Please excuse Deidra's absense from the blogging world ..

As some of you may have noticed, I've been out of commission from my blog since May.  Everything was going just fine .. silly Dutch guy was finally working again, we were stretching our money out nicely then, all of a sudden BOOM, I got sick.  Not just sick, I became diabetic.  Mind you, I'm such a foodie and now, I'm a  foodie with DIABETES.  Ugh!  Are you kidding me, Lord?  A ginormous food lover and I get stricken with the diabetes.  How ironic is that?  Although I shake my fist at the bizarro turn of events, I'm ever so grateful for the wake up call.  Perhaps I was a bit 'gluttonous'?  Perhaps, I was an over achieving eater?  Who knows?  All I know is this here frugal girl is now having to hand over LOADS of money for better foods, medications and a meter to check my blood sugar 4 times a day.  Thank God for insurance!

So, what happens now?

First thing, I have to tighten the belt a bit further now to accommodate .. especially since silly Dutch guy is yet again out of work and relying solely on my income.  Good news though, I got a raise!  Thank you, Wal*Mart!  What would I do without you?

Secondly, I get to create healthier meals!  I get to watch my carbs!  I get to be more active and make a conscience effort to be healthy.  Ever since May, I have lost a total of 28 lbs., that's HUGE for me!  This great news isn't without it's bad news .. for my silly Dutch guy, it's hard to see his fat little wife dropping the chub.  He loves the chub .. he worships the chub .. but, the chub is killing me and he wants the wifey around for a few more years.  It seems that everyone has to sacrifice something in this family!

So, as to where I stand, I will make a conscious effort to blog more now that I'm getting my diabetes under control and actually feel like doing things once again.  Silly Dutch guy was very generous with my wedding anniversary present last month (thank you, Behbe <3 ) and gifted me accordingly ..

This gorgeous stand mixer

This amazing convection toaster oven/rotisserie

 This sleek microwave 

 

This compact refrigerator was purchased a few months back when we got our state income tax refund.

With all these new toys to play with, now all I have to do is get a new kitchen to match them and I'm all set!!!

Oh honeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey, are you free?

Cold brewed iced coffee .. a prayer answered!

Like millions of folks, I get my friend groove going on Facebook.  As a member, about 90% of my status updates will involve what I've made or am making for breakfast, lunch or dinner .. sometimes dessert.  I like to ask what everyone else is making from time to time.  I never really gave it a second though until just recently when a fellow high school alumni left a comment on my page asking why my posts always seemed to center around food.

I had to confess .. *sigh* .. it's because I'm a foodie.  I might be poor as a church mouse but, I'm a foodie through and through.  I love reading recipes, I love reading cookbooks and I absolutely love food magazines.  Ever since I was a little girl, I've been fascinated by how ingredients come together.  I remember helping my Mama make pie and when she had left over pie crust, I rolled it out, cut it into strips and sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar.  I baked them with Mama's help and I thought they were the best thing ever.  So flaky, so crisp, so sweet .. and I always burned my mouth because I never could wait until they cooled off.  It seems patience hasn't always been my friend.

We don't own a coffee maker and I have been CRAVING coffee for a while now.  Starbucks is ridiculously overpriced and even though McDonalds has the McCafe going on, I'm still not convinced it's worth paying $2+ for an iced coffee.  My pennies have to be pinched for the better good despite my wants!  Boo hoo for me!  I heard about something called 'cold brew' in which you soak coffee grounds overnight and strain it using the 'concentrate' to make your coffee.  I found this fascinating!  I can get my coffee fix AND not have to deal with another appliance on my already crowded kitchen counter.

One day while browsing the glutton's paradise Foodgawker, I typed in the search engine 'cold brewed iced coffee'.  The search led me to a few different recipes and after clicking onto them all, the last one I clicked on led me to a duo named Clay and Zach.  These two gorgeous guys started The Bitten Word solely on the fact that although they loved food magazines (fellas after my own foodie heart), they hadn't been the best at putting them to use (much like myself).  They post their results after their cooking adventures to show how they turned out.  They made an iced coffee using a recipe from nytimes.com and I figured it looked easy enough so, I had a go at it.

I bought a flavored coffee at Walmart for $1 ..

Don't that sound tasty?

Poured it into a container for its overnight stay.

The recipe calls for 1 1/2 c. water per 1/3 c. ground coffee.

Your coffee grounds should be completely covered.

Place a lid on your container and let it rest at room temperature

overnight or 12 hours.  Make sure you have something guarding

its safety .. my Delft cow creamer was up to the task at hand.

Strain your concentrate through a fine mesh sieve or some
cheesecloth making sure not to let any grounds escape.
I strain it into a container with a lid so I can mix everything
together and pour into my glass.

I usually put a coffee filter in my sieve so I don't have a lot of

grounds to mess with.  Even after it's drained, I'll wrap my

ball of coffee grounds in two more filters and squeeze out the

excess liquid that's hiding.   I want every bit of coffee I can get.

After adding an equal amount of water, some powdered milk

and sweeten to taste, I shake it up until everything is combined and

pour my concoction over ice into a not so fancy plastic cup.

 Looks good, doesn't it?  Looks strangely familiar, doesn't it?

And, it tastes absolutely delicious .. for less $$!!!

Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee

Originally posted on NYTimes.com

1/3 cup ground coffee (medium-coarse grind is best)

Milk (optional).

1. In a jar, stir together coffee and 1 1/2 cups water.

Cover and let rest at room temperature overnight or 12 hours.

2. Strain twice through a coffee filter, a fine-mesh sieve or a sieve

lined with cheesecloth. In a tall glass filled with ice,

mix equal parts coffee concentrate and water, or to taste.

If desired, add milk. 

Yield: Two drinks.

NOTE: To make hot coffee, dilute concentrate one-to-one

with water and heat in the microwave.