Homemade Iced Latte

This is the espresso machine we have. It's the Mueller brand and we use pods for it. Scott bought it last year to keep in his office. He used it for Americanos. He still does. I like making lattes and, with warmer weather, I've found myself making iced lattes lately. It's shockingly easy and they taste just like what you'd get at a coffee shop, to be honest. I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't something this professional. 

So, while we don't buy the actual Nespresso-brand pods and the machine isn't "Nespresso", I don't even know that Nespresso would be better. Scott did a lot of brand research and this is what he came up with. He also mentioned that when we get another single-serve brewer, it won't be Keurig, because our Keurig has let us down one too many times. So much so that we packed it away and pulled out the regular coffeepot. 

For this recipe, you basically just need one or two pods of brewed espresso, milk, and ice. 

A few tips for your homemade iced latte...

• Shake, don't stir.
• Use Lactaid milk. This is a weird idiosyncrasy we have: we like the taste of Lactaid so that's what we buy. We don't need it, we like it. It's sweeter and has more flavor. Wells drinks regular 2% but we buy Lactaid for us.  (this started years ago when Scott liked to give the dogs milk to drink but dogs can't have lactose so....)
• Use any sweetener you want. I find that I don't like my iced coffee as sweet as I like my hot coffee. Anyone else? I just splash in a teaspoon or so of liquid creamer. 

Also, this is the year (THIS IS THE YEAR) I may perhaps perfect my iced coffee recipe. Maybe. I feel like I've said that multiple summers at this point. Last year and the year before, we took to buying jugs of Stok and, while tasty, that was not ideal. 

Finally, I tell this to anyone who will listen: Caffeine just like doesn't work on me anymore. Something about body chemistry changing once you have a baby. Some people have to switch to decaf. I had to up it to espresso. 

Even so, I drank that iced latte up there yesterday and took a nap 20 minutes later. Very abnormal, right?

For scale: this is a 16 oz tumbler. I fill with ice, put the shot(s) in, fill to the brim with milk, add a splash of creamer and shake. 

Summer Wknd something-or-other

 Is summer over yet? I think we're all ready for a bit of fall. I was thinking yesterday how much we all likely despise the months of January through March. For me, throw in April, May is okay. December and November are also depressing as heck if you live in the northeast and...well, this year is weird. August is usually my favorite month with back-to-school but since I'm not going back to school and since back-to-school looks odd this year...maybe we just move onto September and call it good. 

He found the pile of duck decoys and put them in the water.

The swimming pond on our property.

Other than that, it was hot and humid. This was a hazy downpour at sunset:

I started a new book.

 I went to the Class 6 and the commissary and felt like I was home. I'm pretty sure every army base even smells the same. Due to Covid, I don't know how much time we'll get to spend on base, but I really miss army bases so this move was the best possible thing for me. 

And I came up with a mocktail recipe. Just because we live close to a Sonic now doesn't mean I need a cherry limeaide every time I think of it. This is lime La Croix, fresh lime, and jarred cherries.

(This jar of cherries was leftover/unused in the pantry from the limeaide at Wells' first birthday party. Waste not.)

My Current Protein Smoothie

I went to the doctor back in June and he encouraged me to change my diet. My diet isn't bad (really). When I told a friend about all of his recommendations, she was appalled because I "eat healthier than anyone" she knows. I don't know about that, but I try not to eat processed food. I won't claim a perfectly balanced diet. I don't love vegetables usually and I don't eat a lot of meat. I'm a carb person, through and through. Even if I'm not eating loaves of french bread for dinner, I eat a lot of carbs.

Carbs are in everything, by the way. I will say that I've cut some things COMPLETELY out of my diet since then (I'm an abstainer, not a moderator): tortilla chips, bread (aside from the occasional sandwich thin), pancakes, and oatmeal.

But cutting out all carbs seems...difficult.

In the spirit of adjustment, I'm incorporating more protein. This really means that my diet has gotten to be extremely boring. I'm not eating pancakes for dinner anymore. I eat the same general things each day now, but I feel amazing, so it's obviously worth it.

I'm not tracking this anywhere (I learned long ago that I'm too OCD to track calories...it's not a good habit for me to fall into), but I'm keeping count of protein grams each day. I was "encouraged" to keep a carb count too. This is hard for me, so I'm just focusing on getting enough protein and then, if I'm full, I won't be tempted to eat chips and salsa for dinner. That's what this comes down to: not eating chips and salsa for dinner.

This smoothie has 30 grams of protein. My goal each day is at least 60 grams because you're supposed to be between 50-75 grams of protein every day. While I knew this on some level, I never considered it before. Yes, bananas have carbs, but half a banana is probably good for you, right?

Protein Smoothie

1 scoop of protein powder (whey OR casein powder is 24 grams per scoop)
1 small frozen banana (or half of a large one)
1 T natural peanut butter or almond butter (6-8 grams protein)
1 cup milk (I've been using unsweetened cashew milk)

Blend it all up and enjoy!

I have issues in that I can't put peanut butter and spinach together...it's really weird to me. Sometimes I leave the nut butter out and put in spinach and frozen mango but the peanut butter version is tastier and it keeps me full longer.

How I drink 100 oz. of water a day

1.  I drink 20 oz. before I leave the house in the morning.  From when I get up until I walk out the door, I make sure my water bottle has been emptied.  I'll fill it up again in case I get thirsty on my commute, but I usually take caffeine-free hot tea to school with me.

2.  I try to drink another 20 oz. before 10:15.  Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, but I always finish it before lunchtime at 12:30.

3.  I drink another 20 oz. before I leave school at 3:45.  That's 60 oz. down.  I fill up the bottle before I leave school and...

4.  Drink it on the way home.  That's 80 oz.

5.  Once I'm home, I generally drink another bottle or two by the end of the night.  That leaves me at 100-120 oz. for the day.

Now, I didn't always used to be this way, but last spring I got the idea that I should make sure I drink more water (probably something about clearing up my skin), so I started doing just that.  To begin with, I don't drink stuff other than water.  I drink coffee in the morning, caffeine-free tea throughout the day, and the occasional wine or something at night, but other than that it's just water.  No soda or juice or anything.  And yeah, I do run to the bathroom a million times a day, but that's okay.  I've made it work with my schedule at school and, honestly, that just means taking a bathroom break on each break I get; something most teachers do anyway.

My advice to someone who would like to drink more water:

1.  Buy a water bottle you love.  You'll be so enamored with the novelty of it that you'll automatically drink more water.

2.  Try to drink 20 oz (or a bottleful) by 9am (or before you leave the house in the morning).  It'll start your day off in a much more refreshed way and even if everything else conspires against you (traffic, deadlines, hunger, bad hair day, etc), you'll at least have done that.

I've gotten so used to drinking a lot of water that I don't know what to do without my water bottle.  It feels ridiculous but it's like a security blanket.  You know how you can get "hangry"?  I think "thangry" is a real thing too.  Like, if I forget a water bottle and, for some reason, don't have an extra in the car, I will stop and buy a bottle of water that I refill throughout the day.

So, how much water do you drink everyday?  

Limeaide Margaritas

Recipe challenge, week seventeen.

a.k.a Margaritas for a Crowd

You know how people have "their" drink?  Whether it's rum/coke, vodka/cranberry, red wine, etc, a lot of people have a drink that is their go-to.  My go-to is a margarita.  I don't say that to try and be cool (because I'm not), and it does seem like many a 20-something have had a terrible experience with tequila.  But I never have, so a good old-fashioned blended margarita never lost its luster for me.  But I also would eat candy corn by the shovelful if possible.  So I suppose my taste may not be the most discerning.  I told a friend the other day, as we were talking about candy and liquor (she's pregnant so it was all hypothetical on her end), that all I need is a giant margarita and a bag of candy corn and I'll be happy.  She adjust that to "No, the pumpkins, not just the candy corn".  I agree.

Anyway.

I don't drink rum (bad experience).  I don't drink vodka (even worse experience).  I do like white wine (sweet and cold), and beer is just fine (usually I just have a few sips of whatever Scott orders because I"m one of those people who can never finish a beer).  But honestly, what I usually want is a margarita.

I have several margarita or slushie recipes here on the blog, but most only make one or two servings and it'd be really difficult to make margaritas for a crowd without using a margarita mix.

I'm not a fan of pre-made drink mixes, be it margarita mix, sour mix, pina colada mix, etc.  I've tried a lot of them and they always kind of taste like plastic.  But...  I've been to the islands.  And I assumed that being in the Caribbean meant that I'd be drinking fresh rum out of a coconut or something.  I drank 2-3 frozen drinks a day for a week.  And every single one of them was made with a drink mix.  The bar huts on the beaches of Anguilla?  They pulled the bottle of colada or daquiri mix right out of a cooler, blended it up with some fruit and liquor, and there you were.  And those drinks were absolutely delicious.  I'm pretty sure the only thing freshly made was the rum punch.  I also remember drinking ice cold tequila and it was fantastic.  The locals drank beer.  Tourists drank the frozen stuff.

I ate and drank more at this dinner in Anguilla than I ever had in my life. 

Circa 2008. (Note the shorter hair)

ANYWAY.

If you are making margaritas for a crowd or having a Cinco De Mayo get-together of sorts, I definitely recommend this method.  You can adjust the measurements of tequila and triple sec to fit your needs.  All you're really doing is using the limeaide as the liquid, to get the blender going, after you add your liquor.  You can pick your limeaide (I used MinuteMaid concentrate) and there's several low-calorie or no-calorie options out there if that's your thing.

Limeaide Margaritas

Frozen strawberries or cherries (or both)
Tequila
Triple Sec
Fresh Lime
1/2 cup limeaide per drink

Blend the fruit, liquor (I do 3/4 shot of each per drink), and limeaide.  Squeeze in your fresh lime juice.  Pour into glasses and top with more limeaide if you'd like a thinner consistency.

(This isn't really a recipe.  I apologize.)

Peppermint Truffle Hot Cocoa

I did exactly one crafty gift thing year.  I didn't plan on it but I saw a post about hot cocoa mix and we've been drinking a lot of hot cocoa lately.  Something about it is quite comforting and Christmasy.  I tried a couple of different homemade mix recipes and didn't like them.  I'm a milk chocolate kinda person in most cases, so I wanted something creamy and sweet that tasted like dessert.  I made up a batch of the Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix and poured it into mason jars to pass out to…whoever.  It never hurts to have a cute hostess gift on hand, right?  This dry mix is probably as close as you'll get to that ideal hot cocoa flavor.

I plan on baking some cookies on Monday to go with them. Something white chocolate, oatmeal, and cranberry might go well with the hot cocoa, don't you think?

In my attempt to not really bake this year, I decided to try my hand at chocolate truffles instead.  Halfway through the project, I lost interest.  I let the pan sit in the fridge for a couple of days.  Scott kept asking if it was ready.  I said that it's not like it's fudge and you won't like it and seriously, don't just take a bite.  

I decided that the perfect touch of richness for some hot cocoa might just be a chunk o' truffle.  I've put Hershey's Kisses in cocoa before.  Why not a peppermint truffle?

I highly recommend this method!  It gets you closer to the dessert-like feel of actual hot chocolate, which is different from hot cocoa.  It would be a fun addition to a holiday party or dinner buffet.  You could experiment with different flavors too.

I used this truffle recipe and added in peppermint extract.  Instead of rolling into balls, I kept the mixture spread very thinly in a glass pan to harden.  I broke off chunks like you would with a bark.  Just add 1/3 cup of the hot cocoa mixture, a small chunk of truffle, and pour 8 oz. of hot water over the top.  You barely need to stir!

I apologize here.  Filters are your friend in bad lighting.

If you're looking for some Christmas cookie inspiration, here are my very favorites.  Maybe I'll make one next week.  You know, because it's Christmas.

Peppermint Fudge
Peppermint Cake Pops 
Eggnog Snickerdoodles
Payday Bars
Hershey's Kiss Cookies
Soft Sugar Cookies (with tutorial for decorating)
Apricot Squares
Eggnog Bread 

Tequila Smoothie

That up above obviously isn't a tequila smoothie.  It's white wine.  But I made the tequila smoothie on Wednesday night at 9pm and it was too dark to take a picture.  For you visual learners, it was a purple smoothie.

However, I knew I wanted to share it with you because it was pretty fantastic.  There's a reason why I refer to it as a smoothie instead of a margarita, and it was really a case of necessity being the mother of invention.

And there's a story behind this invention…

I drink a spinach smoothie almost everyday and I've even started putting in celery and blueberries for added nutrients.  So, I do make healthy things in the blender.

However, when you discover the reason why you've had to set mousetraps in the basement (because your husband bought a Costco-sized box of individually wrapped crackers and put it down there), you need something stronger than spinach.  This box of crackers was sitting on the shelving with all of our extra kitchen supplies and dishes we don't use.  In other words, a lot of stuff that Kristin had to clean. Luckily, I'd already started the process of putting extra kitchen stuff into large plastic bins, so the clean dishes and appliances had a place to go.

After I huffed and puffed my way through clearing stuff out of the basement and cursing my luck and washing and re-washing things that were near the aforementioned crackers, I needed a drink.  So a tequila smoothie it was because I didn't quite have the ingredients on hand for a margarita.

The chore continued well into yesterday and when I looked at the clock I was shocked to find out it was already 4:30pm.  Any time after 4:00 is okay for wine in my book.  Since I was now out of tequila, Yellowtail would have to do.

I had a curious onlooker.  He was depressed because I had things to do and couldn't play.  Dishes don't wash themselves, Scout.

Tequila Smoothie

This is just what I added based on the ingredients I had on hand.  I started throwing things into the blender and the end result was a fruity, refreshing, smoothie-like drink.  

1 1/2 cups frozen fruit (I used chunks of pineapple, blueberries, and strawberries)

Juice of half a lime

1-2 shots tequila

1-2 shots coconut rum

Juice, about 3/4 cup (I used Simply Lemonade Mango)

Blend it up and enjoy (while sitting in bed watching something ridiculous…I chose Hart of Dixie.)

Easiest Sangria You'll Ever Make

Because it's Tuesday. And because it's still 30 degrees and spitting snow here in Missouri.  Because I can't believe I left Alaska for this; if I wanted perpetual winter, I might as well have stayed in that place. (Scott and I even talked about how we'd totally move back there…well, he would.  I would if this winter thing wasn't an issue. But since winter isn't actually ever going to go away, this is a moot point.) 

Anyway.  The point is that I expected a springtime and it's just not happening.


Last year, I posted a sangria recipe and that stuff sure was tasty.

However, I have something much better for you because it's MUCH easier.

Sangria is the perfect spring/summer drink.  Fancier than wine, less work than frozen drinks…especially if you're entertaining!  No blender needed!

This one is inexpensive too.  According to that link above, I spent $8 on the wine last time…oh no, that's far too much for wine.  Sweet and cheap is the way we like things around here.

The Easiest Sangria You'll Ever Make

makes 4-6 servings (3 of us each had 2-ish glasses)

1 bottle red wine (sweet and cheap, guys…mine was $2.97)

1 can ginger ale (or 2 cups)

Half an orange or a whole clementine, cut into wedges

Half a lime, cut into wedges

1 cup of what whatever frozen fruit you can can (I used blackberries)

Any extra fruit you want to throw in (I sliced up some strawberries)

In a large pitcher, stir together the wine and ginger ale.  

Squeeze the juice from half your orange wedges and half the lime wedges into the pitcher.  Garnish with the leftover lime and orange.

Stir in your frozen fruit and any other fruit you'd like to add.  The frozen fruit eliminates the need for ice cubes and then you won't have to worry about watered-down sangria.  

Store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Healthiness: Green Smoothie with Flax

We all need a super smoothie recipe in our arsenal, right?   Here's my new favorite.

Blue Diamond should sponsor me at the rate we go through this stuff.

Protein powder, flax, xanthum gum

My new love is ground flax.  I put it in oatmeal, regular and baked.  It's great in muffins and banana bread too.

It definitely adds a nice nutty texture to green smoothies.  I highly recommend it.  I've also tried this with wheat germ, so that's an easy substitution if you don't have flax.

Green Smoothie with Flax
makes 2 big servings (that's not all of it in the glass above)

1/2 cup blueberries
1 banana, frozen and cut into chunks
Optional: 1/2 cup other frozen fruit (strawberries, peaches, mango, mixed…whatever you feel like)
1 T ground flax (We use Bob's Red Mill.)
1-2 T vanilla protein powder (I like the flavor you get from it…I'd use more if it was before or after a cardio workout.)
Pinch of xanthum gum
1 cup almond milk (We use regular unsweetened.)
2 cups fresh spinach
Water, if needed, to help blend it

Blend it up!

{I'm not blind: I know it looks gross.  But it tastes so fresh and is very filling.  If it wasn't so much work to clean the dumb blender, I'd probably make 2 a day.}

Last week's dinners...and a smoothie recipe

Again, still trying to clean out the fridge, still making dinner from scratch when possible, still showing you last week's food because this week's will only be a smattering of leftovers and whatever's left in the freezer.

Saturday night (4/6): Roasted butternut squash and BBQ chicken wraps

Sunday (4/7):  Stromboli and asparagus

Monday (4/8):  Quinoa stir-fry (This was zucchini and frozen stir-fry mix + quinoa cooked in chicken broth)

Tuesday (4/9):  Thai Chicken (Crockpot) and Slaw (Amaaaaazingggg)  I didn't do the pineapple or the red pepper.  I used a bag of broccoli slaw that I had bought on clearance with no real plan in mind.  Then I stumbled on this recipe and I knew it'd work well.  I drizzled balsamic vinaigrette on it.  Also, I didn't have curry powder or turmeric.  After some research, I made my own "curry" powder: 1 t. cumin, 1/2 t. ground coriander, 1/2 t. chili powder, 1/2 t. ginger.

Wednesday (4/10):   Leftovers with another butternut squash.

Thursday (4/11):  Salsa Chicken Lettuce Wraps and leftover squash

Friday (4/12):  Went out to dinner at Turkey Red.  I had bread/veggies/hummus and half a steak salad. I brought Scott the moussaka.

Saturday (4/13):  Took pulled pork to Scott's co-worker's house.

Sunday (4/14):  Burritos made with the leftover salsa chicken (They include black beans and corn).

Sharing at Meal Planning Monday and Dinnertime Tuesday

I've been drinking a spinach smoothie every morning for the last week.  I've discovered that if you put in just a pinch of xanthum gum, the texture is perfect.  Smoothies for breakfast has been an adjustment.  I'm used to something crunchy (uh, cereal) in the morning with my coffee.  It's been months since I cut out the habit (uh, cereal) and it's tough.  Almost as tough as my after dinner candy habit (that's not going away anytime soon).
Oh well.  I've been drinking these on my way to work.  A frozen smoothie with the heat going full force as it's still in the single digits outside. Makes absolute sense.

Spinach Shake
makes 1 large or 2 small shakes

1/2 banana (can be frozen)
Handful frozen or fresh berries (I use strawberries)
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 T. (or one scoop) protein powder
1 heaping cup fresh spinach
1 pinch xanthum gum

Mix it all up in the blender!  You can add ice and more almond milk if you'd like.

What are you eating for breakfast these days?

Dinner Party and Sangria

When I think of a dinner party, I think of this:

So when Scott's all, "People are coming over", my pessimistic side usually takes over.

Honestly, I was not going to make osso buco and I was not going to wait until midnight to eat (see the dinner party that is referenced above).  

Here's what I made..

Enchiladas- I went with a tasty main dish that I knew would turn out right since we'd had it a few weeks ago. I used a rotisserie chicken to save time and money.

Rice-This was new to me, but I figured it'd be pretty hard to screw up.  I omitted the olives and red pepper (laziness is a flaw, as I was not going back to the store).  I REALLY liked it.  I'm a huge fan of Caribbean-style rice and beans (the kind cooked in coconut milk) and this reminded me of that because we used jasmine rice (Scott's suggestion. He's so smart).

Source: tideandthyme.com via Kristin on Pinterest

Apple Crisp- a stand-by dessert.  The hardest part was finding baking apples.  All I wanted were MacIntosh.  I went with Fuji.

Delicious.  It's my new pride and joy.  It takes a little effort...but then you can keep a pitcher of it in the fridge and sip from it all week.  I had the fruit and limeaide in the freezer.  So I made a pitcher of this for the cost of an $8 bottle of wine and a $2 bottle of ginger ale.  And if we weren't in such a hurry at the store, I probably could've found much cheaper wine.
This drink was super-sweet (the way us cheap wine drinkers like it), so I really do recommend topping off individual glasses with extra ginger ale.

Fruity Lime Sangria

1 bottle merlot
2 cups ginger ale (to mix in and then you can top off each drink with extra)
1/2 lime sliced into wedges
1/2 lemon sliced into wedges
1/2 orange sliced into wedges

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup frozen concentrated limeaide
2-3 shots of Triple Sec


1 cup fresh or frozen fruit (I used a bag of mixed frozen fruit, but sliced strawberries, peaches, or other whole berries would be tasty.)

Pour the merlot into a pitcher.  Squeeze the juice from the lime, lemon, and orange wedges into the pitcher and stir.  Add in limeaide, sugar, and Triple Sec.  Stir well until the sugar is dissolved and store in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.  You can also add the fruit during this step if you want.  I added mine in later.

After the sangria has "marinated" for at least a few hours, stir in 2 cups of ginger ale and the fruit, if you haven't already.  Serve immediately (if frozen, the fruit acts as ice cubes).  Pour into glasses and top with more ginger ale, if desired.

What do you serve if you're entertaining?  It doesn't matter how many meals/desserts/drinks I've made for Scott and myself..it's always nerve-racking when other people are involved!

Frozen Monkeys

Judging by their favorite thing to say to each other, I think the "F.M." stands for "Fear Me".  They are so strange.

Every year, my school holds a floor hockey tournament.  Each class is a team, and each class is responsible for coming up with a name, a poster, and the teacher picks captains to be in charge of the roster.

I look at this as a preview of what my parenting skills will be.  A few teachers (well, maybe most of them) did the posters for the kids.  Many of them looked quite professional and I can't be sure they didn't come from the UPS store printer.  A few teachers (possibly all) created the rosters themselves.  A few put themselves in charge of the team.  I didn't.  I told them who the captains would be, I printed the blank roster forms off of the computer, and I told them I'd cut the giant paper for the poster.

Then I completely forgot about cutting the paper..

My aide ended up cutting the 5 foot x 6 foot piece of paper you see up there and giving it to the kids.  About a dozen of the kids stayed in from recess for 3 days to design and color it.  As I sat there, munching on pretzels and Larabars (and reading slate.com) during my lunch break, I could hear them holding elections over the team name.  Ballot voting was the democratic strategy they used.  They came up with "Frozen Monkeys" on their own.  They designed and colored the poster.  They managed to sort out their differences and learned to get along in the process.

The day before each game (we had four), I'd give the captains a list of who was eligible to play.  They worked on the rosters during lunch/recess and at home.

It's safe to say that I had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with any of it.  I didn't even sort out differences they had mid-game.  If someone wasn't there to play, they replaced the kid with someone else.  I just watched them become little problem-solvers.

And you know what?  We were undefeated.  We won the 4th grade tournament.

I'm so proud of them.  They did it all on their own.  While it may not seem like much, this feels like my greatest accomplishment as their teacher this year.  To know when to back off is just as important as knowing when to step in, right?

A helicopter parent is something I'll probably never be.

When I typed out the title "Frozen Monkeys" for this post, I thought, "Hmmm...that sounds like a drink."  So I made this.

I really love the protein powder we have (Nitrean, vanilla), but I hear it's been discontinued.  If this smoothie is pre or post-workout, I add the protein powder, and then there's the added bonus of it tasting like a milkshake.  If it's just breakfast, I leave it out.  The Greek yogurt and peanut butter packs enough protein to fill me up for a bit.

Frozen Monkey
makes 2 small or 1 large drink

1 banana, frozen and peeled
1/2 cup milk
2 T. peanut butter
Greek yogurt (optional)
1 scoop protein powder (optional)

Mix the banana, milk, peanut butter in blender until it hits the consistency you prefer.  Add in the yogurt and protein powder and mix.  You can also add in a few ice cubes if you like it extra frosty.

Beer and Lime Margarita

It's Monday.  It's the first week of school.  Who wants a drink?

The fact that this is becoming "What's Kristin drinking this week?" instead of "A blog of food & thought" is not lost on me.

I'm one of those who will drink half a beer zealously and then either:  drink the last half grudgingly, give it to my husband, or dump it out.  (Why yes, I have been accused of 'watering the grass' before. Why do you ask?)

I made this a month or so ago and shared it with my husband.  He liked it too.

Actually, he was reading some fishing report online (He reads fishing blogs.  Can you think of something more un-blog-worthy?? Fishing??).  As he sipped away, I stood 7 inches away and said, "Do you like it? Do you like it? Doyoulikeit?", as I progressively got closer and closer to his face.

He said, "Mmmhmm", and kept reading those fishing reports.

I'm not sure if that means it's good or not.

I liked it anyway.

Beer and Lime Margarita
makes 2 drinks
inspired by this drink
Juice of 1/2 a fresh lime
1 cup frozen (or fresh) strawberries (or cherries!)
1/4 cup frozen limeaide
1 12 oz. beer (I used Michelob Ultra with Lime)
2 shots Triple Sec
2 shots tequila

Extra lime slices for garnish

In a blender, combine the lime juice, frozen fruit, frozen limeade, and liquor.  Once combined, pour into two glasses.  Top each glass with half of the cold beer.  Garnish with lime and enjoy.

Linking up to Mingle Monday!

PB and Banana Protein Smoothie

I did a guest post yesterday for Kelly @Muddy Flowers.  More stuff about Alaska.  If you're interested...
(She has an adorable blog and 5 children......how do people with children blog?)
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Lately, I've been in a true breakfast funk.  It used to be my favorite time of day.  I adore breakfast food.  It just isn't appealing to me right now.  Instead of going through the options and telling you why I don't want to eat this or that, I'll tell you what I've been eating for breakfast for the last two months.

Dry cereal.


Yes.  As a toddler would.

I roll out of bed around 9:00am (in time for The View), I make my coffee (which I've also been having a love/hate relationship with as of late) and I pour a bowl of dry cereal (usually Oatmeal Squares) and I sit down in front of my Google Reader and I munch, munch, munch away.

Like a toddler would.  Or a squirrel.  I don't know.  I haven't had cereal with milk in months.

One day, I didn't even want dry cereal (!). That's when I knew something was wrong.  Lately, I've been forcing myself to eat something, anything, because I know that breakfast kickstarts one's metabolism.

So I made this.  Bananas are, of course, a superfood.  The protein powder makes it taste like a gosh-darn milkshake.  And the peanut butter gives it a real kick.  It's pretty subtle, but you'd definitely miss it without.
Six months ago, I would've thrown some spinach into the mix, but lately the thought of spinach makes me cringe.  As does the thought of most vegetables.

What are YOU eating for breakfast these days? Please tell me.  I have all of one week before I need to get my act together and feed myself before 8am.  If you don't help me, it's not gonna be pretty.

PB and Banana Protein Smoothie
makes one large smoothie

1 frozen banana
1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I used Nitrean.)
1 T. peanut butter
1 cup almond milk (or regular or whatever)
about 4 ice cubes (a handful works)

This is the part where I should not be allowed to blog recipes...

Mix it up in the blender.  Of course.

Happy weekend!

Frozen Cherry Limeaide

I've only been to Sonic once.  Well, maybe twice.  I don't know.  The nearest one was hours away from where I grew up.  (What's that?  No, there are no Sonics in Alaska, friend.)

So to say that I don't understand this "Cherry Limeaide craze" would be an understatement.

However, I love a good slush.  I love it more when there's rum involved.

I found myself creating a lot more drinks when my husband was home a few weeks ago.  But he's picky.  Every time I got the frozen fruit and juice going in the blender I'd have stop and ask him, "Alcohol or not?".   Because sometimes (and I know this is hard to believe) he is not in the mood for rum or tequila.

We're an odd couple.

So I'd make him his Shirley Temple and I'd make myself the "I'm just going to pretend I'm lying on a beach in the Caribbean version".

Frozen Cherry Limeaide
inspired by this super simple limeade
makes 4 drinks

1 cup cherries (frozen or fresh)
1/4 cup limeaide concentrate (not mixed with water)
1/2 cup water
Cherry 7-up (At least half a can per drink; I just bought a 2 liter bottle.)
Fresh lime slices
Cherries for garnish

In a blender, mix the cherries, limeaide, and water.  You can also squeeze in some fresh lime juice if you want. 
Pour mixture into a freezer safe container and let it set up in the freezer.  OR you can skip this step and just add crushed ice to your drink.
Into a glass, pour 1/2 cup of the cherry mixture.  Top with Cherry 7-up until the glass is full and garnish with lime slices and cherries.
*For an alcoholic version:  Add a shot of Triple Sec and/or a shot of rum to each drink.

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