Rose and Mint Ice Cubes

This past weekend we celebrated Keanna’s 8^th birthday with a princess tea party!

My precious babe is eight already!

We had cute little cucumber sandwiches, ham and cheese wraps, chocolate-dipped fruit, and deviled eggs.  To drink, we had tea and lemonade.

Robbie made the lemonade this year.  It was so good!  (You can find our recipe here.  And also be sure to check out our strawberrylemonade recipe.)  And since it was a princess tea party, I wanted to do something extra special when serving the lemonade—rose and mint ice cubes!

All you do is stick a rose petal or mint leaf in your ice cubes before freezing them—it’s that easy!

As far as the flowers and leaves go, you don’t have to stick with rose and mint.  Just about any edible petal or leaf will do.  Edible flowers include carnations, geraniums, marigolds, roses, pansies, nasturtium, white clover, red clover, and dandelion.  For leaves, think herbs:  sage, mint, and lavender.

One thing to be cautious about is pesticides or herbicides.  Be sure your petals and leaves haven’t been treated with anything that can be harmful if consumed.  I get my rose petals and mint leaves from our own front yard.  We do not spray our garden with anything other than soapy water because we feed our tortoise from it.

Also be sure to wash your petals and leaves before putting them into the ice cube trays.  You can either use produce wash or a few drops of dish soap in a large bowl full of cold water.  Rinse them thoroughly.

Rapunzel gave an etiquette lesson.  If you are in the East
Bay and would like a princess to go to your party, you can
find her at Little Princess Wishes.

Caramel Cream

It’s been a long time since we’ve done any beverages, so I thought it was about time to pull out another one.  Neither Robbie nor I are coffee drinkers.  Yes, we both made it through four years of college without coffee, as did Kimiko and her husband.  Nevertheless, we still really appreciate all those Starbucks cards Robbie gets from his students every Christmas.  Thanks to all of you who contributed to our Starbucks dates for the year!  We really like the cream-based drinks.  In the winter, I go for a vanilla crème with a shot of caramel and he orders a vanilla crème with whatever seasonal syrup they have at the time—pumpkin spice and gingerbread are two of his favorites.

Unfortunately, the gift cards always run out before the next Christmas.  But that’s okay, because I can mimic the pricey coffee shop drinks at home for a fraction of the price (not to mention a fraction of the calories)!

You could use regular milk, but since we consider these special drinks that we only have occasionally, I splurge and buy vanilla almond milk.  I discovered almond milk a few years ago when we had the boys on dairy-free diets.  It is sooooo good!!  Unfortunately, even on sale and with a coupon, it is still more expensive than cow milk.  On a rare occasion I can get a half-gallon for $2-3, but that probably only happens once a year.  I presume you can get a pretty good deal if you live in an area that doubles coupons.  Even if you have to pay full price, about $4 for a half-gallon, you’re still saving a TON of money over buying a single drink at Starbucks.  One half-gallon carton will yield more than 10 6-oz. drinks—more than 5 talls (12-oz.), 4 grandes (16-oz.), or more than 3 ventis (20 oz.).

I heat the almond milk in the microwave.  If you’re having a party and preparing drinks for a crowd, feel free to heat it on the stove.

I also only used 6 ounces of milk in my recipe because that’s what my Irish coffee mugs hold.  Making small cups also helps you control your calorie intake.  If you want to make a larger mug, simply double the recipe.

The Torani syrup can be pricey if you don’t know where to shop.  WinCo carries the large bottles for about $6, I believe.  But I discovered that our Cash & Carry sells them for under $5!!  (Find a list of the flavors they stock here.)  And they have a much larger selection.  If you don’t have a Cash & Carry, try Smart&Final, Beverages & More, or any restaurant supply store.  If you know where you can get a good deal on the syrups in your area, please let us know in the comments!

I only have caramel syrup in my pantry right now.  You can certainly substitute any flavor for a different drink.  And don’t be afraid to change the ratios—more syrup for a stronger flavor, less syrup for a milder flavor.

As for the caramel sauce, I just use the cheapest ice cream topping I can find. 

Only 3 ingredients!

Caramel Cream

6 oz. almond milk, heated

½ oz. (1 Tbsp.) caramel (or other flavor) syrup

Caramel sauce for drizzling (optional)

Heat almond milk in microwave, about 1 minute, 30 seconds (time will vary depending on microwave).  Meanwhile, drizzle sides of mug with caramel sauce.  Stir caramel syrup into hot milk; pour into prepared mug.

Love my shot glass for this!!

So yummy!!

Iced Tea

Summer weather has finally decided to return to Northern California.  After a week of low- to mid-70’s, we finally had a high in the 80’s yesterday!  So I filled up the kiddie pool, made homemade ice cream, and enjoyed the front yard with my kids.  And of course, I had to complete the summer fun with some iced tea!

On hot days like today, I grab my tea basket!

Before I dive into my iced-tea-making-method, a few concessions to you tea aficionados out there.  Yes, I understand that “herbal tea” isn’t really tea.  And that tea bags are the worst way to buy tea.  And that some of you don’t believe the words “iced” and “tea” should ever be put together.  Ever.  But my family likes herbal tea from tea bags.  And loose tea isn’t frugal and therefore is not near to nothing.  And I wouldn’t want hot tea on a day like today.

Mmmmm!!  Raspberry!  From the bulk bins at WinCo, of course!

Even among iced tea drinkers there are very strong opinions.  Just talk to anyone from the south.  Our mom (not from the south) doesn’t add a granule of sugar to her tea.  But in the south, they add sugar while the tea is still hot so it can hold more sugar than mixing it into cold tea.  I have a sweet southern belle friend, Joy, who says the key to good sweet tea is to add the sugar into the boiling water.  She adds peach slices to the boiling water and removes them after adding the tea bags.  Sounds yummy!  Some people also add a pinch of baking soda to the water to help prevent bitterness.

That’s one of the great things about iced tea—you can make it however you like it!  That being said, my “recipe” is actually just a guide for how I make it.  Come up with your own that suits your family.

Iced Tea

Water

Tea bags

Sugar (optional)

Decide how much iced tea you want to end up with.  Bring half that much water to boil.  (e.g.  boil 1 qt. of water if you want to make a 2-qt. pitcher).

I boil the water in my Pyrex in the microwave.

Remove from heat, add tea bags, one for each cup of finished tea (8 for a 2-qt. pitcher).  Steep no longer than 5 minutes.

Remove and discard tea bags.  If adding sugar, pour desired amount into bottom of pitcher.  Add a small amount of hot tea and stir or swirl to dissolve.

The amount of sugar you use is up to you!

Fill pitcher with ice cubes.  Pour remaining hot tea over.  If necessary, add cold water to fill pitcher.

Arnold Palmer (Lemonade Iced Tea)

Water

Tea bags

Lemonade ice cubes

Follow directions above to brew tea.  Fill glasses with lemonade ice cubes.  Pour concentrated hot tea over.  Stir until chilled and mixed.

Lemonade Stands: Teaching Kids about Food and Business

This weekend Keanna ran her first lemonade stand!!  While a few friends, my mom, and I held a yard sale, Keanna tempted our shoppers with ice-cold fresh-squeezed lemonade.  Fortunately for her, it was in the mid-90's that day!

In honor of her first entrepreneurial success, I thought I'd revisit my lemonade recipe that I posted last summer and include some tips for running a lemonade stand.

Lemonade

1½ c. lemon juice

6 c. water

1¼-1⅓ c. sugar

Combine all ingredients in a 2-quart pitcher and mix until sugar is dissolved.  Serve chilled or iced.  Yield 2 quarts.  Total cost (if you have a lemon tree):  almost FREE!!

Tips for running a successful lemonade stand:

• When deciding how much to charge, don't just take cost and profit into consideration.  Think about the mathematical ability of the child running the stand.  Keanna is still trying to grasp money so we charged $0.50 for a 16-oz. cup of lemonade.  This way she only had to deal in multiples of 50's, or two quarters.  For some extra money lessons, I took some of our yard sale money and traded her coins for some bills so she would see that coins add up to bills.
• Have your child help make the lemonade and take the opportunity to teach about fractions.
• Put the lemonade in a glass or clear plastic pitcher so people can see it.  More people will be willing to buy it if they can see it first.
• To increase your profit margin, you can put ice in the cups when serving the lemonade.  We didn't do this.
• Have your child make the sign--it's cute and will get peoples' attention.  Be sure to help them make it large enough for people to see and read easily.
• To keep your lemonade cold without watering it down, use lemonade ice cubes instead of regular ice. A few days before, start freezing lemonade in ice trays.  Once frozen solid, transfer the cubes to gallon zip-top bags until they are needed.

For tips on juicing lemons and making lemonade, see the original post here.  Also try making strawberry lemonade and blended lemonade, both posts available here.

Emily's Tea Party Fruit Punch

We don’t drink juice or soda in our house on a regular or even semi-regular basis.  That’ll have to be an entirely separate post.  I only buy juice or soda for special occasions, and only some special occasions at that.  A few weekends ago it was Robbie’s birthday, so I decide to make punch to go with our special birthday dinner.  I decided to go with Emily's tea party fruit punch.

A few weeks before Christmas, my friend Emily hosted a Christmas tea party.  While we did have a wide selection of teas from which to choose, she also had a delicious fruit punch.  I liked it and knew Robbie would love it so I asked her for the recipe.  The problem was, I only wrote it down mentally.  Ha!  I don’t know what I was thinking.  I’m still high on nursing hormones and am still experiencing pregnancy brain.  So of course I forgot the ingredients.  I did remember that she had mixed two types of juice concentrates and something fizzy.

Last month when I was hosting my Near to Nothing Pampered Chef party, I wanted to make her punch.  I sent her a message via the internet to get the exact ingredients.  Unfortunately, her response to me got lost in cyberspace.  So without her recipe, I guessed, using the parts of the recipe I did remember.  I ended up with a completely different punch, but still very good.

I will give both recipes here, starting with Emily’s original.  Both juices she used were Old Orchard 100% juice frozen concentrates (12 oz. each).  She served it in a pretty dispensing jar with ice and pomegranate seeds mixed in—it looked great!

Note:  when I bought the ingredients to take the photos for this post, they didn’t have apple cranberry so I substituted apple raspberry.  Take home lesson:  just mix two juices and add something fizzy.

Emily’s Fruit Punch

1 can apple cranberry juice concentrate

1 can apple cherry juice concentrate

6 cans club soda

Mix all ingredients in large pitcher.  Yield:  3 quarts  Cost:  about $3

If you don’t have a pitcher or beverage container for a full batch, just halve it.  All the photos here are of a half recipe.  And don’t worry about measuring to get exactly half a can of each—just eyeball it.  I poured roughly half of one juice in the pitcher, then filled the bottle full with the other juice.  Now I have one pre-mixed, ready to go in the fridge.  I then poured the remainder of the second juice into the pitcher and used that bottle to measure the soda.

I used Langer’s frozen juice concentrates (11.5 oz. each) and diet lemon lime soda.  I chose to use diet because the juice already has a lot of sugar.

Sumiko’s Fruit Punch

1 can apple juice concentrate

1 can kiwi strawberry juice concentrate

6 cans diet lemon lime soda

Mix all ingredients in large pitcher.  Yield:  3 quarts  Cost:  about $3

Hot Cocoa

One of my favorite things to do at Christmas time is to sit by the fire at Robbie’s parents’ house, enjoying a mug of hot cocoa and watching my kids play next to the Christmas tree in their footy pajamas.  Just thinking about it brings warmth to my heart!  I’ll have to wait a couple more weeks before I can enjoy that fire, but I can enjoy hot cocoa any time.  In fact, I’m drinking some as I write this.

I am very picky about hot cocoa.  I do not like hot chocolate mixes, especially those that call for water.  Fortunately, it takes only minutes to make hot cocoa from scratch, and it calls for ingredients I always have on hand.  And it can be made without dairy!!

If you like sweeter hot cocoa, use only one tablespoon of cocoa.  For a more bitter flavor, use two tablespoons of cocoa.

Hot cocoa does contain a lot of sugar, and therefore, should be enjoyed in moderation.  Also keep in mind that milk is really nutritious and cocoa is packed with antioxidants.

The key to smooth hot cocoa that doesn’t have lumps in it is to add the milk to the dry ingredients rather than the dry ingredients to the milk.  Add a little milk to form a paste, then add the rest of the milk while stirring.

Hot Cocoa

1 c. milk

2 Tbsp. sugar

1-2 Tbsp. cocoa

Pinch salt

¼ tsp. vanilla

Desired toppings (optional):  marshmallows, whipped cream, chocolate shavings, cocoa powder, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg

Heat milk in microwave 1½-2 minutes, or until hot.  Do not boil milk.  Meanwhile, using a small whisk, combine sugar, cocoa, and salt in a mug.

Whisk in 1-2 Tbsp. of the hot milk until smooth.  Whisk in remaining milk.

Add vanilla.  Top as desired.

Dairy-free:  Substitute vanilla almond milk for regular milk.  Reduce sugar to 1 1/2 Tbsp; omit vanilla.