Cheater's Cafe Mocha

I love coffee.  I love the smell, the taste and considering I have three children, I am particularly fond of the caffeine.
I usually drink my coffee at home with a sprinkle of sugar and a splash of cream, but I am also a fan of a good café mocha.  Unfortunately, I am not always able to drag my two smaller kiddos out to grab one from the local shop, so I came up with an easy to make at-home option.  You will laugh at the simplicity of my version, until you try it.  Then you will be impressed by my brilliance.

 

Cheater's Café Mocha

also known as "My children make me a shut in mocha"

 

 

Ingredients:

milk

hot chocolate mix

coffee

whip cream if you're inclined

 

Directions:

This is made according to personal taste.  I will tell you how I like mine and give you a starting point.

Heat 1/2 cup milk in the microwave for about 1 minute.

While it heats, add 2 tablespoons hot chocolate mix to your mug.

Pour hot milk slowly over mix, stirring vigorously to combine.

Top off with coffee (I use a Keurig set on the big cup).

If you want the authentic experience, bust out the Dream Whip for a topper.

 

 

That is it!  I know right?  You've been paying Timmy Ho-Ho's two fiddy for a cup of pretty much the same thing (minus the milk, gross).  You're welcome.



Spice Rack on Crack

I love to cook.  If you did not already know that, clearly you do not spend enough of your precious time reading my blog.  Shame on you.

I have an asinine amount of food stuffs.  My pantry could comfortably sustain weeks without grocery shopping (they would be very boring, produce and dairy free weeks, but it could be done).  I also have a little bit of everything in the spice department, which has caused me a slight problem.

My house came equipped with a lazy Susan I decided was the perfect place to keep all my seasonings.  Unfortunately, this lazy Susan was made for someone who simply LIKED to cook, not one who LOVES to cook.  I had it filled to capacity and then some.  I ended up with duplicates because I could never find what I needed.  Then it was chaos.

I love Ana White.  She has a great DIY blog (http://ana-white.com/ check it out, I'll wait) and I get the updates by e-mail.  One day I saw this:

 

http://ana-white.com/2013/07/plans/door-spice-rack

 

I love, love, loved the idea of all my spices being at eye level and organized.  I wanted to make it.  Then I remembered.  I am a full time mom of a 10 year old, 3-1/2 year old and 11 month old, part time(ish) hairstylist, and my husband works ridiculous hours.  Sigh.  No beautiful homemade spice rack for me.

 

I knew this was the route I wanted to take in my pantry so I started looking for another (less time required) option.  I found these:

 

 

I knew this could be my solution.  I ordered four (yes FOUR) from Amazon and eagerly awaited their arrival (don't judge, it's the little things in life, right?)

 

They came, I easily mounted them on the inside of my pantry door and organized all my spices (By organize, I mean alphabetically.  Yes I'm serious.) 

 

 

Organization is a beautiful thing.

 

Jealous?  Want to have your own?  You can!  Order your own racks here.  Be careful when you install them so they don't bump the inside trim of your door frame (the piece that makes it stop in the right place).  Mine did a little bit so I had to adjust (meaning I sanded down the corner of the trim piece because I was NOT moving the racks.  They each have six screws.  NOT HAPPENING.)  I do have a couple of large spices that I bought at Sam's Club and they do not fit in these racks, but all the normal size containers do.  Happy homemaking!

 

 

 



 



Winey Wednesday

I know.  It's not Wednesday.  I don't care.

 

I bought this wine a bit ago and it has been sitting in my fridge waiting for a bad day.  My three year old was testing the limits of my sanity and I popped it open on Tuesday. 

 

I should have left it alone. 

 

The label says it is light and refreshing with a touch of zing that lets the fruit flavors rush forward.  It is slightly sweet with the flavors of pink grapefruit and peach.

 

The forward flavors were fine.  The aftertaste was the problem.  Awful.  I mean, just awful.  I dumped the whole thing down the drain.

 

If the after taste had not been a problem, the fact that it has a bottle cap would have been.  No resealing for this wine.  You would have to drink it all and let me tell ya, I would already have to be schnookered to think this tasted even remotely palatable.  This is a big thumbs down.