Sunday, February 26, 2012

Ultimate Iced Coffee, Because I am a coffee Fanatic!

You will read anywhere and everywhere the pros, but mostly cons, of caffeine.

Caffeine is harmful if you already have certain bodily issues, but I am not your doctor...so I am not here to say you CAN or CAN NOT drink caffeinated coffee...Do the research yourself, ask a doctor, etc...

Either way, if you love coffee, especially ICED COFEE like I do, you can do these recipes with decaf or regular coffee.

I make my batches in 32 oz, but you can tweak yours to how you like it, like by doubling this bad boy and keeping a gallon ready to go in the fridge!...I will just give you some idears.

I start with my trusty blender.

I used caffeinated coffee in the morning (you can use decaf)...but at night if I am hungry and don't want to eat late, I will whip up a cold decaf iced coffee to curb my hunger *I highly recommend over eating something late at night...and the decaf won't keep you up all night :) * And, my quick tip of this recipe, I use INSTANT COFFEE.

I take 24 oz of water. For every 8 oz of water, you use 1 tsp of instant coffee, so I use 3 tsp of instant coffee and throw em in the blender. Like black coffee? Then blend away...0 calories. But I don't like black coffee... SO I am gonna keep going. Because I am going to add a cup of almond milk, I will add another tsp of instant coffee. 32 oz of liquid, 4 tsp of instant coffee.

I personally do not drink real milk, I don't drink 2%, 1% or fat-free milk...I drink soy milk, almond milk, etc...I drink light soy to keep the calories and fat down, but my newest addiction was the almond milk...
1 cup of whole milk = 146 calories
1 cup of light soy milk = 60 calories
1 cup of almond milk = 35 calories!!! and...it is good! I get the unsweetened kind, but that is what splenda, truvia, and stevia is for...not familiar? they are all derived from sugar, but it all depends on what your take on aspartame is I guess for which you pick..I have used all three, they are delicious. They each have different levels of sweetness though, so you will have to decide how sweet you want it but adding a little bit at a time and tasting...once you have discovered your desired sweetness level, write down how much you used so you can have consistent batches!

Anywho, 24 oz of cold water - 4 tsp of instant coffee - 8 oz of unsweetened almond milk...
Now I normally add two packets of splenda (I get the splenda with 1 gram of fiber packets normally) ...and blend away...For you at home, start with ONE packet of sweetener, blend, and taste...want it sweeter, add a lil more...blend...try it...once it is sweet enough I pour some over ice, and keep the rest in a container in the fridge ready for later. Hell, you can make this stuff by the gallons if you want. ANDDDD, you can make these a little more exciting...I have sugar free, dairy free hazlenut powdered creamer, you can throw a tbsp or two of that in...or a sugar free french vanilla one...they are only 30 calories more per serving.

So say I want french vanilla iced coffee. in my 32 oz batch I made I would use just one splenda packet and one tbsp of the sugar free french vanilla powdered creamer...that entire 32 oz would be 65 calories.

Starbucks: Sugar free vanilla iced coffee with skim milk, 16 oz, 110 calories
Dunkin Donuts: Sugar free vanilla iced coffee with skim milk, 16 oz 110 calories
McDonalds: Sugar free vanilla iced coffee, 17 oz, 120 calories

I suggest the almond milk, it cannot hurt you to try.
Or even the light soy milk...

And hey, not for nothing, if you get iced coffee 4 days a week at even the least expensive coffee shop ...say $2.50 for every coffee you get...you are saving over 500 bucks a year...that's a damn trip. Just sayin...

**Quickie skinny biddie cheat guide for...

...ever crave chocolate milk? You see it and just NEED that fix?

Reduced fat nesquick...you know the little 16 oz bottles? It is usually 2 servings in those bad boys...ONE 8 oz serving of the low fat chocolatey goodness is 170 calories! If you drink the whole bottle...Like most people would, which is 2 cups...340 calories, 5 grams of fat, 56 grams of sugar............YIKES! to me this is appauling!

What about something just as delicious...no, no...I promise.

SILK light chocolate soy milk...One 8 oz serving...90 calories..16 oz, same amount of oz. as the reduced fat nesquick bottle...180 calories, 3 grams of fat, 4 grams of fiber, 28 grams of sugar

It is WORTH THE TRADE!

If you give these things a try, you may just love them...prompting you to make a simple change in your diet...saving you a boat load of calories and giving you additional healthy nutrients your body may have been missing :)


Enjoy.

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