coffee

::Coffee Talk:: Let’s Catch Up

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I’m back! This is the first time in 10 years that I have been away from blogging for this long. This is also the first time in 10 years that I haven’t felt like I had to put out content even though mentally I just wasn’t completely focused. I’ll be real this pregnancy hasn’t been my easiest and most nights I’m in bed with Alder at 7:30pm because my stomach is just not feeling it’s best and while I don’t want to get too political this election took a huge toll on my mind and my spirit. Pregnancy + Post-Election Stress + the Holidays left me with the decision to just take a break until the new year. So it’s 2017 and I’m feeling re-energized and I have so much to share. Side note while I have been absent from this blog I have finally converted over to Instagram stories and I’m super active over there if you want to join me.

So let’s chat about a few things:

First, I’m pregnant.  Yes that’s right baby #3 is on the way. I’m officially in my second trimester and while I have shared this on social media already this is the first the blog is hearing about it. It’s been a bit of a struggle; I’ve been pretty sick this time around and with 4.5 year old and 2 year old pregnancy is just about as easy as it sounds. This pregnancy is also feeling slightly neglected and I guess that’s how third pregnancies go. I’m trying to think of some ways that I could make this pregnancy a bit more special but I’m just coming up blank – any ideas? Also any questions about this pregnancy?

Second, RWT is getting a bit of a content face lift. I am working on a post completely dedicated to this topic so keep your eyes peeled for a post regarding content in the next week or so. Also I’m always interested in hearing what you would like to see more of on RWT so share in the comments below.

Third, I’m just really excited to be back.  That’s it. Oh and I’ll be catching up on replying to comments over the next few weeks.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and I look forward to sharing another year with you. 

Happy New Year! 

Autumn Spiced Vanilla Latte

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After a crazy heat wave here in Portland we have finally had a bit of cool and rainy weather. I don’t know about you but cool, rainy weather = coffee in my world. Also moving with a one-year-old and a three-year-old also = coffee (coffee, coffee). So what better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than making an Autumn Spiced syrup while your husband makes you an espresso for your homemade latte?
Almond Breeze Latte 1When we lived in Montpelier Vermont we used to go to Birchgrove Bakery (the name may be different now) and they had the best Autumn Spiced latte. I have no idea what was in it but I remember flavors of vanilla and cinnamon so I decided to make my own spiced syrup.

For the Autumn Spiced syrup you will need:

1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of ground ginger
dash of ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Bring the coconut sugar and water to a boil. Stir in the spices. Turn the heat down a bit and simmer until thick stirring frequently. Do not walk away from this because you don’t want want it to boil over or to burn. Once it coats the back of a spoon (about 3-4 minutes) pour into a heat proof container to cool slightly.Almond Breeze Latte 2 To make the latte you will need one to two shots of espresso or you can make a cafe au lait by using your favorite coffee. Heat up the Almond Breeze Unsweetened (the syrup will be sweet enough) Vanilla Almond Coconut Milk and use an electric frother to create a really great foam. Add 1-3 teaspoons of syrup to your espresso/coffee and mix together then slowly add in the steamed milk and top with the delicious foam.
Almond Breeze Latte

This drink is seriously delicious and while I usually drink my coffee black it will be the perfect treat for the Fall and Winter. I think I might even try it in my roasted dandelion teas as well; I bet it will be fantastic.

What gets you excited about Fall? For me it’s the crisp weather, Gilmore Girls (I re-watched it each Fall) and warm coffee.

This post is sponsored by Almond Breeze Almondmilk.

Christmas Gifts: Coffee Snob

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As many of you know I live with somewhat of a coffee snob so we have lots of coffee paraphernalia around our house and I do a lot of coffee related gift shopping.  These are a few of my husband and my favorite coffee related items.

Coffee Snob

Disclaimer: This post was NOT sponsored. These are all items that I use regularly at home and I think they would make wonderful gifts.

1. Our Aeropress is one of our favorite coffee makers.  It makes a pretty amazing Americano and is super quick and easy to make a single cup of coffee.

2. Kettle- the kettle featured above is one my favorite items that I have purchased this year. It is a Japanese kettle that is meant for preparing amazing coffee.

3. I actually haven’t ever used this book but it is a favorite of my husbands.

4. These mugs are our absolute favorite.  We have two and I am dying to buy more but Healthy Living (our local natural food store) stopped caring them -boo!

5. Kicking Horse- we have lots of favorite coffees but this is one of my all time favorites.

Disclaimer: This post was NOT sponsored. These are all items that I use regularly at home and I think they would make wonderful gifts.

karma karma karma chameleon

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Is it really already Thursday? The days just flow together lately and time seems to be passing so fast. Last night we were able to get the munchkin down fairly early so Neil and I actually had time to eat dinner together, talk, enjoy a small glass of red wine (oh how I missed you) and caught up on an episode of White Collar.

Although we had a pretty good evening we woke up this morning with a cranky, gassy baby. To help make it through the morning I decided that coffee was a must have and Neil and I tried the Chameleon Cold-Brew (FYI I can’t stop singing karma karma karma chameleon every time I think about this coffee) I received yesterday*. I debated trying a few of the different recipes that were sent with the coffee and ultimately decided to make Neil and I the Southern Hemisphere.

This was the perfect coffee drink to get me started this morning.  I was expecting it to be a lot sweeter than it was but was happy to find that it was just the right balance of flavors and sweetness for me.  Tomorrow morning I think that we are going to try a variation on the peanut butter cup coffee drink recipe using the Chameleon Cold-Brew.

Once I was fueled up with a good breakfast and coffee it was time to take on the cranky baby (so thankful to have Neil working from home this week and next).  I could tell Edie was getting tired by her big yawns, bating eyelids and tugging at her ears.  I tried bouncing her, swaying her, rocking her and every time I thought she was ready to be put down she would let out a big wail when I tried so I moved on to Plan B the Boba Wrap. She was a little fussy at first when I put her in but a few minutes of bouncing on the exercise ball and she had passed out and I was able to take on some freelance assignments and read a few blogs.

Now it’s afternoon and I have Edie lounging in her Boppy Infant Lounger and I am getting ready to take on the task of figuring out what to make with our CSA veggies this week.  Here is what we got along with some garlic and cucumbers that I forgot to take photos of.

Any recipe suggestions? You can check out what I have in my pantry here.

Disclaimer: Chameleon Cold-Brew provided me with their product at no cost. I was under no obligation to review them if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway.

WIAW: Vacation Eats

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I’ve decided to try something new on the blog this week and if I and you are digging it will (try) to keep up with it. 

This week we are on vacation but luckily this doesn’t mean we have been eating out all week because we are staying at a condo in North Myrtle Beach with my parents.  This has made our lives so much easier and I love having a place to cook all or at least most of our meals.

Breakfast: Berries, English Muffin, Hash Browns, Veggie-Pesto Tofu Scramble

Beverage: Decaf Coffee

Lunch Part 1: Salad with cranberries, almonds and apple

Lunch Part 2: Veggie and Polenta Lasagna

Snack: a million Salt and Pepper Pistachios

Beverage: Ginger Lemon Peel Herbal Water

Dinner: Guacamole, Tomato Bruschetta, Pesto Spinach-Artichoke Dip, Baked Garlic Fries and crackers, bread and tortillas.

Not Pictured: 2 oreos, 8 sour patch kids and a decaf vanilla black tea and lots of glasses of water.

Farewell Coffee, So Long Beer

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Last May Neil and I did a short detox where we avoided caffeine, alcohol and processed sugars.  Although challenging at first in the end it felt great to take a break and let my body rest.  As much as I love coffee and a really nice microbrew or glass of red I’ve decided that I want to do a pre-Christmas detox.  I also think it pairs well with the 30 Days of Yoga Challenge.

So from now until Christmas I’m going on a caffeine and alcohol detox.  I know it’s going to be a challenge with the days getting colder but instead of turning to a nice warm cup of coffee I’ll be turning to a nice decaf tea.  As for the alcohol not as big of a challenge but I’ll just have to wait to try Neil’s newest home brew until Christmas.

 

  • Tips to Reduce Coffee
    • To slightly reduce the depleting effects of coffee add a bit of ginger, cardamom and a few grains of salt to your coffee.
    • Try half herbal coffee such as Teecino and half regular coffee.  Slowly increasing ration of herbal until you make the switch.  Alternatively try half regular and half decaf and use the same method.
    • Switch to teas such as green tea and yerba mate both of which boost energy but without the negative side effects associated with coffee.
Are you a coffee drinker? Have you ever tried to eliminate or reduce your coffee intake?

{Hubz Post} Iced Coffee: Doing it Japanese

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I had spent the first 28 or so years of my life absolutely certain that I was not a coffee drinker and that I would never be a coffee drinker.  I didn’t like hot drinks and I had never had a pleasant tasting coffee.  It was odd, because I did like chocolate covered coffee beans, coffee ice cream and other things with coffee flavour, but could never bring myself to like coffee.  That is, until I attended a Green Mountain Coffee tasting event with Lindsay.  It turns out, I had just never had a good cup of coffee in my life.  Apparently, Tim Hortons and Irving convenience store coffees and coffee drinks were not the best that coffee had to offer.  Now, at 30, I find myself to have become a coffee snob and somewhat of a connoisseur.

There’s nothing I love better in the morning than a nice cup of coffee  ( the darker the better! ).  With this hot summer though, hot coffee isn’t always going to hit the spot and that’s where iced coffee comes into play.  Having grown tired of over-spending on iced coffee that I could never guarantee wasn’t just yesterday’s leftovers thrown in the fridge or something entirely overcooked and done too strong, I needed to find out how to make a good cup of iced coffee on the cheap.  I had made cold pressed iced coffee before with a french press, but we are without a french press and that is an overnight/all day process as it is.  After reading some articles and blogs online, I stumbled across the Japanese method of brewing iced coffee.  This method was done in minutes, doesn’t require any fancy equipment and – most importantly – makes a delicious cup of iced coffee.  It’s been a go to of mine as of late and I decided to document the process one night while I was brewing my latest batch of home brewed beer.  Lindsay asked me to share with you, so here is the process in words and pictures.

What You’ll Need

  • A suitable glass container ( I’ve used a wine carafe and water pitcher, but the Chemex seems to be the most popular choice amongst coffee bloggers)
  • A metal conical coffee filter
  • Equal amount ice to boiling water (1 oz weight of ice is equal to 1 fl oz of water)
  • 1.5-1.8 grams of coarse ground coffee to total fluid oz of water (depending on how strong you like it!)

How You Make It

  1. If you have a grinder, grind your beans on the coarse setting.
  2. Boil some water for the coffee
  3. Weigh out your ice and place it in the glass container.
  4. Measure the water.
  5. Place the filter with the ground coffee on the top of the container.
  6. Slowly pour the boiling water through the grinds in the container.
  7. Make your favourite additions to the iced coffee and enjoy! (I love mine black)

When you are done you will have a great iced coffee with a delicious rich and smooth flavour.  Melting the ice with the coffee allows for the iced coffee to be cooled immediately and without weakening or diluting the brew.  Also, with the coffee being cooled immediately, it prevents the oxidization and loss of flavour that you would have if you allowed a normally brewed pot of coffee to chill over a couple of hours.  The coffee should keep a good flavour for a day or so after you brew it, if you decide to brew a bigger batch.