Whatever gets you through the day

I *may* have mentioned several thousand a few times that my baby boy is the worst sleeper ever not the best at sleeping. Have you any idea how challenging it is to go to work day after day after day on 2 cumulative hours of sleep? Have you any idea how challenging it is to do that when you don't drink coffee? I recently decided that caffeine's lack of presence in my life is unacceptable. It's not that I don't like coffee, it's that coffee doesn't like me and whenever I drink it I end up paying the heartburn price for the rest of the day. But recently my BFF's sister, who is an instructor at the French Culinary Institute and an extensive world traveler, informed me that espresso beans are roasted differently than coffee beans, resulting in far less acidity. Well! That called for some personal research. I remembered a post I had read by the fabulous Mrs. D over at The Power of the Pink Lines about kicking her Starbucks addiction by making her own iced lattes. A quick review of her recipe, a few minutes of Google research and 1 trip to the grocery store later, it turns out I CAN have caffeine in my life! Woot! Hello, new found energy and mental clarity. Where have you been all my life?

Now I am by no means a coffee aficionado. I need a fast caffeine fix without a lot of effort or time. So I modified Mrs. D's recipe a bit and the end result was this quick and dirty iced latte:

What? Why yes that IS instant espresso. And no, it doesn't taste like mud. Maybe it does on it's own, but it surely doesn't when mixed with a healthy dose of Caramel Macchiato creamer and skim milk. Want to make one for yourself? (You should ;)

First, make yourself a triple shot of espresso.
Pour it into a shake-able container.
Then, dump in the creamer of your choice. Go ahead, put a little more in.
Add enough milk to bring the total volume to 16 oz.
Wipe up the milk that the baby on your hip spilled while you were pouring.
Add your desired amount of ice.
Shake it up. Sing "shake it up baby now" to the baby on your hip as you do.
Pour it into the free travel cup your dad gave you and be on your merry, caffeinated way!

And just for good measure, here's a pic from my first Mother's Day with Sweets on Sunday. In case you can't see it, his shirt says "I Love My Mommy." I love you too, my Baby Boy.