Tag Archives: latte

Flip Flops On The Rocks

Coffee Monday

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This weekend I took the time to rethink the homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte and, based on this recipe, I think I found the method and ingredients that work for me.

I hope you’ll enjoy it, too!

The first time I attempted this, I used 1 cup of coconut almond milk for the pumpkin mixture. I LOVE this stuff, but for some reason my coffee wasn’t creamy enough…I make our coffee strong and like it on the lighter brown side once I add my creamer. With the coconut almond milk in the pumpkin mixture, it was still way too dark and I didn’t particularly care for the flavor. {I will continue to use the coconut almond milk in my smoothies and on cereal/oatmeal, however, just not in my coffee}

: Perfected {in my opinion} DIY Pumpkin Spice Latte :

1 cup whole or 2% milk {I used whole since that’s all we had on hand}

1/4 cup pumpkin puree

Couple dashes of pumpkin pie spice

Mix until blended and heat slightly in the microwave. Add 1 tbsp brown sugar to the bottom of a mug and fill with freshly brewed coffee. Top with half the warmed pumpkin milk mixture and add whip cream and cinnamon for a special treat!

Makes 2 servings.

This won’t be something that I do every morning, but is a nice addition to a slow-moving autumn weekend morning.

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Annnnnd, since we are not quite experiencing the Fall temps here in So Cal yet, here is an easy iced version for an afternoon pick-me-up and a great way to use leftover coffee.

{just place your extra coffee from the morning in the fridge so it’s nice and cold when you need it}

: Pumpkin Hazelnut Iced Coffee :

Heaping tbsp pumpkin puree

Splash milk

Splash hazelnut creamer

Leftover cold coffee from your fridge

Lots of ice

Whisk pumpkin, milk and creamer together in a small mug or bowl. It may seem a little thick, but will be fine once you add the coffee and ice. Fill tall glass with ice, pour in pumpkin hazelnut creamer and then fill with iced coffee to the top of the glass. Stir well and sweeten, if needed. I just used the whipped cream as my sweetener! Don’t forget to add a little sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon to your whipped cream.

It is Monday, so turn it around and make a hot or iced version of this Fall fave.

Enjoy!

XO

Favorites

Pumpkin Spice And Everything Nice

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The official start of Fall is just a couple days away. Yay!

I’ve had this pumpkin pie smoothie pinned for about a year now and look forward to blending one up tomorrow morning…

1/2 banana (peeled, frozen, diced)

1/3 cup pumpkin puree (Libby’s)

1/3 cup FF plain Greek yogurt

1/2-3/4 cup vanilla almond milk

few shakes of pumpkin spice (Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice)

 pinch of cloves

1tsp vanilla

2 cups crushed ice

{via}

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Have you had your first Pumpkin Spice Latte yet?

I made this PSL knock-off and it’s obviously not the same as the one at the place with the big green circle, but it wasn’t bad. I used coconut almond milk and some brown sugar to sweeten it up a bit. I must admit, a whipped cream cloud and some festive fall sprinkles would take it up a notch, but it was fun to try and a good way to use up your pumpkin puree if you have any leftover from another recipe.

{via}

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I love to spruce up our mantel with the seasons and Fall makes it easy to bring nature inside as decor.

I found a branch with weird pods/seeds of some sort on a hike last week and stuck it in with some manzanita branches that I already had on-hand for some height above our fireplace…

Pinecones in a simple glass vase would make a nice focal point, as well.

Grab several autumn hued paint chips from your local home improvement store, a leaf stencil and some twine to create a garland/bunting ~ use a hole punch and put two holes in each leaf to hang.

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I love candles year round, but there’s something about a candle flickering on a cool, dark-by-5 o’clock early fall evening.

Check out these super cheap, super fragrant candles from Wal-mart ~ the Vanilla Cream, Cinnamon Roll and Apple Spice are perfect for harvest season.

{1-wick candle, under 2 bucks & 3-wick candle, only 5 bucks}

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That’s just the tip of the iceberg as to what I have planned for my most favorite season…come back for the next few months for more recipes and sweet treat ideas.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

XO

Family, Friends

{Purple} Thursday

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In kindergarten there is a color system used in class for behavior.

From what I understand, everyone starts off on GREEN at the beginning of the day.

From there you can go down to YELLOW.

Or RED.

Red is not good.

Or, you can go up from green to PURPLE.

Purple is good.

We like purple.

Then, at the end of the day, if you are on green, you get one sticker on your card.

If you’re on purple, you get 2 stickers on your card.

When you have 15 stickers, you get to pick something out of the treasure chest.

I love the days when Elliott runs to me at pick-up and yells, “I got to go in the treasure chest!” and holds up her {treasure}.

As far as I know, she has never landed on red. I would know, I’m sure. And I would not be happy.

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For me, today was a PURPLE day. One of those days where everything goes just right.

[Received an invitation to the Kindergarten Award Ceremony next week. Elliott is receiving an award!]

[Ran a quick errand and snatched up 3 birthday gifts in under 20 minutes!]

[Made great time in the Starbucks drive-thru as I picked up 2 tall skinny vanilla lattes ~ one for Elliott’s teacher and one for me!]

[Got to her parent/teacher conference a few minutes early and didn’t have to wait]

[Received a glowing review from Mrs. H…SO proud that she is excelling in reading and received beautiful citizenship marks]

[60* and sunny!]

[Noticed that our tax return was deposited! Jay neglected to tell me…ha! Wonder why!]

[Finally “sold my old gold” ~ you know the old stuff sitting around in your jewelry box…one earring here, a messed up herringbone bracelet there. It all adds up….cash money in the wallet. Cha-ching!]

[Chatted with a friend across the miles]

I would definitely say that my Thursday ended up on PURPLE.

Still need to make a spaghetti dinner and play tennis at 7:30.

Not too bad. Not too bad at all.

I guess I get 2 stickers for my card, huh?

{via}

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Hope your Thursday has you on purple…or at least green.

Go ahead, choose a sticker!