Oooo. Coffee.
In light of all the precious snow that has been falling in the Portland area the last few days, I thought it fitting to talk about warm drinks. I don’t know about you, but when it’s cold outside, I long to have a warm beverage by my side.
Try not to look at my wreck of a garden. Divert your eyes. “The androids you are looking for are not here.”
For the last 9 months I’ve tried to replicate my beloved coffee with hazelnut creamer. You know, the coffee I used to drink every morning. Sometimes, I had so much I wasn’t hungry for breakfast. Yes, it was a dysfunctional love affair. I admit it. And mostly I don’t miss it. Probably because I’ve not been able to copy the creaminess without dairy creamer. And recently I learned that coffee is quite acidic which is not good for a body fighting off Candida overgrowth. But hey, occasionally I allow myself a treat.
Usually I am very disappointed by the results of my experimenting, but this last week I was elated to find a cup of Joe that even Music Man claimed was good. And this is from a fellow who doesn’t enjoy sugar free stuff.
What I found I had been missing was froth. I needed foam in my cup. I’m not sure why this is so because in my pre-Candida days, I didn’t need it. Nevertheless, froth was the ticket. Now, how does one create foam without the use of milk? I’m so glad you asked. You make it with your blender.
A few weeks back, I learned how to make my own coconut milk from Whole New Mom (click there to see how she does it). The only difference is I strain my blended milk through the Nut-Milk Bag my youngest son gave me for Christmas. I found I was not fond of the little bits of coconut floating in my milk.
Then I pour my yummy tasting strained coconut milk back into my blender, add some stevia drops and then mix. After mixing the stevia, I noticed there was a wonderful foam at the top of the blender. Light bulb! All I had to do was add some freshly made coconut milk to my hot coffee, add some liquid stevia, a few teaspoons of xylitol and then plop on some homemade froth. Mmmm.
Does that not look inviting? Oh, man.
Then this got me to thinking. What if I took my alcohol/sugar free almond flavoring and added it to warmed homemade coconut milk? I would have an Almond Steamer. Woo! Hoo!
And then on Sunday morning I outdid myself. I had some homemade sugar free caramel that I added to my already perfect drink. Lo and behold, perfection was made even better. It was the ‘perfectest’ coffee in the world.
How did I make caramel? Easy. Brown some butter (1/2 cup) in a pan. Add some Xylitol (1/4+ Cup). Heat until it thickens to a caramel consistency. Mmmmmm. Oh, yes. Who says sugar free isn’t fun?
Can’t have coffee? Zip on over to Adrienne’s blog, Whole New Mom, and check out a beverage that is suppose to taste a lot like coffee. I know. I don’t quite believe myself, but if Adrienne says so, I’ve got to check it out.
Looks VERY YUMMY!
It sounds wonderful but I don’t think I could give up my Starbucks with half ‘n half every morning.