One of my favorite frozen drinks is the green tea frappe. A very interesting taste experience, green tea frappes feature the slight bitterness of green tea, complimented by the sweetness of milk and cream. Blended with ice, this drink is a cool treat for warm weather.

In coffee houses, green tea frappes are almost always made with matcha green tea, which is a powdered form of green tea leaves. My recipe does not use matcha powder, but rather, a more traditional method for blending lattes into frappes. For this reason, this recipe will not produce the signature green color of matcha powder – the frozen drink will be tea-colored.

ingredients

brewed green tea

3 additional green tea bags

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup crushed ice cubes

1/2 cup milk*

optional whipped cream topping

1/2 cup whipping cream

2 tablespoons sugar

* milk can be switched for any other milk substitute, such as soy or rice milk.

directions

Begin with the green tea-infused simple syrup. Heat sugar and water in small sauce pan, stirring often. Bring to a boil, and add vanilla. Let boil for about 30 seconds, and remove from heat. Immediately drop in 3 green tea bags, and let tea bags steep in syrup until syrup as cooled completely; remove tea bags.

Next, brew a cup of green tea – I made mine extra-strength, with two tea bags. Let tea cool completely.

Crush ice in a blender until it is fine enough to be consumed with a straw. Fill a cup with crushed ice. Pour in 1/2 cup green tea, 1/2 cup milk, and 1/4 cup of green tea syrup; stir. Experiment and adjust with more or less tea, milk, or syrup to get the flavor that you enjoy.

Directions for whipped cream

Combine whipping cream and sugar in a bowl; beat with a hand-mixer on high for 3 minutes or until cream is thick and fluffy. Spoon whipped cream on top of green tea frappe.

Out to find ways to make life simpler, Ashley is tackling life one DIY project at a time. Learning as she goes, she also spends her days writing Indie Pretty Projects and creating for her Etsy shop.

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Now that the weather is really getting warmer, it’s time to pull out my favorite weekend drink recipe: the mojito. Using fresh mint and limes, these refreshing drinks offer a unique combination of flavors that really hit the spot. Thanks to their rich ingredients, it is easy to omit the alcohol and drink one anytime.

ingredients

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

mint leaves

club soda

quartered limes

ice cubes

rum

lime slices and mint sprigs to garnish

directions

The first step to a delicious mojito is to make minty simple syrup.  Bring 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water to boil together in a small pot. Once a boil is reached and the sugar has fully dissolved, remove pot from heat and add a handful of fresh mint leaves. Let steep in pot for 15 minutes or more.

Once the mint syrup has cooled, start on the drinks. Place about 6 mint leaves and a lime quarter in the bottom of a glass, and press the leaves with a muddler or spoon just enough so that the mint oil and lime juice are released. Top with one to two tablespoons of the minty simple syrup, and the juice from another lime quarter.

Fill the glass to the top with ice. Pour in a shot of rum, and top off with club soda. Garnish with a lime wedge and mint sprig.

If you would like to enjoy the flavor of a mojito without alcohol, simply omit the rum, and add in some extra lime juice and club soda.

Tip: have extra minty simple syrup? You can save it in an air tight container for another day, or add it to your morning coffee or hot chocolate!

Out to find ways to make life simpler, Ashley is tackling life one DIY project at a time. Learning as she goes, she also spends her days writing Indie Pretty Projects and creating for her Etsy shop.

wrap up: {drink} {lime} {mint} {mojito} {party} {summer}

Since Spring is just around the corner, it seems right to try out a frozen drink. Building off the Vanilla Bean Latte recipe is the Vanilla Frappuccino – a deliciously frozen blend of coffee, ice, and sweetness. Serves two.

ingredients

2 cups crushed ice

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup vanilla syrup

6 oz chilled espresso for a bold flavor, or 1 cup chilled, double-strength coffee

directions

I find it helps to crush the ice in a blender, first. Next, add the milk, vanilla syrup, and coffee. Blend on low speed just until it’s thoroughly mixed. Pour into two glasses, and top off with whipped cream, if you wish!

Want to try different flavors? Instead of milk, use 1/2 cup vanilla or chocolate silk (soy milk). For plain, coffee flavor with sweetness, switch the vanilla syrup for 1/4 cup of granulated sugar.

Ashley has been coffee-crazy since college when her husband bought her an espresso machine for Christmas. Armed with a pot of dark roast, she spends her days writing Indie Pretty Projects and creating for her self-titledEtsy shop.

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hello, friends! today i have a very special guest post for you from my dear friend christy from nordgrains! as our husbands work together, it wasn’t long before we found each other and became quick friends. she writes a fabulous blog on healthy living, yoga and nutrition (a must read!) and today is sharing with us how to make our very own tea. i’ve had several cups and it’s just about the yummiest tea i’ve ever had!

Tea is funny. It is both companion and social prop. “Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things,” Chaim Potok writes in his novel, The Chosen. But C. S. Lewis said, “Tea should be taken in solitude.” In wintertime I cannot help but wish for tea nearly every day. I am not picky: it tastes good in the presence of company or in the company of silence. There is indeed something magical about good tea, but there is even more magic in great tea, and even better—in pretty tea. A couple weeks ago I accepted an invitation to explore the verb “create.” It is a tricky verb–that business of creating–especially if one’s greatest temptation is comparison. Comparison and competition stripped away, I am creative. One of my most delightful qualities is my uncanny ability to explore and marry flavors. So I set out to make my own tea. I was so inspired by the abundance of options before me that I soon penciled in a new goal: one day cultivate my own tea garden from which I can harvest rich, home-grown flavors.

Tea bags are surprisingly easy to come by. I ordered mine online but also found a small variety at local health markets. Some resources suggested making tea bags out of cheesecloth. One problem: I am a sans sewing machine, completely novice DIY-er.

My first purchase was a big handful of organic Colorado mountain mint. I rinsed the leaves and made small bouquets to hang in a dark, dry space. I also cleaned and chopped organic tangerine rind. My flavor collection was completed in the bulk aisle of Whole Foods where I gathered cinnamon sticks, cloves, anise stars, cardamom pods, a few other spices, and some jasmine green tea leaves.

Always somewhere between hateful and grateful of our semi-arid climate here on Colorado’s Front Range, I did not wait long for my mint to dry. Now here’s the deal. When you buy regular old tea bags, the ingredients are so minced and chopped that you eventually stare at a mass resembling a soggy cud, having no visual connection to any real plant-based ingredient in the cotton satchel. Tea should be pretty. I did not chop and crush my mint leaves. I broke them only small enough to fit inside the tea bags. This way the leaves expand, grow, and turn a brilliant green in the tea cup!

Tea tags? Organic cotton string, card stock, and a stamp pad.

As I was reaching for my stamp pad, my hand brushed my button bucket. I know, it is probably strange to have a button bucket when I do not know how to sew, but I recently learned that I have a strong attraction to button buckets: they are a rite of passage for women. Does not every woman have a button bucket? I should be horrified to learn the negative. My own mother had a small, rarely used sewing space in our house. As a little girl, I found the specific sewing implements frightening and bizarre, but I loved to steal away and run my fingers through the button bucket. Back to the business of tea, I decided that tea tags should be lovely, and what better opportunity than to decorate with beads and buttons? This way, I can give tea to others and contribute to other women’s button buckets. My tea will be the gift that keeps on giving.

The final order of business was to examine the individual tea leaves, spices, and “things” I had collected and start crafting real brews. Here is what I landed on. None have disappointed.

Nordgrains is about health and wholeness. Like seeds, we already have the substance to grow and live big, vibrant lives. Sometimes we forget what we already have. I hope to help you find nourishment for your continued growth.

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so, in my new yard where i’m having unknown this and that’s pop up all over the place, i discovered that i pretty much have mint and lemon balm running out my ears.  i was chatting with caroline the other day about garden do’s and don’ts and happen to mention just how much mint i had, and just how much i didn’t know what to do with it!  per her advice, i’ve discovered my new favorite drink: a garden mint and lemon balm refresher.

it’s delicious, it’s easy and it’s straight from the garden.  ingredients:

a squeeze of one lemon

1 tbls of honey

3-4 mint and/or lemon balm leaves

crush the leaves in the bottom of your glass with the ice to help release their yummy flavors, then add the lemon juice, honey and water (add a little sugar if you prefer sweeter).  stir until the honey dissolves and enjoy!

seriously y’all, this is one delectable drink.

to top things off, i walked up to our old house the other day (my sis still lives there) and visited my long forgotten (and long not-watered) square foot garden from last year. to my glorious surprise, my strawberry plant from last year not only was producing, but it had multiplied.  big time.

i’m pretty sure nothing could have made me any happier!  seeing (and devouring) these most beautiful sweet and perfect strawberries, made my day- maybe even my summer.  needless to say, my sister’s going to be seeing a lot more of me.

{photos: bonnie forkner}

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