Not My Mama's Instant Coffee

I'm so glad that God made the coffee bean and that someone first figured out how to brew it up. Because mornings are just morning until...

 

What coffee do you drink, if any? Are you picky about your coffee? How picky are you? Would you, could you, give up your current brand or roast, or type of coffee. Or would you go to decaf or instant?

 

My mother drank Folger's coffee. And she drank a lot of coffee. She was so brand-loyal that she could not be fooled. My sister and I once filled her Folger's can with another brand. We had bet someone that she was just stubborn but wouldn't actually be able to tell the difference. We were wrong. We made a pot of coffee for her and with one sip, she knew.

I guess I take after my mother. I have cheaped out on a lot of grocery items but can be pretty brand loyal when it comes to my coffee. Once upon a time, I only drank Yuban or Gevalia (back when Gevalia had a subscription box and I could afford it). As I got older, I wasn't extremely picky about the brand as much as I was about the strength. I have never liked those weaker or less "bold" morning blends. I like my java full force.

For the past few years, I have loved the Dark Magic blend from Green Mountain Roasters. They make a decently-priced bag of ground and a higher-cost K-cup. I preferred the K-cup but often went cheaper by putting the ground coffee in a universal K-cup reusable filter. 

Here's the thing. Lately, I have been cutting way, way back on things. I am having to eat healthier - even more so than before and I have yet to find a Dollar Menu that my doctors will applaud. Basically, I have to cut back on the Wants and Wishes (certain coffees, specific hair products, etc.) and stay focused on the Needs and Musts.

I've done well in most areas by making my own hair care concoctions and just plain giving up some vanity-oriented things. However...

Coffee is my biggest indulgence. It's one of the few obsessions I have that has some health benefits. And it's something that I don't really over-indulge in. I just need my morning cup and maybe - just maybe - a second cup a little later in the day. After that, I am good until the evening when I have a nice cup of tea before bed. Yes, I am a woman of habits.

Knowing all this, a lot of my friends would be surprised to know that I have now switched to drinking mostly instant coffee. 

The idea of switching to instant didn't occur to me in the least until... 

I had some instant coffee around that I used only to make the delicious Dalgona coffee.

Other than that, I never touched my jar of instant. Until one day when my Amazon subscription was late. Actually, I had shared my coffee with a neighbor so I ran out a few days earlier than usual. Anyway, I wasn't up to walking to the store or making a larger enough order for delivery. I decided to have a Dalgona but then didn't want to deal with the hassle. So I just made a plain instant coffee. I had the Beaumont Instant from Aldi's so...

Wow. This stuff is good. It's got a deep, rich, kind of chocolate undertone to it. I had not enjoyed a cup of coffee so much in a long time. I made a second cup. Usually, I have a 12-ounce "mug" (that I often never even finish) but I was making 8-ounce cups of the instant.

Listen. I went online that very day and canceled my Subscribe and Save order for coffee. When the last box arrived a few days later, I didn't even open it. I didn't miss Dark Magic. And I wasn't wasting any of the instant that way I did the Dark Magic. 

I'm saving money for sure. Here's a breakdown:

• Green Mountain K-cups $15.80 (32 pods) = about $0.50 per pod
• Green Mountain ground  $10.49 (18-oz bag) = $0.58 per ounce
• Aldi's Beaumont instant  $3.09 (8-oz) = $0.38 per ounce
• Nescafe instant $5.45 (7-oz) = $0.78 per ounce

Yeah. I'm now a Beaumont gal. (By the way, I did try Nescafe and it's not much better than Beaumont, in my opinion.)

As tight as I keep my budget, I didn't truly fathom how much I was spending on coffee. And, as I said, I was sometimes just plain wasting coffee. The smallest amount my machine makes is about 12 ounces per pod. If I try making less than that with the universal filter, the taste is off - too strong or too weak. And I don't always finish 12 ounces before it starts to cool - even with my thermal mug. With instant coffee, I can get a good cup with just over a half-tablespoon of powder. And I can get 5 jars of Beaumont with what I was paying for 1 box of Green Mountain pods. 

As for my beloved Keurig, I plan to keep using it for making my green teas and hot chocolates - of which I have found store brands that are both cheap and tasty.  Also, whenever I'm going to go out for a bit, I will make a 12-ounce mug of Beaumont. 

Oh! And I almost forgot to mention THE most important part of this: I can actually drink this coffee black. It's not as good as 1) Luzinanne Dark Roast or 2) either French Market or the delicious Cafe Du Monde chicory coffees straight black, but... It's too hard to find those brands or find them at a decent price.

Now, I don't drink Beaumont Instant black as often as I did the others, but I have been trying to balance it out during the day. If I drink a cup with creamer/sweetener, I drink the next cup without. I discovered that black coffee works much better as an appetite suppressant than does coffee with cream and/or sugar.

Anyway. 

So, yeah. If you had asked me 6 months ago whether or not I would switch to instant, I would have noped hard. Now, I am happy with instant coffee. With the money I have been saving, I might get a chance to try some other brands of instants. Who knows?

I have read some things comparing instant to ground coffee. Apparently, in most opinions, ground tastes better and seems to have more health benefits. I think taste depends on the brand and personal preferences. As far as the health benefits, I'll have to look more into that. I am still not sure about ground coffee having more caffeine. Again, I think it depends on the brand.  I haven't noticed a difference yet.

Peace

--Free

P.S.: I started writing this post about 2 weeks ago and forgot to publish it! I would like to make an update to note that I am still drinking only instant coffee. I am saving the last of the Green Mountain for company or when I am waiting to order more of the instant. I have grown to like the Nescafe enough that I want to try a couple other brands just to see what's out there. I also got to try Community Instant Coffee and Chicory and... yuck! That was the weakest, blandest coffee ever. It was like drinking from sawdust shavings! But, yeah, I am not likely to go back to ground coffees unless I find something as cheap and tasty as the instant I have.

Amazon's Shabby Monitoring of Sellers

 Amazon will sometimes reject my product reviews. It doesn't happen often but it happens. Most recently it happened when I noted that a product had different ingredients listed on the product page than what was on the label of the product I received. I wish they were as diligent about checking the product page information as they are about gatekeeping on customer reviews.

I got a fast refund for the product I just mentioned. Just yesterday I got another product that had different ingredients shown on the label than what the product page showed.

In this most recent instance, the difference was irritating but not harmful. 

I bought this balm because of the ingredients shown on Amazon. You know how I have gotten about checking the 1st 5 ingredients. Well, this was kind of bait and switch, don't you think?

what I ordered

what I got

Totally different arrangement of the ingredients, yes?

I was irritated but not too concerned.

However.

In the other instance... I refuse to use the product because one of the ingredients is a little sketchy.

what I ordered
(magnified for you)

what I got

What is that on the next to the last line on the ingredients? Urea? Urea is something I've had used during pedicures to remove dead skin. Just sloughed it right off after a few minutes of massage. I'm not sure it's something I want near my hair.

You all know that I rely heavily on Amazon - and Walmart, Target, and whoever else delivers - since I no longer drive. I don't think it's a pesky thing to ask that they try being more accurate.

Anyway, once again, I will be contacting Amazon and the seller to let them know about this. At least I usually hear back from Amazon or the sellers there. Walmart is still new to problem-solving. That's one of the reasons I have not switched from Prime to Walmart+. Same price but totally different services.

Jeff Bezos is no longer hungry so he no longer cares.

Peace

--Free

COVID, Science, Peace & Faith

I am having a night of insomnia. At least it's not wasted. While sitting up, I found something that I wanted to share from YouTube. 

This video is a reminder to me that 1) God is in charge, 2) Anything can create panic if we allow it, 3) COVID is not the only health issue to exist.

Like many Christians, I have struggled not to give in to fear and panic during this whole COVID situation. Because I have a fairly serious existing health condition, I sometimes let myself get caught up in the panic and madness that is 2020-2021. Listening to someone I respect as a fellow Christian speak on this subject has been helpful. And I am reminded that prayer is my best defense in anything.

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2 Corinthians 5:1 KJV)

So, just to reiterate...

By the way, Dr. Lisle is featured in several YouTube videos discussing God and science. He and the late Chuck Missler are favorite speakers of mine and I am glad for the videos preserving their talks.

Peace

--Free

A Homemade Hydration Wash-and-Go Juice

 Winter has been rough on my hair. It's getting better as the weather warms up and the moisture is creeping in. However, I did come up with a simple blend of products for when

1. my curls are just naturally dry, or 
2. I use my favorite curling product (that leaves my hair crunchy), or
3. when I need to do a wash-and-go and the "go" part does not mean having to go fool with my hair before it's ready for the world.

So, here's the thing: I love Long Aid activator gel because it brings out all the pop-pop-pop in my curl pattern. I always get huge jars because they last forever, then put some in smaller jars. (I see that I bought my last big jar in 2019 because it doesn't take much to produce a curl pattern.)

However...

The gel leaves my hair with more crunch than fresh Fritos. So my "Homemade Hydration Juice" is my personal game-changer. (I'm working on the name!)

This is what my wash-and-go looks like when I've used the homemade juice I am going to tell you about. You know, because I am not stingy or begrudging like some folks...

And that is just slightly damp

Like I've said, my hair looks like that with just a little bit of Long Aid by itself but... it's crunchingly untouchable. What you can't tell from a photo is how SOFT and un-greasy my curls are with the "special sauce" I concocted. Also, I get more elongation that I normally do with freshly-washed hair.

Okay, I'm going to stop acting like those food sites that never get to the dang recipe so, without any further fooling around, here is what I blended up. (Disclaimer: you can do your own thing because I am not a professional):

• A bottle with a good spray nozzle. This is important. I got my glass ones here. (And, no I am not paid for the link!)
• Long Aid (or probably any other activator gel). (Not paid for this either.)
• Camille Rose Honey Hydrate  that you need to shop the best price for (And, no, still not getting paid.)
• ** Almond oil (but can use any good, thin, light-weight, and not-too-greasy oil.)
• Some good water. I use spring water because I think it's "softer" than purified.
• optional: I might start adding some Rosemary essence but I have not yet. 
• additional: I do add another water-like ingredient that doesn't affect this end result.

I'm not nitpicky with the measurements but for about 10-12 ounces of water, I try to do about 3 to 5 tablespoons of the Long Aid (depends on how much curl definition I want) and not quite a half tablespoon of the Honey Hyrdate (HH is pricey but it does not take much).  By the way, I add only about half a teaspoon of my secret ingredient.

Give that a good shake every single time you use it.

I don't make a lot at one time because I don't know how well all the ingredients will "set" together for more than a couple of weeks.

I wish I had come up with the juice sooner. I was motivated by my recent resolution to cut way back on buying hair products. 

Right now, I have a shelf full that I plan to find innovative ways to tweak until I have used them up. I've been playing with different combos. For instance, if a product is too thick, I add something thin - water, oil, floral essence. Because I have dry hair, most products are not moisturizing enough. That's where either the Honey Hydrate (which, out of the bottle, is too moisturizing for any curl definition) or a light oil comes into the mix. 

I have one product that left my hair feeling a little "gluey" so I will start using it on my edges for when I pull my hair back.

You must know how desperate I am to 1) save money, and 2) use some of these products I've been hoarding. 

Since I don't plan on buying anything (except to replenish the Honey Hydrate and Long Aid), I am experimenting on myself. I have some ideas for using tea and coffee sprays. Also, I had a huge box of green tea that was off-brand and kind of week. I am using that to steep with some grapeseed and olive oil.

By the way, when I started this use-and-reduce thing with products, I ran across a new YouTube channel. It's called Curly Chemistry (but I keep wanting to call the very personable young lady the Curly Chemist!). I love her style of explaining things. Plus, I think it is high time to have someone with her knowledge talking about the subject of hair and products. 

In one video, the Curly Chemist (I'm going to keep calling her that) dropped some knowledge that I have been using since I heard it. I now always focus more on the first 5 ingredients of products for my hair (and skin). In addition, I went through my product junkie arsenal and checked the First Five of all the products that I love for some reason or the other. That was an interesting exercise, let me tell you.

In addition to the Honey Hydrate (and the Long Aid), one product I plan to occasionally replenish is Taliah Waajid's  Bamboo and Coconut Milk Leave-in Conditioner Intense Moisture. Like they HH, by itself, it's almost too moisture-intense (if I want lasting curl definition) but it's perfect for when I need an extra softness boost.

So there you have it. I'm not advising you to use this recipe, I'm just telling you about it. Just keep in mind that I'm no professional on anything-to-do-with-hair. Just know that. However, if I were going to market this, I'd call it Homegirl's Hydration Juice. ROFL.

Maybe soon, I will be able to let you know how the coffee and tea items worked out.

Peace

--Free

** The almond oil I use is the only one I really like. I have used others that are too greasy-feeling. Maybe it's the type but this is the one I get from Making Cosmetics (still not paid!)

 

I had to reset my password so I can't get into my account to link straight to it but you can find it from the info up there.

(UPDATE) The Vape Ban is About Power - Not Health

UPDATE - the mail ban has been postponed. I am hearing that it's on hold until September or October but... So far, 2 of my 3 favorite online shops have worked out alternate shipping arrangements. I'm pretty sure that many other shops will be able to come up with alternatives by the time the ban actually goes into effect.

 I won't rant for too long but...

This vape mail ban is ridiculous. Doctors will still be prescribing nicotine gum and patches because, well, money. People will still be able to buy alcohol because, well, money. No one is going to be banning or slowing up the sale of fast food burgers, tacos, or pizzas because, well, money. They are even making marijuana and heroin more accessible and acceptable. But for all the people who have and are using vaping to quit tobacco - well, too bad. 

Cannabis at Work: 

How Employers Are Reacting to the Legalization of Marijuana

If I ever questioned whether or not vaping was as bad as smoking tobacco, I feel I have gotten an answer. As many comedians like to point out, the money is not in the cure, it's in the disease. Tobacco smoking creates patients. Vaping creates freedom from tobacco.

I'm pissed. I quit a lifelong tobacco addiction via vaping. Even when I crave a cigarette now, I have - or had - the choice to just hit some nic-free vape and move on with life. I vow not to return to tobacco only because I want to defeat the purpose of the assault on vaping. If I go back to tobacco, They win.

(By the way, notice how differently vaping is treated in places with a less profitable system of healthcare.) But now that the WHO is getting involved, even those places are looking over their shoulders...

I just hope that the vape industry can get lobbyists and supporters as powerful as those of the tobacco industry. And vape enthusiasts are trying to fight back, trust me. (If you want to get involved, just check that link.)

For now, every vaping adult I know is stocking up big-time so that They can create their own juices. A lot of people are making sure to have the materials to build coils for a long time. And lots more people will never leave tobacco addiction as easily as vape enthusiasts were able to.

So this is not about the health of people. This is about power and money. The money really is in the disease and not the cure.

If vape enthusiasts were as dangerous to society as drug addicts, I bet They'd be more willing to make allowances.

Oregon 1st state to decriminalize possession of drugs

When I am watching people struggle with tobacco addiction, I'm going to hope They make it without resorting to marijuana or heroin - you know the more acceptable habits.

Apparently, some people do still recognize that there are many things to worry about other than vaping.

The New Street Drugs You Need to Know in 2021

And if you wonder who "They" are, just look at whoever profits most from the diseases caused by smoking and formerly illegal drug usage.

If you want to get a true gauge of how much safer/better vaping is than tobacco use, poll those who have both smoked and used vapes. Do they feel better or worse? Do they cough more or less? Do they breathe better or not? Oh, and did they quit and stay quit longer after using e-cigs than with the gum and patch?

While polling, ask some kids what they have a harder time getting hold of - cigarettes or vape? I bet most kids who smoke started from parental example. Unless their parents now vape, guess where the kid will still be able to get hold of smokes? 

I can just see the future of vaping. There will be people sneaking around dark alleys trying to score some bootlegged, unregulated e-juice and hot vape devices - so that they can quit cigarettes... It would be kind of funny if it wasn't so unfunny.

As the kids used to say, don't get it twisted. This is all about money and control, not improving anyone's health.

Peace

--Free