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You are here: Home / Naturally Frugal Living / Making Your Own Legal Stimulants

Making Your Own Legal Stimulants

July 17, 2009 by Alea Milham 11 Comments

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French Vanilla Coffee Creamer RecipeLast summer I added up the cost of my husband’s daily drive-through coffees. We were both shocked with the monthly total! I offered to make him coffee at home, since it would save both time and money and he reluctantly agreed to give it a try.

Our coffee maker has a delay brew setting, so I add the water and coffee the night before and program the coffee maker to start brewing when my husband’s alarm goes off. My husband hits snooze. Several times. By the time we actually get out of bed the coffee is ready.

At first I bought pre-made French vanilla creamer from the dairy section at my grocery store to supplement my home brewed coffee. Then I read the ingredient list on creamer. I promise not to rant about high fructose corn syrup, but I will say that after reading the ingredient list I decided that I needed to come up with a better alternative. My solution was to make my own creamer:

Homemade French Vanilla Coffee Creamer RecipeFrench Vanilla Creamer Recipe
Ingredients:
14 oz. can of condensed milk
28 oz. milk
1 T – 1 1/2 T vanilla
Directions:
Pour the can of condensed milk into a pitcher. Fill the can two times with milk, adding the milk to the pitcher. Add vanilla to taste. Stir well. Keep refrigerated.
How to make French Vanilla Coffee Creamer  - Quick and Easy Recipe for Homemade French Vanilla Creamer
My husband prefers my homemade creamer over the store bought stuff. Making coffee and creamer at home allows us to save money, as well as the time waiting in line to buy coffee, without feeling deprived.
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About Alea Milham

Alea Milham is the owner of Premeditated Leftovers and the author of Prep-Ahead Meals from Scatch. She shares her tips for saving money and time while reducing waste in her home. Her favorite hobby, gardening, is a frugal source of organic produce for her recipes. She believes it is possible to live fully and eat well while spending less.

Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    April 28, 2011 at 8:51 pm

    Lots of good reading here, thanks! I was searching on yahoo when I uncovered your submit, I’m going to add your feed to Google Reader, I look forward to far more from you.

    Reply
  2. Alea says

    March 24, 2010 at 1:53 am

    I'm glad you like it. Ranee's idea is definitely reduces the cost! We have also used up extra cream when making creamer, so much better than letting it spoil in the fridge and it makes it a little thicker. Let me know how the Amaretto turns out.

    Reply
  3. Shastababy says

    March 24, 2010 at 12:34 am

    Thank you so much for this recipe! I have tried a couple of others, but they just didn't taste right to us. My roommate and I both love coffee with French Vanilla creamer, but we hate the price and all the garbage in it. I used a recipe from Ranee at Arabian Knits (from the comments above)for the condensed milk, homemade vanilla and had about a 1/2 cup of heavy cream to use up, so added that as part of the milk. It is absolutely wonderful! My roommate already is thinking of the Amaretto flavor since I have Almond Extract in the house as well. Thank you again!!!

    Reply
  4. Ranee @ Arabian Knits says

    September 21, 2009 at 5:39 pm

    Heated milk, sorry. I found this out on accident when making some sort of candy and had added too much sugar.

    Reply
  5. Ranee @ Arabian Knits says

    September 21, 2009 at 5:35 pm

    Two ways you can make this for even less: Make your own condensed milk. It is just equal amounts of full fat milk with sugar (by volume, not weight), some recipes include a little vanilla, I don't. Also, making your own vanilla extract is so much cheaper and better than store bought or imitation. We make vanilla extract with vodka and vanilla bourbon for flavoring things with a little richer taste. I also make vanilla sugar, which people who adulterate their coffee can use (I take my coffee strong, hot and black), or it can be added to tea, cookies, cakes, etc. Yum!

    Reply
  6. I'm Just a Girl says

    September 11, 2009 at 1:02 pm

    What a fabulous idea! I make my own vanilla and have been looking for new ways to use it…thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
  7. Lori says

    September 2, 2009 at 11:32 am

    You can make sweetened condensed milk by boiling 1 part sugar + 2 parts milk to 225 degrees (jelly stage on a candy thermometer). 2 cups milk plus 1 cup sugar yields about 16 oz.

    Reply
  8. The Book Lady Online says

    August 4, 2009 at 10:32 am

    How did this post slip by without my noticing it? This is GREAT! Thank you for the recipe! Gonna make this as soon as I can get out to the store for condensed milk. I bet it would make a great "frappucino" type drink, too.

    Reply
  9. Brenda says

    July 19, 2009 at 3:50 pm

    Thats a great idea. I never thought of using sweetened condensed milk. There are so many other things you could do with that also.

    I agree, avoid paying for overpriced coffee, especially when you can do something good for yourself at home.

    My family prefers half and half. . .

    Reply
  10. Lori says

    July 18, 2009 at 1:43 am

    Oh yay and hooray! I canNOT drink coffee without flavored creamer and I love french vanilla! I will have to give this a try. 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing!

    Reply
  11. Shana says

    July 17, 2009 at 10:47 pm

    that is so cool. Imagine the possibilities, you know if I made coffee or drank it…lol!

    Reply

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Welcome. I'm Alea!

On Premeditated Leftovers I share simple recipes made with whole foods, practical shopping tips, time saving techniques, and meal planning strategies. I also share tips for minimizing food waste, so more of the food that is purchased ends up on the table.

While volunteering as a budget counselor, I realized that food is the element of most people’s budgets where they have the greatest control. I set out to develop low-cost recipes from scratch to prove it’s possible to create delicious meals on a limited budget. Eating well while spending less is about more than just creating recipes using inexpensive ingredients; it’s about creatively combining ingredients so you don’t feel deprived and are inspired to stick to your budget.

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