Joyous Health: Book Review

This book has been living on my counter. I am constantly grabbing it to reference things - from how to cook quinoa to the dirty dozen list. This book is a valuable resource of healthy, whole and clean eating. Joy is great at providing information in an interesting and knowledgeable way. She recommends taking 6 weeks to work through her book - I read it in one night and then started adapting different aspects into my life. I have since gone back and started to work through it. Since reading Joyous Health I have been more conscious about what I am eating and have been working at creating healthier meals. Rather then being restrictive I have found the book to really open my eyes to new and different ways to cook a foods that I already love and how to start incorporating other fresh foods. I also really like how uplifting Joy is in her book. This is NOT a diet book. It is much more about lifestyle then it is about being restrictive. She gives stress management tips and information on how to live a fuller healthier life. Following the first part of the book, full of Joy's information and knowledge, the second part is a traditional cookbook, fully of healthy easy to make dishes. All of Joy's recipes are delicious and easy to follow.  What I personally really liked about the book is that Joy is Canadian.  It was great for me for because the information in the book was relevant and I could find all the ingredients listed (there is also a US version!). 

David's Tea Advent Calendar: Week 3

Day 13:

This tea steeps up beautifully. The leaves have tiny gold balls in them that actually glitter once it is steeped. It is beautiful to look at and true to its name.  Its not officially labeled as a chai tea but it definitely has that spiciness to it and those hints of flavour. The strongest being the cinnamon. The look and shimmer of this tea are definitely its strengths and out weigh the taste for me. 

Day 14:

I wanted oh so badly to like this tea. I have been wanting to add to my rooibos collection and I have been loving all the different rooibos that I have been trying lately. I love drinking them at night before bed since they are caffeine free. Both the boy and I took one sip of this tea and dumped it. It was SO cinnamon-y. To the point where I felt like I had just had a spoonful of cinnamon (although I have never tried the cinnamon challenge it seemed like an appropriate comparison). 

Day 15: 

Ah. A classic today. It was just what I wanted. Something simple and familiar. This tea to me is just so comforting. A touch of milk and a dash of sugar and I am transported to my grandmother's housing having tea and dipping her cookies in it. 

Day 16: 

In all honesty I didn't try this tea. It smelt wonderful and I am sure I would enjoy it but it being at Mate tea it is a stimulant and I just wasn't feeling something fruity this morning. I like black teas in the mornings, especially in winter. There is just something comforting to me about them and this was not gonna cut it this morning. Then when I was in the mood for something fruity I of course wanted something that wouldn't keep me up all night. I think I am going to save this to ice for hot summer mornings. 

Day 17: 

Cream of Earl Grey is probably my favourite tea. Which is saying a lot. It is the one I most recommend to people.  It is the tea that made me fall in love with David's Tea. It is just so perfect. I drink it on a regular basis and when I stop drinking it for a while and come back to it I fall in love even more. It just has the perfect balance vanilla flavour mixed with earl grey. I cannot do justice to this tea. Just go try it. You can thank me later. 

Day 18:

Another tea that I was not a fan of. I loved the smell of the tea, it was bright and fruity. The actual tea itself was bitter and gross. I didn't end up finishing this tea either. Maybe I burnt the leaves? I might give this another try. Its a white and green tea blend and I usually like blends but I have mostly had white and black tea blends.  I wonder what it was about this tea. 

 Day 19:

This is one of David's cutest teas. It has mini chocolate chips and lip sprinkles in it. It just makes me so happy. I love this tea on its own but its even more delicious as a latte. The black tea mixed with that hint of peppermint and chocolate is delicious. This tea will satisfy your sweet tooth and I love that it combines two of my favourite flavours: peppermint and chocolate. 

You can check out my reviews of Week One and Week Two as well! 

David's Tea Advent Calendar: Week 2

Day 6:

I was exited for this green tea today it was a nice change from all the Christmas-y teas that have been in the calendar lately. I don't drink green teas that often but when I do I remember why I love them and then vow to drink them more then drink too much and get a headache and upset stomach.  This is a nice mid-afternoon tea however. The only probably is that it makes me crave sushi which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The popped rice in this tea is super fun and adds an interesting almost sweetness to the green tea flavour. I might have to make this tea a permeant part of my collection. 

Day 7: 

Another new to me tea. They always pull it down at the store when I say I like fruity teas but its never been something that I committed to trying until today. To be honest, I didn't really like it. The tea has yogurt bits in it which I really didn't like the flavour of in my tea. I felt like I was drinking hot strawberry yogurt which was kind of a turn off. I thought the tart yogurt didn't really complement the tartness of the strawberry either. I don't even thinking icing this tea will save it. 

Day 8: 

I love the Advent Calendar because not only do I get to try teas that I haven't before but I rediscover teas that I love. Mango Madness is one of those teas. I made a large pitcher of iced tea.  I really like how light and fresh this tea is. This tea is more of a summer tea to me then a winter tea but it was a nice surprise in the calendar and has gotten me steeping pitchers of iced tea again to drink all day. 

Day 9: 

The smell of the leaves of this tea reminded me of black liquorice for some reason so we were already off to a bad start ( I am not a fan of liquorice). I took one sip of this tea and then threw out the rest of my mug. It was disgusting. It was like drinking flowers and the what I can only assume to be jasmine was way over powering. I can still taste nothing else. 

Day 10: 

I was happy to see Coffee Cake today after yesterdays tea. Black teas are my favourite and I was starting to miss them. This tea would probably be up there as one of my favourites (it doesn't taste like coffee at all) if it weren't for Red Velvet Cake. To me this is a less spectacular version of Red Velvet Cake. I do like the sweet hints that the cherry and pineapple bring out in the black tea and it makes for an exceptional latte. I was skeptical to try it the first time because of the name. I don't like anything coffee flavoured but this has no coffee flavour at all. 

Day 11: 

This tea is a great tea for before bed. It is calming and relaxing. I love the freshness of the peppermint mixed in with the chamomile. You get a hint of the chamomile first followed by the peppermint cooling after taste. This tea makes me want to cozy up in bed with a good book and then drift off to sleep.  

Day 12:

Another green tea. I was a little weary after the last one but when I opened the tin it was bright and fruity. The smells reminded me of one of David's other teas Green and Fruity (I wonder if that came out before this tea because that would be the perfect name for this one since the other one is a roiboos). Anyways. I really enjoyed this tea it was perfect hot and would probably be lovely iced. I sipped it while studying for finals. I think Genmaicha from Day Six (at the top of this post) is my favourite green tea I've had so far though. 

Are you doing the David's Tea Advent Calendar? Whats your favourite so far? If not, which would you most like to try? 

Jaclyn 

Ps. You can see my review of week one here. 

Target Canada

Its FINALLY here! It has arrived. The doors are open! To say I was excited for the opening of Target in Canada is an understatement. Every time I would go to the mall I would glance over to what once was Zellers and hope Target was FINALLY open. Well now it is and I am sad to say I was underwhelmed.  It was tiny. Which shouldn't have come as a shock. I knew all along how big the Zellers was but seriously it was small. They tried to fit all their departments in which meant that each department didn't get the full range of products. They should have focused on their best selling departments allowing them to be larger and leave the other stuff for things like Canadian Tire etc. I also felt that it was poorly laid out. It was a maze. Things weren't where you thought they would be. And the prices... not spectacular. I wasn't wowed or floored or jumping up and down. They also didn't have any designer clothes collection to kick off the opening, which I thought was just plain silly.

What I did like however was the selection of accessories (shoes, scarves, purses etc) and the home decor selection. Their grocery selection is decent but I wouldn't forgo the grocery store all together. I liked how eco friendly it was. The lights in the fridge/freezers only turned on when someone walked into the isle. Which was super cool. They also had a great selection of Essie Nail Polish and their beauty section was well organized which I liked. Overall I am not going to stop going to Target but I don't think I will be purchasing as much there as I had thought I would be.

What did you think of Targets opening in Canada?
Jaclyn