Category: Food

My Nespresso Citiz Review (& My 2 Favorite Nespresso Recipes)

If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you know that I’m kind of obsessed with my Nespresso machine. I purchased it right before Christmas and I have been using it non-stop for the last few months. So, I thought I’d share my thoughts with you as well as my daily recipe for a mid-afternoon coffee break!

First off, I was 100% influenced by my friend Lindsey to buy a Nespresso. Maybe even 120% influenced. Every so often we have what I call “Lindsey Adventure Weekends” where I go to her place and we spend the weekend away from stinky boys doing girl stuff. Like watching lots of rom-com’s, eating way too much cheese, wearing comfy pajamas, putting on smelly face masks, and thrifting/antiquing. And yes, it’s amazing.

Lindsey introduced me to her Nespresso machine and like Pavlov’s dog, when I hear the swoosh sound of the espresso being made, my shoulders are conditioned to retract from my ears and I relax.

Right before Christmas I was telling my husband how I really, truly didn’t have anything I want on my Christmas list, when suddenly I had the thought that maybe I should get my own Nespresso machine. I texted Lindsey to find out exactly which machine she owned, did a bunch of research and made my order off Amazon.

My Nespresso Machine: Nespresso CitiZ

I purchased the Nespresso CitiZ and found a few options online:

I purchased the version without a milk frother, because I already own one (a previous year’s Christmas gift) that works great. If you don’t have a milk frother, the 2-in-1 version on Amazon is actually a better price.

Things I like about the Nespresso CitiZ:

  • It’s slim and fits in easily next to my current coffee maker.
  • The removable water tank holds 33 ounces, so I’m not refilling it every time I make a cup.
  • It has a fast heat-up system, so it goes from off to making my espresso in 25 seconds.
  • It’s delicious!

And yes, I still use my regular coffee maker too (as does my husband). I usually start the day with regular coffee and have a Nespresso in the afternoon as a treat.

My Favorite Nespresso Capsule Flavors

The machine came with a sample pack of coffee capsules, which was great to give a bunch of flavors a try. After I tried them out, I narrowed it down to my favorites and made an order.

You can order capsules off Amazon or the Nespresso website for similar pricing. However, Nespresso often runs specials where you get an extra sleeve for free or your first order is $10 off, so I went with them for my first order. I also ordered a Recycling Bag (for free) so I can recycle my used capsules.

My current favorite capsule flavors:

Firenze Arpeggio (dark purple)

Stokholm Fortissio Lungo (teal green)

Vanilla Éclair (cream)

My Favorite Flavored Syrups

I also purchased a couple gift sets from Monin, so I could try a bunch of different syrup flavors. The Toasted Marshmallow from this holiday set (currently still available) is AMAZING.

Here are three of my favorite syrups off Amazon (be warned, the bottles are HUGE):

My Favorite Nespresso Recipes

I’ve been using my Nespresso machine almost daily since the end of December and I’m not kidding when I say it lights up my afternoon. When I was in the office, I would walk down to Starbucks and pay $6+ for my Caramel Macchiato. Now, I walk downstairs and have a similar drink for less than $2.

My two most frequently made recipes:

My Afternoon Cappuccino/Macchiato type-thing:

Ingredients:

  • One Firenze Arpeggio capsule (dark purple) or Stokholm Fortissio Lungo capsule (teal green)
  • 2% Milk
  • Whipped Cream
  • Caramel Sauce

I use my frother and fill the milk to the ‘froth’ setting (about ¼ cup-ish). I let that do its thing – it heats and froths and takes about a minute or so. Then, I walk it over to the Nespresso machine, add my milk to my cup and hit ‘start’ on my Firenze Arpeggio capsule for a Lungo size, when that’s done, I top it with a squirt of whipped cream and a little caramel sauce.

(PS this also works great with Almond Milk, if regular milk isn’t your thing. I make it that way for Travis and it tastes great — it just doesn’t foam much).

Look I made an adorable video to show you how I make it:

My Energy Shot type-thing:

Ingredients:

  • One Vanilla Éclair capsule (cream)
  • 1 TBSP half and half
  • Toasted Marshmallow syrup
  • Whipped Cream

I make one Vanilla Éclair capsule for a Lungo size directly into my mug. Then, I add 1 TBSP half and half, 1 TBSP Toasted Marshmallow syrup and top it with a squirt of whipped cream. YUM.

You guys. I’m OBSESSED. And I’m also saving money because I like my own Nespresso recipes better than my old Starbucks orders.

Disclosure: Not sponsored. This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means that clicking on a link may help me earn a small commission at no cost to you.

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Our Favorite Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe

Source: Photo by Yasin Aribuga on Unsplash. I was looking for a photo of a banana to add to this post and THIS is what I found. And it’s so much more ridiculous than what I was looking for, so… of course I had to use it.

Each week, I buy a bunch of bananas at the grocery store. Most days, Travis packs one in his lunch… but occasionally there are 2 or 3 looking overripe sitting there staring at me on Saturday morning. Which is when I pull out my trusty Banana Chocolate Chip muffins recipe and throw a batch together. I’m not even a big banana person, but a warm muffin right from the oven with a little slap of butter on it is pretty delicious.

Ingredients:

  • 1 ¾ cups flour
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 eggs
  • ¾ c sugar
  • 3-4 overripe bananas (I’ve also used as few as 2 bananas and it’s turned out fine)
  • 3 TBSP sour cream or Greek yogurt (I use whatever we have on hand, typically coconut Greek yogurt)
  • ¼ c canola oil
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 handful (or more) of chocolate chips

Step 1: Get ready for yum.

Preheat oven to 355 degrees and wipe some canola oil around your muffin cups (or use muffin cup inserts).

Step 2: Combine dry stuff.

In a smaller bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder.

Step 3: Combine the wet stuff.

In a larger bowl, combine eggs and sugar. Mix until creamy. Smush the bananas out of their skin and mash them into the mixture with a fork. Really get in there and squish them and mash them and stir them around. Add yogurt/sour cream, canola oil, and vanilla extract. Stir until mixed.

Step 4: Mix everything together for a banana muffin party.

Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture (that’s why you used a bigger bowl) and mix everything together. Add a handful (or more if you’re sassy) of chocolate chips. Put equal-ish portions into your muffin cups.

Step 5: Bake

Bake for 20 minutes. Check to make sure they are done by inserting a knife into the middle of a muffin or two. Let cool for as long as you can stand smelling the banana chocolate chip goodness, then cut in half, stick some butter in there and enjoy!

This makes about 12-16 muffins (depending on how many bananas you used). Once completely cool, store in a Tupperware and enjoy all week.

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Home Chef: Making it Work for a Family of 3

We’ve been using Home Chef for years. In fact, I first blogged about the food delivery service back in 2018 (Reviewing Home Chef)and again in 2019 (Home Chef: 1 Year Check-In). Since the pandemic started, one thing that has been keeping me going is my weekly Home Chef order.

During the first year when I was working from home while Jack was online schooling, I simply didn’t have enough brainpower left to meal plan. Now that Jack’s back in school, it’s a little less crazy but I stuck with a weekly order because it makes my life SO MUCH EASIER.

The one thing that has changed over the past 3+ years of using Home Chef is Jack’s appetite. Back when we started using the service, cooking meals for two worked great because he did his own thing and ate ‘kid food’ like plain grilled chicken or macaroni and cheese. Thankfully over the years his palate has become more adventurous. In addition to his favorites like sushi and steak, he’s started enjoying the Home Chef meals with us.

Since Home Chef offers meals in groups of 2, that means we either need to stretch a meal thin for 3 people or buy double the food with a 4-person meal. Well, I’ve finally figured out a perfect little trick for making our Home Chef meals work for our family of 3.

Let’s look at my February 8th order:

Source: HomeChef.com

I chose a salmon meal, a steak meal and a baked pasta and shrimp meal. Sure, you can double any meal to 4 servings… but that also gives you double the side items which we don’t typically need. Instead, I added on 2 extra servings of salmon.

I’ll cook all four pieces of salmon when I make the Salmon and Lemon Florentine Cream dish to give Jack his own fish serving that night. And then, I’ll use the second piece on the night that we have the baked pasta and shrimp meal, because he only likes shrimp if it’s in sushi. They usually include plenty of pasta, but if I need to throw in some more penne I typically have a box on hand in my pantry.

As for the steak, I’m not supposed to eat much red meat, so Jack and I will split the steak serving and I’ll probably throw another vegetable on the stove while I’m cooking.

Now let’s check out my February 22nd order:

Source: HomeChef.com

For this order I have the spinach and artichoke chicken that everyone in my house LOVES, a BBQ chicken meal, a family meal of one-pan chicken parmesan pasta, and two extra servings of chicken breast.

This week, by ordering the extra chicken I can have three servings of chicken for both the 2-person meals with plenty of vegetables. The family meal will already go far, so any extras will make their way to my lunch the next day.

Other Ways I Stretch: Home Chef offers a whole “Extras” section at the bottom of each week’s choices, which includes everything from flatbread pizzas, chopped salads, or additional protein packs. This makes it super easy to throw on another option if I feel like Jack isn’t going to like the meal choice. And yes, I am quite aware that I could go to the grocery store and buy packs of chicken or salmon for a little cheaper – but it’s the convenience factor that does it for me. Frankly, something’s got to give. And if I pay a little extra and we can enjoy healthy homemade meals… I’m in!

Give $35, Get $35 Referral Code
If you would like to try Home Chef, you are welcome to use my special referral code: https://www.homechef.com/invite/julied53 Those who sign up using the referral invitation will receive a $35 discount off of their first order and I will earn $35 in Home Chef credit towards a future order.

If you do decide to try Home Chef, please let me know what you think! A little tip though, when you sign up for your first delivery go in and immediately “pause” your second delivery date. That way you can try out a box and decide whether you want to keep the subscription before having to pay for a second box. Then, if you don’t like it just hit “cancel” and you won’t get any more boxes or be charged more than your initial payment.

{Disclosure: This was not a sponsored review. I pay for my Home Chef subscription with my own money. If you choose to use my special referral promo code, I will receive a credit towards my future Home Chef orders. For anyone who does decide to use the code… my tummy thanks you!}

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