DIY Pumpkin Spice Latte

...because I cannot get enough of all things pumpkin!

I found this at FoodNetwork.com and it looks SO simple and delicious, I may try it with decaff coffee just to see if it's as good so I can drink them more often, hehe :)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons pure pumpkin puree
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, plus more for sprinkling
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup hot espresso or strong brewed coffee
• Sweetened whipped cream, for serving

Combine the milk, pumpkin puree, sugar, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla in a medium microwave safe bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and vent with a small hole. Microwave until the milk is hot, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk vigorously until the milk mixture is foamy, about 30 seconds.

Pour the espresso or coffee into a large mug and add the foamed milk. Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice.

Classic Shirley Temple

Since just thinking about booze of any sort makes me drool over the thought of a hard cider, I'm forgoing a Friday cocktail recipe for a sort of mock-tail. I had these as a kid, as an adult... they are always delicious.

*I copied this directly from USA Today, in an article by Ashley M. Williams.


"It is said that in the late 1930s, a bartender at Chasen's in Beverly Hills invented the cocktail. The bartender made the drink for the young actress during the pinnacle point of her fame.

The sweet concoction would later become a fun drink asked for by kids and adults alike.

The Shirley Temple recipe

Ingredients:

3 ounces lemon-lime soda

3 ounces ginger ale

Dash grenadine

Maraschino cherry for garnish

Pour lemon-lime soda and ginger ale into a glass with ice cubes. Then, add a dash of grenadine. Finally, stir your refreshing drink and top it off with a cherry."


Enjoy! And cheers to the weekend! Here's a photo of the young lady herself (in the 1930s):

P.s. Did you know there's a movie about her life? I've seen it, oh about a hundred times - and love it. Here's a link. TTFN <3

Grandma's Banana Milkshake

One thing I vividly remember while I was growing up is the occasions when my grandmother would make us banana milkshakes. We used to get those little ice cream cups from Schwanns, and if she had a few extra ripe bananas on hand, she'd throw them all together and it was the most delicious thing ever!

For Two:

1 cup milk

2 scoops vanilla ice cream (or frozen yogurt)*

2 ripe bananas

Blend it until smooth and enjoy!

*You can use any type of ice cream - strawberry is great! Also if you, like me, have to resort to sneaky measures to get veggies in your little one, it's very easy to blend in some frozen veggies (or fresh veggies as well).

Enjoy! And happy weekend! :)

Have a great weekend!

Figured that these Friday posts would be great for drink or brunch type recipes, so here ya go! 

Moscato Punch

*Moscato

*Lemonade

*Lemon Lime Soda

*Strawberries

For a punch bowl you will use 1 bottle wine, 1 container of lemonade, and half a liter of soda. You can also freeze the fruit so it can help keep the punch cold. 

Mix together, pour and enjoy!

Here is the original recipe.

<3

Happy Weekend!

I'm just going to leave this here ;)

Strawberry Vodka Lemonade

2 cups lemon juice

1 cup simple syrup

1 1/2 cups soda water

1/2 cup vodka

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Mix in large pitcher. Pour into glasses, add ice, thinly sliced strawberries and basil.

Enjoy!

New things I'm loving~

The last 39 hours have been c-r-a-z-y. Seriously. I picked up a transcription job for the evening and wasn't feeling it even before I started. I had been tired all day so I decided to drink a "Natural" energy drink. Bad idea. I mean it was delicious and really genuinely woke me up but what I did not anticipate was how proactive I would want to be. I ended up contacting several companies about affiliation and found a few new sites but took me a few hours to settle enough to really delve into the tape.

7am rolls around and I am finally done, my eyes starting to feel like they are coated in velvet they are so tired. Well, I laid down just past 7, slept for around 30 minutes, woke up around 8 to Andrew fussing, fell asleep again after hubby got home for about 20 minutes and then Andrew was up for the day. And I swear I tried to nap when he did but I think I was past the point of exhaustion -- you know that feeling? When you are so tired you can't fall asleep? Yeah it sucks. So here we are 39 since my last decent sleep and I am somehow still going. 

This evening we even got our crap together, and went shopping! We hit up Michaels (Pssst they have a great sale on this week! AND I got three glitter pumpkins half off plus a candle half off (they have 3 large candles for $10) and spent less than $10!) Seriously if there are any other autumn obsessed persons out there, CHECK THIS OUT. It is like my crack. I have more coupons from this last visit burning a hole in my purse :-S

Stopped by our beloved Whole Foods Market for some broccoli/ spinach to make baby food, plus some other essentials to get us through the week. I am determined to try some Autumn- inspired beer there next week!

We definitely stopped by the liquor store for some Vodka beer for the beach this weekend... sure felt classy holding a 1.75 in one hand and my eight month old in the other. Hey we're from Minnesota, we got this. ;-P

And of course what trip is complete without Target? Earlier today I decided to use this awesome website Ebates to look into buying some diapers for the little man... turns out they were on sale! So I used my RedCard (I highly recommend-- even if it's just the debit card like ours is... I shudder to think how in debt we would be if we had credit there) and got an additional 5% off PLUS free shipping. AND I got some cash back through Ebates as well. Score, score, double score.

Also, have you heard about the Cartwheel thing at Target? I just was introduced to it today so I don't know much about it but it looks interesting. Check it out and see what you think!

Zulily - I have heard of and seen this before but never cared enough to get through the initial "sign-up" at the beginning but oh. my. goodness. They have such cute stuff! I am going to be styling the little man like a total prep and they had the cutest three piece set (Jeans, button up and puffy vest) for less than $20!

Okay and last but not least, I am very, VERY excited to say I am advertising Amazon.com! You will probably have noticed the extra ads around for them... haha. But seriously. I shop on Amazon probably once a week at the least. It is a strange week that goes by without me at least putting something in my cart and then occasionally talking myself out of it. We have been very slowly collecting all the seasons of FRIENDS (just ordered Season 9 of 10 this week) and we literally have it budgeted into  our 'Entertainment' fund.

SO....

Shop at Amazon.com!

:)

P.s. for those of you with Netflix, try a free trial of Amazon Prime! I used to looooove Netflix but started getting annoyed with it and then they raised the prices.... Prime is one lump payment per year but cheaper than Netflix if you use it a decent amount. I really loved it and hope to get it again one of these days when we have some extra moolah laying around :)

ALSO.... Halloween is just around the corner!! I am beyond words excited!!! Last year we had a few trick-or-treaters and WAY too much candy (we split the candy up into sandwich bags and smuggled it into the movie theater hehe). This year since I am not pregnant I am wondering about dressing up.... don't know what to do/ be but it'd be fun to go out with the hubby that weekend too-- the first year we were together on Halloween he wasn't 21 yet so we didn't get to do much. The second year we went and had a blast, third year we went on the wrong day and it was booooring and last year we stayed in due to the uncomfortable preggo lady.

Andrew will be....*drumroll please* a MONKEY! I am sooooo excited to see his little face in that suit. Don't worry you will get ridiculous amounts of pictures plastered all over here and FB :)

Alright well that's it for now I think. I'm going to go attempt to pass out for a few hours. Happy weekend!

OH and p.s. if you are on facebook, you should go "like" my page... :)

TTFN <3