Love Coffee? Start a Coffee Roasting Business!

If you love coffee and you want to work from home, you may be thinking that you will combine your love of coffee with working from home by taking frequent coffee breaks and savoring the delicious java that you brew at home in your very own mug in your very favorite place in the house, wherever that might be. That sounds nice, but if you really, really, really love coffee you can integrate it into your home – based professional life instead of taking a break to hang out with it every now and then. That’s right, you can get … Continue reading

Starbucks Raised Its Prices

I don’t know if you noticed or not, but Starbucks has raised its coffee prices. This means that the chai latte or Oreo Cookie Mocha Frappuccino is costing you more this month. I confess that I hadn’t noticed, but that is probably because I rarely get a coffee out, unless it is a sort of emergency. For example, I am trapped in the car on a three-hour road trip or a four-hour round of errands, and it is the afternoon, and my only option to avoid a caffeine headache is the Starbucks at the rest stop or the strip mall. … Continue reading

The Poor Woman’s Guide to Gourmet Coffee

I love my coffee. What I don’t love is spending money on it. After all, water is free. Add some brewed beans, and you have to pay for it. Doesn’t seem to make much sense, does it? Well, combine my need for coffee and my need for living at our means and you get one motivated woman. I’ve learned a few things about saving money on coffee, even the gourmet kind. Organic coffee usually doesn’t cost any more than standard coffee. It is one of those weird but true things. So, if you only want organic, you don’t usually have … Continue reading

How to Make Great Coffee

Does everyone groan when you make the coffee at work? Are you constantly picking up cups of coffee at expensive shops because it tastes so much better? Don’t worry, it isn’t that hard to make great coffee at home. You just need to know a few of the secrets that will make a difference. Start Clean A clean coffee maker can make all of the difference in the world when it comes to good coffee. Clean the pot and the spot where the grounds go well, so your next cup of coffee will be smooth and not bitter. It’s All … Continue reading

Coffee, What Coffee?

What is that delicate coffee-colored ring peeking out from under my notes? Perhaps it is the work of tiny aliens, who tired of all of the work of creating large crop circles have moved on to coffee rings in order to have a better chance at grabbing our attention. After all, how many more of us sit at a desk staring at a screen versus walking though a corn field on a daily basis? Why do you think I drink coffee? Have you ever seen it happen? Do you think that I’ll grab a cup in the wee hours of … Continue reading

Caffeine Alternatives for Pregnant Women

Whether or not a pregnant woman should consume caffeine, particularly in her first trimester, is up for debate. Most doctors will tell you that one cup of coffee a day is just fine. But if you are one of those women who say “better safe than sorry,” you might be struggling with giving up your daily buzz. It’s hard to give up caffeine when your body is used to it. Personally I think it’s easier to do before you are pregnant, while you are trying to conceive, that way you can slowly wean yourself off. Once your body gets used … Continue reading

Put Those Grounds To Good Use!

Has your relationship with coffee changed since becoming a mother? Mine sure has. I grew up in Seattle, and inevitably have had a lifelong love affair with Starbucks. I couldn’t imagine anything more refreshing on a warm summer afternoon then an Iced Vanilla Latte. Nothing warmed me up better during rainy fall afternoons than a Pumpkin Spice Latte. After I got married and the reality of paying bills set in, paying $3-$5 for a cup of coffee was no longer a reality. I soon began brewing my own Starbucks coffee at home. The love affair continued. Then, I got pregnant, … Continue reading

Better than Energy Drinks

I feel like I’m seeing a LOT of commercials for energy drinks on television lately. But I’ll be honest: energy drinks scare me a little. I imagine that they’re full of sugar or caffeine, or both — giving you a quick jolt of energy, sure, but in the long run, probably not that great for your health. But I do suffer from that mid-afternoon slump. Around two o’clock, I start to slow down and think about napping. I suspect it might be a hold-over from my radio days, when I’d get off the air at two and it would be … Continue reading

How to Frugally Make the Perfect Cup of Coffee

We all long for that perfect cup of coffee, don’t we? That is, after all, why we spend so much money going to our favorite coffee houses and spending a fortune on those designer coffee’s that we could honestly re-create at home for a lot less. Here are a few frugal money saving tips to creating the perfect cup of coffee at home and not having to pay the high prices to do it! Coffee Pot Maintenance – This is important because a coffee maker that is not working properly will never make the perfect cup of coffee, and usually … Continue reading

Easter Sunday Dinner Ideas: Lamb

Our family’s Easter dinners typically consist of ham or prime rib, but this year I am feeling a bit bold and am considering making lamb. Ordinarily, big holiday gatherings are not when you want to experiment with dishes (especially main entrees) that are not embraced by all of your guests. However, lamb is a traditional Easter entrée and if you prepare it on a regular basis (and your family members enjoy eating it) then you might be interested in this next recipe. I found it in my mom’s recipe box when I was home visiting a couple of weeks ago. … Continue reading