As soon as summer and spring descend, it’s time to whip up the seasonal beverages that will keep you cool. Iced tea and flavored iced coffee are two of the most popular beverages during this time; they give you your caffeine fix as well as a respite from the heat outside.
It’s true that your local barista or the popular coffee chain in the neighborhood will have some of the fanciest-looking flavored iced coffees in their menu, but when you break down the basics, most of these can be easily made at home. Whether you want a light vanilla-flavored iced coffee or something more dessert-like with a nice topping, you can try your hand at these delectable flavored iced coffee recipes at home:
Flavored iced coffee is one of the best pick-me-up beverages. They taste like delicious desserts and go down smoothly as any light beverage. The best thing about flavored iced coffee is that it lets you have your daily caffeine fix in summer without the heat of freshly brewed hot coffee. Making iced coffee at home is quite simple. If you like light flavors, you can add a little bit of vanilla, or perhaps some chocolate to your iced brew.
But these are your regular flavored iced coffee. If you want to add interesting twists to your traditional flavored iced coffee, you can play around with different ingredients to create unique and yet delicious variations of iced coffee. Here are a few recipes to get you started:
Old fashioned recipes of comfort foods have withstood the test of time. They are still being shared and enjoyed today. Comfort food represents a homely feeling. It represents the belief of heart and soul that one puts in cooking. Here are some old-fashioned recipes that are worth a try:
Cornbread salad
Let us start with a salad dish. The southern cornbread salad is of the simplest old-fashioned recipe one can prepare for social gatherings or simply for dinner.
It has some of the simplest ingredients that you can find in your kitchen and refrigerator. You need a cornbread (cut into 1 inch equal cubes. Cut them and spread them on a tray on a large baking sheet.
Dry them out for at least 4 hours. Chop dices of tomatoes, cucumber, bell peppers, jalapenos and cabbage leaves in equal parts and take equal amount of corn kernels and kidney beans.
Use a large trifle dish or a glass bowl and form a layer of cornbread cubes at the bottom. Start layering the diced vegetables alternating with the layers of kidney beans and corn kernels. Top the final layer with shredded cheese of your choice and salad dressing.
Mac and cheese
One of the most popular old-fashioned recipe is the homemade macaroni and cheese. It is a perfect cheesy casserole that you can find across the country. It is one of the simplest recipe that you can find around. Cook macaroni as mentioned in the package and drain the water. Grease a baking tray and set it aside. Preheat the oven at 350 degree Fahrenheit.
Add cheddar cheese to the pan first and then the rest to the saucepan while the macaroni is still hot. Finally add American cheese and mix it together lightly.
Spread this macaroni mixture in the greased baking dish. Mix milk eggs and sour cream together in a separate bowl, and add butter. Pour the mixture over macaroni and bake it until it turns golden brown and budding (approximately for 40 minutes).
Old fashioned recipe of oatmeal cake
One can never go wrong with an oatmeal cake. Easy to prepare, a dessert that can be relished by everyone. Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit and grease and flour a baking tray. Place the oats in a bowl, add equivalent hot water to it, and set it aside for the oats to absorb the water. Mix sugar, butter and blend well until it becomes creamy.
In a separate bowl, add eggs, vanilla extract, and sift together flour and baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add half a mixture of oats into the butter and sugar mix and mix well. Add the other half of oatmeal mixture and flour and mix well.
Once everything is combined, pour it on a baking tray bake it in an oven at 350 degrees at 25 minutes. Your oatmeal cake is ready once you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.
Is the onset of spring making you want to sip on an iced beverage? Then there is undoubtedly nothing better than a delicious cup of iced coffee. A perfect blend, iced-coffee can amazingly serve your craving for coffee and dessert as well. We bet, the idea of one can make you squeal.
So what are waiting for? Craving a quick iced coffee but don’t want to splurge dollars on that fancy iced coffee? We have you covered. You don’t need to bring out the chef in you and merely follow these simple ideas. Viola, you’ll be rewarded with the tastiest iced coffee.
Iced coffee date – If you love your mornings and cannot kick-start your day without a cup of iced coffee, here is a healthy and delicious coffee variant. Prepare your usual coffee with some ice, milk and coffee and few chopped dates. This is a naturally sweetened iced coffee is a great energiser and is yummy too.
Chocolate iced coffee – Can’t live without chocolate? Most people can not. Chocolate is magical ingredient that can taste good in anything. So throw in some coffee with milk and ice, add in an ounce of chocolate flakes or powder and enjoy your chocolaty iced coffee.
Coconut iced coffee – Want to rock your morning the healthy way, iced coffee with coconut water is the way to go. All you have to do is brew some coffee with water and then add in your fresh coconut water. Drop in some ice cubes and enjoy this refreshing iced tea.
Ice-cream iced coffee – Well, this sounds like the best iced coffee variant right. Blend a mixture of milk, ice and coffee concentrate together. Pour it into a glass and add a generous dollop of ice-cream over. Although this iced coffee idea is high on calories, it is great for your cheat days.
Almond iced coffee – Almonds come with a whole lot of goodness. Substitute usual milk and add in some almond milk to a mix of iced tea and coffee. This beverage is high in protein and equally tasty. Don’t forget to garnish with a drizzle some crushed almonds.
Classic iced coffee – Want to stay awake all night, try this classic iced coffee. Brew fresh coffee and pour it over a few ice cubes. This cold beverage will keep you wide-eyed with its high caffeine concentration.
Cookie and cream iced coffee – Blend in some cream, coffee and ice cubes together. Throw in some crushed cookies and enjoy the of cookie adding crush to your iced drink. The tastiest, this one is irresistible.
Hope you enjoyed your iced coffee till your heart’s content.
Who does not love the idea of sipping a quick iced coffee? Well, the mention of the name itself is sure to make one salivate. For many, coffee acts as the kick-start energizer in the morning and beginning the day without a coffee break is unimaginable. While most elders prefer hot coffee, kids and youngsters can’t get enough of the iced variant. Just not refreshing, an iced coffee is also amazingly yummy.
Be it winter or spring, it is always iced coffee season. But where did this deliciously tasty and chilled drink come from? Let’s take you through the evolution of this godly drink, while you sip on your yummy iced coffee.
There is no dearth of myths that are connected to the origins of iced coffee. While being mysterious, they are super fun too. Coffee has been around for centuries but the evolution of iced coffee can be traced to the 1600’s in Japan. Since the Japanese have been known to be the first people to brew cold tea, it only stands as good reason that they may have been the first to experiment with iced-coffee aswell. It is speculated that Japanese may have picked this up from the Dutch who made coffee concentrate for easy transportation.
So how has this iced coffee trend expanded so widely in the US? People have always loved coffee for obvious reasons and having it in an iced form only makes it more irresistible. Moreover, several cafes can produce this coffee faster as brewing is quick and requires minimum labor. Iced Coffee is now also a part of popular culture and is now coming to be seen as an art-form. Brewers are coming up with creative ideas to serve this drink.
Different countries in the world have different variations and quick iced coffee ideas that are popular in that state. In a Japan, iced coffee stay very true to its name and freshly brewed coffee is merely poured over cubes of ice. This accentuates the flavor of the coffee and brings out the roasted flavor with every sip. On the other hand, an iced coffee is more like a sugary and creamy mix with a dash of crushed ice and coffee. This kind of quick iced coffee idea is becoming highly popular and loved for its quick way of preparation.
It is no surprise, that iced coffee is concentrated with way more caffeine and if you want to stay up through the night, iced coffee is the way to go. Don’t stop slurping!
Everyone enjoys a good cup of coffee and everyone loves cake. So what is the best way of indulging in both these things at once? Coffee cake! Everyone loves a cake that has the richness and the strong flavor aroma of coffee. Here is a recipe for the most decadent coffee cake. It’s chocolaty, full of strong coffee and it’s also flourless, making it gluten free. This cake is everything you will expect a coffee cake to be.
Ingredients:
20ml strong espresso
175g unsalted butter
100g caster sugar
200g dark chocolate
4 eggs (separated)
200g almonds
Method:
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Grease a 20mm cake tin and dust it with flour. You could also line it with butter paper if you prefer. Melt the dark chocolate and the butter in a pan by double boiling it. Add the espresso to this and stir occasionally. Make sure that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t come into contact with the water. In another bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg yolks until they form a thick consistency and are pale in color. Blitz the almonds in a food processor until they are finely ground. Make sure not to over-blitz them and make them sticky. Now fold in the coffee mixture into the egg and sugar mixture. Incorporate the ground almonds into this mixture. In a separate clean bowl, whip the egg whites till they form stiff peaks. Add this to the cake mix and fold gently until everything is evenly mixed. Put the mix into the cake tins and bake for about 25-30 minutes. If you would like the cake to be a little gooey then you can reduce the cooking time by 5 or ten minutes. Let the cake cool down before removing it from the pan. You can add grated chocolate and almonds on top if needed.
If you prefer your cakes with icing, you can use this icing recipe to fulfill your craving and make your cake even better.
Ingredients for Coffee Buttercream:
1 ½ tablespoon instant coffee
1 ½ tablespoon water
1 ½ tablespoon vanilla essence
340 grams unsalted butter
3 cups icing sugar
Combine the coffee, vanilla essence and water till the granules dissolve. Whisk the butter and sugar until its smooth. Pour in the cooled coffee mix and whisk till well mixed. Cover the cake with this mixture. Indulge!
Low-fat cooking is a culinary niche that hits many targets at once. Not only is this a great way for those who are watching their weight and for those who want to steadily lose plenty of weight, but it is also a great approach to staying in shape and in the best of health. With the help of low-fat cooking, you will be busy using ingredients and techniques that keep your cholesterol in check even as the risk of falling prey to heart disease is eliminated to a great extent. Not only this – with low-fat cooking, you can also avoid a host of lifestyle diseases that primarily spring from wrong eating habits.
Making smoothies is a great way to inculcate low-fat cooking into your daily habits. You can easily get fresh nuts, fruit, yogurt and vegetables to create one meal smoothie, which can travel with you in a large cup. This can become your breakfast or even a snack when you are craving for an energy rush. Take your cue from these recipes for some healthy smoothies!
Bananas: This is one of the most preferred ingredients for smoothies. You can add bananas to any kind of smoothie with some side performances by ingredients like nuts, honey, and even grapefruit. You can combine these with yogurt and give your smoothies a toasted almond and oats topping. This will make for an energetic on-the-go meal, especially when you are dashing towards your workplace with little time to spare.
Berries: There are many kinds of berries that can be used for low-fat cooking, especially when it comes to smoothies. You can bring in mulberries, blueberries, strawberries and other such ingredients, which are perfect when it comes to giving your metabolism an obvious push. These can be blended with yogurt as well as bananas and other melon-like fruit. You can add a few leaves of kale to the concoction so that you get a dose of greens as well. Drizzle some honey and get ready for a yummy breakfast or snack time!
Peaches and mangoes: These juicy fruits are ideal for creating smoothies, which will fill your stomach well. You can try blending the peaches and mangoes into a pulp, which can be added to a bowl of yogurt and topped with a layer of your favorite cereal. Further, you can even add cashew nuts and raisins to make it the perfect snack, after you are done with a session at the gym.
Carrots and apples: These unlikely partners can come together for a delicious and filling smoothie. You can combine these two ingredients with some honey and yogurt as well as some baby spinach and arugula for a health kick like none other. Try this smoothie with a handful of almonds when the cravings for snacks kick in.
Good health is the key to a good life. It is important that we should be conscientious of what we put in our bodies. However, sometimes, we tend to falter. For instance, we might want grab a quick snack between meals. In such situations, it is best to have alternate healthy options at hand. Smoothies are the best way to satiate your hunger pangs. Here are 10 healthy smoothie recipes to help you maintain a good health.
1. Apple and Kale Smoothie: This diet smoothie aids in weight loss and helps in detoxifying your body. Also known as Green Smoothie, this healthy drink combines apple, kale, celery and almond milk.
2. Pineapple Banana Smoothie: Mix fruit smoothies are powered with a lot of nutrients. This recipe blends together pineapple juice, pineapple and banana together to give you a healthy fruit smoothie.
3. Red Blush Smoothie: You can use frozen fruit such as frozen strawberries and raspberries along with almond or soy milk to make this healthy fruit smoothie. Mix in yogurt, if you want a creamy consistency.
4. Berry Oat Smoothie: This drink works quite well as a breakfast smoothie. This breakfast smoothie recipe needs brown sugar, blueberries, rolled oats, yogurt and a dash of ginger.
5. Vegan Chocolate Milkshake Smoothie: This is a perfect breakfast smoothie that aids in weight loss. This healthy smoothie recipe blends together silken tofu, cocoa powder, banana, fresh raspberries, spinach, flax meal and vanilla milk.
6. Honeydew and Almond Smoothie: This delectable smoothies is one of the best healthy smoothies you can have for your breakfast. In this smoothie recipe, you combine together chopped honeydew melon, almond milk and a dash of honey.
7. Cool Cucumber Smoothie: This diet smoothie is a great detoxifying agent as well as hydrating. Blend together cucumber, lime juice, water and add honey for a sweet flavor.
8. Sunshine Smoothie: This delightful mix fruit smoothie combines the goodness of peaches, banana and mangoes. Sunshine Smoothie is one of the best and easiest frozen fruit smoothies you can make.
9. Green of Forest Smoothie: This is a very good weight loss smoothie. It helps in detoxifying and is good for your skin and hair. This healthy smoothie combines together kiwi, banana, pineapple, celery stalks and spinach.
10. Savory Smoothie: Made by blending together fresh mint, jalapeno pepper, honey and plain yogurt, this smoothie is quite a good filler for snack cravings. Garnish with cumin seeds and cilantro to give it a nice zing.
All healthy smoothies recipes include natural ingredients that are loaded with abundant nutrients, and they fill you up instantly. Smoothies not only are good nutrient supplements, they also help you in weight loss. Here are 10 healthy smoothie recipes that you can have when you are on the go.
1. Frozen Fruit Smoothie: Frozen fruit smoothie recipes commonly use fruits like bananas, cherries and any kind of berries that you can find in frozen packs in the supermarket. Frozen banana with strawberries is quite commonly used in breakfast smoothie recipes as well.
2. Fruit and Yogurt Smoothie: Yogurt is the most basic ingredient used in all healthy smoothie recipes. You can add fresh or canned juice for additional fruity flavor. Such healthy fruit smoothie recipes combine the goodness of fruit and the probiotic value of yogurt.
3. Mix Fruit Smoothie: Mix fruit smoothie recipes combine the benefits of multiple fruits. For instance, you can use a mix of berries like blueberries, blackberries and strawberries. Or you can have a mix of pineapple and banana with a base of yogurt.
4. Green Smoothie: If you are keen on weight loss, your dietitian or trainer will recommend good weight loss smoothie recipes for you. These generally include kale, apple, celery, lettuce, pear mixed with skim milk, or almond milk or soy milk.
5. Peach Green Tea Smoothie: A combination of chilled green tea and peaches, this smoothie can be quite filling if you are on a diet. In addition to these two basic ingredients, this diet smoothie recipe calls for yogurt, banana and honey as well.
6. Cinnamon Smoothie: This smoothie is quite apt as a breakfast smoothie. It tastes like cinnamon bun and has a pleasant aroma as well. This breakfast smoothie recipe requires you to blend together banana, almond milk, water, ground cinnamon, oats, and yogurt.
7. Spinach and Avocado: This healthy smoothie is packed with protein and tastes delicious as well. This healthy smoothie recipe calls for spinach, avocado, banana, natural peanut butter and milk. Blend all these together and garnish with a small spinach leaf.
8. Dark Chocolate Smoothie: Dark chocolate is full of antioxidants. This combination of unsweetened cocoa powder with chia seeds aids in weight loss and gives you a glowing skin as well.
9. Papaya-Ginger: This healthy fruit smoothie recipe has a spicy twist to it, thanks to the hotness of ginger. With the laxative property of papaya, this smoothie helps in digestion and aids in weight loss as well.
10. Banana Smoothie: The best healthy smoothie recipes have banana and yogurt as their default ingredients. With its high proportion of potassium and other minerals, banana smoothie is a sure shot way to good health.
Bloody Mary is one of the most intriguing drinks that one can come across. Often people think that this cocktail has something to do with the age-old myth used to scare children to sleep. However, sipping on a glass of Bloody Mary won’t conjure any spirit, instead it would definitely make you feel ecstatic. The Bloody Mary is a concoction that contains vodka, tomato juice and different spices and flavorings such as Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, piri piri sauce, beef consomm or bouillon, horseradish, celery, olives, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon juice and/or celery salt. An amalgamation of so many different things is what makes it quite an interesting drink.
If you wish to make your own bloody mary instead of going to the bar, there are a lot of DIY bloody mary recipes and the best part is you can mix and match different ingredients and try your hand at making your own bloody mary recipe! You can definitely research on the different types of blood mary and how to make them, but your research would be more interesting if you take a glimpse at its history.
According to the story, the origins of the bloody mary can be traced back to an American bar, The New York Barin Paris. It was a bar opened by an American expatriate, Ted Sloan and it soon became the favorite hangout spots for famous Americans like Ernest Hemingway, Rita Hayworth, Humphrey Bogart and some Russians who escaped the Russian Revolution. A Russian bartender of this bar is credited with coming up with the first recipe of the bloody mary. He tried his hand at making different drinks and figured out that the Russian vodka was favored by many customers. Thus, Fernand Petiot, the bartender began experimenting with drinks and finally found his perfect drink when he matched the vodka to canned tomato juice. This cocktail became an instant hit among his customers!
After his stint in Paris where his drink was admired a lot, he moved to New York. In New York, he was offered a job at the plush King Cole Bar at the St. Regis Hotel. The New Yorkers weren’t impressed with this drink and demanded that he add some more flavor to it. That’s when he started making the drink with the different combination of tabasco sauce, cayenne pepper, etc. And as for the name, the story has it that a customer had suggested the name to Petiot as it was the name of a waitress at the Bucket of Blood Bar, which the customer visited.
Your Bloody Mary has undergone quite a few changes and the new Bloody Mary recipes are very popular among DIY enthusiasts.