Make it Yourself...I did!

Have you tried those new McDonald's iced coffees??? YUM. Seriously, they are so good. Unfortunately, there are a few drawbacks to them. 1. They are pricey - they cost around $2.49 (costs vary from store to store not just city to city....did you know that??? Another post for another time, I guess.) 2. They don't come in decaf. 3. Skim milk isn't an option.

Jake loves these things. He would drink them everyday - probably several times a day, if it was economical.

Well, being the resourceful woman I am, I looked on line and found several iced coffee recipes. Here is what I came up with after trying a few different recipes.

First I start with my morning coffee. I make coffee after Jake goes to work and I drink 2 large cups. I used to only make a half a pot and if there was any left I would water the plants with it (plants like coffee, too!!). Now I go ahead and make the full pot full of coffee. We have a 12 cup pot. Whatever is left after I am done with my A.M. coffee I save in the fridge for later. Here is the recipe I use.

4 cups leftover coffee
1 cup skim milk
1/3 cup french vanilla creamer (I use the Aldi fat free kind)
1/4 cup vanilla syrup (see recipe below)
Mix and pour over ice. It is seriously delicious.

Vanilla Syrup
2 cup H2O
1 1/2 cup sugar
Boil until sugar is dissolved.
Then add 3/4 tsp. vanilla
I put mine in a jar and keep it in the fridge.

You can also all a little caramel syrup. I bought some in the ice cream topping section and didn't really like the "caramel flavor" thing so I did attempt to make my own. I burned the first batch and the second batch I got to thick. When it hit the iced coffee it got real thick. Well, we ended up chewing it after drinking all our coffee.

I did find a recipe for a Caramel Macchiato - only if I had an espresso maker....