I’ve teamed up with the guys over at Northern Teas to bring you some great gift ideas, or you might even want to treat yourself. Obviously we all want to feel fresh as we start the New Year and green tea is without a doubt the way to go. You can use green tea instead of detox teas and get plenty of the same benefits.

These green teas are calorie free and are tasty and excellent quality. They are so much better than the ones you get in the supermarket. The ones that I got sent are Ti Quan Yin, Japanese Sencha Fukujyu and Japanese Gyokuro,

Ti Quan Yin

This is a fine quality Chinese Oolong green tea that originates from southern china, and the leaves are rolled tightly into little balls. It takes 3 to 5 minutes for the tea to brew, which is pretty average for green tea. It is a pleasant, aromatic and refined tea. It is one that can be enjoyed at any time of the day.

Sencha Fukujyu

This is also known as Green Spider Leg, because of the look of the tealeaves. It has a sweet, grassy taste but it is a smooth texture. It originates in China but is processed Japanese style. It has a short brew time of 2 to 3 minutes. The leaves are neat, flat green and stalks, flecked with hints of yellow. Indulge in a cup of this at the end of the day, I know I will be.

Japanese Gyokuro

This is a variety of Ryokucha, it is picked during the first round of harvest and shaded from the sun for some time before the harvest. This gives a delightful flavour with a very delicate, pale liquor. This again takes 2 to 3 minutes to brew, and it also has neat, flat green leaves and stalks, flecked with hints of yellow. It has sweet, mild and a very smooth flavour with a pale yellow liquor. This should also be indulged at the end of the day, looks like I’ll be alternating between this and Sencha Fukujyu.

Prices vary from £4.50 to £7.50 for 50g of these teas. This is due to the origin of the teas and the quality, so it’s worth the money! These are a fantastic Christmas present, don’t forget to get your tea strainers as all the teas are loose and I’d also recommend getting a teapot to make it that little bit more special!

PS. Don't forget all views are my own, and we all know how much I love green tea so you know it's the truth!

Getting Back Into Cooking

So for a few weeks I was very conscious of the fact that I wasn’t cooking, I would just grab the quickest thing I could find instead of putting a bit of thought into what I should be eating, what I had already eaten that day or even that week and choosing my meals based on that.

I have already noticed this week that I have really changed the way that I think about what I should be eating. I’m really making sure that I get the vegetables I should, and the fruit as well which I have been eating as a snack. There is something about clementines and similar fruit that should be eaten just at autumn and Christmas, maybe that’s when they are in season? I don’t know, either way I know that I will be regularly buying these fruits in the build up to Christmas to make sure that I get all of the vitamin C that I should be.

Now you all know how much I love cooking and I always have the freezer stocked up with all kinds of food so I am now using what I’ve got and making up recipes with the ingredients that I have, so that I am not spending money which I don’t have!

I start work again in a couple of weeks, in a retail store and I know that this is going to be quite a hard job over Christmas and I need to be able to keep my energy levels up and also not get ill at Christmas! I’m already thinking about the meals that I can make while being in my budget and also things that are quick and easy after a long day at work. As well I need to consider what to have for my lunch so that I don’t go out to Marks and Spencer and spend nearly £5 a day, I know I can make myself a better lunch than that ;)

I’ll come back in a couple of weeks and show you the ideas that I have been making myself. If you have any good ideas that I can use then please send them my way!