Homemade Blizzards

For some reason I got obsessed with the idea of making homemade Blizzards. I turned that obsessive thought into reality by buying a four liter tub of ice cream and various chocolate bar add-ins. Then I proceeded to eat Blizzards every day for a bunch of days in a row. All the various add-in chocolate bars make a yummy treat, but hands down the best one is Smarties, no question.

Giant tub of ice cream, chocolates, and accessories

Smarties Blizzard (the best)

Reese's Pieces getting ready to blend

Reese's Pieces Blizzard

Mint Aero getting ready to blend

Mint Aero Blizzard

Dark Ginger Ale

I don't drink pop very often, but when I do, my favourite kind is ginger ale.

Recently there was a coupon for a new type of ginger ale, Dark Ginger Ale. The deal was, buy two 2L bottles of the new ginger ale, and get $2 off. Name brand pop is often around $2 for 2L, so I waited for a sale. A $1 sale, to be exact. So for just $0.25 ($0.13 tax on each bottle, rounded down to just a quarter because we don't use the penny anymore), I got two bottles of pop. Deal!

Pretty near free pop is good enough on its own, but the best part is that this Dark Ginger Ale actually tastes amazing. With my first sip I wasn't quite sure, but then I drank one of the 2L bottles waaaaayyyy too fast. It is a wonderful mixture of spicy and sweet. I love it.

 

It's Tea Time!

Between pre-Christmas sales and Christmas gifts, we currently have about 500 bags of tea in the house. Green, Earl Grey, Orange Pekoe, and herbal tea.

*Not pictured: about 100 or so tea bags that are stored in opaque jars.

New Festive Mug

I treated myself to a new mug to help me get into the festive spirit. I love snowmen because they are always smiling, and this guy helps me start my day with a festive smile.

Specialty Coffee Mix

We've been off coffee since November and I have to say I haven't really missed it. I replaced my morning beverage with Green Tea and then realized I like Orange Pekoe too. Mom recently gave me a hand-me-down tea pot and some of my Nanny's old tea cups (with saucers) so now I'm not only a tea drinker but a fancy tea drinker to boot.

John likes tea too, but periodically has a craving for coffee and reminded me recently of some coffee mixes I made a long while back. I misplaced the recipe I originally used, but I'm pretty sure it's the same as or was the recipe found here.

Vanilla Coffee Mix (recipe is from here).
1/3 cup instant cofee
1 cup instant skim milk powder
1/2 cup coffee whitener
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup vanilla pudding mix

Mix all the ingredients in a blender and blend until mixed. I thought I would use my Magic Bullet to blend it, but I realized once I measured in all my ingredients that it was super full and probably wouldn't blend right (magic or no). It made for an awesome photo, though!

I used my stand up blender to blend, and it took 30 seconds at most. So quick and easy.

 

 

Add three tablespoons of mix to mug and just add hot water. Adjust to taste. We have big mugs (ha!) so we keep adding scoops until it tastes right.

Add whip cream and cinnamon sugar to top of your bevy if desired and enjoy!

Family Day and Roll Up The Rim

It's Family Day here in Ontario and also the first day of Tim Hortons Roll up the Rim to Win! I spent today sleeping in, reading, writing, going for a walk in the (cold) sunshine, and stopping at Timmies for some Roll up the Rim fun. Not quite sure why this ad campaign works so well on me, but I got a medium decaf and a box of 20 timbits while I was there. And a chance to win!

There are two parts of the rim to roll up this year. Here is how I did:

I won a frickin' doughnut!!!

And a "Please Play Again" on my bonus roll.

My Once-A-Year Mug

This happened this morning.

Love using this mug!

Ready for October

I finally picked up a Halloween mug. When I first saw this at the store last week, I wasn't sure I liked it, so I left it there. I'm happy to say I went back tonight and bought it. Now that I'm drinking a hot chocolate out of it, I think it's just perfect. I love how the witch is flying behind a spider web. It's a Hallween mug that isn't kidding around.

Really looking forward to using this mug for pumpkin spice lattes throughout October.

Pumpkin Spice Everything

That's right, this is another post about pumpkin spice. I am completely obsessed with it, and am actually drinking a homemade pumpkin spice latte as I write this. I have been adding it to everything lately and I don't think I will get sick of it. I love, love, love it! :)

My new obsession comes from my previous ignorance. I understood that pumpkin spice must have existed but I didn't really understand that I could buy it or make it and then eat it every day. Now I have a daily habit of Googling what else I can make with it, and I think this will be the year I make my first pumpkin pie. Pretty excited about that. 

Last week I happily learned that pumpkin pie spice is a beautiful combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice. You can throw the spices together yourself or buy pre-mixed. I got 'Pumpkin Spice' from the Bulk Barn and it is fabulous.

Since we added it to our spice rack last Thursday, we've been going crazy with it. I made awesome cupcakes. We've been adding 1/2 tsp to coffee grounds in our perk coffee maker to make a really easy pumpkin spice coffee. We also add 1/4 tsp to a mug of Orange Pekoe, for a flavourful tea. My Twitter buddy Kathy let me know she uses it on oatmeal, and I had to try that too. I added some dried cranberries as well and have had a very festive breakfast the past two days.

Steel cut oats with pumpkin spice and dried cranberries

We've also been making easy lattes. The same way you probably shouldn't call chicken bacon bacon, I proabably shouldn't call my drink a latte, but it has the same idea. I don't use espresso or steamed milk, but it tastes awesome anyway.

For my latte I add 2 tbs pumpkin puree, 1 tbs brown sugar, 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice, 1 tsp instant decaf coffee (I only have coffee in the morning...except when I have it at night - so we keep instant decaf on hand). 

Next I add 1/3 mug of milk and stir.

Then fill it up with boiling water to activate the instant coffee. (Normally I think instant coffee is gross but in a fun drink like this, I like it just fine.)

We forgot to pick up whipped cream, but it is actually quite lovely without it.

What is your favourite thing to do with pumpkin pie spice? Do you make your own or buy a pre-mixed version?

Wedding Winnings

We had a family wedding on Saturday, held at a lovely cottage in Victoria Harbour. Family and friends helped cater a buffet, and after dinner coffee was provided by Tim Hortons. The awesome thing I learned about getting Timmies coffee catered in, is that there are loads of creamer, milk, and sugar leftovers. Which are all now in my house. Awesome.

Coffee is going to taste even better for the next little while. My usual coffee has whitener or milk, and on those rare occasions I use cream, I use the 5% kind. This stuff is 18% and it's adding some yummy bliss to my mornings. 

Iced Everything Please

How's the weather where you are? We are currently involved in some sort of heat wave. It has been over 30°C for the past three days and everyone is melting. I'm all for the heat (winter was unbearably long this year), but I wouldn't be Canadian if I wasn't commenting on it. :)

To beat the heat I have been spending limited time outdoors (though still trying to get at least 30 minutes per day), and having lots of cold foods and beverages (cold salads and homemade iced tea are favourites). Another treat helping us beat the heat are homemade iced cappuccinos.

We use our Magic Bullet to make these, although we use our full blender to crush the ice first (it actually has a button called "Ice Crush"). We find the big blender crushes the ice more evenly than the Bullet, and to get it the way we like it, we don't mind the extra step.

We add crushed ice to the Magic Bullet cups.

Next we add instant coffee and brown sugar to taste (about 1 large scoop of each for me), and 3/4 cup milk (more milk if you like a thinner ice cap).

Blend in Magic Bullet until smooth. Drink with a straw and feel the relief!

Enjoy!! And feel free to check out previous posts using the Magic Bullet:
Smoothies
Scrambled Eggs

Always On A Timmy's Run

I have been going to Tim Horton's almost daily over the past few months, which is more times then I was there over the entirety of last year.  There are some valid reasons for my dramatic increase of Tim Horton's consumption.

Reason One: I make my own schedule right now and when I'm in charge, there is always time to stop for coffee.  When I was working, the day started at 8:00am sharp, and when one leaves the house at 7:48am for a 15 minute commute - there is no room for a drive through visit!  (I know the math doesn't make sense, but I was hardly ever late for work).

Reason Two: my mother underwent hip replacement surgery at the end of May, so I have been back and forth to Barrie every few days to spend time with her, clean up her apartment, and help her in her recovery.  As per reason number one, I make my own schedule for this, so I often stop at Tim Horton's on the way.  I stopped drinking coffee in January, but running the roads, the stress of being one day here and the next day gone*, sweating the small stuff (my dad's car battery died while I was driving, I ripped a tile out of the wall of their bathroom, as well as a few other choice things), and not getting enough sleep (or sometimes too much) has found me frequenting the drive through line.  Like the countless others before me, I've turned to a stimulant to help me cope with the stress of my life. 

Reason Three: I didn't admit to myself that I started drinking coffee again ("it's just a treat!"), so going to Tim's was my only option as I hadn't set up my coffee maker at home.

Thankfully for my finances, John and I plugged in our coffee maker last week, so I am a regular coffee drinker again.  When I gave it up in January I was drinking 2-3 cups a day, but so far I am sticking to only one cup (not 8 oz, a real cup!). If I feel like a second cup, I go for a tea, and so far that is working for me.  Even though I make coffee at home now, I'm already thinking about the Timmy run I will be making on my way to Barrie this Saturday.  One day at a time...



*Yep that is a Tom Cochrane lyric**

**Not Rascal Flatts (well, yes them too, but I was quoting Tom Cochrane).

Make Your Own Iced Tea

Following some tips from Canadian Living, I made some pretty rocking Lemon-Ginger iced tea.

What you'll need:
16 cups boiled water
1 cup sugar (or to taste)
10 bags green tea
2 tsp powdered ginger (or to taste)
1/4 cup lemon juice (or to taste)
Large jug

To make iced tea:
Pour 16 cups of boiling water over tea bags.  Let steep 15 minutes and then remove tea bags.  Add 1 cup of sugar to the tea while water is still hot.  Stir to mix in.  Allow tea to cool on counter.  Once cooled, refrigerate.

This recipe has about 1 tbs of sugar per cup.  Add more or less to suit your desired sweetness.  Also, though the iced tea was good the day I made it, it tasted even better the next day, so hang in there if it doesn't initially wow you.