Pinterest Findings

Lately I have been looking on Pinterest for ideas to help save us money and here are two of my findings:

Homemade Starbucks Frappuccino

Ingredients:

Starbucks House Blend Ground Coffee

10 cups fresh coffee

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup Baily's French Vanilla Creamer

Directions:

1. While coffee is brewing, grab a pitcher and throw the brown sugar and white sugar in the bottom.

2. When coffee is finished, pour directly into pitcher so that all of the sugar dissolves quickly, stir.

3. Add coffee creamer and stir again.

4. Refrigerate overnight. 

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My thoughts on this finding:

It did NOT taste as the Pin claimed. But I like just plain coffee with creamer, so I still enjoyed this find and will most likely make it again. Whenever I made coffee before, I always would pour it over ice. When making it this way, it is ready for me to enjoy when I first wake up. 

I would change the creamer amount, I ended up adding another 1/2 cup the next morning. I do not like the "tartness" of coffee though. 

My perfect coffee is an iced White Chocolate Mocha from starbucks, so that gives you an idea of how I like it. 

Chewy Granola Energy Bars

Ingredients:

2-1/2 cups quick rolled oats

1/2 cup Rice Krispies

1/2 cup coconut

1/2 cup mini M&Ms

1/2 cup chopped peanuts

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 TBS ground flax

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup honey

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9x9 inch square pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, add all ingredients and mix until well combined. Press into pan. Bake 18-20 minutes, until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes and then score into bars. Let set completely before cutting into bars. 

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My thoughts:

I could not find "ground flax" at the grocery store, so instead I used "milled flax seed" and it seemed to have turned out rather well.

I will in fact make this again!! Next time I would like to try and add some dried fruits instead of the M&Ms. Or maybe do 1/2 the pan with dried fruits (Hubbs said dried cherries) and the other 1/2 with M&Ms still so Munchkin will eat them. 

If any of you know my son, you know he is a SUPER picky eater. Well he could not get enough of these Granola Bars!! 

The Pin did not say how to store these bars so I just put them in a plastic baggy and put them in the fridge... mainly because they were so soft still I feel like they needed to "set" more. 

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Tomorrow I plan on waking up, having a cup of my "Homemade Starbucks Frappuccino" and a homemade granola bar. 

Until the next Pinterest adventures... 

Bacon!!

Yes, this is an idea I got off of Pinterest. And just let me say that I will never, I repeat, NEVER, fry up our bacon on the stove top again! 

The website that I got this idea off said to put it on foil and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. But we like out bacon pretty crispy, so I baked it for 25 minutes. They also said to put the bacon on foil, I used parchment paper {to each their own}, and to put it in the oven BEFORE turning the oven on. As soon as you put it in the oven and turn it on, start your timer. When done, put on paper towels to dry.

That is it my friends. I did not have to wear an oven mit while frying this greasy breakfast treat, nor did I have to keep going back and forth with flipping the bacon while making scrambled eggs and pancakes. The ENTIRE piece was crispy and delicious.

And to top it off, clean up was a breeze! AND my house does not smell nearly as bad as when it is fried. Sure it still smelled of bacon, but more like the later in the day bacon smell.

My next Pinterest adventure you ask? I am going to try to make my own Energy Granola Bars... But first to investigate to see if {price-wise} it will be worth it to make my own. 

I will keep ya posted.