When life gives you limes...

Ok, so that’s not how the saying goes, but we’re going to make limeade.  Mint limeade to be exact.  Mint and lime might sound like a strange combination, but it’s sweet yet tart, refreshing, and fabulous.  For me, it’s like summer in a glass.  It’s quick and easy, and you’ll have a whole pitcher in the fridge to get you through these miserably hot days. 

It reqires only four ingredients:

5 or 6 limes
1 cup sugar
2 sprigs of mint
8 cups water

The first thing we’re going to start on is the syrup.  Pour your sugar and 2 cups of the water into a saucepan.  Turn the heat to medium-high and stir frequently until the sugar has dissolved.  Continue to heat until it comes just comes to a boil. 

 

In the meantime, make sure you wash your mint well.  Leafy herbs like this tend to get little critters down in the leaves, and personally, I prefer my limeade to be bug free. 

When the syrup has just reached a boil, turn off the heat and throw in the mint.  Just throw it in, stems and all, and stir it into the syrup.  Allow it to steep for 5 minutes. 

While that’s steeping, time to juice the limes.  I have to show off the nifty press juicer Hubby just bought for me.  Isn’t it purdy? 

If you don’t have one of those, you can use any sort of citrus reamer, or even just your brute strungth.  You need 1 cup of freshly squeezed lime juice.  I was able to get that out of 5 limes, but just use however many it takes to get a cup and pour that into a glass pitcher. 

Next, measure two cups of ice and pour in just enough water to fill the crevices.  (that’s how we know it’s really 2 cups of water)

Pour that into the pitcher, remove the mint sprig, and pour in the hot syrup. 

Stir until the ice has melted completely.  Add the remaining 4 cups of cold water and voila!  You have mint limeade.   

Pour over ice, drink half of it, and refill your glass before putting the pitcher in the fridge.  If you have guests or want to feel like you’re treating yourself, garnish the pitcher and your glass with lime slices and sprigs of mint.  Relax, and enjoy!   

 

Update:

For those of you following my cross country journey, I have an exciting update.  We found a house!!  Only a handful of days left before we get to move in, and finally have a place to call home!  Here's where I'll soon be making a proper home cooked meal, something I haven't done in almost two months.

 

Egg McMuffin without the McCrap

These have been a major lifesaver for me while living in a hotel, but they’re great for everyone.  I mean, who has a lot of time to spend making breakfast in the morning?  And I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants something warm from time to time.  I haven’t ever timed it, but I bet you could whip one of these yummy sandwiches up in about 5 minutes, and it’s even portable, so you can take it with you, or send them with the kids. 

Here’s what you’ll need for each sandwich:

1 English muffin
1 Egg
2 slices of ham
2 slices of cheese
Salt and Pepper

This is going to go fast, so stay with me.  Split your English muffin and pop it into the toaster.  Crack the egg into a bowl, add a teaspoon of water, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Hopefully you have better salt and pepper than what this hotel has supplied.

Better than nothing, I suppose.  Now, take out a fork and scramble the egg.  I like mine to be well beaten so it’s fairly consistent in color. 

Pop the bowl into the microwave for 1 minute.  Don’t be surprised to see it puff up while it’s cooking.  When you pull it out, it should look about like this:

Run your fork around to loosen the egg (this is easier if you butter the bowl before you begin, but I didn’t) and flip it over.

As you can see, it’s still a little undercooked.  That’s ok.  If it’s cooked less than this, however, put it back in the microwave for another 15 or 20 seconds before continuing.  Put your two slices of ham on top, and pop it back into the microwave for 20 more seconds.

Now comes one slice of cheese. 

Then back into the microwave for 10 more seconds.  By this time, your muffin should be nice and toasted.  I like to spread butter on mine, but it’s not a requirement. 

Place the other slice of cheese on the bottom half of your English muffin.

Pull the bowl out of the microwave, loosen the egg from the bowl again and place it right on top.  The cheese will melt beautifully from the heat of the egg. 

On with the lid, and eat or wrap up to take with you.  I like to cut mine in half and pair it with a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice.