An excellent analgesic to stop the skin pain of many envenomations, especially those of jellyfish stings. It is usually less effective than heat for the treatment of stonefish, stingray and other venomous-spined fish envenomations.
Cetraria islandicaDescription: This moss grows only a few inches high. Its color may be gray, white, or even reddish.Habitat and Distribution: Look for it in open areas. It is found only in the arctic.Edible Parts: All parts of the Iceland moss are edible. During the winter or dry season, it is dry and crunchy but softens when soaked. Boil the moss to remove the bitterness. After boiling, eat by itself or add to milk or grains as a thickening agent. Dried plants store well.... iceland moss
While many people love drinking hot tea during the winter, you can’t really do the same during summer. Drinking something hot won’t help you fight off the heat. However, if you love tea and you don’t want to give up on it, try iced tea! Cold and refreshing, you’ll surely enjoy it during the hot days of summer.
Why Iced Tea?
During hot summer days, a cold beverage is the best solution. Sodas might be tempting, but they’re far from the best solution. Fruit juices sound good, but if you’re a fan of teas, then iced tea sounds just as tempting.
It is refreshing and, based on your preferences, you can enjoy the iced tea in many fruity flavors. There are various kinds of recipes which you can follow, in order to drink a pleasant iced tea.
Iced Tea Recipes
Iced tea is available in bottles, already made, just like juices and sodas. Also, it can be bought as a powder, for you to prepare it at home.
However, you can use a more classic recipe to make your own iced tea. It’ll also be a lot more natural and, therefore, better for your health.
For about two liters of iced tea, you mostly need cold water and tea leaves. Heat about 4 cups of cold water, add about two tablespoons of dried tea leaves and let them steep according to the time required by the types of leaves you use. Once the steeping time is done, strain to remove the leaves and pour the ‘tea’ inside a pitcher filled with ice.
Some recipes of unsweetened tea recommend you to let the steeping last for an hour under the sun, for example, or even overnight in the refrigerator.
Iced Tea Flavors
The iced tea recipe uses leaves of the classic types of tea, like green tea or black tea. This doesn’t mean you can’t flavor it to your liking.
To sweeten the iced tea, you can use sugar or honey. You can also add fresh fruits, but also frozen fruits, which will help keep the tea cold. Herbs and spices can be used too: mint, sage, lemongrass, lavender, basil, and lemon balm, or cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Fruit juices or fruit purees make a good sweetener, too.
Pros and cons of iced tea
Prepared with fresh ingredients, iced tea can serve as a healthy beverage - definitely more natural than cold sodas. If you use honey or fruits to sweeten it instead of sugar, it’s even better for your health.
You have to be careful with the amount of iced tea you drink, and how fast you drink it. If you know you’ve got throat problems, you might end up with a sore throat in the middle of summer.
Also, be careful with the caffeine content it might have from the tea leaves you use. Tea leaves from the plant Camellia sinensis contain caffeine. If you know coffee’s not good for you, especially if you’ve got heart problems, you can use herbal leaves to make your iced tea.
Iced tea is the perfect choice for a healthy, refreshing beverage during hot summer days. Prepare it yourself at home and you’ll surely enjoy it!... all you need to know about iced tea!
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