Tea Archives | Strength and Sunshine

Chocolate Chip Teff Biscotti (Gluten-Free, Vegan)

November 30, 2016 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 97 Comments

Grab your cup of coffee and a Chocolate Chip Teff Biscotti for a few moments of at-home bakery bliss! A gluten-free, nut-free, allergy-free, and vegan healthy recipe so you can enjoy this Italian classic once again without sacrificing flavor or crunch!

First off, is biscotti and cookie or a biscuit? According to Italian tradition, it’s defined as a biscuit or cracker. That also leads me to question if it’s considered a breakfast, brunch, dessert, or “tea time” item. I’m going to go with anytime where this is a hot cup of coffee or tea involved, a little crunchy biscotti is appropriate! It’s a little nuisancey but as long as we have a dry, crunchy, oblong semi-sweet…”thing” and that warm drink in hand…we can have a biscotti break. (Calling biscotti a cracker sounds so wrong in American sense…)Read More

Frosty Coconut Mint Green Tea Mocktail

July 6, 2016 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 181 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

Caramel Apple Granola

October 26, 2015 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 152 Comments

An easy granola with all the seasonal flavors; healthy, gluten-free, vegan, and sugar-free. Caramel Apple Granola is perfect for breakfast, snacking, or topping a dessert!

What has become of the Granola Queen, you may be thinking. I’m terribly sorry I haven’t shared a granola recipe in what seems like years! I should have probably shared my older ones first (from last August perhaps?), but this most recent and seasonal one just seemed like a better fit. No matter what the combo, granola will never fail to bring a smile to my face. I’m very fond of my “granola flavor idea list” I keep in a Google doc, as well as my coveted granola board on Pinterest.Read More

The Best Winter Teas

November 18, 2014 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 102 Comments

Even though I was corrupted by coffee this past summer, my heart will always and forever belong to tea. I will always call myself a tea drinker before I call myself a coffee drinker. Which is funny since as a kid, I HATED tea. It was just gross and never passed my lips. I don’t remember what or when that changed, but I have loved tea for years now. Multiple cups a day is the name of the game. Even in the hot 90 degree days of summer, I will happily be drinking my hot mugs of tea. And of course during the winter…tea consumption is on high! I hate being cold, my body is wired to thrive in the heat (I should live in the desert). Meaning tea is my lifeline starting…now, with the colder and colder temperatures creeping in.

So I’ve rounded-up my all time favorite teas of the season (although I drink these through the year…I tried to make this a “seasonal” post for you all!). I always vary which tea I have so I don’t “wear-out” a flavor and get sick of it. But one tea I always have everyday no matter what, is peppermint. It is essential for sound sleeping. My little comfort cup before bed.Read More

My Happy Sleep Routine

July 24, 2014 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 30 Comments

Today is the day….that I get 4 teeth ripped out of my mouth! As you read this I am either starving (since I had to stop eating at midnight) and getting ready to leave, it’s 8:45am and I am in the procedure in a drug induced sleep, or I am in pain and trying to relax at home. I’m still pretty positive though that I’ll be fine, but I’ll let you know tomorrow 😉 I’ve got strength and I’m good with pain. Plus I’ve been though some bizarre and painful procedures before and I can always handle it. (I’ll have to tell you all about my in-grown toenail procedure sometime. It basically looked like I was getting a Chinese torture treatment done to my toes. Good times!)

Anyway, lets switch over to sleep! (Hoping I can sleep tonight!). Sleep is one of those things you need to be routine about. Otherwise it just doesn’t work, right? You all know I am a very earlier riser (4:30am-5:30am depending on the day), so that also means I go to bed rather early too, especially for an 18-year-old. It is usually by 9:45pm at the latest. I just can’t keep myself awake any longer than that and I have been trying! (Got to prepare for late nights in college!). But once I get a routine down like I have now, I don’t ever find myself having trouble falling asleep. I don’t wake-up tired either so I guess everything is working 🙂 Here’s what my routine looks like:

Pretty simple but perfect (for me that is!). I usually start all this around 7pm and it’s just the right amount of time to get myself settled and ready to sleep. A shower to wash off the days dirt and sweat (people who take showers in the morning bother me so much!), pre-bed snack time, read some of my book. Currently I just started reading Under Your Skin by: Sabine Durrant. A nice crime mystery thriller (the best type of book!). I am not one of those girly “beach read” type of readers, nor will you ever find me with some crappy “paranormal fantasy tween” book in my hands. I like my books full of murder, crime, government corruption, lawyers and trials. 😉 Thrilling and suspenseful!

Once I start to get antsy from reading for a while, I will make my evening cup of tea! I have been drinking a nice mug (my GW mug) of hot peppermint tea with a bit of stevia every single night. Pure peppermint tea is supposed to relive stress and help soothe the tummy. It totally does both and I think it helps me sleep. Plus it tastes so damn good and is an herbal tea so I don’t have to worry about caffeine!

And then I go back upstairs to my room and read some more. The only thing that makes me sad (all the time) is I drink my tea/coffee/really any beverage in about 10 seconds flat. Even if it is boiling hot. So my mug of peppermint on lasts until I get upstairs again. Then I just read, haha! After that I go back downstairs to brush my teeth, come back upstairs and check my email and social media on my phone. Yes, where are the anti-technology before bed police? Arrest me! I know it’s “bad” but it is fine for me. I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I DIDN’T check everything. That would be so stressful! After I do that (sorry I’m not sorry), I finally plug in my phone charger and lights out. I fall asleep really quickly from there, unless I start having freaks out about school (which has been happening more and more). Otherwise, I have a pretty perfect routine down.

I do always wake-up at least once in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. I drink way to much before bed, but I just have to have all the liquids 😛 When I do get up, I check my phone again. Yes bad. But it’s always blinking with a 10,00 notifications so I just have to. But then I put it away and go back to sleep in the blink of an eye! Until I wake up a few short hours later to start my day 😉

So tell me:

+ What does your night time routine look like?

+ Do you go to bed and wake-up around the same times everyday? I do! It’s really is best to keep your internal clock on schedule!

+ Do you “sneak” on social media at night when your should be “un-plugged?” I won’t judge 😉

*I am linking up with Amanda’s Thinking Out Loud today!*

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