Green Tea Archives - Strength and Sunshine

Frosty Coconut Mint Green Tea Mocktail

July 6, 2016 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 193 Comments

Need a little refreshment? A Frosty Coconut Mint Green Tea Mocktail with natural coconut water will have you feeling hydrated, healthy, and luxurious! Just 3 simple ingredients and you will be sipping all day long!

We are in the midst of summer! Are you loving it? You know I am; this is the season I thrive in! I really just want to soak up every second of the sun and heat as much as I can! You won’t hear me complaining about the heat! Since I wish for this weather all year, I embrace it full on!Read More

Chocolate Matcha Pancakes

May 22, 2014 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 101 Comments

Antioxidant-rich cocoa and matcha green tea combine to make a delicious, healthy, gluten-free, vegan breakfast recipe! Chocolate Matcha Pancakes will leave you feeling energized for the day, mind, body, and spirit!

***This post has been updated in July 2016. Original writing stands***

Ah, yes, the wonders that are a hot mug of tea. Or now that the temperatures are warming up, a nice cold glass of iced tea! Either way, tea is simply pure and amazing. So fresh, natural, and good for the body and soul. But today I’m not talking about drinking tea. I’m going with something much better. It involves my favorite food…PANCAKES! Inspiration hit one weekend morning in May and a new pancake creation was born. I grabbed my lonely matcha powder and got a little fancy. Matcha is pure dried green tea leaves to create a lovely green powder. It is so powerful in antioxidants and has a plethora of never ending health benefits. A little goes a long way.

Not only did I want to use my matcha, but I also went a little crazy and added some fresh brewed green tea as well. Then add come cocoa powder and I had a serious pancakes winner on my hands.

Green tea is such a classic and simple tea. It is fresh and light. Less delicate than white, but softer than black. Our favorite middleman! However, I have to say my favorite teas are flavored black teas (like vanillas or mints), peppermint, this passion tea (cold brewed!), and this vanilla chamomile! For cooking, though, I love using any and every tea! (Fun Fact: I’ve never made a matcha latte or drinking matcha tea; I’ve only cooked/baked with it!)

Chocolate Matcha Pancakes

Chocolate Matcha Pancakes

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Author: Rebecca Pytell

Recipe type: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Serves: 1

Ingredients

Instructions

Before making the batter, brew the green tea. I used 1 bag, and let it brew in a mug for about 2 minutes. Let it cool before you use it in the pancakes.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, matcha, and cinnamon, mix together. The add the applesauce, brewed green tea, and stevia. Mix again until you have pancake batter.
While the batter sets, heat a non-stick or greased skillet on the stove over medium-high heat. Then pour about ½ the batter in the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes, flip and cook an additional 2 minutes. Repeat for the rest of the batter.
For the sauce, combine all ingredients and slowly add in the green tea until you get the right consistency (about 2 tablespoons was good for me).
Plate your cakes and swirl on the sauce!

Chocolate and green tea make a beautiful and decadent combo! Chocolate Matcha Pancakes need to be added to your breakfast rotation!

So tell me:

+ What is your favorite kind of tea?

+ Have you ever tried Matcha?

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Robust Smokey Grilled Chicken + Fresh Spring Millet Salad With Watercress & Lemon

May 21, 2014 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 49 Comments

I agonized over what I wanted to make for my special Mother’s Day dinner. While bored in school, I would take out some paper and start jotting down recipe ideas and flavor combos. I wanted to make this dinner perfect and I wanted to make it with new ingredients my mom had never had. Something special, something, fun, something fresh and light. The easiest component was the drink. Stevia Sweetened Iced Green Tea! Inspiration from the glorious drink that is a Starbucks Unsweetened Iced Green Tea (which I drank multiple times everyday down in DC.) But the main “food” components were a lot more challenging.

But of course, I consider myself an amateur food blogger and an experienced cook through and through. Of course I would come up with something, and that I did. The only scary thing was I wouldn’t be testing these recipes out until that day. Fingers crossed everything cooked and didn’t taste like…crap. I chose to utilize my newest obsession with grilling chicken and make a “robust” smokey grilled chicken breast. I say robust because I used ground coffee in the spice rub! Then I chose a lighter, fresher, Spring-inspired side dish. Watercress I knew I had to use! I had never had watercress and wanted to try it. A weed looking green, but full of powerful flavor. And millet! One of my favorite gluten-free grains and one that my mom had never tried.Read More

Cocoa Banana Cinnamon Quinoa Flakes

January 23, 2014 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 58 Comments

A lovely combination of flavors for a healthy, quick, delicious breakfast recipe for one! Cocoa Banana Cinnamon Quinoa Flakes are also gluten-free, vegan, nut-free, but protein-packed!

***This post has been updated in June 2016. Original writing stands***

Hey, guys! I decided to link-up to the lovely Amanda‘s Thinking Out Loud party! I love reading everyone’s random posts so I might as well do one of my own as well 😉 Plus a foot update! Well, it actually hurts the most after I have been sitting or laying down and get up and take those first few steps. O man it hurts like hell. But then once I get the blood flowing down there it lets up a bit, but it still hurts, but in a different way. I think it is on the mend though, fingers crossed! And now we might as well dive right into the post, so let’s get to it!

1. I am totally in love with this new Green Tea Kombucha Decaf from Yogi! I have been having it every day and it is so good! It actually is a passion fruit flavor and I am normally not one to go for fruity teas, but this one just works perfectly! I need to go pick up more boxes at the grocery this weekend. I love trying new teas, but that also leads to an overflowing tea shelf in the pantry 😉 A girl needs a wide tea variety in her life right?

2. So my mom forgot to tell me she ordered me a subscription to Yoga Journal for Christmas! How could she!? So when it arrived in the mail last weekend I was so excited to dive in. It is a really interesting magazine and the articles go really in-depth on all aspects of the yogi life and meditation. I am totally loving it! So much better then those airbrushed Fitness magazines. (If it strange that I am still getting Fitness even though my subscription ran out like a year ago? Haha!).

3. I am so excited! Blend Retreat was finally announced on Monday! It is being held from June 6th-8th back in Park City, Utah like last year. Guess what else? June 6th is my 18th birthday! (Hint, hint. Could the registration and plane fee be my birthday gift?…Mom.) You know what else is June 6th? My Senior Prom. Haha! But no worries because Blend > Prom. I also realized that Fitbloggin’ was June 26th-29th in Savannah, Georgia. Um, can I go to both?

4. So mid-terms this week. Yeah. I think that speaks for itself. Starting today with AP Latin, Pre-Calc, and Business Law. The next day will be AP Government, AP Psychology, Ancient History, and Health. Then the last day (when ever that may be) will be English and Photo. The schedule got all messed up because of the snow so I really don’t know when this semester ends, but when it does it will be…my final semester of high school! That means 1/2 a year, two more marking periods and I am a free bird! Ah, please, June, get here quickly! I need you in more ways than one right now!

5. I have a problem with spending money. No, it is not what you think. I don’t spend it…I save it. I can not spend money is more my problem. I have all these gift cards from Christmas and I keep looking online at all the things I have bookmarked in a wishlist folder and on my Amazon wishlist, but I just can not bring my self to take the plunge and buy anything. I even put items into the checkout cart using promotions and everything and then just stare and close the window. If I get so far as to calculate the shipping, well that ends it once I see it will be like $10 extra! I have always been this way. It just hurts my mind and soul too much to spend money. So when I get real paper coinage…that gets saved. It does not stand a chance of actually being spent. I guess this is a good thing, but with gift cards…it is pretty stupid. I just keep telling myself I will make the wrong decision on a purchase and then a few days later find something that I actually wanted and regret it. I hate choosing, I hate spending. That is why with all these college apps, testing, college expense, etc. It breaks my heart to spend all that money when we don’t even know where I will get in and the fact that 75% of applications are a waste.

6. Hey, guess what! POPSUGAR reached out and asked me to be a featured Select Blogger (an exclusive program for bloggers who are hand-selected by their editors!)! I will now be writing posts and articles on fitness and healthy living topics for them. I am so excited and thankful to get started with them. Just more good things and info to come and I can’t wait!

Well, I think that wraps up the most interesting thoughts on my mind. I have a bunch of awesome posts coming your way over the next few weeks too. I just need to sit down and find some time to write them up! But until then, I will leave you with a random recipe I made a few months ago that never got blogged. Delicious Cocoa Banana Cinnamon Quinoa Flakes! It nails all the points for a delicious and healthy breakfast!

Cocoa Banana Cinnamon Quinoa Flakes

Cocoa Banana Cinnamon Quinoa Flakes

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Cook time

2 mins

Total time