Tuesday, March 13, 2012

nifty, thrifty: homemade iced coffee

It amazes me what some people must spend on life's little pleasures. As we've put four kids through college, I've become even more frugal than ever. Take chilled coffees, for instance. I used to sneak sips of my mother's iced coffee when I was a girl. She made hers from leftover morning coffee. Forty years later, you can drop what, $4 or so for a latte or iced capuccino or whatnot. If you bought 3 or 4 of those a week, that's a wad of cash.

So here's my thrifty recipe: homemade iced coffee. For fun, I saved a Panera cup from when Katie and I went there for lunch a few weeks ago. I wash and reuse it so it seems like I've gone to Panera for a fancy drink!

Barb's Iced Coffee

Fill a glass or cup half full with strong, cold coffee OR place a heaping teaspoon of instant coffee in the cup and about an inch of hot water. If you want it sweet, add sugar now and stir til dissolved. Add lots of ice (and some cold water if using instant coffee), almost to the top. Then fill with plenty of milk and/or half and half. Stir and enjoy. Put in your travel cup if you're leaving on errands. Especially good at your desk in the mid-afternoon!

How do you save money?

4 comments:

Karen Dawkins said...

No thanks to you (how is it that you didn't teach me this before I moved south), I make my own chicken stock. EASY!!! Not to mention, I have chicken already poached and ready for dinner during the week. A money and time saver!!!

Recipe here: http://www.karendawkins.blogspot.com/2012/03/home-cookin.html

Please share ALL your college years money-savers. We need them! :)

Unknown said...

Yes! Please share....I'm going to do this tomorrow! We can all benefit from little tips like this. And it's healthier, too.

Anonymous said...

When I first moved to Thailand I found that iced coffee is ubiquitous here and I grew to love it! Thanks for the recipe, it is what I use. I prefer using instant but all coffee is good! So refreshing!

klrodman said...

My mom did the same thing, except she has a chocolate gene (which I've inherited), so she added a spoonful of Nestle's Quik to it & made a Mocha! Except she just called it Chocolate Coffee! :) Yummy...I love the reusable Panera cup idea. :)