My Relapsing Obsession

I find it hard this time of year to stay inside much. I love the sun! I'm enjoying getting to leave the windows open without it being too blistering hot just yet, and I'm also enjoying getting to walk Lexi mostly everyday too! Sometimes I wish it could stay this way, year round, although I do enjoy seasons. 

One of my obsessions, that I cannot live without, is tea. I love tea! Tea + Sunshine = Happiness for me. My awesome sister-in-law has recently got me started on loose leaf tea. She gets me started on all kinds of nifty things I normally would never be interested or know anything about! 

Loose leaf is something I have always wanted to try, but I had never came across it. So, I began a search! I looked up a few places around the Charleston area who had it. I thought surely this great gourmet market next door to where I work would have some. Turns out, they discontinued selling their loose leaf teas, and switched over to selling only bagged teas. Surprisingly, most of the teas they sell are made at the Charleston Tea Plantation on Wadmalaw Island, SC, close to the Charleston area. They are the only tea plantation in the US, and they are the makers of the American Classic Teas, which you can purchase a variety of places in the Lowcountry. Their teas are available loose leaf, and also in tea bags. Unfortunately, the market was only selling the tea bags, and not loose leaf.

My search continued. 

I finally ended up finding a place called the Tea & Spice Exchange that was easily walkable from work. I walked in and was in heaven... They have the best smelling spices, sugars, teas, & salts! Anyone who loves cooking could spend easily an hour smelling and tasting everything in this store- I'm not kidding! It. Was. Amazing. 

Photo credit Spice & Tea Exchange

I ended up getting three kinds of tea: Berry White, Chamomile Twist, & Mango Green. They all are SOOOO delicious! I just can't get enough. I have to say, my favorite is definitely the Mango Green! It's got a nice green flavor to it with hints of mango and citrus. Sooooo delicious, and perfect over ice! The Berry White is a nice sweet green tea, and is great over ice as well. 

My second favorite has got to be the Chamomile Twist. The woman working at the shop said she enjoys the Chamomile Twist (pictured above) iced in the middle of the afternoon. I personally enjoy chamomile warm. It helps me to unwind at the end of a long day and destress before bedtime.

I tend like my teas sweetened with local honey we find at our farmer's market here. These three teas I surprisingly like unsweetened! The flavor is much stronger than what you can get from a tea bag. My next purchase will be a nifty infuser, and maybe a few other teas! 

You can purchase all of these directly off of the Tea & Spice Exchange website along with infusers.

Have a great day! 

-A

The Real Deal Mac 'n Cheese!

Helllooooo!

I'm just going to come right out and say it- this week's post is no where near related to anything healthy at all. This week I have not wanted to eat anything remotely healthy, (although I have really been trying to eat well, I gotta look good in my wedding dress!) so tonight I gave in and made something delicious. Not that eating healthy is not delicious, because it really can be, but we all have our moments of wanting comfort foods. 

My fiance and I went to the grocery store a few nights ago and were talking about what we wanted to make for meals this week. Of course I'm all gung-ho on eating healthy and wanting to cook, and he's more the type to want quick, easy, microwaveable things, or sandwiches. He mentioned "macaroni and cheese with brats", and I was definitely on board! 

One thing that I have been very successful in cutting out of my diet has been pasta. Quite frankly, I do not miss it, and I usually do not crave it either. I tell you what though, the minute he said "macaroni and cheese" my heart was all in to cheat this one time and have something with pasta. Now, I did not feel great after eating this macaroni and cheese, and I remember why I do not eat pasta anymore. I do not enjoy the heavy feeling afterwards. 

On to the meal! I bought some yummy beer bratwurst by Johnsonville, and just cooked them on the stove top until they were cooked through. I also boiled 1/2lb of large shells in salted water until they were al dente.

Here we go! Take 4tbsp butter and melt it in a pan to start the bechamel (white) sauce. 

Throw in 4 TBSP flour and keep stirring until combined for about a minute or so. Enough time for the flour to really blend in and cook out the flour-y taste. Then toss in 1/4 tsp onion powder (which is an odd thought, but it adds a nice flavor). 

In goes 2 cups of milk! Organic is best! Stir stir stir... And stir some more! Till everything is smooth, and the sauce starts to thicken. 

Bring the sauce to a boil (medium heat) for a minute so its nice and thick! 

Take the pan off the heat, and add your fabulous cheese! I added 1/2lb of white cheddar cheese. From this recipe, I'd use more cheese than that, it tasted a little more milk-y than cheesy. Instead of grating the cheese, I decided I'd try to put the cheese in the food processor to cut on time. It worked like a charm!

 

Stir Stir Stir... Until it's smooth! Then add in your delicious shells!

Mix until combined, and enjoy! 

This recipe was adapted from New Leaf Wellness.

-A