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Monday, January 24, 2011

My {not so secret} addiction.

I've told you all before about my terrible addiction to Starbucks. I've always loved a good Starbucks iced latte, but when I got pregnant, I suddenly could not stand the smell or taste of coffee in general. This was a good thing. A very good thing. "What an easy way to quit my addiction", I thought to myself!


When I had Claire, I still didn't have a great interest in coffee; but the sleepless nights were catching up with me & I knew I had to bring it back into my life. I started out with just making my own coffee at home for the first couple of months. Which was nothing special & saved us a shit ton of money.


But then, somewhere between October & now, I have re-kindled my love for Starbucks in a very, very sickening way. It started out as an innocent Venti Iced Latte here & there. Nothing major. & then, as maternity leave came to a close, it became an everyday essential. Every morning, people. I would drive my heiny to the nearest Starbucks, order my Venti Non-fat Iced Vanilla Latte & $4.80 later, I would be on my merry way. It became so bad, that even on days I didn't work, I would pack up the babe & drive there to get my daily fix.

My name is Lauren, and I have a {serious} addiction to Starbucks.


As the $5.00 a day transactions dwindled from our bank account, I knew I had to get a grip on this bad habit before it gets even more out of hand {as if that's possible}.

So, when my birthday rolled around & hubby asked me what I wanted {within reason}, I said an espresso maker! That would solve all of my problems! I could just make my lattes from home!Simple!

Well, not quite. When I hopped on my favorite website, Amazon & researched Espresso Machines, I was quickly saddened to find they were hundreds of dollars {but you're probably thinking to yourself, psshh-she spends at least $100.00 a month on Starbucks, anyway}.


After hours of research, I realized that to make an iced latte, I don't need a big fancy machine. I just need a simple contraption that will make the espresso.

So, I decided on this little guy:

Bialetti Moka Express Stovetop

                                                    
It makes 6- 2oz shots of Espresso. That's all I need! & it was $30.00. I was so happy when realized that I just needed something simple!

I also ordered one of these little plastic tumblers to make it feel more like Starbucks. I think it was like $5.00. A re-usable cup for the price of ONE COFFEE. That's sad. 

So, when I got my little espresso brewer/maker & tumbler from Amazon on Thursday, I was so excited to make my latte come Friday morning! Well, to make a very long story short, I made my drink on Friday morning...it tasted and looked like poop water. No joke. It was disgusting. I was so bummed. But determined to make this work!

So yesterday, {I relapsed over the weekend. Go figure} I waltzed into Starbucks & asked the nice little barista to tell me what I needed to make my own Starbucks Iced Latte. She told me exactly how to make it. She even sold me the vanilla syrup they use AND a pump!

So I bought this:
And this: specifically ground for espresso. I bought this exact stuff from Wal-Mart on Thursday, but it was ground for coffee and not espresso. No wonder it tasted like poop!
So, operation Kick Starbucks Addiction to the Curb commenced this morning & I am pleased to announce that my Non-Fate Iced Vanilla Latte tasted  just. like. Starbucks.

Here's what I spent:

$30.00 on Espresso maker 
$5.00 on plastic tumbler
$8.00 on a liter of vanilla syrup
$10.00 on a 12oz bag of ground espresso 
Total: $53 {ish}
All of these will  last me a while!!

Not even the total of what I would have spent in one month on my daily trip to S-bucks. How sad is that?

Now let's see if I can keep this up...

ETA: How silly of me not to tell you how to make these after all of that!
If you want to make a 16oz. Latte, you need:
*4-5 pumps of the syrup of your choice
*3 shots of freshly brewed espresso
*about 1/4 cup of non-fat milk {I just eye-ball it}
*ice
First pump syrup into your cup. Add shots of espresso & milk. Add the amount of ice to your liking, stir & ENJOY!

22 comments:

  1. Yay 4 you! I wish i could make my favorite starbucks coffee ....my addiction is the Mocha Lattes .....mmmmmm!

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  2. I laughed out loud that it looked like poop water! That is so something that would happen to me :)

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  3. Such a good plan! Our nearest Starbucks is in Nurnberg (about 45 minutes away) but I am addicted to the cappuchinos at my local backerei, the BrotHaus. So- I got myself a cappuchino machine here for home. I love it!!! I make my own cappuchino and lattes at home! Saves a fortune!

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  4. How nice of the girl to help you out so much. That's great that it ended up turning out just like theirs :).

    By the way, however I never knew this is beyond me but I had no idea your name is Lauren :) I guess I always just call you Mrs. D.

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  5. YUM! I need to do that too. I don't let myself go daily, but I'm pretty obsessed too. Thanks for sharing!!

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  6. My husband uses that same espresso maker every morning...in fact he's on his 2nd one after the first one I bought him a few years ago finally broke.

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  7. Sounds like you figured out the perfect combination . . .anything to keep a momma up right :) And of course it doesn't hurt when a sweet little Claire lets you take a break during naps now and then right :)

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  8. love it you are too funny I bet Hubbs thanks you for stoping the trips to Star bucks ha they dont call it Bucks for nothing Thanks for sharing

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  9. We have this type of one too - I am OBSESSED with coffee after not being able to drink any during pregnancy (heartburn) and then while nursing the first 10 months (reflux with Bella).

    Thanks for the recipe!!

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  10. OMG that is absolutely brilliant. I may need to get these things. I would need a milk frother too...but I think I could handle that.

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  11. I am a Starbucks addict too! & just like you, iced vanilla lattes are my favorite! Mmm! I may have to hop on this bandwagon and start making my own drinks! :)

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  12. We got an espresso maker as a wedding gift and we tried to make the iced white mocha. It is NOT the same unless you have the starbucks brand syrup and espresso!! I agree! I will have to try out this latte recipe! Now that we live in arizona, our water tastes like crap so it makes coffee and espresso taste like crap too, so I have to find a way to use filtered water when I make it. My brita water even tastes like crap! haha

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  13. That's so great that you did that! No judging about the addiction here - I seriously had a chicken club sandwich from Wendy's every day for 4 months after I had G. Every. Day. It was nuts. :-)

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  14. I loved this post! Good for you making the change to save moolah!

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  15. You are so stinkin' funny and cute and I LOVED reading this post. Thanking you for sharing. I have never had a latte before so I will go spend the 4.80 first and see if I even like it and if I do will certainly refer back to this post. You are the best! Much love my dear!

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  16. If there was a closer drive thru Starbucks my obssession would be just as bad. But lugging a baby car seat into and out of Starbucks while holding said coffee - not worth it. I might go your route and make my own! Thanks for posting!

    *BTW - my sister's boyfriend is an ex-barista. Needless to say she's SPOILED with Starbucks-like coffee EVERY. FREAKING. MORNING! And she posts pictures of it on Facebook...like she's rubbing it in. Boo.

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  17. That sounds awesome. I need to do that - I'm not a coffee drinker myself, but my husband is a Starbucks fanatic, and it'd be great to be able to make it here on the cheap.

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  18. Such a good idea to ask how it's made! I'm totally going to try this :)

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  19. I'm totally doing this now with rice milk!!

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  20. ur too cute!! lov'in the tumbler!

    maybe i should have you make me an iced latte...ive never been one to love the iced coffee...now it hot...bring it on!

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