Home Brewed Tea Straight from Your Herb Garden

Is your garden over flowing with herbs? Try making tea — whether iced, sun-brewed, or made the old-fashioned way, homemade tea is a wonderful way to add more antioxidants to your day.

Good herbs to try:

• Basil (lemon basil)
• Chamomile
• Fennel
• Lemon Balm
• Lemon Verbena
• Orange or Lemon Mint
• Peppermint
• Rose Hibs
• Rosemary
• Pineapple Sage
• Lavender

Start with 3 teaspoons of fresh leaves per cup of water. Pick your herbs in the morning. Don’t be afraid to mix and combine herbs. If the scents smell good together they are likely to taste good together too. Mix your herbs with boiling water and steep for 5 minutes, strain. Alternatively, put your herbs into a pitcher with cold water and set outside. Let brew for several hours.

You can add a splash of juice or sparkling water to make it an herbal cocktail. Serve over ice!

This post was written by Melissa Williams for HealingLifestyles.com.

Green Tea with Lemon and Pomegranate

Pomegranate seeds, rich in plant compounds, enhance the already potent antioxidant activity in a hot cup of green tea with lemon and honey.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons green tea (or 2 tea bags)
• 2 cups boiling water
• 2 thin slices smashed ginger
• 1 to 2 lemon wedges
• 1/4 cup lightly crushed pomegranate seeds
• 2 tablespoons honey or to taste

Directions

1. Cover green tea with boiling water, ginger, lemon wedges, pomegranate seeds, and honey. Let tea steep for 3 to 5 minutes and remove.
   
   
   Yield: Serves 2
   
   
   This recipe was taken from WholeLiving.com.