I’ll admit it – I’m taking it easy this Mother’s Day. Well, sort of. Today’s post is about coffee. OK, I call it coffee. We all know it’s really dessert, but ‘coffee’.

‘Coffee’ is expensive. Starbucks in the bottle here is around $4 and a large ‘coffee’ without espresso added in here in my area is around $7. That’s a lot, even if it’s just once a week. Yeah, I’ll do the math…roughly $200 to $350+ a year if you visit them weekly.

Since this blog is about thrift as well as herbs, I am going to share a couple recipes with you. First is for really easy ‘iced coffee’. This ends up like the Starbucks in a bottle. You have more control over the ingredients, and honestly, they are so much better for you.

Take a quart jar and add about 2 cups of brewed coffee. I just use Folger’s or whatever is on sale. Add 1/4 cup sugar and one 13 ounce can of evaporated milk (unsweetened). For vanilla, add about a teaspoon of vanilla extract. For caramel macchiato, use brown sugar instead of white. You can add whatever flavorings you like – one of my favorites is a little chocolate syrup and some peppermint (leftover candy canes, a bit of extract, whatever you have on hand). Mix well and cool in the fridge. This makes 2 servings.

On a positive note, it’s cheaper and healthier than Starbucks. On the downside, you do have to make it yourself, and it doesn’t have whipped cream and drizzle of the day on it.

The next item is creamer for your coffee. Again, this recipe is really easy and adaptable for your personal tastes. In a blender, put in one can of sweetened condensed milk. Fill to the 4 cup line with milk. Add your flavorings of choice: vanilla, peppermint mocha (1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa and a bit of mint extract), pumpkin spice (a bit of pumpkin puree and pie spices), caramel (use dulce de leche instead of the sweetened condensed milk). Just play around with it to see what you like the best. Stores in the fridge for at least 2 weeks (I’ve never had it last longer than that).

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you out there. And if you are still blessed enough to have a mama you can talk to – make her coffee!