Safe Hot Chocolate

Where we live, winter gets cold! We have three brands of hot chocolate in our house, and none of them are safe for the whole family to enjoy. Thank goodness there are options to make your own! We tried THIS ONE from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, and it is a winner! Check that link for her notes and instructions.

I'm recording it here, halved, because it makes a lot, and really, it's just one person who 'needs' it. Half is plenty at our house. And I'm recording it halved because the second time I made it, I started with the full ingredient list and panicked at the six cups of milk, ha. 

Ingredients: 

1/3 cup cocoa

2/3 cup sugar

>1/8 salt

1/3 cup water

3 cups milk

1/2 tsp vanilla
half and half

Whisk the cocoa, sugar, salt and water in a sauce pan.
Bring to a simmer for 2 minutes, while stirring constantly.
Add milk and vanilla, and heat to very warm, but without boiling or simmering.
Add a little half and half (or milk) to cool when you serve. Or don't! 

This photo was after it cooled and had started to separate. It is rich and delicious! 

We talked about making whipped cream to top it with, but I also found some safe marshmallows- which amazed me. Marshmallows are made of corn syrup and dusted in cornstarch...and my person can't have corn! but these are okay, so I stocked up! I hope it gets us thru the winter! 

They don't look anything like the packaging which is...cool...but they taste good and they're safe. Fine. ha.

Smoothie Ideas!

Yep, I'm still pretty much stuck on my two classics - made as kits twice a month and how I start most mornings!

Pineapple Green Smoothie and

Berry Green Smoothie:

• spinach (1 cup)
• frozen mixed berries (1/2 cup)
• fresh ginger (very thin slice)
• coconut oil (1 Tbsp)
• ground almonds (1 Tbsp)  (spinach, berries, ginger, oil, and almonds go in the kit)
• vanilla yogurt (1/4 cup)
• milk (3/4 cup)

But this week I decided to finally try some of the smoothie ideas I've been pinning. So now I've got: 

Raspberry Lime Smoothie

inspired by THIS

• 1 cup frozen raspberries
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp vanilla whey powder
• 1 heaping spoonful cottage cheese
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cubes ice

Without the ice it is really thick, and foamy all the way thru. It IS tart so this won't be a daily thing. Maybe when I need a boost of vitamin c or maybe when I need an actual wake up call, haha...

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie
inspired by THIS

• 1/2 cup pumpkin
• 3 ice cubes
• 1/4 cup oats
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp vanilla whey powder
• ground cinnamon, nutmeg & cloves to taste
• 1 slice ginger root 
• 1 cup milk 

I can't eat bananas, so I hoped the coconut oil would lend some sweetening, on top of its nutritional value. And I don't own pumpkin pie spice, so I had to toss in my own. This is the most complicated smoothie I've made, only because I have to pull allll these things out in the morning, but it feels healthy to me, with that big shot of pumpkin,  

Apple Pie Smoothie
inspired by THIS

• handful almonds (I think I counted there were 9 in the blender)
• 1 red apple (I buy fuji or gala)
• 1/3 cup cottage cheese
• 1/.4 cup oats
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup milk
• 2-3 ice cubes

Despite the milk, apple and cheese all coming from the fridge, this one could definitely use some ice cubes. In fact, I dumped it back in the blender and added two! Like the other poster says, this would lend itself well to adding spinach, ginger and coconut oil, but I wanted to try it {mostly} the way it was written.

And there's some new ideas for you too!
Oh wait, I also read THIS article the other day...I was happy to note that the only thing I use is the honey in the pumpkin smoothie above, and occasionally I'll still put the chocolate Instant Breakfast in the Berry Smoothie above. So according to that article anyway, haha, my smoothies ARE good for me! Yeay! 

Pineapple Green Smoothie: plus tips!

Probably more green in color than in actual nutrition, but this is my current favorite. Very, very favorite.

This particular smoothie is this list, and measurements are approximate!

• chunked fresh pineapple (3/4 cup)
• spinach (1 cup)
• avocado (1 Tbsp)
• fresh ginger (very thin slice)
• coconut oil (1 Tbsp)
• ground almonds (1 Tbsp)
• vanilla yogurt (1/4 cup)
• orange juice concentrate (1/4 cup)
• milk (3/4 cup)

When I first put the smoothie kits together, I started by eyeballing what looked "right" in the blender itself, then dumping all that into a baggie. But now I'm just shoving handfuls into the bags and calling it good. We've learned a few tips since THIS POST.
So I do most of grocery shopping on (or as close as possible) to pay day. I write out a dinner menu, I know what we need for lunches (we're very boring lunch people) and breakfasts usually take care of themselves. Right now, for our smoothies, I'm buying the big container of baby spinach from Costco, and this bag of berries shown below, which is also from Costco. I've been getting a fresh pineapple from wherever it's cheapest, and a couple avocados too. I get a knob of fresh ginger root, which we peel and slice very thinly. We also still have frozen strawberries and peaches. The number of kits I make depends on how far the spinach goes- when I'm out of spinach, I'm done making kits!

We were putting 6-8 whole almonds in the kits, but grinding up the almonds first, in a little food processor or food chopper helps them come out completely smooth. My husband drinks his with a straw and doesn't like the 1/3 whole almond getting stuck... and drinking is easier than chewing, lol... So now I just add a heaping tablespoon of ground up almonds to each kit!

Putting a spoonful of coconut oil in between the spinach leaves guarantees it makes it into each smoothie. I forgot about it often enough that this just makes it easier.

The avocados have been chopped up and I put maybe a tablespoon, maybe more, into each smoothie kit. There is NO avocado taste, it just makes them all a little greener in color and a little creamier. YUM.

I buy either plain or vanilla yogurt for these smoothies. My original recipe was for an Orange Julius, which called for vanilla extract. Sometimes I'll go that route, but I've learned that I do better if I have protein with my breakfast. My morning protein of choice is either peanut butter on toast, or sausage, so I've decided that yogurt is the healthiest route, haha.

The ginger root we peel with a potato peeler, and then slice as thinly as possible. It gives each smoothie a bit of brightness. Its not overpowering at all, but when we leave it out they seem rather plain. Which is funny to me... And any left over ginger is grated or cut up and put into my water for the next few days! Apparently it has a slimming effect- I just like that it flavors my water naturally and that encourages me to drink it!

Shakes for 2014

I haven't posted here in a long time! But actually I have a dozen or so draft posts (41 actually...!), haha, that I should really get back to! We'll see how it goes...

In the meantime, we got a Blendtec blender for Christmas from my parents which means that all smoothies now come out smooth. This makes breakfast easy so we bought a bunch of fresh produce to combine with frozen produce and put together some baggies inspired by this link HERE that keeps showing up on facebook. Once we got it done, I posted this pic on facebook and got some questions, so here's the place to answer them!

What's that? Oh, just 16 bags ready to be thrown into smoothies! Spinach, pomegranate, apple, banana, pineapple, peach, strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, ginger just waiting for oj, yogurt, coconut oil and milk! Yeay breakfast!

So! What's our plan?
On a {recent} typical day, I throw in:
- some frozen berries,
- a couple handfuls of spinach,
- two spoonfuls of yogurt (plain or vanilla),
- a tbsp. of coconut oil,
- half a chocolate instant breakfast packet (kills any bitterness or hint of spinach taste),
- pour on some milk and tada- breakfast!

We had frozen strawberries and peaches, and then we bought fresh spinach, a pineapple, a pomegranate, bananas, some gingerroot and some apples, and then more frozen berries (blackberries, blueberries and raspberries). We peeled and chopped and otherwise prepped things, and then just started tossing them into baggies! Every bag got some spinach and a slice of ginger. I made some pineapple/pomegranate bags for the Orange Shake, and some bags were just berry mixes.

Today, for example, I had the updated Orange Shake. I threw in my bag of pineapple, pomegranate and ginger, 1/3 cup frozen oj concentrate and the milk and there it was!
I plan to throw in the yogurt and milk every day and on berry days add the instant breakfast. And yes, I've also been putting about a tbsp. of coconut oil into my smoothies because that's supposed to help with thyroid issues and apparently I need that. With the Blendtec, at least, it comes out totally smooth, and I was concerned about that- I don't want a chunk of oil while I'm sipping my fruit, lol!

Happy healthy mornings to you!

Twist & Shake!

Or rather, a New Twist on an Old Shake!

I have posted THIS basic shake before, which I frequently have for a quick and mobile breakfast. (meaning, I can eat it while doing other things)
It has evolved to become more like this:

• approx 3/4 cup frozen berries (or 1/3 cup peanut butter and 3 ice cubes)
• 1/3 cup plain or vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 packet chocolate instant breakfast powder
• 1 cup milk

 But yesterday my cousin posted this recipe on facebook...

• 1 cup of whatever milk you use
• 2 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa
• 1 banana
• 1 1/2 c. of rolled oats/quick oats /whatever oats you have
• 1 scoop protein powder (I used vanilla cause that's what I had on hand )
• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• Then add ice to the consistency you want

So I tossed in 3/4 cup oats into my shake this morning! Today I only used blueberries and blackberries, and with the oats it really tastes like a pie or a cookie! Also the oats give the added benefit of extra fiber, and this breakfast will stick with me longer, making me feel less hungry and snacky before lunch. And its a pretty darn healthy breakfast!

Hot Mulled Cider

In October I had a persistent sore throat. My friend brought me over a whole jar of hot cider, right off her stove top! I love hot cider anyway, but this was sooo perfect for my throat and it tastes so yummy, I was very happy to get the recipe and last week when my daughter was dealing with a cough, I gave it a try!

Georgeanna's Hot Mulled Cider

1 qt apple juice or cider
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
In sauce pan over low heat, dissolve sugar in juice.

Add:
1/2 tsp grated orange peel
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 tsp whole cloves
2 whole allspice berries
3 inch cinnamon stick
1 Tbsp lemon juice
dash of nut meg

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Strain and discard spices. Serve hot.

I had some juicy, fresh oranges, so I zested the heck out of its peel, added a section of peel, and squoze (squeezed?) the juice out of 3 orange sections. I did not have whole cloves or allspice, so I just used a little of the ground spices I had. Mine had a different flavor than hers but it was still very tasty and soothing! mmm!

apple cider floats!

Earlier this week I took my kids to the local pumpkin patch, where we always get some fresh apple juice and apple cider doughnuts. The juice is not clear and I always thought it was cider. So today I picked up some ginger ale, vanilla bean ice cream and we made THIS.

Ohhhh yummm!!!
Yes, really, you MUST make this!
This is mine! 

And in case the recipe is ever removed from the link: 

1 cup apple cider
1/2 cup ginger ale
1-2 scoops vanilla ice cream, or any seasonal flavor such as cinnamon or apple pie
ground cinnamon and nutmeg for sprinkling
1-2 tablespoons jarred caramel sauce

Pour apple cider and ginger ale into a glass.  Add vanilla ice cream.  Sprinkle on nutmeg and cinnamon to taste and drizzle caramel sauce on top.  Serve immediately with a straw and a spoon.

Chocolate Shake!

Another kind of shake/smoothie I like is an instant breakfast shake. Typically I put in three ice cubes, a huuge spoonful of {smooth} peanut butter, 1 packet or serving of chocolate instant breakfast powder and approximately 1 cup of milk, blend it up and there's my breakfast!

But sometimes I put in fresh or frozen strawberries or raspberries in place of the peanut butter. or pomegranate. Those are all tasty options!

A good morning!

Like many of us, I'm trying to eat better with the new year. Healthy eating is not my forte, but an easy thing for me is shakes or smoothies. Actually, to call that easy is probably the wrong word. I have a number of weird food allergies, mostly of produce, which is the main ingredients in smoothies.

Probably twenty years ago my parents bought a book called "Recipes to Lower Your Fat Thermostat". Our absolute favorite from this book was an orange julius type drink. Evidently this doesn't qualify for low-carb diets but here's the recipe:

Orange Julius at home:
1 cup skim milk
1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
4 ice cubes
1/2 tsp vanilla
Blend in blender until smooth!

When I was a kid we'd have this for a summer snack. I like it for a quick breakfast now. The ice never seems to blend up well, but that's okay.
For Christmas, Santa brings me a pomegranate. Its one of my favorite fruits and I'm not allergic to it. But what do you do with a pomegranate? I like to eat it in a salad or even some plain, but last winter I had several and ended up pureeing the fruit (and straining off the seeds) and putting it in my orange shake in place of the vanilla! I probably use 3 tablespoons of pomegranate puree, and it is sooo yummy! The orange and the pomegranate seem to balance each other and there's not even a hint of tartness. Just a perfect start to a day!

Edited 11/9/12:

Pineapple chunks work nicely too!! Today I had a fresh pinapple that I chopped up and put maybe 1/2 a cup of chunks in my regular orange smoothie. YUM! Plus the added benefits of the nutrients and fiber in the pineapple!