Cheers to my Pinterest Challenge

  I have been stalking this idea/concept for about a week.  It took me awhile to get one ingredient.  I have a hard time with stepping out of the box and trying something without it being written down, so I just kept looking for this bottle at all the stores I went in.

Today I found the last ingredient and was going to make this drink!  It is so neat to see and I want to be responsible for making it happen.  You may not be impressed but my kids will be. Lol, one point for mom is good enough for me.

Apparently this is a great science project so my homeschool friends add this to your lessons.  The more sugar the heavier the drink.  So each drink you add has to be less than the previous one.

I started with red of course.  This red juice had the highest sugar percentage so it went in the glass first and straight to the bottom.

Next up was the med level sugar content drink.  My white drink was a coconut drink.  I thought about lemonade and wasn't sure if the color would be visible so I followed the directions and picked up a coconut drink. 

Can you see it?  Because  I can see it or at least I think I can see it.  At this point I'm so excited!  I have red and white; one more level and this is a winner.

  Blue! I added the blue and it swallowed up the white. This made me sad.  I was still happy yo see the color contrast but will need to work on this drink a little more.

  I used juice on the bottom, Sobe Coconut drink in the middle and a blue Gatorade on the top.   Again the highest sugar level should be on the bottom.  I added a bit of water to the blue to offset the sugar between the white and blue maybe that's where I went wrong.  Also you need to pour carefully.  I read pour it directly over ice, use the back of a spoon to slow the pour down but, bottom line is to not pour directly on the next layer.

  I am not done with this drink.  I will be back at it tomorrow.  We shall see what happens or worse case is I will keep at it sporadically until I make it happen!

  I'm going to chalk this one up as a #pinterestwin because I had two layers then two different layers.  I just need to perfect this one and I am confident it is an easy fix.

  Go ahead and try it with or without the kids; it's a fun party trick regardless!

Let's Drink to that (Strawberry recipe review)

  We picked up strawberries yesterday so I am able to try a few more recipes.  Today I decided to try a drink. Not a smoothie or a milkshake but good ol strawberry milk.

  I followed the recipe to a point but I actually didn't use all the strawberries but, most of them.  I looked at a few recipes and choose this one based on the maple syrup instead of the large quantity of sugar.

  I am very interested in trying to make strawberry milk minus all the other secret ingredients that come in the traditional strawberry milk.  It would be nice to make my own with minimal ingredients making it healthier!

  This recipe just required 3 ingredients.  I think as basic as that is it should be enough to accomplish the taste I want without the over abundance of sugar, artificial flavor and color.

  I cooked the berries down;

added the maple syrup and cooked for a bit longer then added it to the blender.

  I followed the directions to run the berries through a strainer to reduce if not remove the berries.

  Next you add the berry syrup

then the milk.

  Overall the recipe was very easy to make but I didn't taste a strong enough strawberry flavor.  I would make this recipe again and increase the berries, follow the cooking, blending and straining steps again just to see if I can reach that level I'm looking for.

For now bottoms up to the first round!   Notice the top of my drink! I strained it and this was still the result.  I didn't mind though it kind of looks like a special garnish.



 Find the recipe here: http://www.laurafuentes.com/homemade-real-strawberry-milk/

A Smoothie (Strawberry Style)

  Strawberries go in anything and although I can't confirm they make everything better; I can say I like everything with them.  Today we went with a liquid treat again.

  Strawberry Banana smoothie.  The name says it all.  Basically if you freeze both of these they will make any drink thicker.

  For this recipe I only used 3 ingredients and was pleased with the results.  I switched out the milk with almond milk and I'm sure this only enhanced the flavor.  If I had coconut I would have choose that.

I tossed my frozen strawberries and bananas in the blender

 and a little then less than a cup of almond milk

Blended it up and that was all.

Pour myself a glass and it immediately made me feel better.  It was just sweet enough with a red color from the strawberries a hint of banana flavor and I don't even recall the almond flavor but maybe it was there but also lightly.

Either way this is a nice drink to keep in mind.  You could add more to it or keep it the way it is.  I wonder how it freezes because it would be nice to make smoothies ahead of time and just reblend them prior to drinking.

Check out the recipe here:http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/strawberry-banana-smoothie-recipe/

Cheers to Strawberries

  I saw a recipe on Foodnetwork the other day.  This channel is on in my house as much as cartoons and some prime time shows.  It was a newer show or at least to me.  She made a comment that her husband always had strawberries for breakfast and she decided to merge the strawberries with his drink.

  It was a super easy recipe! Frozen strawberries and oranges.  I can't keep an orange in this house for anything.  They are gobbled up within days of being purchased so I used orange juice from a carton.

  I can only imagine how awesome the drink must be with fresh squeezed juice but I will save that for another day.

  Blend your 2 ingredients together and pour in your glasses.  That's its.  2 ingredients no diary. All natural  (potentially based on your orange selection) all healthy drink.

The frozen strawberries are blended up and turn your drink into a smoothie consistency.  I may add bananas or even a mango next time as this would be even a good base to build on but definitely good by itself!

Check out the recipe here:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nancy-fuller/strawberry-oj.html

Day 6 Drinking more pumpkin!

  I had to catch up today as I didn't consume any pumpkin yesterday.  So after our pancake breakfast I set into finding another pumpkin recipe.  I made a menu for the week but I have no organized plan for this pumpkin challenge!  I only know a few items I want to try.

  So after giving my daughter two choices we settled on pumpkin pie hot chocolate! Ahh, how could you not?

As long as you have the normal pumpkin pie spices and your pumpkin pie all you need is some white chocolate and then you have the makings of a nice hot delicious liquid treat!

 Mix everything together and let it boil.  I really need to get a pumpkin scented candle.  I'm so in love in the scent.  Although I'm sure you can't duplicate this smell enough.

  This drink was awesome!  I have had a few pieces of white chocolate in my cupboard for awhile so it was nice to have it on hand for this recipe.  I did add some milk to thin it out and it was delicious.  It tasted like a hot pumpkin drink with hints of white chocolate.  I shared with the younger ones and they liked it.

  Boy I sure am glad I have all these recipes documented so that I can go back and look up our new favorites and indulge in March or any other time of unofficial pumpkin season.


Ohh, macaroniandcheesecake this recipe was a definite keeper for this house.  We will be making this one again for sure!