coffee, jordan, life

My most recent breakup + toothless!

Look who lost his first tooth!

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My baby boy is not a baby anymore!

I picked him up from school today and the teachers had put it in a baggie so it would not get lost. He was sooooo excited when he saw me! And I was too!

After I picked him him from school, I went and picked up a couple of pints of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. I was reading Carrots n Cake today and I had been craving it ever since! I figured What the heck! I might as well celebrate with him. 😉

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I haven’t had ice cream in a looooong time! And it was sooooo good! Vanilla ice cream, caramel and chocolate covered waffle cone pieces. Yup, a winner!

Tonight he was really excited to put his little tooth under his pillow for the tooth fairy. I can’t believe he is old enough for the tooth fairy!

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
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If you have been following me on my social media channels, you have noticed I gave up coffee this past weekend. I am proud to say that I have been coffee free for 5 days now!

I had been sick the week prior with a flu bug and ever since then I couldn’t really stand the taste of coffee. Thursday night I ended up going to the ER due to really sharp pains in my left side and little did I know I had a horrible UTI. It was traveling up into my kidney which explains the pain. I was told to drink at least 2 liters of water per day to help flush out the infection.

I knew this was a sign from my body to STOP drinking coffee.

And while the two illnesses were not connected to my coffee consumption, I was drinking a lot of it. 3 cups in the morning, often times a cup in the afternoon and sometimes a cup in the early evening. I would call it addiction. And I was having very bad headaches and felt very sluggish and acidic.

So I woke up Saturday morning with the intention I was going to severely cut coffee out of my life. And it has been fantastic ever since!

Here is a daily recap:

  • Day 1 (Saturday) – Headache in the morning. Drank several cups of water and did end up making myself a cup of coffee in the afternoon but only drank a few sips.
  • Day 2 (Sunday) – Woke up and drank a liter of water right away. No coffee and no tea and surprisingly no headache! I probably drank close to a gallon of water.
  • Day 3 (Monday) – I was a little cornered that I was going to feel crappy at the office so I brought a few bags of green tea. It was really nice drinking green tea in the morning! I also drank an entire gallon of water. No headache and felt amazing!
  • Day 4 (Tuesday)  – Green tea in the morning and a gallon of water throughout the day. Still felt really amazing!
  • Day 5 (Wednesday) – Today was the best day yet! I only drank 1 cup of green tea this morning and a gallon of water and my energy levels were incredibly high! I am so please that I am feeling this amazing! I wish I would have cut coffee a long time ago!

Tips:

I prep my water at night. I have two bottles that are 1.5 gallons each and I fill my mason jar with 4 cups of water. I like to drink my water room temperature so having it out during the day helps my water intake! I simply fill my mason jar up as I drink it.

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Green tea is my BFF right now! But I suggest buying organic!

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Most importantly – Make sure you really want to cut coffee! You cant expect to follow through with something if you are not fully committed.

I would love to answer any questions that you may have about kicking the habit! Simply leave a comment below!

XxOo Tasha

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You may also like:

Goal Writing 101
Coffee Date Sunday
Food Journal – Weekend Eats

#aprilfoodphotos, coffee

April Food Photos – Day 1

Leslie over at The Purple Carrot has started a daily food photo project. I was too late to join March but I promised myself I would join in April. I hope you participate, too!

april food photos

The rules are simple: take a picture following the guidelines for each day and post it to your blog, facebook, twitter, instagram or any other social media platform. It’s pretty awesome to see everyone’s interpretation of the said item.

With out further a-do…

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My morning fuel is coffee… it’s my first thought of the day. I used to enjoy it black but lately I have been enjoying it with almond milk and liquid stevia.
Thank you, coffee… for making the mornings a bit more enjoyable.

tasha

coffee, general, life

This one is on me

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Good morning?

Hello?

…

Oh, you are there! Wonderful! So am I!
Just going through yet another life adventure… one that is keeping me away from the computer, my blog, my camera, my email… pretty much everything and everyone. BUT rest assure it is a good thing! Busy, no time for anyone or anything, but good!

I have loved reading all about Foodbuzz weekend, too. I wanted so badly to attend. There is always next year, right?

So as I go about my crazy, LONG days, my new adventures and my eats (or lack of), you are all still in my thoughts and I am waiting for the day that I can be calm, collected and have some free time.

Someday.

Soon.

I hope.

xoxo

coffee, product review

My Aeropress

As most of you know, I love my coffee. I’m not one of those coffee drinkers who order a double tall, vanilla, extra foam, extra hot, non fat latte. No no… I am happy with a hot cup of drip coffee, black. However, I have had my fair share of nasty cups of coffee; bitter, sour, too strong, not strong enough. Coffee is like wine to me. I can taste each and every note of the coffee and can tell the difference between blends.

I have also owned my fair share of coffee makers. From espresso machines, to drip coffee makers and French presses; I’ve tried them all. Call it bad luck, or a sign, but every single one of those items listed has broke, leaving me coffee-less and unwanted dollars leaving my pocket book.

One coffee maker that has never let me down has been my Aeropress. I am sure most of you have net even heard of an Aeropress, but it has been the BEST coffee maker/press I have ever had. But besides its durability, it also MAKES the BEST cup of coffee I have EVER HAD. It is unbelievably smooth but the taste is bold and rich. I have made several friends and family members a cup of coffee with this press and they all had agreed that it was one of the best cup of coffee they have ever had. 

One look at the press may have someone ask, How do you make coffee with THIS?

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It doesn’t look like much, does it. But let me show you how simple this little coffee maker is:

Here are the pieces :

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You have the coffee chamber, the press and the filter.

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It uses a micro-filter to filter the grounds from the water. Luckily these little filters are very durable and can easily be rinsed and re-used, especially useful if you are making several cups of coffee back-to-back.

The black ring and filter screw onto the bottom of the coffee chamber.

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You add your coffee right into the chamber. Any grind will work, as well as any kind of coffee you prefer. Depending on how strong of coffee you like, you can add as much or as little coffee to suit your taste. I find the strength is similar to an Americano.

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Next, you place the chamber on top of your mug or on a container with an opening that will hold the press.

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Pour your hot water into the chamber until it reaches the top.

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Stir for 10 seconds.

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It will start to drip out into the cup as soon as you place the water into the chamber. Be sure to watch the amount of coffee that is dripping into the cup as you do not want it to over flow.

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You can continue to add water to the chamber until you feel you have enough water to make a full cup of coffee. The chamber holds about a cup and a half of liquid.

Once you feel you have enough water, place the presser into the chamber and gently press down. ( I heat up about 2 1/2 cups of water to make a large cup of coffee.)

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That’s it! Simple! I know it may look like a lot of work, but it is just as simple as a French press but takes less time. From start to finish it takes less than a minute. Isn’t that awesome!?

And clean up is a snap. Unscrew the black filter off of the bottom, continue to press the grounds out, pull the press out of the chamber and quickly rinse. And remember to rinse the filter as you can re-use it!

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Now sit back and enjoy – pure bliss.

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The only thing I would say about the Aeropress is it is not practical for a large group. We had my family over for dinner a few nights back and a conventional coffee maker would have been better, but I ended up making 5 cups of coffee with my Aeropress. It was a bit more work but EVERYONE enjoyed it! It made for great entertainment. 😉
Want your own Aeropress? Here is the list of retail stores that carry Aeropress’s or you can buy straight from Amazon. It is worth every penny, I promise!

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