COPYCAT: Starbucks Cool Lime and Very Berry Hibiscus Drinks REFRESHERS Recipes

 

Who doesn't like Starbucks? But ... who doesn't hate their overpriced drinks! For many years, I've been donating hundreds, thousands, and possibly millions of dollars into the Starbucks brand! I've learned some tips and tricks to save money at Starbucks!

 
First, get yourself a Starbucks Rewards card and start using your card, instead of CASH!!! With each "transaction" you purchase, you'll earn a star. Therefore, I always purchase my items separately. For example, I will purchase a HOT WHITE CHOCOLATE MOCHA first for one rewards star. And come back later to purchase a PETITE MADELINE COOKIE for a second reward star. With this method, you will collect 12 stars in a heart beat. Once you have 12 stars, you can get one item: drinks or food for free. Also, you will get a free drink/food on your birthday!

Second, if you are like me -- a poor and cheap student! I literally camp out at Starbucks on midterm and final weeks! On those particular weeks, I would only order "refillable" teas or coffees! With the rewards card, you can get those refillable drinks REFILLED for free (only if you stay inside the same Starbucks and do not leave the store). Supposedly, you can only get 1 or 2 refills, but TRUST ME! I've refilled my teas at least 4 times before!!!!

The final step to save some mullas and still achieve the same Starbucks drinks is to MIMIC their drinks. These are the recipes to Starbucks's new and refreshing non-refillable teas :] Enjoy

Cool Lime Refreshers RECIPES:

• 16.9 Oz.  Bottle of Sparkling Water (plain or flavored)
•  Crystal Light Classic Honey Lemon Green Tea Flavor Packet
•  Glass Pitcher (large enough to hold 32 oz)
•  8 Oz. White Grape Juice
• Garnish with fresh lime and cucumber slices. Top with a sprig of fresh mint

   

Starbucks Very Berry Hibiscus:  

• 16.9 Oz.  Bottle of Sparkling Water (plain or flavored)
•  Use Crystal Light Classic Raspberry Ice
•  Glass Pitcher (large enough to hold 32 oz)
•  8 Oz. White Grape Juice
• Garnish with whole blackberries and lime slices

 Raspberry Pomegranate 

• 16.9 Oz.  Bottle of Sparkling Water (plain or flavored)
• Use Crystal Light Classic Pomegranate Lemonad
•  Glass Pitcher (large enough to hold 32 oz)
  8 Oz. White Grape Juice
• Garnish with whole raspberries

 Strawberry Lemonade

• 16.9 Oz.  Bottle of Sparkling Water (plain or flavored)
•  Use Crystal Light Classic Raspberry Lemonade or Crystal Light Pure Lemonade
•  Glass Pitcher (large enough to hold 32 oz)
•  8 Oz. White Grape Juice
• Garnish with fresh slices of strawberries and lemons

 Orange Melon

• 16.9 Oz.  Bottle of Sparkling Water (plain or flavored)
•  Use Crystal Light Classic Orange or Crystal Light Pure Tropical Blend
•  Glass Pitcher (large enough to hold 32 oz)
•  8 Oz. White Grape Juice
• Garnish with slices of fresh oranges and cubed watermelon 

Got this recipes from LatterDatCents.com. It is the closest match to the real drinks from my experience.

♥ Boiling Crab's The-Whole-Sha-Bang Recipes

READ THE REVIEWS OF BOILING CRAB

Ingredients:

• 2 cups margarine
• 1 bag louisiana crawfish, Crab, and Shrimp boil
• cayenne pepper
• mccormick bayou cajun seasoning
• lemon pepper
• paprika
• Old Bay Seasoning
• louisiana hot sauce
• 8 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 8 lbs crawfish, live
• 1 lb red potatoes, halved
• 8 ears white corn
• 1 lb smoked sausage, cut into 1-inch segments

Directions:

1.Pour live crawfish into a washtub or ice chest; cover with water. Drain. Repeat 3 to 4 times until crawfish are clean. Drain. Discard any dead crawfish and debris.

2. Cook crawfish by boiling in hot water with the Louisiana Crawfish Boil, quartered lemon, potatoes, corn and sausage (add potatoes, corn, and sausage 15 minutes prior to crawfish). While they are cooking make the sauce

3. Melt the margarine over low heat in a large saucepan. Add garlic and saute until translucent.

4. NOTE: This will get salty fast with the Cajun seasoning and Old Bay, so add them in tiny, tiny amounts. Add Cajun Seasoning, Old Bay, cayenne pepper (start with 3 t. then add more for spiciness), lemon pepper, paprika, and liberally add Louisiana Hot Sauce. When you have the mixture right, add a tiny bit of lemon juice (roughly 1/4 lemon).

5. Simmer for 10 minutes and check for flavor. Add more cayenne, paprika, or hot sauce as desired.


 YOUTUBE VIDEO:

♥ Comtempory Kitchen Design

Arclinea‘s mission is to harmonize creativity and technology, conviviality and functionality, through innovative solutions for spaces that improve our quality of life. Arclinea: where the kitchen is the home, it is the home which revolves around the kitchen. Check out these dream contemporary kitchen designs.


With Spatia the kitchen is increasingly the centre of the home. A kitchen that evolves and becomes discreet. Bringing a new angle to interiors, pushing living horizons to conceal its functions, Spatia elegantly and harmoniously suggests a modern landscape for the home.







The main players of Lignum et Lapis are stone and wood: materials that enhance exclusive design and project creativity. Formal and technological research lies at the basis of islands, worktops and workbenches in stone: true physical industrial sculptures.







Italia is a professional kitchen for the home, perfect for home chefs who want to experience restaurant-style performance within their own four walls.





Convivium is open living space, a kitchen as an organised area, where solutions are the outcome of their location, the true centre for rapport between the cook and the others.



Gamma by Arclinea is the totally modern kitchen concept that is now part of the Arclinea Collection, expanding the range and providing simple, flexible, clear answers to the most up-to-date, diverse design needs. It teams the primary values of Arclinea – quality, functionality, customisation and socialising – with a huge selection of finishes, almost unlimited potential combinations and a wide range of prices.

Orignal blog: Decpholic

♥ Jazz Cat

All I can say is that, I am hooked! Four years ago, I didn't like Shabu Shabu at alll, but this place had changed everything.  I was introduced to this place by a friend on my birthday. By far, that was the best B-day gift. I absolute love this place. Every time I go here, like a trained puppy, I always get the same thing--The Thai Spice! As much as I love this place, I do hate the wait and the unlimited seats.

Location:  121 E Valley Blvd San Gabriel, CA 91776
Phone: (626) 288-5200
 

T-Rex for more meat and less vegetables

The beef is sliced to the thinnest!!!

An extra order of Mushroom to make your soup sweeter

Vegetables that comes with the Thai Spice order

Brown or white rice?

An Extra Order of the Golden Fish Ball

Be careful when hot! The hidden fish egg will burn your tongue

Remember, to ask for more of the Thai sauce! The sauce here is a little salty, 

but it's too good to resist

Remember to order their popcorn chicken! Best Popcorn chicken so in  SOCAL!

♥ Hu Tieu Thanh Xuan

Brunch with my favorite GF,

We were craving for some Vietnamese food (again) and definitely something soupy! I showed Thao this little joint across from The Asian Garden Mall. This place has been here forever, but recently changed management or owners. So they have this promotion "4-dollar" house special Hu Tieu. I meant, for  4 dollar, this will fill you put pretty quickly! This is TOTALLY the true meaning of bang for the buck! With the new management, the kitchen is MUCH CLEANER! I remembered, I used to slip back and forth while going to the restroom (back with the old management). Also, it's cheaper with the new menu--they cut back some unnecessary dishes and prices. THUMB UP! However, I like the food from the old management better--somehow it was more flavorful

Location: 9191 Bolsa Ave Ste 104-105 Westminster, CA 92683
Phone Number: (714) 890-0223

Hu Tieu Thanh Xuan Nuoc: (3.3/4) You have an option of eating this "dry" or "soupy." Thao wanted the soupy version. The "soup" has all the meat and seafood that the "dry" version has except the special sauce.

 Hu Tieu Thanh Xuan Kho: (3.5/4) I prefer the "dry" version better because of the 

extra sauce and a bowl of soup on the side.

Hu Tieu Thanh Xuan's sauce is amazing--a mixture of tomatoes and shrimps. 

However, the soup is fully of MSG! So if you are allergic, stay away from any soup!

♥ How To Make Thai Iced Tea

Sorry for being MIA for the longest time! I'm back with more food and recipes! I will "try" my best to update every 3-5 days for both the food and fashion blog. Anyways it's been really hot lately, so a THAI ICED TEA sounds like heaven!

 Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup Thai tea leaves 
• 1 2/3 cup Water 
• 1/2 cup Sugar 
• 1/2 Half and Half Milk
• 1 1/2 cup Condensed Milk (12oz can)

Step1: If you want to cheat your way by using powder! I would recommend you to STOP now. Powder thai iced tea will not have that "tea" flavor and smell to it. Go to your local asian store to purchase a small bag of thai tea leaves.

Step 2: Boil a pot of water and throw all or 1/2 of your tea leaves in the pot. Remember to stir it ever 3-5 minutes or so. If not, the leaves might burn and will leave that burnt taste or smell to it.

Step 3: Filter the leaves. Keep the tea (liquid) and throw away the tea leaves

Step 4: Add some half and half

Step 5: Add some sugar or condensed milk

♥ Free Stuff at Starbucks (TODAY)

Original Blog: www.gothamist.comhttp://gothamist.com

New Yorkers may be willing to sell their kidneys for an iced coffee, so what would they do for a free Starbucks "Refreshers" drink? We ask because tomorrow, Friday the 13th, between noon and 3 p.m. the chain is offering free 12 oz. samples of their Very Berry Hibiscus or Cool Lime Refreshers at stores across the country. No purchase necessary, just walk in and ask for one. So what are these new "Refreshers," you ask? Well, according to the company they are "the latest breakthrough in coffee" which use "Green Coffee Extract" for their energy boost. According to the company "Starbucks is using an innovative process to pull the naturally occurring caffeine and other good stuff from 100% green arabica coffee beans before they are roasted. The result is Green Coffee Extract - the natural energy from coffee, but with none of the coffee flavor." And thank God. Because if there is one thing we can't stand about coffee it is the coffee flavor, right? Or, let us rephrase that: if there is one thing we can't stand about Starbucks coffee it is the Starbucks coffee flavor.

Anyway, free drinks!

♥ Remarkable Landscape + Food Truck in Connecticut

New Haven, Connecticut

Exit 46. Food Trucks open every Saturday and Sunday

Look at this guy! He was so into his tacos :] Also, this stranger was so nice and ordered for me :]

Surprisingly, it wasn't spicy! So delicious! And it was free too! DOUBLE THE JOY

Pickled raddish

Chicken and Shrimps taco: 4.7 / 5

Beef Taco: 4.7 / 5

This was so far one of the best tasting tacos that I've ever ate!! Also, at an unbeatable price of 1.50 each. Tips: The acidity of the lemon enhanced the taste

Best View + Yummy Food = Priceless

Thank you to whoever that took my picture :]