A Cup of Tea for Comfort

I cannot remember the last time when I was this ill. The past couple of days has consisted of me lying in my bed. Yesterday was the worse for all I did was nap the entire day away. Aside from all the coughing, I'm feeling better today than I did yesterday. Thank goodness I still have a couple more weeks left of break.

As I said in my last post, I want to make the month of January about taking care of yourself and feeling good. Right now, I feel like crap. But, I have found that there is something that has been a go-to remedy that I've caught on to whether I'm sick or healthy. That remedy is hot tea.

I never cared for hot tea that much until last fall. At the beginning of the fall semester, I went through a time where I felt so exhausted the entire day. This affected everything I did from studying, to paying attention in class, and even my personality was so negative. Sure, Starbuck's is a great pick-me-up, but when you're on a budget it can become pretty expensive buying a drink from there every day. Plus, all that caffeine can be rough on your body. I decided to give hot tea a chance.

Instantly, I noticed a huge difference in how I felt. Just one cup of tea helped my mind focus the entire day. Also, I became more relaxed while drinking it instead of jittery. My positive attitude came back and my face cleared up, too! I have tried different kinds of tea like gingerbread, berry, peppermint, and I plan to try more.

Tea is so good for you. It helps get rid of toxins and it's a healthy, hot drink to have. Tea is light on your body, too. It's been perfect to have while I've been sick these past couple of days. Start out your year by giving tea a try. You can add a little snack to it as well.

How to Make Cranberry Jello Salad

For Thanksgiving, I was put in charge of making the cranberry sauce. It's really easy to buy a can of cranberry sauce and pour it into a bowl, especially when it still keeps the shape of the can. But why do that when you can make a delicious cranberry jello salad instead? The best part is that there is no cooking or baking required for this recipe! And it's easy to make!

Ingredients Needed:

1 Package of Cherry Jello

1/2 cup crushed pineapple

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 chopped apple

1 can of whole berry cranberry sauce

1/2 cup boiling water

A pinch of salt

Chopped up celery 1/2 cup (or less)

Step 1:

First you'll need to have a medium sized glass bowl. It should be a nice bowl that would look good for dinner (not a mixing bowl). Once you find your bowl, pour in the package of cherry jello and the sugar. Boil 1/2 cup of water. When the water has begun to boil, add it to the sugar and jello mix. Stir the mixture with a spoon until all of it is dissolved into the water.

Step 2:

Add a pinch of salt to the mixture. Chop the walnuts into small chunks. After measuring out 3/4 cup (or 1/2 cup for less) of the chopped walnuts, add them to the jello mixture. 

Step 3:

Drain the crushed pineapple of some of the juice in the can. Add 1/2 cup to the mixture and stir in. 

Step 4:

Take the can of whole berry cranberry sauce and add it to the jello mixture. Stir well to make sure all lumps are out of it. 

Step 5:

Chop up the celery into tiny chunks. Add no more to the mixture than 1/2 cup or less as your desired preference.

Step 6:

Take one half of an apple and chop it up into small chunks. Sprinkle it into the mixture, then mix the entire mixture.

When you feel like your cranberry jello salad is complete, refrigerate it for an hour and a half to two hours long, depending on your fridge. Once it's cooled down like jello, then feel free to dig in! 

How to Bake Pumpkin Seeds

I mentioned on my list last week that you should carve a pumpkin for Halloween. Of course this is a fun time, but what about the pumpkin seeds?

My fiance, Alec, suggested that we should bake them. I personally have never tried baking pumpkin seeds, but I thought why not? We had a ton since the pumpkin we carved was gigantic. Let me tell you, they turned out better than I expected!

How to bake pumpkin seeds

Step 1: Clean the seeds
Make sure all the pumpkin guts are off of the seeds. The best way to wash them is to either fill your sink or a bowl, full of water. Any remainder of the guts should come off easily.

Step 2: Boil the seeds
Yep, I said to boil the seeds. If you don't want to wait for your seeds to dry, then boil the seeds in a medium sized pan. Add a little bit of salt to your boiling water. Stir the seeds while it's boiling because they will most likely float to the top. Only boil them for 10 minutes. Once they are done, strain them like you would with pasta. Dry the seeds off with a paper towel. They don't have to be bone-dry, but they shouldn't be soaked either.

Step 3: Bake the seeds
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit. On a baking sheet, add a teaspoon of olive oil to the seeds. Spread them all around the sheet and make sure each one is covered in oil. Your pumpkin seeds can be plain or have some taste to them. For this recipe I used seasoning salt. Sprinkle that all over the seeds as desired. When you're done with that, put the seeds in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes is up, take them out and stir them about. Put them back in for another 10 minutes. If you take them out and find that they aren't as crisp as you like, put them in for another 8-10 minutes.

Step 4: Enjoy!

Pumpkin seeds are a great snack and a healthy alternative from eating potato chips. It wasn't very hard to make these either, so go ahead and give it a try!