Monday, March 23, 2015

Home Brewed Ice Coffee and Small Event Refreshment Bar


Happy Spring Everybody!!! My prayer is for winter to be over and Summer, Heat and Long days when the sun sets at 8pm to come quicker. So I have not posted in a while but what can you say when  life changes happen. My husband and I just bought our first home and moved out of our small apartment. We have finally unpacked everything and I am enjoying decorating and designing our home's motif. Here is a picture of our lovely home.                              Ok enough about my house lets get back to the post.  This post has scrumptious recipes for punches, ice coffee's  and creamers. These recipes and set up are great ideas for a bridal shower, baby showers, get together's, or just because. The event Aroma Coffee set up for was for a Trade's of Hope event. If you have never heard of Trade's of Hope it is a global organization that brings hope to impoverished women around the world. The women who are facing poverty, sex slavery, handicapped, illness are using their God given talents to create works of art. Be it jewelry, scarves, baskets these women are creating their art and Trade's of Hope sells it through their catalog and at Home Parties through out the world.

  Aroma Coffee was very thrilled to be a part of this movement in the community. Please take a look at Trade's of Hope Link below and see how you can contribute to the cause.

http://www.tradesofhope.com/

      ICE, ICE COFFEE

       This brew method for Ice Coffee I rarely use. The taste is not as bold, rounded and smooth as the cold brew method but it is similar. But when you are crunched for time with a busy schedule this is the fast way to make Ice Coffee.

1.So first I got a dark to medium roast coffee and ground it medium fine (where you can still see good sized chunks of the bean.)

2. Then I scooped about twice as much for a full French Press so if it takes 2 tablespoons for 6fl ounces I put 3-4 tablespoons to 6 fl ounces of water.

* The reason for the strong coffee is because the ice melts when you make ice coffee and people like a nice, strong ice coffee.

3. I poured hot water and waited 5-6 minutes and pressed it down. (Note: This is harder because there is so many grounds in the French Press)

4. I poured the coffee into a large pot and put Ice into the coffee.

5. I repeated steps 1-4 for three times and I had a bout three 32 ounce French Press Coffee's in the pot.

6. I put the pot of coffee in the fridge with some ice and left it over night.

* This is not the best way because the grounds are not soaking in the water all night. I will post about the perfect cold brew method later.

7. The Ice Coffee is really strong so when I served the coffee I poured about a Gallon of water to dilute it.

The Creamiest Coffee Creamer

Ingredients:

3 TablespoonsVanilla

2/3 can of Sweetended Condensed Milk

12 Ounces of Half and Half

Mason Jar

Pour 2/3 can of sweetened condescend Milk into mason jar. Then pour the half and half in the jar and top it with 3 tablespoons of Vanilla. I then seal the mason jar and shake until all ingredients are blended. Voila! This is the best and creamiest substance you can ever put in your Ice Coffee. 





Cranberry Spritzer

This punch is a great alternative to the usual punches made with sherbet, soda or Hawaiian Punch. This punch has less sugar than most and has a refreshing zingy taste. It was the number one hit at the refreshment bar at my event!

Ingredients

2 bottles of Cranberry Juice

1 Liter of Lime Seltzer Water

1 Frozen Lemonade Can

2 Fresh Limes

2 Fresh Lemons

Pour all the ingredients together and use a spoon to mix in the frozen Lemonade. I cut the lemon and lime up for garnish and throw in some ice cubes to keep the punch cold. This will be a hot at any party and people will be happy it's not filled with tons of sugar!

Here are some pictures of the set up and the beautiful Trades of Hope Event.

Chalkboards are always cheap and easy to set up Menu's on for any Event! You can find these at Michaels or Hobby Lobby.




Thursday, January 22, 2015

Juicing into 2015

    Happy New Year Y'all! Its crazy to think we are already three weeeks into the year 2015. With all the new year goals and resolutions my husband and I bought a juicer to christen the New Year. Every year our goal is maintain our health and use new and old methods to keep fit and active. I was so excited about my juicer I made three drinks the night he brought it home. So being passionate about juicing and health I wanted to share the benefits of juicing.
  First off I am implementing juicing into my daily diet not juicing as a diet. I am not writing about fasting on just juices and using them as substitute for all meals.
 Vegetables and fruits are amazing sources of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other nutrients like phytochemicals.Woah hold your horses. What is a phytochemical...well they are biological active substances in plants that are responsible for giving the plants color, flavor and natural disease resistance. These guys are powerful ammunition in the war against cancer. To read more on these guys check out prescription for nutritional healing by Phyllis a balch.
Juicing is used at its best when using a variety of fruits and vegetables because each plant appears to have their own different nutrients,vitamins and phytochemicals. Phyllis A Balch recommends two glasses of live juices daily for health maintenance. Four glasses a day is recommended if you want to speed healing and recovery from illness.
This brings me to my next issue. Live fruit juices made at home verses store bought juices. If you want to get the most out of your juices drink them within 24 hours of juicing. I am not dissing the store bought juices like my favorites made by the Naked brand but studies have shown that  many Commercial juices are heat-treated to lengthen shelf life. This process can destroy very important nutrients and in addition companies add preservatives to keep it on the shelf to be sold in the produce department. By buying  the best produce,properly preparing it and processing it in your juicer you will get the most nutrients rich drink.

Vegetable and Green juicing
    Green juices have a rejuvenating effect and cleanse the body of pollutanats. Green juices are rich in chlorophyll, which purifies the blood build red blood cells and detoxify the body.Green juices are composed of barley grass, alfalfa,  cabbage, kale, spinach and other green veggies. Green juices should be consumed in moderation about 10 ounces a day. Vegetables other than greens are known as restorers.These veggies boost the immune system, remove acid waste and alkalize the blood. You can juice a wide range of veggies  including carrots, celery, cucumber, kale, beets, spinach are among the favorites. Carrot is the most popular of the juices because of the sweetness but don't let the sweetness full you, carrot juice is packed with beta-carotene, the Vitamin A that helps fight against cancer.  Try using small amounts of strong flavored veggies in your juices. Some of these include  celery, broccoli, radishes,parsley. For the best health result use a variety of veggies  in your juices to give yourself a variety of nutrients.

Fruit Juicing
     Fruit juices cleanse the body and nourish it with important nutrients.The best thing about juicing Fruit is its healthy and it tastes amazing! Watermelon is one of the best cleansing juices, other fruits include apples, pears, kiwi, cut us fruits, bananas, berries. Enjoy fresh fruit juice any time of the day a 10 to 12 ounce glass is reccomended. My favorite juices are to combine all three greens, veggies and fruits into one amazing concoction.

Preparing produce
Here are some tips and guidelines when prepping produce
▪Whenever possible buy organic. This prevents chemical residue ending up in your juice.
▪If you can't buy organic use a veggie brush and veggie wash to rinse them throughly.
▪When using organic produce leave the skin on to get more nutrients.  Do remove the skin from apricots, grapefruits, kiwis, oranges,  papayas, peaches  and pineapples.
▪Leave in small seeds except when using apples. Apple seeds contain cyanide, a toxic substance.
▪Juice most produces with steams and leaves except carrots.
▪When using soft produce puree in a blender then add to the juice. Ex . bananas,  avocados.


Recipes:

The Refresher(seen above)


1 Cucumber
1 Pear
1 Apple
2 Kiwis
1 knob of ginger
A hint of lime


Tropical Remedy(seen below)
1 Mango

3  Carrots 

1 Apple

3 Slices of Pineapple peeled