I would have never put the two in the same sentence either... at least not until today!
You see, I discovered that I can make my very own tea bags! Yes!
Do you know how many boxes of tea I've got stashed away in my drawers... .. suffice it to say... I'll be drinking tea for a long, long time!
But... there is something about being able to mix and make your very own herbal tea, which is something I've been interested in for a while.
I decided to get creative with all the bags of tea, and herbs I've collected from my garden and from different places, and create my very own herbal tea mix!
I used loose-leaf herbal teas and herbs and combined them together in three different jars... I made a "black tea" jar, a "green tea" jar, and a peppermint tea jar... which are three of the most common tea bases I drink.
Now this is where things get a bit unusual... I brought out my curling iron as the heating element to seal the tea bags that I had filled with my herbal tea mixture.
Pretty cool isn't it! I just let the heat from the curling iron seal the top of the tea bag closed after filling with one of my tea mixtures.
You can buy tea bags to be filled in different places online. You can shop around for the best deal or for what suits your purposes, but there are several places that offer these refillable tea bags.
After heat setting the tea bag, I was eager to taste and see!
You can see how plump and happy this tea bag was and no sign of tea leaves trying to escape!
One of the things I included in my herbal tea mix were some rose hips. I became interested in rose hips after learning how high they were in vitamin C and what an easy way it is to add extra vitamin C to your diet. You can read more about rose hips and the great potential they offer at www.herbwisdom.com. I've included a short excerpt from the Herb Wisdom website where you can go and read more about rose hips:
Rose hips are the best source of vitamin C; they contain 50% more vitamin C than oranges. A single tablespoon of the pulp gives an adult more than the recommended daily allowance of 60 mg. They can be eaten raw, after being put through a blender, or soaked in water overnight and then cooked in the water for about half an hour. Because of the high vitamin C content they are an excellent immune system booster, and are often used as a supplement to prevent or treat a cold. The pulp from rose hips may be used in sauces or made into jelly.
So you can see just how beneficial rose hips are to the immune system, and that is why I added them to all of my herbal tea mixes. This makes it easier to get all the good things I like to drink in hot tea, all in one great place! And... I found out that I could gather my very own rose hips in my yard from all the wild roses that grow everywhere! That will be a project I look forward to doing next fall!
It is really nice to drink a nice cup of hot tea knowing that you gathered or played a part in mixing all the herbs in the tea you are drinking. With all the flu and cold bugs hanging around this time of year, I find that drinking hot tea really helps to boost the immune system very much.
And since we've been having this kind of weather the past week or so - heavy fog that just shrouds the air for days on end now... kind of dreary, with the snow melting slowly away, and mud/ice everywhere...
... a nice cup of hot herbal tea while I look outside at this foggy scene over the past several days has helped to boost not only my immune system, but my spirits :)
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We've experienced a very foggy January here. Today was the first real sunny day we've had for awhile. And warmer too. I actually had to remove my hat and gloves on my walk. Here's another post on your blog that references something I've had on my interest list for awhile: rose hips and their Vitamin C content. I had to kind of chuckle at the curling iron thing, though. You are never short on ideas! :) Hugs, Nancy
ReplyDeleteI find it funny that we both had the same weather in January - we finally got some snow here, which makes me really happy! And isn't it great to know that rose hips are such a great source of vitamin C! ... yes the curling iron thing was kind of funny to use, but amazingly it worked! I used the same tea bag for three days with approximately 3-4 cups of tea per day, so that means I got approximately 12 cups of hot tea out of one bag! And it held up, never lost any leaves. Pretty amazing!
DeleteWe did finally get some sunshine today, which was nice! I don't care too much for the heavy dense fog, although I enjoy bits of fog over the mountains, as that is really beautiful. I'm glad to encourage you to use rose hips. I have really enjoyed their taste in the tea, and it is great to know I'm adding extra natural vitamin C into my diet almost effortlessly! Thanks again for stopping by :)
ReplyDeleteHaha! How creative! :-) Too bad I got rid of my flat iron a loooooooong time ago. haha-- I'd love to hear about your herbal tea blends. Maybe you could write a future post about them (or several posts) and include information about the various blends' benefits (as you shared about rose hips)??
ReplyDeleteAlso, thanks for the website link about herbs. I'll definitely be checking them out to learn more about the various herbs.
~Raquel
www.atthenewlyweds.blogspot.com
I will try to write a post soon about how to blend the different teas. It really is just kind of a taste preference - adding things that you like the taste of, and things like rose hips which add vitamin C. :)
DeleteThis is such a great idea! I would love to make my own tea bags... I'm gonna have to get online and find me some of those bags. Wow... just think of the flavors you could create.
ReplyDeleteA few years back me and my hubby went and picked fresh rose hips and then dehydrated for infused teas and such. I might have to make that suggestion again for this year. I'm all inspired now, thank you!
I hope you have a blessed weekend.
Blessings,
Amy
PS. How's your son doing?
Glad that the post was inspiring to you Amy! And thanks so much for stopping by! I plan on picking my own rose hips this fall as we have an abundant supply of wild roses here in the north. My son is doing so much better! Today is his last day of antibiotics and his hearing has completely returned! So we are so very thankful that all is well that ends well, as the old saying goes!
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