Taking Iced Coffee to the Next Level!

Iced coffee is nothing new these days. In fact I went through a time when I was a little too obsessed about it. But 3 or 5 sweetened condensed milk cans and 10-lbs later, I realized I should probably cut back a little, so I stopped drinking it completely because of the sugar thing. And the love handle thing.

But because it’s Summer and because I really really wanted me some iced coffee I had to give this homemade sweetened condensed milk recipe a try using my coconut sugar. That makes it a “little” bit better for you. You’ll notice the coloring is dark, that’s due to the coconut sugar.

But the cool thing is that it’s only 4 ingredients.

• 1 cup powdered milk ( I used Organic Valley Nonfat Dry Milk)
• 2/3 cup coconut sugar or regular sugar
• 3 TBS. melted butter
• 1/3 cup boiling water

Just put everything in your food processor or blender and blend until fully combined. That’s it.

It was SO super easy and just the right consistency if you are going to use it right away. However after it’s been in the fridge for awhile it thickens quite a bit and does not easily stir into your cold coffee. But I have a solution for that.

First make sure you cold brew some coffee. I used a 1/2 lb of good strong ground coffee and 4 quarts of cold water. Just mix it together in a bowl and let set over night or at least 8 hours. When ready use a mesh colander with cheese cloth laid in it and strain into your containers. This made a little more than a half gallon. Put in the fridge until cold.

Liquid Gold! YUM!

When ready put your desired amount of coffee in a blender. Now add your ultra thick homemade sweetened condensed milk (and half and half if you’re naughty like me) to the blender and turn it on high for about 30 seconds. Start with a teaspoon. Test for sweetness. If it’s not sweet enough add more SCM. If it’s too your liking you can do one of two things here. You can either put ice in your mug and pour your delicious concoction over your ice and drink it OR you can add the ice to your concoction and blend it for a more frappucino drink. I’ve done it both ways and like it both ways. I guess it’s just a preference thing.

Frothy Frappucino Goodness!

  or Creamy Smoothness!

The decision is all yours, but I really don’t think you can go wrong here.

Let me know if you try it.

Have a lovely day my friends.

OXOX,

Kim

 

Yummy “Better” for You Eggnog!

You know I couldn’t come off and say it’s “good” for you because then it just wouldn’t be eggnog. You know what I’m sayin’? But I did manage to make it “better” for you so you can drink it with a lot less guilt.

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cups sugar (I used Coconut Sugar. It’s Low Glycemic)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups coconut milk (the refrigerated kind), divided
• 1 tablespoons rum extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• Additional nutmeg, optional

Directions

• In a heavy saucepan, whisk together eggs, sugar and salt. Gradually add 2 cups of milk. Cook and stir over low heat until a thermometer reads 160°-170°, about 30-35 minutes. This is the labor intensive part.
• Pour into a large heat proof bowl; stir in the rum extract, nutmeg and remaining coconut milk. Place bowl in the freezer for about 2 hours or until mixture is completely cool. You could put it in the fridge but if you’re like me you don’t want to wait that long. If mixture separates, process in a blender until smooth.
• When ready to serve, beat cream in a large bowl (put beaters and bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes to speed up the process) on high until soft peaks form; whisk gently into cooled milk mixture. Pour into your favorite Christmas glasses and enjoy! Sprinkle with nutmeg if desired. Yield: Approx. 7 servings.
• This could easily be doubled for a party.

Let me know if you try it and like it!

HUGS,

Kim

Green Breakfast Smoothie!

This is the smoothie I make after I work out in the morning. Since I’ve been off sugar it gives me that little special treat as well.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup plain or greek yogurt

1 organic apple cut into 4ths

1/2 cup of Old Fashioned Oatmeal

1 handful of baby spinach

1/2 tsp of cinnamon

4 ice cubes

Optional additions are

1 frozen banana or

1/2 cup frozen mixed berries

If you find that you need it sweeter, you can use vanilla yogurt instead of the plain. Personally I’ve come to love it just the way it is.

Directions:

Place everything in the blender in order given and blend until smooth.

ENJOY!

Easy Homemade Lemonade!

About 3 months ago I discovered this.

It’s 100% organic lemon juice!

With the price of lemons and the amount of juice you get out of one, this to me is a great deal. It’s $2.99 for 12.5 fl. oz. Not to mention it makes making lemonade a snap!

Here’s a recipe that I’ve been using.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sugar 
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)

Method

1 Make simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved completely.

2  Add the juice and the sugar water to a pitcher. 4 cups of cold water, more or less to the desired strength. Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes.

Serve with ice, sliced lemons. Serves 4-6.

This is such a special summertime treat! Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie!

With the latest discovery of my 6 cans of pumpkin I decided to use at least one can.
One can made 2 recipes and I'm going to share one of them today and the other in a day or two.
I hope you enjoy!Pumpkin Pie Smoothie!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup low fat vanilla yogurt
1 frozen banana
3/4 c. pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp.nutmeg

Whipped Cream for garnish.

Directions:
Put all things in blender in the order given and blend until smooth.
Pour into two glasses and garnish with whipped cream.

It's like pumpkin pie in a cup!

Enjoy!

Cappuccino Smoothie!

I've been making this smoothie for about a week now and am loving it. So I thought I'd pass it along.

Ingredients:
Makes One BIG serving!

3/4 cup Vanilla Yogurt
1/4 Milk
Handful of Almonds 1/4 cup?
1 Frozen Banana
1 heaping tsp of instant coffee
4 ice cubes ( I was just fixin to say frozen ice cubes! DUH!)

Directions:
Place in blender in the order given and blend until smooth. I have a Vita-Mix so it really blends it nicely. If you don't have a super high speed blender you may have some "pieces" left over but I'm sure it will still taste delicious.
Tell me what you think if you try this. I LOVE it! Perfect for these coming summer months!

Protein Shake

Oh this is a good pick me up in the middle of the day!!

Ingredients.
1 frozen banana (freeze the ones that are getting too ripe)
1/2 cup low fat vanilla yogurt
1/3 low fat organic milk
1 GIANT spoonful of peanut butter
4-5 ice cubes
1 scoop of whey protein powder (if you have it)

Directions:
Add all this to your blender and mix until smooth.
It's so yummy and half the fat of a Peanut Butter Shake.
Enjoy!!

Yummy Wassail

I know that there a bunch of different versions of this but this is my favorite and always a hit at our parties!

Ingredients:
1 gallon of apple cider
1 quart orange juice
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. ground ginger
3 TBS. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. allspice
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
Oranges slices to float on top.

Instructions:

In a large crockpot pour the juices and turn on high. When it gets steaming hot add your sugars and dissolve. Whisk in the spices and then add your orange slices.
Turn crockpot to low as it will still be very hot by the time it's all gone!

Enjoy!

Egg Nog Punch

I made this for the first time last year for our Christmas Party.
It was such a huge hit that I'm making it again this year.

This recipe makes 1 gallon so adjust to your needs.

1/2 Gallon Vanilla Ice Cream ( I use Breyer's All Natural)
1/2 gallon low fat egg nog
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
16 oz. whipped cream or you can cheat and use store bought. Just make sure it's thawed.

Instructions:
1. Scoop the softened, but not melted, ice cream into a punch bowl.
2. Pour the egg nog over the ice cream and mix slightly.
3. Sprinkle the cinnamon and nutmeg and mix.
4. Gently stir in the thawed whipped topping.
ENJOY!!!