Iced Mocha Latte

It's my birthday and since I'm thirty-eight today, I'm officially almost forty.  No more mid-thirties for me.  I'm almost forty.  Forty, forty, forty.  The big "four-O."

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with all this forty talk.  I think I'd rather just say I'm in my late thirties.  I like the way that sounds better. 

The good news is that I will be getting a cake later on today.  It will be a Bavarian cream-filled yellow sheet cake with tons of white icing.  That is if my husband got the order correct.  I will also be getting a gallon of Bluebell Cookies-n-Cream ice cream as the perfect accompaniment.

Now don't feel sorry for me because I don't have a Dorie Greenspan homemade birthday cake.  As shocking as it may seem, I actually want this.  Don't get me wrong, though.  I love all things homemade and from scratch, but probably one of my favorite indulgences is a store bought bakery cake with that disgustingly sweet, fluffy icing.  I must have ice cream with each and every bite to balance the sweet to sweet ratio and could you make it a corner piece, please, with extra roses?

But since I'm almost forty now, uh, I mean, since I'm in my late thirties now, and my metabolism is not what it used to be, I  mean since yesterday when I was in my mid-thirties, I am cutting down on some of the fat and calories in other parts of my life, starting with this recipe for Iced Mocha Latte.  It's a Pampered Chef recipe that I've tweaked a little.  Feel free to substitute whole milk and regular sweetened condensed milk if you are in your mid-thirties or younger and have a fast metabolism. 

This is a refreshing drink when you want coffee, but you really don't because it's too darn hot.  And it goes well with birthday cake

Iced Mocha Latte

1/3 cup instant coffee granules

1/2 cup boiling water

1 (14-ounce) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup chocolate syrup

2 cups cold water

4 cups fat-free milk

1. Place the coffee granules in a bowl and stir in the boiling water until dissolved.
2. Whisk in the sweetened condensed milk, chocolate syrup, and 2 cups cold water until combined.
3. Pour the milk into a pitcher.  Stir in the coffee mixture.  Chill in fridge for about an hour.  Serve over ice.