Rooibos or "Red Tea"

I've been watching "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" mini-series that takes place in South Africa and they are always drinking what they call "Bush Tea" also known as Rooibos or "Red Tea." I decided to try it and it has become my new obsession. It is an herbal caffeine-free tea that is quite delicious and has numerous health benefits. It is extremely high in anti-oxidants and has a very soothing effect on the nerves. It tastes great with almond milk and honey. It has a very earthy, warm vanilla-like taste.

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about its health benefits:

"Rooibos is becoming more popular in Western countries, particularly among health-conscious consumers, due to its high level of antioxidants such as aspalathin and nothofagin, its lack of caffeine, and its low tannin levels compared to fully oxidized black tea or unoxidized green tea leaves. Rooibos also contains a number of phenolic compounds, including flavanols, flavones, flavanones, and dihydrochalcones.

Rooibos is purported to assist with nervous tension, allergies and digestive problems.

Traditional medicinal uses of rooibos in South Africa include alleviating infantile colic, allergies, asthma and dermatological problems."

Sweet Potato Pancakes

These Sweet Potato Pancakes were excellent, just thought I would share the recipe since I enjoyed them so much. These also can be made in batches and either refrigerated or frozen.

Ingredient:
3/4 pound (2 1/2 cups) sweet potatoes
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (or whole wheat flour)
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup butter, melted


Directions
Place sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan of boiling water, and cook until tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, and immediately immerse in cold water to loosen skins. Drain, remove skins, chop, and mash.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix mashed sweet potatoes, eggs, milk and butter in a separate medium bowl. Blend sweet potato mixture into the flour mixture to form a batter.
Preheat a lightly greased griddle over medium-high heat. Drop batter mixture onto the prepared griddle by heaping tablespoonfuls, and cook until golden brown, turning once with a spatula when the surface begins to bubble.

I made these into waffles that were pretty fantastic. I also thought they could be sweeter, so I added about a tablespoon of brown sugar.

Enjoy

Kettle Brand Baked Potato Chips

These are my new favorite thing in the whole world. I have a secret weakness for potato chips (like Kryptonite to Superman). Baked potato chips usually will satisfy, but they usually leave me wanting their original greasy counterpart. I particularly like the crisp crunchiness of Kettle Brand Chips, so I was curious as to how different these would taste from the original. Surprisingly, they taste just as good and are much healthier (only about 100 calories per serving). I was blown away by their taste. I think if I hadn't been told that they were baked, i probably wouldn't know the difference. They are just as tasty and crunchy as the fried chips. If you haven't tried these already (and love potato chips), I would highly recommend these. Enjoy!

Frutii Frogurt...yummy!

This was really a treat, and so good that I had it two days in a row. They are a self-serve yogurt shop that basically gives you a cup and lets you pick the flavors and toppings. They also let you sample them all first to see which ones that you would like. The yogurt is light and fluffy, tasting closer to gelato or sherbet. They offer twelve different flavors (which are switched out monthly). The toppings included various diced fruits, cookies, candies, etc. anything that you would want as a topping. My personal favorites were the "mango" and "blueberrylicious" yogurts with diced mango and strawberry added and topped off with gummy bears (it was fantastic, and much more so than I can describe). Whatever you choose, they then weigh and price accordingly. It's quite addictive.

Marshmallow Peeps

Right around Easter we begin to see those beloved marshmallow peeps and bunnies in all colors and shapes. While they may be cute, I've never really been that big of a fan. That is until I found a better way to eat them. Last year, a friend gave me a couple of boxes for Easter. Not really wanting to eat plain, sugar-sprinkled marshmallows in animal shapes, I decided to see how they would taste if you burned them on a fire. I've always enjoyed regular marshmallows in this way, why not these? To my amazement, they were delicious in every way. I simply stuck them onto sticks and burned them up (I secretly enjoy torching the little cute things). The sugar that they are sprinkled with quickly chars and creates a crispy and sweet shell with a soft warm gooey marshmallow center (DELICIOUS!!).

Needless to say, I enjoy them charred very much. I always mention this to friends and they all say that they never thought about doing this. Be sure not to let it burn all the way or the little thing will just fall off the stick and into fire. I mention this now because after Easter, everyone has those peeps on sale for half off or even more (I bought 3 boxes). You'll enjoy them this way, I promise.