I’m a huge fan of coffee, especially my new found love of cold-brewed coffee. After cold brewing, I am left with a ton of coffee grounds after. I wanted to find a way to re-purpose my leftover coffee grounds. I was researching ways in which to use them and stumbled upon a great scrub idea from The Kitchen on the Food Network.
Coffee, and caffeine in general, do amazing things for the body. Coffee intake has been studied on its affects, and drinking coffee helps prevent certain types of cancer! It is also an antioxidant. The grounds, when used as a scrub, are excellent exfoliates. They diminish the appearance of cellulite and tighten and tone your skin. Plus, you get to smell like coffee after! I love the smell of coffee.
What you will need:
3 TBSP coffee grounds
1 TBSP sugar (any one will do, I used brown sugar)
2 TBSP olive oil (or coconut oil)
½ tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Mix up all of the ingredients in a jar or some sort of seal-able container.
It will last up to 2 months in a sealed container.
Enjoy!
No morning is complete without my coffee fix! No matter what season, my coffee of choice is always over ice! I grew up in a coffee family {maybe that’s why I’m on the shorter side!} Coffee is connected to so many moments in my life: the smell of coffee at family breakfasts on the weekend, hanging out at Starbucks with friends, midday iced coffee with my mom and sister, and finally getting my husband to share my love of coffee with me.
However, when I try to make my own iced coffee from hot brewed coffee, it never tastes quite as good as the iced coffee I get at Starbucks or any other good coffee shop. Hot brewed coffee over ice always tastes watered-down and slightly burnt.
I think I have found the answer to my problems. I am going to share my secret, an at-home cold brewed iced coffee that is bold and flavorful.
First, you need to choose a coffee. You want to use a good quality coffee, as the taste will really come through.
I used one of my favorites, Starbucks Dark French Roast.
Once you have course ground your beans, {if you are starting from whole coffee beans like I am} measure out how much coffee you will need and pour it into you container. I used a mason jar since it closes airtight. You are going to want 4 ounces {1/2 cup} for every 1 quart {32 ounces} of water.
Pour in your filtered or spring water.
Give the coffee mixture a good stir to combine everything.
Screw the cover back on to your mason jar. You want it to be air tight, if using a container without a lid cover with saran wrap. Let the coffee sit for at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours.
After 12 hours it's time to strain the coffee grounds out. {If you let the coffee sit longer, the final result will be more bitter and bold.} You can use a cheese cloth or a fine strainer like I did to strain the coffee.
To strain, place your strainer over a bowl or a pitcher and pour the coffee mixture through. The cold brewed coffee will filter through and the coffee grounds will stay in the strainer.
The cold brewed coffee will last in a sealed container in your
fridge for up to a week!
Save those coffee beans! I have an easy DIY coffee sugar scrubyou can make with them later in the week!
Now it's time to pour some of your cold brew over ice.
Tip: Make some coffee iced cubes so your coffee never gets watered down!
You can drink it black, as cold brewed coffee is naturally
sweeter than hot brewed coffee, it will naturally taste sweet.
Or, add some milk and sugar for even more decadence.
Enjoy!
Happy 4th of July! So happy that there are blue skies and no more humidity today for the holiday! 4th of July is like the unofficial start of summer for me, and nothing says summer like a cold glass of iced tea!
What you will need:
4 tablespoons of your favorite tea
3 cups of boiling water
1/2 cup sugar
Cheesecloth
String
Measure out 3 cups of water, I used a mason jar since it fit perfectly, and microwave for 3-4 minutes until bubbling.
While the water is coming to a boil, you want to prepare your tea bag. Cut a square of cheesecloth and place your tea in the center. Then, bring up the corners of the cheesecloth and gather together. Secure your tea pouch with a long piece of string. {your want it long enough to hang out of your mason jar}
Measure out a 1/2 cup of sugar.
Once the water has come to a boil, add the sugar and stir. Then place your tea pouch into the jar, leaving the string hanging out, and seal the jar. Let the tea steep for 2-3 hours.
When the time is up, the tea will look nice and dark. This tea will be very concentrated, perfect for a tall glass of ice on a hot summer day.
I removed the tea pouch and transferred my iced tea to a glass bottle. {totally not necessary but I think it pours better}
Enjoy!
What is your go-to summer drink?
What you will need:
Mix up all of the ingredients in a jar or some sort of seal-able container. 
