The PERFECT Specialty Coffee at Home - I'm in love!

As you all know I'm a HUGE fan of mochas.  So when I had the opportunity to try out a Tassimo T20 by Bosch, I was excited beyond belief, but a little worried that the coffee at home would be good but not take the place of my daily premium coffee habit.  I can now say with 1000% percent honesty and can't underline enough how in-love with this machine I am (if you saw my tweets on Twitter the day I tried it out, you'd know I'm not kidding!)!  Yes, I was provided with a sample package of the Gevalia Espresso Cappuccino package but loved it so much that I ran out the very same afternoon to get more packages because I knew this was going to become a staple drink for me.  

It was simple, quick and foolproof to make an amazing espresso (or mocha in my case). Using one T-disc for the espresso (it's easy to dilute the espresso to make amazing cup of coffee using the same T-disc), one milk T-disc and some of my favorite mocha powder from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.  Hands down it made a comparable (if not better) than the majority of coffee houses I have been to (including many BIG chains).  Can I underscore that about a bazillion times? 

I've since gone out and bought iced coffee T-discs, hot chocolate T-discs and I am anxious to continue to try more out.  For Chai Tea lovers, they have Chai Tea T-discs.  Besides the amazing cups of espresso it makes, I was totally impressed by the fact that the Tassimo by Bosch uses a bar code scanner to scan a bar code on each T-disc so it makes the perfect cup (of whatever you are making) every time.  Coffee machines have made an evolutionary jump!

Friends of ours have the Keurig machine and as far as I have tasted, the Tassimo by Bosch makes a far superior cup of coffee, espresso or other specialty drink.  I'm guessing one trick is in the milk T-discs because they are filled with real milk as opposed to the powder you find in the other types of coffee machines.  The Tassimo by Bosch may be a tad more expensive, but in the long run I think I'd get far more value out of the Tassimo by Bosch because of the amount of money I'll save in future coffee house purchases! 

Have you tried the Tassimo by Bosch?   Do you have a favorite recipe?

You can find the Tassimo by Bosch at Target and many other locations.  You can also "like" them on Facebook or find them on Twitter.

(*Note I was provided a Tassimo T20 by Bosch to facilitate this review, but almost immediately went out and bought more refills because I am that in love with this product!)

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Countrytime Lemonade - A fun addition to water in school lunches!

Summer is coming to an end.  The school year has begun and I'm starting to settle back in to my lunch packing "groove".  In our house it's a rare occasion when I pack a juice box or other type of sugary drink in my kids lunches.  They mostly drink water ( & milk).  To be eco-friendly we've gotten the stainless steel reusable water bottles and fill them with water.  One of my favorite things to do is surprise the kids with a flavoring in the water.  One of the favorites I keep on hand is the Countrytime Lemonade mix.  I add a couple spoonfuls and the kids love it!  It's just a fun little surprise when they take a sip of their drinks and a reminder of Summer fun.  I love putting those surprises in their lunches.  We love the Raspberry Lemonade flavor!

What kinds of treats (healthy or not) do you find yourself adding to your kids lunches?


(* Note I received a sample of Countrytime to facilitate writing this post, but it's something I have purchased many many times!)

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Kool-Aid Fun Fizz- My Kids Love it!

Summer is here!  That means lots of trips to the beach, pool, park and other fun places.  In our house, we don't allow the kids to have sodas, very occasionally we allow the kids to have decaffeinated sodas like root beer or 7-up.  It's mostly water, milk and the rare juice for my boys.  But I always try to mix it up when we have a special event, like a BBQ. 

A couple weeks ago Kool-aid Fun Fizz sent me an advance sample of the new Kool-Aid Fun Fizz drink drops.  My kids were so excited because they had already seen the commercials.  So what did we do when they arrived?  We headed to the beach of course.  Talk about handy!  We grabbed a couple water bottles and once we got to the beach dropped the tablets in each water bottles.  The kids loved them giving them 2 thumbs up.

My opinion?  They are a great way to make water fun, especially if you have a kid with a picky palate!  We'll definitely always keep a few on hand when they kids are bored with water!  They are available at most grocery stores now, but you can find more information here.

(and by the way the photo above was from the day we headed to the beach!) 

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More FREE Drinks at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

Since I'm such a huge fan of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, I had to share!

So be sure to stop in to get your FREE drink at participating locations tomorrow afternoon/evening!  You can bet I will be...

(you can also find more information here)

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Free Coffee (or Tea) at Coffee Bean!

I'm a huge fan of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf ... so when I heard about their current promotion, I knew I had to share!  If you load $25 on to a Coffee Bean Gift card (re-loading counts), you get a free coffee!  So head on over to your local Coffee Bean and pick-up a gift card!  But hurry because the offer ends this month (May)!

And if you've never had a mocha from Coffee Bean... you are so missing out!

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Cost Saving Make at Home Specialty Coffee Recipes

I don't know of a single person these days that isn't evaluating all of their spending habits and looking for ways to cut back without feeling like they are cutting back.  If you're one of those people, I've got some great ideas coming your way, be sure to email subscribe to OCMomActivities so you don't miss them.  Trust me, I still can't believe how amazing some of these cost-saving ideas are.  Stay tuned!

Last week I was invited to the wonderful Got Milk? event in downtown San Diego where Heather Perry (two time United States Barista Champion) showed us some wonderful make at home specialty coffees.  Here are the wonderful recipes:

First up is the make at home Mocha.  You may or may not know that I am obsessed with Mochas.  I love them and can't get enough, but lately I've decided to cut back on purchasing them (i.e. I did the math and was horrified when I saw the total cost... $3.75 x 30 = well, let's just not go there again...). 

Classic Mocha

Hot Latte Recipe

This recipe mixes three ingredients resulting in a chocolatey treat for $.90!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. of your favorite chocolate syrup or powder

2 oz. espresso or choice of strong coffee

10 oz. steamed milk

Begin by brewing your 2 shots or 2 oz. of espresso using either an espresso machine or strong brewing method, such as a moka pot.  Take a 12 oz. cup and place your espresso at the bottom.  Then add your favorite chocolate and mix well.  Heat your milk by steaming it using your espresso machine, or heat the milk separately and use a hand frother until the desired amount of froth is created.  Fill cup with the heathed milk and top with whipped cream, if desired.

Spiced Latte

Hot Latte Recipe

A unique beverage with a zing for $1

Ingredients:

1 Star Anise

3 Cloves

1/2 Cinnamon Stick

1/2 Vanilla Bean

8 oz. Milk

2 oz. Espresso or Strong Coffee

Begin by brewing your 2 shots or 2 oz. of espresso using either an espresso machine or a strong brewing method, such as a moka pot. Combine spices and milk and heat together by either steaming or by slowly heating it up on the stove over medium heat, and then whipping it using an electric hand frother until the desired amount of forth is created.  This will not only heat the milk but also gently infuse the flavors of the spices into the milk.  Place your espresso at the bottom of the cup and top with spiced milk.

Classic Cappuccino

Hot Latte Recipe

A very Italian, traditional, and classic hot beverage for only $.35

Ingredients:

1 oz. of espresso or strong brewed coffee

4 oz. of milk

Begin by brewing your shot of espresso using either an espresso machine or a strong brewing method, such as a moka pot.  Heat your milk by steaming it using your espresso machine, or by slowly heating it up on the stove over medium heat, and then whipping it using an electric hand frother until the desired amount of froth is created.  Put espresso in the bottomw of the cup and fill cup with heated milk.

Breve Blast

Cold Latte Recipe

A refreshingly delicious "morning-pick-me-up" that alerts the senses for $.60

Ingredients:

2 oz. espresso or choice of strong coffee

1 oz. vanilla syrup

4 oz. milk

Begin by brewing your 2 shots or 2 oz. of espresso using either an espresso machine or a strong brewing methos, such as a moka pot.  Place at the bottom of a 16 oz. cup and add your syrup.  Top with 8 oz. cold milk.  Gulp down for a quick jumpstart.

Creme Brulee Latte

Sweet Latte Recipe

This decadent drink is a hit with dessert lovers at $.97

Ingredients:

2 oz. espresso or choice of strong coffee

8 oz. steamed milk

1 oz. vanilla bean syrup

2 tbsp. caramel topping

Begin by brewing your 2 shots or 2 oz. of espresso using either and espresso machine or a strong brewing method, such as a moka pot.  Take a 10 oz. cup and lace the sides with 1 tbsp. of caramel topping.  Then place the syrup at the bottom of the cup and top with the espresso.  Heat your milk by steaming it using your espresso machine, or by slowly heating it up on the stove over medium heat, and then whipping it using an electric hand frother until the desired amount of froth is created.  Fill cup with heated milk and top with remaining caramel.

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Last Minute Room Mom - Party Idea

Are you one of those moms that LOVE or begrudgingly take on the task of room mom?  I'm one of those that love it!  Although I admit I have made a point of alternating every year between Brett and Kyle's classes (I'm not crazy enough to try being room mom for two classes at one time!).  Planning the class holiday party is my favorite part of the year because you can really take the theme and run with it, but unfortunately it just comes at a crazy time of year.  And it's just plain hard to come up with ideas when you're running around finishing shopping and the other mayhem that comes with the holidays.

This morning I was invited to a special Mom Blogger event at an Albertson's grocery store up in Yorba Linda.  It was perfect timing because the wonderful Albertsons team gave us some great recipes, table decorating ideas, gift ideas and other goodies that I'll share with you over the next few days.  But first... If you're planning the Holiday Party for your child's class or simply entertaining over the next few weeks, how about having a Hot Chocolate Buffet?  Simple to plan, not labor intensive during the time and just plain cool.  (We're going to be doing this in Kyle's class at their party on Friday while they decorate cookies!  Thanks for the idea Albertsons!)

Here's how you do it:

• In a slow-cooker (set to low) mix in your hot chocolate.  Abuelita (by Nestle and available at Albertsons) is a great mix to use because it has a slightly different taste than regular hot chocolate.  
• Fill several bowls with crushed candy canes, cocoa mix, large marshmallows, and other small festive candy pieces.   

Dip the rims of the cups in milk or water to moisten, then dip in the cocoa mix or crushed candy canes then fill with hot chocolate.  Then insert small toothpicks in to the marshmallows and candy pieces and float in the hot cocoa.  Enjoy!

Be sure to come back and post to let me know if you try this!  Of course all of the items mentioned above can be purchased at Albertsons.

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Specialty Coffee Recipes and Fun at the Got Milk? Event

The holidays are here!  One of my absolute favorite treats during the holiday season is the Peppermint Mocha you can get at most coffee shops.  Last week I was invited to a Got Milk? event up on Melrose in West Hollywood.  No way I would miss that event!  Coffee, West Hollywood, Mom Blogger event... perfect combo if you ask me!

We were treated to custom drinks from United States Barista Champion (2007 and 2003) - Heather Perry.  Heather's been featured on the Food Network, the Discovery Channel and is even listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for building the world's largest espresso machine!

I have never been much of a "drinker" (except for a glass of wine here or there), so I love the idea of serving custom coffee creations at your next holiday party instead of making alcohol the staple drink.  Drinking and driving is a particular problem during the holidays and by serving non-alcoholic yummy specialty coffees, you may just be saving the lives of your guests or someone else for that matter!  I think it's also a safe bet to say you will be the star of the night if you make some of the recipes below for family and friends

Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Peppermint Mocha Martinis, Tres Leches Lattes, Holiday Frozen Hot Chocolates, Eggnog Lattes and Toffee Mochas were the highlight of the event.  They were all truly delicious and are easy to make at home!

I left the Got Milk? event pleasantly jittery from all the extraordinary coffees we sampled (which was very handy because I went straight to the Chevy Preview ahead of the LA Auto Show).

Below are some of the super yummy recipes we sampled that night (if you'd like some of the others, post a comment saying that and I'll post them separately later this week - I have recipes for all the drinks mentioned above)...

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Ingredients:
2 oz. espresso or strong brewed coffee
2 tbsp. pumpkin pie mix out of the can
8 oz. milk

Directions:
Combine espresso and pumpkin pie and mix well. The nice thing about the pumpkin pie mix is it already has all the spices needed. If you only have canned pumpkin, use 2 tbsp. canned pumpkin, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg. Top with warmed milk and enjoy this traditional holiday treat.

Peppermint Mocha Martini

Ingredients:
2 shots espresso or strong brewed coffee
1 tbsp. chocolate syrup
2tbsp. crushed peppermints - divided
1 cup ice

Directions:
Begin by dipping the rim of your martini glass in water, then dip the rim in 1 tbsp. of crushed peppermint. In a martini shaker, place your fresh espresso shots, chocolate and peppermint. Stir until chocolate and peppermint are dissolved. Then add milk and ice and shake vigorously. Strain into martini glass and enjoy this refreshing, minty drink!

Holiday Frozen Hot Chocolate

Ingredients:
8 oz. Milk
2 Tbsp. Powdered Non-Dairy Creamer
3 Tbsp. Powdered Chocolate (use 2 parts sugar- 1 part cocoa powder if you don't have powdered chocolate)
Whipped Cream and Sprinkles

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Pour into a tall glass and top with whipped cream and sprinkles.


*I was only "compensated" for this post with the yummy drinks mentioned above at the Got Milk? event. 

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Super Healthy and Yummy Smoothies

Ingredients:

• Kefir Strawberry Cultured Milk (available at most stores)
• Frozen Sweet Cherries (1 cup)
• Frozen Blueberries (1/2 cup)
• Assorted Frozen Berries (1/2 cup)
• Fresh Banana
• 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds

Directions:

Blend all of the above (determine the amount of Kefir by how thick you want the smoothie). The kids love this and it is a healthy weekend treat. I frequently have to make two batches in the blender because everyone wants 2nd's!

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