Monday, March 19, 2012

50 Calorie Iced Cafe Mocha

Yum
I love to enjoy a frozen coffee drink from time to time, but I'm always paranoid that I'm getting far more calories and sugar than I would like in just a beverage.  I also find fancy coffee store drinks completely over priced (I'm known to be frugal!).  I am not a coffee connoisseur so coffee is just coffee in my eyes.  So what is a frugal and health conscience girl supposed to do?  Grab her blender of course!   I was completely blown over by this homemade version of an iced cafe mocha and it was only a whooping 50 calories! Even my husband who likes only hot coffee drinks thought it was pretty darn tasty.  He could not believe it was as low calorie as it was. If you love coffee drinks and want a way to save money and fit into your jeans,  get those blenders ready!  
PS... I was also nominated for a 7x7 Blogger Award so please check it out below. :)

Ingredients:
3 cups almond milk (35 calories a cup)
2 Tbs of Hershey's Unsweetened Cocoa (10 calories a Tbs)
1-2 Tbs of Instant Coffee (trace amounts of calories)
Sugar free sweetener- I used Splenda  (trace amounts of calories)
1/2 cup of hot water
1 tray of ice (about 16 cubes)
lite whip cream (optional)
Cinnamon Powder (optional)
Sugar-Free Lite Chocolate Syrup (optional)


Directions:
Boil 1/2 cup of hot water. Add sweetener, chocolate powder and instant coffee to hot liquid and stir until everything is well mixed. Add a few ice cubes into the hot coffee mixture to cool it down. Then put all ingredients (except for optional ingredients) in blender and blend until smooth. Top with any optional ingredients you like. Drink immediately.    Enjoy.
Note: If you want a stronger drink add 2Tbs of instant coffee and only 1Tbs for a lighter coffee drink.  Adjust your sweetener to taste.


This makes about 8-9 cups of ice cafe mocha.  Serves 3-4 people. The entire blender contained less than 150 calories making it less than 50 calories a serving



 Now onto the Award!

I am honored that Preena from  A Teaspoon of Turmeric nominated me for the 7x7 Blogger Award.  She has an outstanding blog and gorgeous recipes so please check her out. :)  Thank you Preena for this lovely award and honor. :)

 The rules for receiving the award:
1. Thank the person who gave it to you.
2. Share seven random facts about yourself.
3. Share seven of your worthy posts under the following headers: Most Beautiful Piece, Most Helpful, Most Popular, Most Controversial, Most Surprisingly Successful, Most Underrated and Most Pride Worthy.
4. Nominate seven other bloggers and notify them.

Now I must share some random facts about myself... hmmm... this should be interesting:

1. I don't know how to ride a bike.  Okay... this shocks people sometimes.  I don't usually tell people because when I worked  I told my co-workers during a team building exercise and they all laughed hysterically. The truth is I was never really interested to learn as a kid (although my older siblings all know how to).  Now that I'm a middle aged, I really don't see the point of learning.  My hubby has begged me several times to let him teach me.  I have gotten on an adult bike and freaked out... so I would need the biggest set of training wheels ever!  When someone says "it's just like riding a bike"... that certainly doesn't put me at ease. :)  Okay.. stop laughing.

2. I went almost a decade without ever baking a cookie... yes... it's a long sad story of rock hard hockey puck cookies.  I finally found my cake mix method and now I'm even feeling confident to venture to scratch made someday soon. :)

3. I am on the hunt to buy a good/affordable DSLR camera. I am a big researcher so I like to get everyone's opinion.  Please if you have some advice, help a girl out. :)

4. I hate cilantro.  Yes, I'm one of those people that just can't eat the stuff and for years I thought I was the only one.  Now I realize there so many of us out there and I feel an instant kinship to those that don't like it either.

5. I love historical dramas and some of my favorite movies are Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice both by books from Jane Austen.  I am also a big fan of the proverbial "chick flick". :)

6. I am deathly afraid of any kind of reptile. The worst thing is in the past few years my garden gets invaded by some freaky lizards in the spring and summer because I planted a low growing ivy that they love. If I had known all those years ago when I planted that darn ivy... I would have certainly changed my mind.  I literally look outside before I walk out so I can scan to see if I see a lizard "sunning" itself on my front step.  I have been known to wear winter boots to go get my son from school (yes even in May and June) so I won't feel a lizard touch me.   

7. I collect a lot of things (no I'm not a hoarder... although my husband may think so). I mostly collect cookbooks, mortar and pestles and cool crockery.  I am trying to curb my impulse to buy these things when I see them.  I have succeeded in the crockery and the mortar and pestles... but those darn cookbooks!  It's hard when new cookbooks from my favorite authors keep coming out.  I recently purchased The Pioneer Woman's New Frontier cookbook.... Yes... it's a sickness. :)

Share seven of your worthy posts under the following headers: Most Beautiful Piece, Most Helpful, Most Popular, Most Controversial, Most Surprisingly Successful, Most Underrated and Most Pride Worthy.

Most Beautiful Funfetti Fruit Tart    I could look at this one all day. It tasted wonderful too! :)





 


Most HelpfulChinese Chicken Stir Fry 101 This was a great basic starter stir fry without a lot of complicated ingredients so it could take some of the mystery of stir frying at home.





 
Most PopularGarlic and Oil Pasta (Aglio Et Olio) with Asparagus  This one caught everyone's fancy. Pasta is so comforting!





Most ControversialDeviled Onion Sambal   
 This one is really not controversial unless you hate onions or can't handle the heat.  I really is hot! :)







Most Surprisingly SuccessfulSavory Stuffed Biscuits I took help from the store with this one so I didn't think it would become so popular but I guess everyone could use a little bit of help from the store sometimes.

Most UnderratedMasala Roast Chicken  I was so sad when my beautiful roast chicken was not noticed... it was so pretty!


 




Most Pride WorthyValentine's Day Red Velevet Strawberry Cupcakes 
           Just look at them... enough said. :)










Now I must nominate 7 bloggers to enjoy this award.  I'm sorry I couldn't nominate everyone that is so kind to me.

Anna at Crunchy Creamy Sweet

Alyssa at Mom de Cuisine

Grubarazzi at  Grubarazzi

Becka at The Elegant Eggplant

Stephanie at Eat-Drink-Love 

Kiri at Healthy Foodie Travels

Ridwan at Ridwan's Kitchen/Asian Spice Mix

 

 

 

Copyright: All recipes, content, and images (unless otherwise stated) are the sole property of Curry and Comfort. Please do not use without prior written consent. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.

34 comments:

  1. Guilt-free recipe, thanks for sharing it and congrats on your award..

    ReplyDelete
  2. wow....awesome recipe.....congrats dear....

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congratulations Ramona! :)

    50 calories is just brilliant! You can't feel guilty having one of these in the morning.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congratulations on the nomination! You deserve it! I loved this post. I like learning new things about people. The recipe is great too. I am most definately going to try it out, because I love an iced coffee.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Aww, thanks for nominating me! And I love this drink! I learned to like my coffee black when I learned how much sugar is usually in those tasty drinks. But this is fantastic. With my 4 cup a day habit, that's only 200 cal :) And great facts! I once heard somewhere that people who hate cilantro actually probably have an allergy to it, that's what makes it taste bad to them (for the record, I'm clearly not allergic as I LOVE it!) And I'm such a hoarder too when it comes to kitchen stuff. Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Very nice! That just shows you how unnecessary those crazy drinks are that rack up a meal's worth of calories.
    Very cool award! :) Thank you so much for passing it on to me!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am not much of a coffee drinker myself but this sounds really good. Congrats on your award! Interesting read on the random facts :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congratulations on your award, Ramona! You and your blog are so loved! The iced mocha goes onto my list - with this temperatures I have been craving an iced coffee :) Thank you so much for passing the award onto me. Hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I would assume you could substitute a shot or two of espresso instead of the instant coffee/water combo, right?

    Cant wait to try this recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congrats on the award dear !cafe mocha looks delicious...I hav been cravng for a iced coffee so long and the fact that it is just 50 cal.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh yummy! This sounds so tasty =)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Congrats on the award!! I enjoyed reading your random facts. No, I'm not laughing. But I am in shock that you don't like cilantro. Hehe, just kidding. You should look into Pentax cameras, that is what I use. They are great quality.

    Now the iced coffee, omg does that look good! Next batch of almond milk I will try it. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh this is awesome!! I love frozen coffee drinks but haven't had one in forever because they're really calorie laden. What a great recipe! Made my day! :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks for this awesome recipe Ramona! I love to switch to cold coffee drinks now that the warmer weather is here! And this looks perfect! Congrats on another well deserved award. You don't know how to ride a bike? That's okay...cuz I don't know how to swim! And those red velvet and strawberry cupcakes are killer! : )

    ReplyDelete
  15. If I liked coffee, I would be all over this one. I love the idea of a cheap and healthier drink!
    Congrats on the award, well deserved as always!
    I was beginning to wonder if my 6 (almost 7) year old was ever going to learn to ride his bike. I think he FINALLY has it.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I seriously love you right now Ramona, I miss iced coffee with this diet and am thrilled to see a 50 calorie version with all of the right flavors, yum! Thanks for sharing and congratulations to all of the blog award winners! Hope you had a great weekend =]

    ReplyDelete
  17. congrats dear...that drink looks awesome

    ReplyDelete
  18. Congrats my friend so much :D
    And as for this iced tea you have saved my study life from me going gross :D

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

    ReplyDelete
  19. Cheers on your award! I am very delighted I dropped by. Having this Iced Cafe Mocha will be a guilt-free moment. =)

    ReplyDelete
  20. What a simple ice coffee mocha,,,sound perfect for the season,the weather is getting Hot and hot,and I'm not complaint about lt,I love it is better than Snow :)
    congrats on your award you deserve it and I appreciated you past the award to me,the random facts is fun to read :) I hate cilantro before but I like it now :)
    Ridwan

    ReplyDelete
  21. Yummy drink and just in time with all the warm weather we're having. Love your 7 things and I am so with you on #6. I love, love, love Dallas and would move there in a heartbeat. However, the little lizards and I would have to have a signed agreement that they would stay out of my eyesight.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Great drink, Ramona! I love mochas and even better that it is low-cal!

    And thank you so much for passing your award to me! I am going to have to do some thinking about my seven posts!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Barista offering very much low calorie coffee which one very very tasty

    ReplyDelete
  24. Love the 50 calorie mocha--the coffee joints can kill you if you make that a daily habit!

    Liked reading about your 7 facts about yourself! You must own the Le Creuset Mortar & Pestle? I'm eyeing that right now! There's nothing wrong in having a couple of collections! :)

    Agreed, Red Velvet Cupcakes with strawberries are stunningly beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  25. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I love the mocha and your facts are just so fun and interesting. BTW, I live in a place where everyone rides bikes- for fun and to get around- but I never do! I get nervous. My husband takes 80 mile rides on weekends- I DON'T go with him! I love Jane Austen! For camera,I recommend a Canon rebel, love it!
    Your recipe photos are all incredibly beautiful!! The roast chicken is wonderful--isn't it funny how some things we love don't get noticed? Well, happens to me a lot but your recipes are all so fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  27. I'm drinking starbucks mocha right now - you made me feel guilty..... Just kidding. :-) Congrats on award and great to learn more about you!

    ReplyDelete
  28. You are way too nice to me! Thank you so much and congratulations! I love the fun facts about yourself. I was considered a late bloomer on the bike, but I still can't ski. Your bike stories sound pretty close to my skiing abilities. LOL. What a great low calorie drink as well. I never drink sugary coffee drinks anymore. Just plain old coffee with a dose of almond milk.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Hey Ramona, congrats on the award. I managed to miss this post...!
    I enjoyed reading the fun facts about you and I was so relieved to note that you can't ride a bicycle...Now I know that I am not the only who can't ride a bicycle!! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  30. Great recipe!!! Super easy AND low cal!
    However, I prefer vanilla or hazelnut rather than mocha. Any suggestions?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can try International Delight Coffee creamers at 35 calories a Tbs or you can try extract of either flavors... just a thought. :)

      Delete
    2. Awesome! Thanks for the quick response!!!

      Delete
  31. I recently discovered this online indian grocery store, it's pretty cool, check it out https://www.zogby.com/indian-grocery-store/

    ReplyDelete

Please leave a comment, we love to hear from you....