Teeccino Herbal Coffee giveaway and How I kicked my caffeine habit

A long time ago, caffeine and I used to be friends, but now we are enemies. I had to kick my caffeine habit last February. I have been caffeine-free for almost a year now :-)

Caffeine is a benign chemical (alkaloid) that is well-tolerated by most people. It is a very popular legal psychoactive stimulant that is consumed all over the world. I grew up in a family that didn't allow kids to have any caffeinated beverages (besides tea), because they thought that kids were hyper enough already. I had my first glass of Coca Cola when I was 10 or 11 years old, and my first cup of coffee when I was 17. During my childhood Coca Cola was more of a treat during birthdays, holidays and other occasions, not a diet staple like in other families. When I was 17 years old, I became addicted to Nescafé instant coffee with milk and sugar. I loved the taste and I enjoyed the caffeine lifts that my morning and afternoon coffee provided, but I hated the jittery feelings after. However, my desire for a cup of delicious coffee was stronger than all the unpleasant feelings that followed after. As a teenager, there were times that I would go to a party and drink about 8 bottles of Red Bull Energy drinks during one night. My heart was racing and I was all bursting with energy, but I didn't feel bad. When I moved to USA, I started to drink more brewed coffee instead of the instant coffee, and quite a lot of soda, including Coca Cola and Mountain Dew that are both high in caffeine. When I became a vegan I learnt to like my coffee black, or with some soy creamer, coconut creamer, or almond milk.

Unfortunately, I became very sensitive to caffeine over the years. I started to feel very drowsy in the morning, alert after a cup of coffee and then drowsy again, but too wired up to sleep. I started to have irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia), chest pains and anxiety. I was nervous, my stomach was upset and I experienced frequent heartburn. Last February I made a strong cup of instant coffee and about 20 minutes after I thought that I was having a heart attack, which turned out to be a panic attack. That experience was so painful and horrifying that I decided to kick my caffeine habit for good. I quit cold turkey.

I started to drink a lot of herbal, fruit or decaf green teas.

For the next few weeks I suffered from horrible caffeine withdrawal, such as headaches, irritability and fatigue. I was extremely tired all day, especially in the mornings. Few weeks later I started to feel better. I stopped feeling foggy. I wasn't a zombie in the morning anymore and I started to have more energy. However, I had strong coffee cravings so I decided to try decaf coffee for a while. That didn't work because the decaf coffee gave me heartburn. Not to mention, decaffeinated coffee isn't always 100% caffeine-free. It may contain 3 - 6 mg caffeine per 6 ounces cup. Since last February I have been on a mission to find a good tasting coffee alternative that would not give me heartburn.

So far I found these two brands that I really like.

Teeccino Herbal Coffee

This natural caffeine-free coffee alternative looks and smells just like a regular ground coffee. When it comes to taste, it is very similar to coffee, but I would say it tastes even better than coffee. It slightly reminds me of New Orleans’ chicory style coffee.

I brew Teeccino Herbal Coffee in my French press. It brews just like a regular coffee. This herbal coffee is non acidic so it does not cause a heartburn. It contains prebiotic-inulin from chicory root that improves digestion and intestinal health. It also contains a heart-healthy potassium and soluble fiber. Teeccino comes in many varieties and flavors, plus light, medium and dark roast. I personally prefer the light and medium roasts.

I have been buying the Mediterranean variety in Almond Amaretto, Hazelnut, and Original flavors at my local Whole Foods Market for several months now. They don't have a big selection at my Whole Foods Market, but Teeccino has tons of other flavors and varieties online. They were so nice and sent me some samples of other flavors to try.

Some of the main ingredients in the Mediterranean varieties are organic carob, organic barley, organic chicory, organic dates, almonds and figs. The Original flavor contains organic orange peel, the Almond Amaretto has natural amaretto flavor and the Chocolate Mint has organic cocoa, peppermint oil and organic peppermint leaves. The Mediterranean variety is slightly sweet so I don’t feel like I need too much sugar in it. I liked all the flavors, except for the Chocolate Mint. Maybe it is because I was never a big fan of Chocolate Mint ice cream and other stuff with that flavor.

The Maya varieties have similar ingredients, plus organic ramon nuts that have been wild-crafted in Guatemala, from a small family farmers. The Maya herbal coffee varieties that I tried were Caffe, Chai (with organic ginger and organic cardamom), and Chocolate (with organic chile flakes).

They also have some flavors in convenient tea bags that brew just like a tea, but taste like coffee.

　

They have a great suggestion for kicking the caffeine habit- Mix 3/4 regular coffee to 1/4 Teeccino. Then gradually decrease coffee and increase Teeccino until you are caffeine-free.

Another great coffee alternative is Pero. Pero is an American name for European brand Caro). I have been drinking Caro ever since I was a little kid. I was thrilled to found it in USA after I moved here. The name is different here, but the ingredients are the same (barley, malted barley, chicory and rye). Pero is an instant all natural beverage that tastes very good. It is very easy to prepare since it dissolves instantly in hot water. I don’t like it plain though, I only drink it with milk (almond or coconut) and sugar. That way it tastes amazing and reminds me of my childhood. I buy Pero at my local Whole Foods.

I decided to share 5 of my Teeccino Herbal Coffee trial sizes (each brews 6 cups) with one lucky reader.

I will pick one random comment on January 31st, Monday evening. There are several ways to enter this giveaway, but you have to leave a comment for each option to count, if you leave one big comment with everything in it, it will only count as one. The more comments, the better the chances are to win.

Mandatory entry:

# Leave a comment telling what is your favorite coffee alternative or if you prefer real coffee.

Extra entries:

# Become a follower of this blog and leave a comment that you did or that you already were a follower

# Follow me on Twitter and leave a comment that you did with your Twitter name

# Follow Teeccino on Twitter and leave a comment that you did with your Twitter name

# Tweet about this giveaway and leave me a comment that you did (1 tweet per day is allowed). Include @CzechVeganBlog and @Teeccino in the tweets.

# "Like" Czech Vegan in America on Facebook and leave a comment that you did

# "Like" Teeccino on Facebook and leave a comment that you did

# Mention this giveaway, with the link, in a blog post, and leave a link to the post in a comment

# For extra 5 entries-make any recipe from Czech Vegan in America blog, and blog about it. Leave 5 separate comments for the entries.

Nacho Mom's Fire Roasted Vegan Queso review

Few weeks ago I bought my first jar of the new cheesy dip phenomenon known as Nacho Mom's Ultimate Vegan Queso. I loved it! They recently came out with a new product- Nacho Mom's Fire Roasted Vegan Queso. I could not wait to try it.

The new Queso is not only vegan, fat-free, soy-free, and low in calories (the whole jar has only 160 calories) like the original Queso, but it is also gluten-free. That is great news for people on gluten-free diet. I don't mind gluten so it does not matter to me.

This Fire Roasted Queso has very similar ingredients like the original one, but they changed the flour to gluten-free and added fire-roasted chipotle peppers. I love chipotle peppers! They fire-roasted the tomatoes as well. It has a nice punch of spicy and smoky flavors while being very smooth and cheesy at the same time. I love it! I used it as a dip, of course :-) I also used it in few of my recipes. I think that this one is even better than the original version.

I topped my bean chili with vegan sour cream and Fire Roasted Vegan Queso and it was delicious!

I added some Fire Roasted Vegan Queso to my Mexican Quinoa dish along with bell peppers, onions, corn and avocados.

Czech goulash with bread dumplings

Have you ever tried goulash? The original goulash comes from Hungary. Czech goulash is a bit milder than its Hungarian cousin, though both rely heavily on sweet paprika. Every Czech family and every pub cook has his or her own recipe variation. Czech Goulash is traditionally served with bread dumplings, but you can also serve it with bread or potatoes. The traditional version with dumplings can be found in every Czech pub and restaurant, it is one of the most popular dishes that you can eat in Czech Republic. It is often served with a glass of beer to flush it down nicely. I make my own vegan version of the goulash.

A very important note about paprika. I only use Czech or Hungarian paprika (the sweet-mild version, and a little bit of the hot-spicy version). If you live in USA, please, don't use the regular cheap paprika from a grocery store, it does not have any flavor, it just adds color. I learnt that the hard way when I made a goulash for my family six years ago. Buy the Hungarian paprika, it is not hard to find and it is not too expensive.

I usually make my goulash using seitan, but today I made it with my favorite "beef" (Beefless Tips) from Gardein. It was wonderful.

If you make the goulash with this Gardein "beef", follow the recipe bellow. If you use seitan, add it to the goulash after you add the liquids, not at the end of cooking.

I haven't made dumplings since I moved to America almost six years ago, because I was afraid that the flour that is sold here would not work for the dumplings. The original flour that is used for making dumplings is quite different from the regular flour here. It is is more coarse.

I found a recipe that uses all-purpose flour so I decided to try it. The recipe was adapted from The Vegtastic blog. I tweaked it a bit, but it turned out quite good. The dumplings were a little slimy on the surface (because of the very fine flour). If you decide to make the bread dumplings, please remember, not to cook it for the recommended 25-30 minutes or it will get hard!

The best method for boiling the dumplings: cook one side for 10 minutes and then flip it and cook the other side for 10 minutes. I made the dumplings using the recommended bread, but you don't need to use bread. I used unsweetened almond milk and more salt. If you use the recommended 1/2 tsp salt, the dumplings will not be salty at all. I used 1 tsp and it was very good.

Czech Goulash

1 9-oz pkg Gardein Beefless Tips (or 9 oz seitan, cut into chunks-read note above)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large white onion, finely chopped

2 Tbs. canola oil

3 cups warm vegan "beef" broth (I used 2 cubes of Not-Beef bouillon from Edward & Sons and 3 cups water)

1 1/2 Tbs. flour

3 tsp. sweet paprika or 2 tsp. sweet paprika and 1 tsp. hot paprika (see note above)

1 tsp. ground caraway seeds

1 1/2 tsp. marjoram

1/4 cup plain tomato sauce

salt and black pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add garlic, paprika, caraway seeds and flour and cook 2 minutes stirring constantly. Pour in the warm broth and tomato sauce. Bring mixture to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, adding more broth or water if the goulash becomes too thick. Prepare the Gardein Beefless Tips according to the package directions. Add them to the goulash. Sprinkle the marjoram over the goulash (rub it with your fingers to release the aroma) and cook 2 more minutes, uncovered. Season with salt and pepper and serve over bread dumplings.

Vic's Deli Slices

My friend Vic (from The Life blog) created a truly amazing recipe for homemade vegan Deli Slices. I baked the Deli Slices on Monday and I have been eating them every day ever since then. The recipe was very simple and easy to follow and it was not time consuming to prepare. However, it took a long time to steam and bake, plus there was some additional time for cooling. I also liked the fact that it did not have any soy ingredients, I needed a break from soy and this was a great idea.

I decided to change up the spices a bit, I left out the cumin and added "poultry seasonings" (sage, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, black pepper and nutmeg) and few dashes of hickory flavored liquid smoke.

When I got the wonderfully smelling stuff out of the oven, it reminded me of a vegan meatloaf. I could not resist and ate some still warm with some mustard and bread. Yummy! Then I let it cool and it firmed up nicely. The texture and taste reminded me of Tofurky Italian Sausage. I made some tasty sandwiches (with tomatoes, lettuce and vegan mayo) for dinner that evening, and more sandwiches during the week for work.

I crumbed up some Deli Slices into a salad the next day, for a filling and delicious dinner.

I also used it crumbled up in tomato sauce instead of vegan meatballs. That was fantastic!

Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad

I replaced the traditional bulgur in Tabbouleh Salad with Quinoa. Quinoa is a very nutritious ancient grain, because it contains all eight essential amino acids, making it a complete protein. I love this funny looking grain :-)

Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad

1 cup uncooked Quinoa

4 ripe medium tomatoes, diced

1 large cucumber (preferably seedless), diced

2 scallions, diced

2 cups finely chopped fresh parsley

1/3 cup finely chopped fresh mint

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 Tbs olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced (optional)

salt and black pepper to taste

Combine the Quinoa with 2 cups of water in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook 15-20 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water until the grain gets cold.

In a large bowl, combine all the veggies, herbs, optional garlic and Quinoa. Add the lemon juice and olive oil and mix until well combined. Season with salt and black pepper. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Czech style Christmas dinner in USA

Traditional Christmas dinner in the Czech Republic is fried carp, fried chicken, or fried schnitzel and potato salad. Making a veganized Christmas dinner from my homeland is one way how I stay connected with my family roots and traditions overseas. I made my "famous" potato salad (recipe here) and fried Boca Original Chik'n Patties. Then I squeezed fresh lemons over the warm patties. The warm Chik'n patties with lemon juice and the cold salad were a perfect combination.

I indulged myself with divine hot chocolate and Dandies vegan marshmallows.

I made another traditional Christmas dish. Its name would translate into "Mushroom Kuba ( Jacob)". It is a very easy dish. It was made out of cooked barley, sauteed porcini mushrooms with onion, garlic, ground caraway seeds and marjoram. Everything is mixed together and baked.

I used some leftover potato salad to create these traditional open faced mini sandwiches (Obložené chlebíčky). I added some Tofurky Deli Slices and a pickle.

I love these mini sandwiches. They are very easy to make, but look quite festive.

Merry Christmas!

Czech Christmas Cookies

Let me introduce you to traditional Czech Christmas cookies.

*Vanilkové rohlíčky (Vanilla-nut cookies covered in powdered sugar)

*Perníčky (Gingerbread cookies with traditional Czech spices)

*Linecké cukroví (Linzer Cookies)

There are tons of different cookies that we make, but these three are the most common cookies that most Czech families bake around Christmas.

I used a recipe from Czech Vegan Society for the vanilla-nut cookies that are shaped like the letter C. I used walnuts instead of hazelnuts, but you can use whatever nuts you want, even almonds work very well in this recipe.

For the gingerbread cookies I found an inspiration on Mattie's Vegan Baking website. I used his Gingerbread Cookie Buddies recipe that I modified. I substituted half brown sugar and half cane sugar for the turbinado sugar. I used extra molasses instead of the barley malt, and I had to add some almond milk because the dough was too dry and did not stick together. I used mini gingerbread man cookie cutter and wild forrest animals cookies cutters. For the icing I used powdered sugar and lemon juice.

I also used my own spices. The traditional Czech gingerbread spices are cinnamon, coriander, star anise, allspice, cloves, anise, nutmeg, fennel and sometimes ginger. I added ginger to the mixture, too.

The recipe for Linzer Cookies was my own and I am going to put it in my upcoming cookbook. I used seedless raspberry jam and red currant jam for the filling.

All of these cookies taste the best after a few days, not fresh out of the oven. They get softer and more flavorful.

I spent the whole afternoon baking and decorating these cookies, and cleaning up the huge mess. I realized something today, I am a terrible gingerbread cookie decorator! After several very ugly cookies I decided to leave the rest of the cookies "naked".