, spread to a smooth layer, and place in freezer until hard on top (about 30 minutes)
4) Put all of the ingredients for the pink layer in a high speed blender and blend until smooth
5) Pour over the hardened white mixture in the square tray, spread to a smooth layer, and return to freezer
6) After about 30 minutes, if you'd like, top with chopped pecans.
7) Freeze for 3 to 4 hours, or until hard all the way through
8) Let it stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before slicing into squares (you can heat the bottom with some hot water and remove from the tray to cut on a cutting board if you'd like)
9) Keep it in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. Before eating, let the squares stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.

Happy Cashew Bar Eating!
<3 TTT

We are on to number 5 of the Trader Joe's Tea Party Set review! Links here for the first 4: Bergamot Black Tea, Vanilla Rooibos, Moringa Matcha, Raspberry Black). Today, I am reviewing the Calming Herbal Tea Infusion.
This tea is quite delicious! You get a perfect blend of all of the flavors and do get to taste each one. The peppermint leaves and lemon balm create a soothing cooling feeling. The lemongrass adds a touch of citrus. You get a fresh chamomile and lavender flavors that are instantly calming. The remainder of the flavors are subtle, but add a nice floral and earthy balance to the others; blackberry leaves, orange blossom, rose petals, and heather blossom.
Chamomile is known for easing tensions, from headaches to stomach aches. Lemon balm and lavender can be used to help stress and anxiety. Rose petals and blackberry leaves are actually pretty high in Vitamin C.

You can see that the blend has real, good quality ingredients. I was very impressed with this one! I have been adding this tea to my evening routine and it does help me relax! I would give this one a 10/10. No complaints, in fact, only love!

Happy Tea Drinking,
<3 TTT

Some mornings you wake up and want the deliciousness of dessert, but the health of a breakfast. Enter Carrot Cake Oatmeal. I topped this with some Spiced Sweet Potato Croutons and pecans, but you can top this with anything from dried currants or raisins, a drizzle of honey or maple syrup, switch up the nuts, or fortify with your favorite protein powder or collagen peptides (I used Further Foods Collagen Peptides. You can use my code TINYTEATHINGS for 10% off of your purchase). The recipe below is not very sweet, so add a sweetener of your choice if you'd like it to be sweeter.

I made the Spiced Sweet Potato Croutons by peeling then cutting a sweet potato into small dices. I covered them in 2 tsp coconut oil, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp each of nutmeg, ground ginger, and cardamom. Then, I baked them in the oven at 425F for 20 minutes.
Carrot Cake Oatmeal (2 servings):

Ingredients:
2 cups almond milk (I used unsweetened)
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 cup steel cut oats
1/2 cup grated carrots (about 2 large carrots)
1 dash each of ground ginger, nutmeg, cardamom
1 tsp molasses
Optional: for more sweetness, add 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup

Directions:
1) Bring almond milk to a boil in a small saucepan with the cinnamon stick
2) Slowly add in the oats and grated carrots
3) Let the mixture boil for 5 minutes, stirring frequently
4) Reduce to a simmer for about 20-30 minutes depending on preferred consistency, stirring occasionally
5) Add in the spices, molasses, and optional sweetener if you would like a sweet oatmeal.
6) Serve with sweet potato croutons and pecans, or toppings of your choice.