Iced Vanilla Latte

As you probably know by now, I am an avid coffee drinker. I love love love coffee. I am trying to reduce my coffee spending budget by making my favorite treats at home. Now that the warm weather is here, I like iced coffee and iced lattes. I'm not really into the whipped cream or the frozen drinks, crushed ice is my favorite. A couple of tips first, since you will brew your initial pot of coffee at double strength, you will probably want to keep the remainder of the brewed coffee in the refrigerator for the rest of the week. I keep mine in a Ball jar. You might have to experiment with the flavors since coffee preference may be different for everyone.

Directions for 1 iced latte:

Brew enough coffee for about 10 cups - I use bold, dark coffee and almost double the amount of coffee I use for a normal pot of coffee.
Let your coffee cool, if I'm not in a hurry I do this, otherwise I just add more ice at the end.
Pour 1/2 cup cooled coffee into a 12 ounce glass.
Add 1/2 cup milk.
Add 1/4 cup half-n-half or heavy whipping cream.
Stir in 1 tsp vanilla extract.
Options: My husband likes caramel flavoring so I use 1-2 T caramel syrup (ice cream topping) or 1-2 T chocolate syrup for a mocha latte. Just add your favorite flavoring the coffee mixture and whisk it together.
Optional: Add 1/2-1 tsp agave or sugar if you like your coffee sweet.
Mix together and add crushed ice (I like lots of ice!) And don't forget the straw!

Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi

Grandma's Bread Pudding and Caramel Sauce

I was trying to think of something for dessert last night and homemade bread pudding was my choice. Our Dad was not a dessert lover but bread pudding was one of his favorites. Our grandma made the best bread pudding, hope you like it! Ingredients : 5 cups slightly dried out bread, any kind. I used Italian bread. 1/4 cup raisins (optional) 2 cups milk 1/4 cup butter 1/2 cup white sugar 2 eggs 1 T vanilla 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp cinnamon Caramel Sauce Ingredients 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup heavy cream 1 tsp vanilla Directions : Cut the bread in cubes. I cut some of the crust off (on about half of the bread). Place bread into a greased casserole dish or an 11x9 inch pan. Add raisins. Microwave milk and butter about 4 minutes on 60% power or heat in a saucepan over medium heat on the stove. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon. Slowly add the mixture to the egg and milk and butter

Grilled Orange Roughy

My favorite food choices are often related to family memories, so I wanted to share one of our favorite grilled fish recipes. Our Dad used to take us fishing and we grew up eating the fish we caught ourselves. Then came the time when we had to start buying fish, I searched for types of fish that didn't taste too "fishy". It's hard to accomplish that in the Midwest, we don't always have many choices. We were introduced to orange roughy during a trip to San Diego where my great-uncle treated us to some of the most wonderful seafood we had ever eaten at an establishment called Anthony's. It was the first time we had eaten orange roughy and it was white, flaky and not too fishy tasting. After a few experiments, this is my favorite method to prepare it at home. Serves 4 or 2 with leftovers! Ingredients: 4 orange roughy fillets 1/4 c fresh cilantro, I use a small handful * if you are not a cilantro fan use fresh dill, about 1/4 c chopped 2 tsp garlic powder o

Homemade Goulash

Last weekend I made meals for the freezer. It takes a few hours but this will save you time during the week (in case you have nights like I do when you don't feel like cooking) and your family will love it! I adapted this recipe from Paula Deen (it's called Bobby's Goulash). I used organic ingredients but use the products of your choice. I would have liked to use fresh tomatoes from the garden but my tomatoes weren't quite ready. You can also make it gluten-free by using gluten-free elbow macaroni. It's so tasty - my family loved it! Ingredients : 1 pound ground turkey 1 pound lean ground beef 1 -2 small onions, diced ( I used red onions) 1 (28 ounce) can tomato sauce 2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice 3 cups water 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 T Italian seasoning 3 bay leaves 3 T soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce 1 T seasoning salt course ground pepper to taste 2 cups elbow macaroni (uncooked) Putting it together: Brown meat and onions in a lar

Natural Homemade Living

Search This Blog