Monday, January 19, 2015

Day 17

I bought a number of boxes of tea over the weekend. Tea is my hot substitute for coffee. I picked only herbal tea, and I did not look at the ingredients. I thought, "Tea is tea--just dried leaves and herbs, right?"

WRONG!

I brewed a cup of Celestial Seasonings True Blueberry Tea, and while waiting, I glanced at what mix of herbs were in this amazing-smelling cup of tea: Hibiscus, rosehips, orange peel, natural blueberry flavor with other natural flavors (soy lecithin), blackberry leaves, wild............SCREECH. Wait a minute, back up...it says soy lecithin. What??? There is soy in my tea? Why??

I looked it up online and learned that soy lecithin, a by-product of soybean processing, is "a soy-based emulsifier (used to keep ingredients from separating)" http://www.celestialseasonings.com/node/243 . I don't understand...I would think that tea leaves should be separating while  floating in a cup of hot water. Reading further, Bigelow tea says, "Soy lecithin helps disperse the flavoring into the tea while brewing to ensure consistent flavor throughout the whole cup." https://www.bigelowtea.com/Special-Pages/Customer-Service/FAQs/Tea-and-Herbal-Tea-Ingredients/Do-you-any-of-your-teas-contain-soy-lecithin  It seems that my other herbal teas brew just fine without this added ingredient.

The True Blueberry Tea was not so true, and it was thrown down the drain.

Breakfast:
Leftover Breakfast Casserole and Bacon

Lunch:
Beef with Snow Peas from http://thepioneerwoman.com/
Again, I made adaptations


Supper:
Leftover Vegetable Beef Soup


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