Cuppa Joe

It's Sunday morning. As a funny little side note, I typed Sinday. Hmmmm....wonder if that says something about me? Nah!!

My husband, Robbie, and I along with our teenage son own and operate a swimming pool business. We have a retail store and we also do service work. Its just us and a very, very, very dear friend Melanie working the business. You probably know Melanie. She knows everybdy. I'll have to tell you her story soon. She lost 150# following the Perricone diet. She's kept it off for years too!!

Goodness, I'm easily distracted! I told you all THAT so I could tell you we only have Sundays off. Soooo, I relly relish the quiet Sunday morning with hot cup of tea sitting on our porch. It overlooks our pasture with our horses and trees and a couple of ponds (fyi, we call them tanks, as in stock tanks). Its very peaceful. I'm having tea right now sitting in my favorite chaise by my window listening to the birds while my guys are still asleep.

I used to not like tea. At all. Of any kind. Which is weird being Southern and all. You know we like our sweet tea down here. I always WANTED to like tea. I would buy box after box and keep trying and hating it. I had read that tea is very good for you. PLUS, people on tv who drink tea seem so much more "with it" and peaceful than coffee drinkers. That appealed to my yoga sensibilities.

Meanwhile, I thoroughly enjoy a cup of coffee with cream. One day, on a January morning, I was drinking my coffee flipping through a Yoga Journal magazine and found an article about giving up coffee as a New Year's resolution. There were product reviews and I will tell you that I tried them and they're GOOD! So, I'm going to share with you.

Yerba Mate Royale tea is my favorite tea ever!! Its higher in anti-oxidants than green tea. It can steep for hours and not become bitter. It is sweetened with the stevia leaf right in the bags. It has less caffeine than coffee, cokes, and black tea but more than the amount in green tea.

Cafix is a very good instant coffee substitute. Its naturally caffeine free. It tastes a lot like real coffee but its made from barley, chicory, figs, and beet root. So, I don't know where the coffee flavor comes from but its good. I like to make lattes with it. Take a spoonful of Cafix, a teaspoon of cocoa, a packet or two of stevia, and a splash of cream. Delicious!

Teeccino is good too. Its not instant. You have to brew it. Be sure you read the label on brewing!! You use way less than coffee. My friend brewed it like her regular coffee and it overflowed all over her kitchen. We like to mix it with half caffeine coffee so we get the coffee smell. I've given cups of my "herbal" coffee to some hard core coffee drinkers and they all loved it.

I don't honestly know if coffee is bad or good for us. I've read varying opinions on it. I do know there is a difference in farming in the beans with chemicals and such. So, you decide. I just want to give you a healthy, tasty alternative.