Coffee Anyone?

Last weekend I had some pretty severe pain in my diaphragm. I've had gastro-intestinal issues before so I was pretty certain that's what it was stemming from. At any rate, I ended up having to go to the urgent care clinic on Sunday as the pain hadn't ceased much since Friday night and I wasn't really able to stand it anymore. 

Long story short, I probably do have a peptic ulcer. And possibly a bacterial infection that caused it to flair up. So I'm on some medication now for awhile and hopefully that will help.

The real reason I'm writing to tell you all this is because I was told that my condition is probably past the point of being able to enjoy some of my favorite things any longer. Namely, coffee and soda! I live on coffee and soda people! So this was quite disheartening news for me, and a little hard to digest.

But I've been coffee-free for seven days now and have only had about 6oz of pop, and that was only to try to ward off the caffeine-withdrawal headache I was suffering from. It's not easy. In fact, it really stinks! I enjoy getting up early in the morning, grabbing a cup of coffee, and sitting down to watch the news or read a blog or check out Pinterest.

Truth is, I've felt a little like a fish out of water lately without my coffee  cup in-hand...

So, I've decided to live vicariously through some really fantastic coffee recipes that I've found. 

I figure, if it's just an ingredient in something, and I'm not chugging it by the pot-full, how bad can that really be? lol

So check out these delicioso recipes that have coffee as an ingredient.

{make sure to pin anything directly from the original source}

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I'm pretty sure these will satisfy my need for coffee (for at least a day! lol)

Don't they look and sound wuuuunnderful?
Lyuba at Will Cook for Smiles shares this recipe on her blog. 

Coffee Mocha Blondies

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Brown Eyed Baker gives us the recipe for these fantastic cupcakes.

She says she always uses at least a 1:1 ratio of frosting to cake when frosting her cupcakes.

I really like her way of thinking! 

Mocha Cupcakes with Espresso Buttercream Frosting
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Jen at Savory Simple shares her recipe for espresso brownies.
Can't go wrong with a brownie in my book!
The ingredient list is not long and the recipe seems easy.

Espresso Brownies
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Chocolate. Coffee. Ice Cream. Cookie.
Enough said.
You must check out these ice cream sandwiches at Heather Christo Cooks!

Chocolate Coffee Ice Cream Sandwiches

and here's the recipe for the Coffee Ice Cream.

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How about some donuts and coffee?

Always a good combination, right?

Check out this recipe from Will Jog for Food.

Coffee and Donuts Cheesecake Bars

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Who doesn't love a good coffee cake?

Especially when it's coffee-flavored cake

like this recipe from The Bite House!

Coffee Cake

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Who can resist cookie dough? I know I can't.

Combine it with cheesecake and it's a definite must-have!

This cheesecake from Willow Bird Baking sounds amazing!

Coffee Cookie Dough Fudge Cheesecake

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And how could I not include a cookie in this list?

I adore cookies!

This one from Bake Your Day sounds like my kind of cookie!

Cinnamon Clove Coffee Cookies

Hope you enjoyed these. I sure know I have enjoyed looking at them!

(all the while just itching for a cup of coffee too! oh well!)

Farm Fresh Eggs

My friend Jessica gave me some fresh eggs the other day. 

It's hard to see in this picture, but all except one had those pretty pale blue shells. 

She laughed when I said I was going to make a nest and take some pictures of my pretty blue eggs.

But I just couldn't help myself... :)

It's Easter time, after all. It's the season of the egg! 

When I was arranging them in their nest (a terra cotta pot base with some CeCe Caldwell's Destin Gulf Green over Emerald Isle Green), I placed the one brown egg in the center and it looked like a daisy. 

So I kept it that way and took a few pictures.

My little egg arrangement made me smile.

Maybe it's made you a smile a little too. Hope so! :)

A Cola Kind of Weekend

If you know me, you know I'm a major coke addict. Coca-Cola that is! I have been for awhile and, even though I know it isn't good for me, I can't help myself. It's my not-so-secret indulgence. :)

For quite some time now, I've been seeing pins for the chocolate cola cake. I pinned it quite some time ago but hadn't tried it yet. Until this past weekend... 

I must admit, I'm not a big chocolate lover. Chocolate just doesn't do it for me so much. But I do love a really good cake. And, as already established, Coke. And the pictures of this cake just looked so darn good! So I decided to give it a try. 

It really couldn't have been any easier to make. You should copy the recipe I used because you SO need to try this cake! It was very dense and soooooo moist! It feels more like a brownie than a cake and the glaze is very rich. But the flavor is incredible! If you like chocolate at all, you should make this cake at least once! Mmmm-mmmm-good!

In addition to the cola cake, I also used cherry cola for our main dish. I just love the crock pot. So easy and meat always come out so tender. For our dish, I threw 4 chicken breasts, 1 jar of barbeque sauce, 1/2 a can of cherry cola and a 1/2 cup of brown sugar into the crock pot for about 5 hours. Yum! I'm not a huge fan of bbq sauce myself, but this was a really flavorful combination! My daughter ate it right up. (My son, well, he's a lot harder to please!) But Eric and I liked it a lot, too. And what does a 5 year old picky-pete know about good food anyway! lol

Sorry about the grainy pic of the cake I took with my phone. I was more worried about trying these dishes than taking any pictures for the blog. Oh well. Chances are, I'll be making this again and, maybe, I'll remember a pic next time! (If I'm not too busy thinking about how good the cake will taste when it's done!)