A very yummy Summer treat!

So, I was blessed SUPER-time with Starbucks goodness in gift cards around Mother's Day and my birthday. You can NEVER go wrong with Starbucks gifts and gift cards to loved ones!!

I make a lot of my stuff at home. True, I love the occasional drive-thru experience or the occasional "sit and read a book" time in their cafe, but I make a LOT of my stuff at home.

I often use my cards for bags of whole beans (ground there) and the syrups.

For warm goodness, I brew a strong pot of 4 to 6 ounces of the Espresso Roast. I brew it strong so that it will pick up on the true espresso flavor. I dump that little bit of coffee into my mug, hit it with a few squirts of Toffee Nut syrup, and top it off with vanilla soy milk.

I nuke it to warm it up to a good temp since the soy milk tends to cool everything down and I don't have a frother to warm it (although I'd love one!).

Instant soy toffee nut latte!

---------

But my favorite drink lately? My homemade fraps!!!

I brew a full pot or two of the strong Espresso Roast coffee and pour it into ice cube trays. Once frozen, I pop those dark brown beauties into a freezer bag.

Throughout the week, I'll take out my blender, squirt vanilla syrup 3 times into the blender, pop 4 or 5 ice cubes in, and then top it off with vanilla soy milk and BLEND BLEND BLEND! I like to whip up quite a bit of air in there. :)

That's MY version of a soy caffè vanilla frappuccino!!!

Except I was able to snag a fun double-insulated grande tumbler with one of my gift cards... so I get to put it in THIS!



Who says you gotta pay the girl at the counter $5 plus a tip when I can make these babies at home for a fraction of the cost???

I drink my unsweet tea in my tumbler, too... Which is something I've fallen victim to at the drive-thru at Starbucks. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the unsweet black Tazo iced tea!!!!! Lucky me, though, a venti is only like $3.

I still have my "Create A Tumbler" Starbucks warm coffee tumbler that I truly adore, as well. I love printing out 8x10 pictures of the kids seasonally and inserting it. :) Nothin' better than lookin' at my babies and havin' a Toffee Nut Latte!