Oh, For the Love of Coffee

Anyone recognize this? You might if you've ever been to Hawaii's island of Oahu. And if you have, you know exactly what I mean when I say I could go for a Cappuccino Freeze plus a possible spotting of the elusive John Locke.

I don't know about you, but a nice hot mug of coffee is what I look forward to most in the morning. Other than Asher's cute little face when I get him out of his crib, of course (insert big smiley face here!). Speaking of Asher, he's decided that sleeping through the night is overrated. Or, he's been completely ruined by his week or two of sleeping in my bed while Thane was away. Either way, his couple of months of sleeping eight+ hours straight are loooong gone. Which makes a good cup of coffee even more appreciated. Can I get an amen, fellow moms?

And now onto the next limited commodity; time. Brewing a pot of coffee was way too tedious. For me, at least, because I use a vast array of ingredients; Two kinds of coffee (I mix caff & decaff- I like a rich bold taste but without a ton of caffeine), sugar, non-dairy creamer, chocolate Ovaltine, and last but not least, cinnamon! (A friend taught me this trick- sprinkle a little cinnamon on your grinds before brewing and it takes the bitter edge off.)

So that's six steps, not including the filter and the water. And Asher's not a fan of anything that occupies my arms for more than two minutes at a time (unless he's simultaneously nursing, of course).

So, tired of this self-imposed tedious process, an idea struck; coffee storage containers! That I could pre-mix all of my ingredients in!

Off to- guess where?- Ross, I went.

But first for the mixing.

The two types of coffee plus cinnamon went into a big Pyrex and got mixed. The Pyrex really helped. With it's pouring "spout", it could easily be transferred into the new containers. Same with the sugar and creamer mixture.

And here they are; six steps down to two! And they make for very nice windowsill "decor". They're very conveniently placed right above the new spot where the coffee maker is, next door to the green firebird rooster. No more dragging six different containers out of the pantry (and then putting them back away) every morning.

I keep a measuring spoon in each, so there's no need for a new spoon everytime. (If you put your creamer/sugar in first, the coffee mixes it on it's own when it gets poured in.) I've had this little system going for about a week now. It's sped up my coffee making process so much that the first few days I felt like I was missing something.

Oh, and Thane's first question was "how will you know if you have everything mixed in the right proportions?" Just a little trial and error. It was easy to tell that my creamer mixture needed a little more sugar, so into the mix it went, and now it's just the way that I like it. Yay!

Does anybody else have a favorite mug to drink out of? Here's mine- another favorite forged in Hawaii.

The total cost of this super time-saving system was $5 ($2.50 a piece for the containers, at Ross). Well worth it! And I made up for this cost in about one trip to the grocery store. I downgraded from my all-time favorite Dunkin Donuts brand coffee to Eight O'Clock (recommened by a Kentucky-turned-Alaska friend). Now I save about $4 each time I buy coffee. And I honestly don't really notice a difference... So thanks for all the good tips everyone!

Back to Asher for a minute- lots of big news!
1. He didn't cry at all during either day of our traveling to and from New York.
2. He started sucking on a pacifier last Friday! (Same day as the trip, praise God.)
3. He rolled over for the first time on the 3rd! From his back to tummy. And (on the same day) he threw up all of his squash while I was holding him at the dinner table during a meal with guests. I'm not talking spit-up, but real throwing up...twice, huge amounts. I felt so bad for him. It might have had to do with the extra bouncy ride that two of our little guests gave him in his bouncer right beforehand.

One more thing- his new love of a pacifier leads me to a theory on why he's no longer sleeping through the night. (At first it must have been the move back to Georgia plus sleeping in the bed with me, but that should have corrected itself by now.) Now that we're somewhat settled again, I'm noticing that he hasn't been nursing as much since discovering the joy of a pacifier. Which means he might be getting hungrier at night and needing more solids during the day. That, or he's teething. Who knows.

Anybody have any advice for me? Have you enjoyed the bliss of a through-the-night-sleeper only to have him or her revert back to waking up multiple times?

And don't forget to tell me what your favorite mug to drink out of is!

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P.S. Since we're on the topic and Asher and Hawaii...



Couldn't help myself! See his 23 week photo here.

Have a great day!

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