Category — Coffee

This has saved my life, my thirst, my future. I always say, and I quote Amandoo: “Hydration is the key to success”. It really makes a lot of differences. And soder and coffee do not do you good. (But I sure do love me some coffee!)

Anyway, boyfriend and I used to get small (liter) bottles and drink them for fun, with the different natural flavors (this is no sugar, mind you, just “natural” and perhaps “artificial” flavors).

Then we got all thirsty, and he was wondering about all those “flavors” so we started buying 2 liter, store-brand, plain seltzer water. And we purchase fresh lemons.

I think it’s helped balance my pH levels (acid vs. alkaline) and it’s a great alternative to water. I guess the bubbles aren’t the best for you (COME ON SELF! LEAVE IT A REST!!! It is much better than soda-death)

I needsta put up a picture of these beauts. And I can always drink more. So this is my tip for hydration success- buy seltzer: buy plain, and buy large- and get you some fresh lemons for squeezin- i usually do about a 20 oz. cup of seltzer with half a lemon, give or take.

DO IT!

i will so often do illogical things, but i think a lot of humans are that way. is illogical synonymous with faults? i don’t necessarily think ’tis so. procrastination is very counterproductive, yet i do it all the time. the last few days i got done my work early (so i could watch movies because we got a netflix account), and it felt AMAZING. incredible! none of that anxiety, and i could enjoy part of my day. but i don’t know if i can do it very often. i guess i should make it way more of a priority than i’m letting on.

i also am drinking iced coffee, while being freezing. i could go find the mini electrical heater, or not drink iced coffee, but the amount of happiness it brings me is greater than my will to be warm. i guess. because i am not getting warm. and i really enjoy me a nice iced coffee. plain, with lots of cream.

oh well, i am a good person, and i feel content of late. i think it helps that i’ve been having so much fun watching movies. and i think my grandfather’s death has softened me a bit, like butter that loosens its molecules up a bit when you set it out on the counter to get ready for baking, or just for it to be ready to spready. life is too short to pretend i’m a thug. i mean- i teach french! that’s not very “tough”. and though i did come from the ghetto (wink, wink), i am a real softy underneath it all. and i love people. oh so much. i even love my students. a whole lot.

love,
amandoo

i love love love this coffee:

from “The Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Company” in the flavor of Zen (it’s organic!)

i also thought i’d just take a picture of myself with it, because i’m too lazy to upload and transfer and resize and all that right now. in fact, i think my faces tell more about it than i may be able to.

i bought this coffee while home in Michigan at a small food market store and now i need more. lots more. i cherched-a-la-internet and found the Great Lakes Coffee company’s blog that didn’t say much about the Zen coffee in specific except for as espresso (but check this post about detroit and coffee anyway). interesting! i’m particularly interested in supporting it by regional bias (which is weird cuz i also care about the environment and getting it shipped would ruin that), but i liked what one person commented: “Great Lakes has great coffee! It’s one of the few good things right now coming out of great Detroit Metro area”

here’s their site where you can read about new coffees, the bloggins, and purchase some. i recommend it, especially if you live in the greater detroit metropolitan area, i see a “motor city blend” (i don’t see the Zen though i wonder if it’s a temporary thing)…it is sooo delicious.

i was going to write another coffee review, but i can’t. i don’t want to take anything away from this coffee’s excellence, and i think i’m too love-struck-by-this-caffeine to make fair judgments about other coffees at this point.

Here are some random tips I’ve come up with to save money on coffee, both in my personal life, and based on watching people spends hundreds of dollars a month at Starbucks.

If there’s any hope:

1) Give it up – Stop the addiction, and you won’t have to pay for it anymore! Your best bet here is getting more sleep, and a more regular schedule.

For those of us who could never dream of such a thing:

2) Stop buying quad venti soy vanilla lattes at Starbucks – they are a great coffee establishment, and I will admit that more of my favorite coffee drinks come from there than from other establishments (I love a good mom and pop latte, but only if it’s high quality espresso!). But they’re expensive! I’m often a soy drinker, and that adds another 40some cents onto your drink. So switch it up- try other places, or switch to regular coffee instead of lattes. Try an Americano- that’s a good caffeine boost for less money!

3) Use more of your own stuff from home – Buy a bottle of your favorite flavor of sweetener and add it yourself. I know it’s not likely for some people who might think that sounds ludicrous, but it could work for you (and it could save you another 30some cents off your order). Get coffee and add warm milk at your house to make a delicious cafe au lait (aka cafe con leche in Spanish-speaking countries)

4) A tried and true money saver (again using simple home supply) – Get a cheap hot coffee and (you can even just get a small or medium because you’d be surprised how it spreads out when you…) make iced coffee/latte-like things at home. I get a hot coffee and come home, pour some into a cup of ice and add my milk. Then you have a few more cups. So my next tip is:

5) Don’t buy iced coffee. Make it yourself – But please don’t go into Starbucks, order a small hot coffee, ask for a large cup of ice, and do it right in front of them. That’s an insult and it is rude. I know I always felt insulted, like they didn’t think we’d notice or catch on. Bonus tip- If you get some hot coffee that tastes not so good, making it iced will help the taste. Seriously!

6) Speaking of making things yourself! Make your own coffee – This is an obvious way to save money. I know some people don’t have the know-how or the time, but that’s just what they think! This could save you hundreds, possibly even thousands of dollars a year- no joke. So splurge on a nicer coffee machine or even an espresso machine (they are not that hard to use. anyone can learn) and make it at home. And then you have complete control over your drink!

7) When all of this fails, think of moderation! – If you spend $3/day on coffee, that’s over $1,000 a year. If you’re drinking lattes or those sugary mochas and frappuccinos regularly, you are asking for some serious cash flow problems. Try to just get a regular coffee some days, or go for 2 or 3 days without your latte. Switch it up people, otherwise you’ll have to keep coughing it up!

i hope to blog six quality blogs in a matter of minutes/hours/snowflakes.

1) update on those things
2) spicy steoup
3) the kids with the baskets
4) aminals!
5) possibly a little tiny magical f_yi_g _q_i_r_ _l
6) secret surprises you could never predict.

stay tuned?!!??!

Steaz has a wonderful energy drink out right now that has 80 mg caffeine from awesome natural sources- green tea, guarana, acai, and yerba mate. What more could you want from an energy drink?

Less sugar. And NO. Not the fake kind. I don’t want maltitol, zylitol, or poticol, and I especially don’t want maltodextrin or sucralose! I don’t know what maltodextrin is, even after researching it, and I know that sucralose is gross.

So why can’t these energy drinks just put less sugar in, right?! They taste like syrupy cough syrup. Not just cough syrup, but sickly sweet slime. I barely can stand ‘red bull’ in a vodka beverage because it’s so sugary.

And I used to like Rockstar and was excited about Rockstar Juiced until I noted that it had Sucralose in it! Why!!! They put in Juice and took away my freedom!

But this Steaz is good stuff. And I wanted it to have just a bit less sugar still (though it is less sweet than other energy drinks, but to be fair, it’s also got a little less kick…than coffee (my primary method of caffeination these days).

And now they have put out a

Diet Steaz Energy Drink

.
Since it’s actually healthy, that doesn’t mean added fake sweeteners (that may cause cancer). No. It is going from around 19g sugar to 9g sugar! It tastes great too.

Yay! Everyone rejoice and go buy one, available at: Buy Diet Steaz at These Locations!

Below is how I got this info- moral of the story is a- try it, b- consume less sugar, and c- always speak up if you care about something, oh, and d- i’m always saying random stuff…

listen to them below- names are changed to awesome things to protect identity’s sakes.

First Name (Mr. Man)

don’t tell strawbyhobby that i got it from walmywamwam for 29.99. pathetic! jk haha lol. you see, i did go to starbucks for the ‘accessory kit’ to make up for what it lacked (spoons, shot glasses, steaming pitcher with thermometer) and that cost almost as much as the machine did!

i’ve made three ‘lattes’ so far. it’s recommended that you use espresso obviously. but i had some good ol’ christmas blend open, so why waste it- christmas blend lattes for everyone! and they taste good? i think so! odd. if you work at starbucks i think you’d understand or be able to imagine what it might be like.

other than that…working on youcertainlymustshouldlearnyousomesweetfrench.com/yeah! that’s partially ‘due’ next week. freaking out about how much schoolwork and how little time due to $ work. ugh.

in india there is almost no Alzheimer’s and my carpool ride buddy and i were talking about how it might have to do with diet aka they use a lot of spices and awesome stuff. japan too. japan also has a very low autism and other childhood disorder rate which may be because of diet. interesting to think about all of these environmental factors as triggers and the dna stuff that has/is/will come up in the next decade or so.

i don’t quite understand this zen productivity site but i think i really like it! my mom told me today that women who drink 3 cups of coffee a day are 70% less likely to commit suicide. gotta love off-the-wall statistics that make no real coherent sense. i guess that definitely could be true for one instance or something.

i shall make a movie soon and figure out how to put it up here. i suppose youtube is a practical means of doing so. i am thinking out loud. i am boring myself.

well- here’s something humorous, inspiring, and uplifting. an ex-400-lb guy loses some mad weight and runs the freaking boston marathon. inspiration plus.

in order for me to run it next year i’m going to have to start living off espresso at work and at home and i’ll no longer need sleep.

false,

but i can always dream.

even a bad cup of coffee (but with the right timing) can make life seem overly splendid. manic. i’m manic. and last night someone said my hair looks like ‘manic panic’.

other than that i am like a jittery jangle bell but i like the life i live. even if i work so much i don’t have the time to work out and work out pasting a hot looking life all over facebookyspace, i still love life and know that in the long run i will be a millionaire. and that is all that matters.

busdriver is tomorrow. i am can not wait. i hope he knows how exciting it’s going to be when we’re all hanging out. then next thing you know i’m moving to california for my new life of hiphopping and teaching spanish instead of french.

i’m learning a lot about geeky stuff like joomla and website creationing. it’s fun? yes. mostly. i just wish i could speak to the computer with loving words and have it sort of just create it for me. but this is part of my fun learning adventure.

i will not admit what i spilled on my computer last night that almost made it obsolete. the screen blacked out, the computer then shut itself off. i thought my life was over. others tried to assure me that it wasn’t. i knew it was. then, slowly but surely, it came back. first it made angry at me beeping noises, then it typed in a few ‘v”s after every ‘t’ that i put in, and now the ‘m’ doesn’t always work, but i am so grateful.

let’s share more about what it is for me to be a huan. i mean human. sometimes i feel like something other than ‘human’ because what is that word? what is any word? mental illness? i am not mentally ill, but i do get sick sometimes. i remember when i was indeed crazy……..

a sad memory from it is that i never felt comfortable. after i was put on that horrid medication i suffered from a constant semi-discomfort with life, and could not find solace in anything. a sort of restlessness, but also a sense of irritation that would not go away no matter how i tried to relax. you know how showering after being dirty for a few days (hippies and non-hippies alike), or how after staying up all night just relaxing in a blanket sitting and doing nothing, watching tv, or reading, you take time to relax, breathe, and just feel good. soft. nice. comfortable in your life, mind, and body? i never felt that. after showering i would feel dirty, in blankets i’d still be cold or hot sometimes, slippers and nice socks wouldn’t do it, no clothes looked or felt good, and i could find no way to calm me down and relax. constant irritability. side effect of medication? definitely. disgusting and disturbing? just thinking about it makes me sick, but also grateful for how much better i feel now and how i can appreciate being comfortable and relaxing. i was just thinking about how gross that was and how alien to think it impossible to feel soothed and at peace no matter what you do.

tonight on my carpool ride back from school we talked a bit of over-medicating. i read an article a few days ago in People about a 4-year-old being first put on bipolar medication, and then dying from it. no 4-year-old should be put on a medication in my opinion. at least not in most circumstances. duh. come on. prescription medications are way too potent and dangerous for that.

now it looks like there is question about the parents being at fault for over-medicating in this particular story. that’s another side of it, but in almost all Rx med situations there is a lack of knowledge, communication, and then the question in my mind- why aren’t people trying alternative approaches to therapy first! and why do people put so much !#@%#$& stock in what ‘doctors’ say. they do not always know best. ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’. i keep doctors away as much as possible these days for many reasons, not to mention how expensive they always end up being!

i have much more to say about all this than i have time to say it, but i must go work on betterlearnfrench.com so people can learn french- better style! register now or hold your merci’s for the future.

in conclusion: yes i am ‘crazy’ sometimes. no i am not on medication. no i do not need medication. a lot of people on medication do not need it. therapy, exercise, eating right, and more holistic therapy. i probably could use a little more therapy, but i am galaxies of stars better off treating ‘craziness’ with my therapy of kittens, puppies, and juice boxes (and therapeutic blogging to an almost creepy excess). jk lol rotfl haha.

thanks for visiting and get all the help you need…at betterlearnfrench.com!

Coffee that is ground up should really be thrown away within a week to ensure maximum freshness.

Freezing coffee isn’t actually better for it, it takes away from the quality.

A good espresso shot should be in the range of 18-23 seconds.

Espresso shots have a body, heart, and crema, it’s a mix of deep dark browns and then some more tan/white foam on top.

Coffee can be washed, semi-washed or something else.

Coffee!!

It’s good for you. Sometimes.

I’ll let you know more later- I heart coffee!!!

failure is a four letter word! well, i guess not failure exactly hmm.

a boy ordered a ‘tall’ cup of espresso today at sbuxysauce. tall=12ounces=we put 9 shots in before i got worried about lawsuits, but apparently he does this quite regularly.

i had to prod, push, and procure. he admits to recently having a ‘tingling arm’ experience that ended in a hospital. i am weary of having given him that cup of espresso. as my coworker put it- “he was nice. (pauses for a smiley second) and, he really seemed to simultaneously need and not need that espresso in the slightest bit”*
*these may or may not have been his exact  words*

(sing the following to jingle bells)- “who is cold, who is tired, will all this hooplah do? i’ve got 121 files of transcription and tomorrow i’ve got schoo, oooh!” the next verse was really good but i fell asleep accidentally while i was supposed to be working, which all means i’m lying and procrastinating and i must go.

thanks to my sponsor Strawburkenstocks, for keeping me going!!!