Pumpkin Pie Coffee

Anyone that knows me, knows my Fall obsession is pumpkin coffee. I just love the pumpkiny goodness in taste it has to offer. Of course a lot of this has to do with the spices mixed in with the pumpkin. Mmm.... the cloves, cinnamon, ginger... so warm and comforting on a crisp Fall morning.

I try to make my pumpkin coffee an indulgence and get it once a week. I know most coffee joints put in a sweetened pumpkin syrup and sometimes just one cup of black pumpkin coffee can rack up to 200 calories because of the syrup.

I decided to make a less expensive, non sweetened pumpkin coffee on my own. Boy, was this super easy and super pumpkiny spicey :-) I did good.. real good with this one! This was so super easy and not sugary! I can now make this a regular, all year round and not just have an indulgence!

Here are the deets:

Ingredients:
Ground coffee
Pumpkin Pie Spice

Preparation:
Prepare coffee as you normally would. Add pumpkin pie spice to your liking. The more you add the more pumpkiny it will taste. I added one tablespoon for 5 cups of coffee and had great flavor. Stir the coffee grinds and pumpkin pie spice to combine. Make coffee as you normally would. Enjoy!

Caffeine Overload?!?!?!

Last night, as I was prepping my coffee pot for my morning coffee, I started getting really excited.  I love coffee and I like it black and strong, but am I going in for caffeine overload?  Well, I started getting really excited for my coffee because I had a sample of Godiva's Creme Brulee coffee.  Hello.....CREME BRULEE!!! How can you not get excited for coffee flavored so deliciously?!?! Anywhoo, I filled up my pot with the amount of water my coffee tumbler can hold...about 12 ounces.  I then added 4 tablespoons of coffee to the pot.  Yes, 4 tablespoons! I always add 1 TB per cup, then an additional 2 for that strong coffee taste.  As I added the coffee, I looked at the back of the package.  The package said the whole sample makes 10-12 cups of coffee.  WHAT?!?!?!? I just used half the package on TWO cups of coffee!!!

Am I going overboard on the caffeine?  My morning coffee is the only cup of coffee I have all day. I don't feel jittery after having the coffee.  According to the mayo clinic, an average cup of 8oz. coffee has 100mg of caffeine. According to the coffee grinds I had from Godiva, I had about 5 cups worth of caffeine in my 2 cup coffee.  That's about 500mg of caffeine.  The mayo clinic suggests cutting back on caffeine if you are having more than 500-600mg of caffeine/day.

So, here's what I'm going to do.  Instead of putting in an extra 2 scoops at the end, I think I will put in just one scoop.  Hopefully this won't make a big difference in taste.  We'll find out tomorrow!

How much coffee do you guys drink?

PS: The creme brulee coffee this morning, was DELICIOUS!

First things first...

The most important part of my day is my morning coffee. If I don't get this in, my whole day is F'd up. I like my coffee black, unsweetened. Hot in the fall and winter. Iced in the spring and summer. I usually like to brew my own coffee but sometimes I love a Starbucks on the waterfront.

So, right now as I type and post this I am sipping my iced coffee from Starbucks and sitting on the waterfront, thinking about how my breakfast will be a Cinch! breakfast.

Good morning, good morning

Good Morning All,

A couple of days ago I realized I really need my morning cup of coffee, otherwise the whole day is bonkers!

Yes, I woke up late a couple of days and did not have time to make my morning cup of joe. By 11:00am, I had a headache :-( Luckily, I was able to mask the headache with some aspirin, but I realized this was caused by the lack of caffeine. So, am I addicted to coffee? I only have one VERY STRONG cup in the morning. I need it in the morning to jump start my day.

Every night I set up my coffee pot to go off just as I wake up. This way, as soon as I'm out of the shower, I have a fresh cup of coffee.

My coffee of choice? I love Trader Joe's coffee and these days I'm loving Godiva's breakfast blend. How strong is my coffee? If the carafe fills up 2 cups, I put 3.5TB of ground coffee. I like my coffee black.

So, one cup of coffee a day...I don't think I'm addicted, but the caffeine withdrawal I get when I don't have my morning cup is a killer!

Favorite spots to get a good cup of strong coffee:
Starbucks (duh)
Pret (dark roast rocks)

What are your favorite coffee hotspots?

***B-Time***

Good Morning Ppls,

This morning for breakfast I had another smoothie, but this was a little different. Here are the deets:

1c. Skim Milk: 2 WW pts.

1/2 scoop of Chocolate Whey Powder: 1 WW pt.

2 teaspoons of PB: 1.5 WW pt.

1 tablespoon of ff Ricotta: 0 WW pts.

1 tablespoon of instant coffee: 0 WW pts.

I found I was able to add some extra thickness, creaminess and protein by using one tablespoon of ff Ricotta, for 0 WW pts. Also, the instant coffee I added help bring out the chocolate flavor in the shake, and of course wake me up :-)

This shake had a total of 4.5 WW pts.!

What did you guys have for breakfast?

How do you start of your day?

I believe all people need something to start off their day. Something that finally tells them, yes, now I am up and alert. What is this for me...COFFEE. Yes, every morning I need my coffee. I time my coffee machine to start brewing every morning at 7:00am, so I can leave my place with a nice fresh, steaming hot cup of coffee. I like my coffee with skim milk and one sugar. This is actually 1 WW point, but I will never skimp my points on my morning coffee, after all this is what gets me up. Also, I only need my coffee to be simple, only the milk and sugar. Now don't get me wrong, I love Starbucks coffee drinks, but will have them occassionaly, and only get a short vs. a tall. Also, I will get my drinks made with skim milk. Points values for these drinks, when ordered with skim milk and in a short, are usually 2 WW points. Alll Starbucks nutritionals are on their wonderful website: http://www.starbucks.com/. So, how do you start your day?