Medaglia d'Oro Instant Espresso Coffee

You'll never read a report of how a cup of this espresso tastes as a beverage since coffee is too much of a diuretic for me to enjoy.

In case you'd like to know what to do you'll put a rounded teaspoon in a 3 ounce Demitasse cup and add boiling water. Stir before serving with sugar, twist of lemon peel or liqueur.

I will tell you that these little tiny beads add fantastic flavor in the frosting on cake.


Medaglia d'Oro Instant Espresso Coffee found in the super tiny instant espresso section amongst the scads of coffees at Ralph's for $3.59 a 2-oz jar.

I tried weighing a teaspoon of this to get equivalences so I could put a price on portions of this stuff but the balance isn't sensitive enough. So, I'm going to say there are 57 teaspoons, each one weighing about a gram. That makes each of 57 teaspoons about $0.06.

7-11 Coffee, Small

I need this for cake too. Small coffee (contains more than 2/3 cup) at 7-11 for $1.49.

7-11 Coffee, Small

7-11 sells coffee which is really convenient for me. I don't drink the stuff, but sometimes a recipe calls for it. I just walk around the corner and get what I need and in about 5 minutes I'm right back home.

I didn't need the coffee right away, so transferred the entire contents to a coffee mug. Yep, this is how much I put into the cup.

 

A small coffee from 7-11 costs $1.49, no matter how much you put in the cup.

Almond Milk

I started an oatmeal kick for breakfast. Day 2, I realized I was out of milk. I have to have some milk in my oatmeal or else it is too...oaty, and too much like gruel.

Almonds in the freezer and plenty of water at hand, I gave almond milk a whirl. It's a pretty simple thing: blanch the almonds, peel, blend and, if you like, filter.

Almond Milk
adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

click to print

1 c whole almonds

3 c water (not including that used for boiling)

Set a saucepan of water to boil. Add almonds.

Almost immediately, the almonds will gradually float indicating the skins are loose. Boil almonds 1-3 minutes before draining. Spread on baking sheet to cool enough to handle, just a few minutes.

Peel almonds by pinching between thumb and forefinger.

They will go flying if you aren't careful.

Place 3 cups of water in a blender and add the almonds. Cover blender and blend about 5 minutes.

The mixture will be foamy. Filter through cheesecloth and sweeten with honey if desired.

You can see the three layers: foam, milk, and minced almond.

Store in carafe or in closed blender jar up to a week.


After the foam settled out a little bit, I tasted the milk and it's fairly mild in the almond flavor yet a little creamy. My intention is to use this to round out my oatmeal and really don't care there are minced nuts in it. Maybe if I had one of those bad-ass blenders, the nuts would get pureed and the milk would be a serious almond flavor blast.

If you do filter the nut pieces out, I think baking them in bread or cookies would work out well. I'll have to try that sometime. Oh yeah, and you might consider preparing more than one cup of almonds since they are a million times better to eat without that bitter skin!

Cost:

• almonds: $1.40 (based on the price of walnuts since I can't find anywhere on the blog the price of whole almonds)

Total: $1.40 or $0.47 for each of three 1-cup servings.

Bolthouse Farms Perfectly Protein Vanilla Chai Tea

On a good roll with the Bolthouse Farms Perfectly Protein beverages, I picked up this vanilla chai tea.

I've never had chai tea and wasn't sure if I'd care for it.


The ingredients:

soymilk from concentrate (water, soymilk concentrate), apple juice concentrate, green tea (water, green tea), soy protein isolate, natural flavors, calcium (tricalcium phosphate), carrageenan, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), magnesium (magnesium oxide), vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), zine (zinc sulfate), iron (ferrous lactate), vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin).

And it is tasty. Very tasty. I think I enjoyed this one more than the chocolate and mango flavors.

Available at Stater Bros. in a 52-oz bottle for $5.99.

Bolthouse Farms Protein Plus Mango flavored protein shake

As the chocolate flavor was so good, I made it a point to try the mango flavor. I picked it up on the way to work thinking confidently it would make a good breakfast shake. I was right.

The ingredients:

apple juice from concentrate (water, apple juice concentrate), carrot juice from concentrate (water, carrot juice concentrate), valencia orange juice from concentrate (water, valencia orange juice concentrate), mango puree from concentrate (water, mango puree concentrate), whey protein concentrate, pineapple juice from concentrate (water, pinapple juice concentrate), banana puree, soy protein isolate, citric acid, natural flavor, pectin, calcium (tricalcium phosphate), cellulose gell, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), magnesium (magnesium oxide), iron (ferrous lactate), zinc (zinc sulfate), vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin).

Click on the photo below to get the nutrition facts if you're interested.

The whey aftertaste was not at all present in this mango shake, unlike the chocolate shake. I chalk it up to the thickness and fruitiness of this drink. Compared to the chocolate shake, this felt more viscous.

Available at Henry's Market for $3.99 a 32-oz bottle.

Bolthouse Farms Protein Plus Chocolate naturally flavored protein shake

Wandering around the store, I spied this chocolate flavored protein drink from Bolthouse Farms. If you don't know Bolthouse Farms products, they tend to be delicious. Now that they have a chocolate shake, protein or not, I grabbed a bottle.

The ingredient statement is a little intimidating at first glance, but it's basically milk, water, sugars, proteins, chocolate and vitamins:

Ingredients: low-fat milk, filtered water, agave nectar, cane sugar, whey protein concentrate, soy protein isolate, cocoa powder, natural flavors, dipotasium phosphate, acacia gum, gellan gum, ascorbic acid, carrageenan, vitamin A (retinyl palmitate), vitamin B1 (thiamin mononitrate), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B3 (niacinamide), vitamin B5 (calcium pentothenate), vitamin B6 (pyridoxine HCL), vitamin B7 (biotin), vitamin V9 (folic acid), vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin), vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), vitamin E (alpha-tocopheryl acetate), calcium (tricalcium phosphate), phosphorus (tricalcium phosphate, magnesium phosphate), magnesium (magnesium phosphate), chromium (chromium chloride), iodine (potassium iodide), iron (ferric orthophosphate), zinc (zinc oxide), copper (copper cluconate).

Check out what that does for you per serving:

The first sip was sort of odd -- certainly chocolately, but with a distinct whey aftertaste. That didn't stop me from chugging half the bottle in the truck before I even left the store parking lot.

Available from Henry's Market for $3.99 in a 32 oz bottle.