Copycat Orange Julius

This is the third Orange Julius recipe I have posted.  The others are here and here. 

Last night we were having breakfast for dinner.  I love breakfast for dinner ;) .  We had buttermilk waffles with pureed (frozen) strawberries, buttermilk syrup, and jalapeno bacon.  I was going to make a fruit smoothie to go with dinner, but the boys all wanted Orange Julius.  I didn't have orange juice concentrate or any oranges to make the other recipes I have, but I did have orange juice.  SO, I went to the internet to find a recipe that uses orange juice for the Julius.  I found it here at Lynn's Kitchen Adventures.

We all enjoyed this recipe very much.  I actually prefer the Orange Julius recipe with the orange juice concentrate....a little more orange flavor and a little more tart, but this is great too!!  We will definitely be making these again!

I added more ice than the recipe calls for.  We like our Orange Julius a little thicker....SO adjust the amount of ice you add to your liking.

Copycat Orange Julius

 

Ingredients:

2 cups orange juice

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 cup ice

 

Directions:  Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.  Pour into glasses and enjoy!!

Orange Julius

We LOVE Orange Julius at our house.  We especially love Orange Julius made with fresh oranges...recipe here. 

But....when we don't have fresh oranges in the house, this is how we make them.  Oh...and please excuse our 'new to us' old table.  It definitely needs to be refinished....maybe I'll get to that when/if the wind stops blowing :)

 Orange Julius

Ingredients:

1 12 oz container of orange juice concentrate

2 12 oz orange juice concentrate containers(above) of milk

1/2 - 1 cup of sugar, depends on how sweet you like it

1 large cup of ice(approx the size of cup in picture :))  ~3 cups of ice...it is easy to add more ice, if you don't add enough at first...not easy to add less once you have added it, SO start with less you can always add more :)

Directions:  Add all ingredients to your blender....and blend.

ENJOY!!

Homemade Root Beer

This is the perfect recipe for Halloween, or anytime really.  But really...if you have a big witch's cauldron, isn't this the perfect Halloween beverage?

I remember my parents making homemade root beer growing up, but have never made it myself....and it has been a long time since I have had it.  One of our sons had a couple friends over the other night and we decided pizza and homemade root beer sounded good....and the root beer is fun.  You need a 5 gallon insulated drink cooler to make this...or if you don't have one(like me), you can split the ingredients into two smaller ones.

Of course, being the terrible photographer that I am, I forgot to get a picture of the finished product.  I only got this picture at the beginning.  I almost didn't post because of that, but decided to share and next time we make it I will get some better pictures and update :)

Homemade Root Beer

Ingredients:

4 lbs. sugar

3.5 gallons of water

1-2 2oz bottle of root beer concentrate (found in grocery stores by the vanilla), I added one bottle and ~1T.

4.5-5 lbs of dry ice

5 gallon insulated drink cooler

Directions:  Combine sugar with one gallon of hot water and stir until the sugar has all dissolved.  Add your root beer concentrate, start with the 2 ounce bottle....after you add all of your water, taste it and add a little extra concentrate...if you like a little stronger root beer taste.  NOW, you want your root beer mixture to be as cold as possible before you add your dry ice, BUT you don't want to add the water then extra ice or you will water down your root beer.  SO I put ice into the container that I was using to measure my water(2 qt pitcher), then filled it to the amount and added it to the warm sugar/root beer water.  Add 2.5 gallons of water, so that you have the total of 3.5 gallons.  If your root beer is cold when you add your dry ice, the dry ice will carbonate your root beer more...does that make sense?  Add your dry ice and give everything a good stir.  Put your lid on the container, loosely.  If you put it on tight, the pressure will make it all explode.  If you leave the lid completely off, your root beer will be flat.  Brew your root beer for approx an hour.  As it sits longer it will become slushy...yummy!!  We left some overnight in our cooler and it was still slushy the next day.

Make sure that you handle the dry ice carefully and with gloves.  If you touch it to bear skin, it will burn you.  If you eat the slush, make sure that it is slush not the actual dry ice.

Also, I would recommend making this outside.

I hope this makes sense.  If you have any questions, leave a comment and I'll try to answer.

National Slurpee Day

Did you know that today is National Slurpee Day?  Actually I'm not sure if it is really National Slurpee Day...but that is what I have heard :)  Today7-11 is celebrating their anniversary and giving away FREE Slurpee's.....mmmm...

Since we don't have a 7-11 anywhere near where I live, we decided to make our own slushes today.  I have seen other recipes that use club soda or sprite, we don't drink a lot of soda around here and rarely have it on hand...so we just use water.  I will have to try the other recipes sometime and see how much more yummy they are :)...but for now this works for us and we love it.  And of course...everything is better topped with a little...or a lot...of whipped cream :)

Homemade Slush

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups water

1 kool-aid packet

2/3 to 1 cup sugar, depending on taste

ice

Directions:  Add water, sugar, and kool-aid to a large blender(needs to be a least a 2 quart blender).  Blend until sugar is dissolved.  Add ice to the 2 quart mark on the blender and blend until smooth.  I always have a cup of water on hand and a cup of ice....just in case I need to add a little more of one or the other to get the consistency that I want.

I also like to add a shot of cream of coconut to strawberry slush...mmm....

Top with a shot of whipped cream, if desired.

Paula Deen's Dreamy Creamy Hot Chocolate

There is nothing that reminds me of Grandma like Cinnamon Toast and Hot Chocolate. I tried this recipe from Food Network for Paula Deen's Hot Chocolate and it is really Yummy!

I am still planning to share the mixed berry syrup from the crepe post with you, I just can't find my recipe book. We have had a few things disappear lately...shoes, books, etc...guess it's time to go hunting for the 2 year old's hiding places:)

Paula Deen's Dreamy Creamy Hot Chocolate

Ingredients:

• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
• 1/8 t. salt
• 6 1/2 cups hot water
• miniature marshmallows(optional-I used whipped cream)

Directions: In a large saucepan, combine sweetened condensed milk, cocoa, vanilla and salt; mix well. Over medium heat, slowly stir in water; heat through, stirring occasionally. DO NOT BOIL. Top with marshmallows if desired.

Tip: Chocolate can be stored in the refrigerator up to 5 days. Mix well and reheat before serving.