Saturday, October 26, 2013

Hot Chocolate and an update

Hi everyone. Hope you all are doing well. As you probably noticed, I took an unscheduled break from the blog. I was super busy with church, our local support group, starting homeschooling, and trying to run the house that something had to give, and honestly sometimes I think I'm probably the only person who actually uses this blog. I have reached a point where I feel like we've got settled into our new routine and I can pick this back up.

Holiday season is quickly approaching. The next couple months are my favorite time of year. In our family, we spend almost every weekend together, starting the week before thanksgiving and ending a week after new years. We have tons of birthdays jammed in between all the holiday festivities.  I cherish all the time I get to spend with my parents, siblings, and nephews, but there are always a few moments where either the boys have to go without, so my daughter doesn't get contaminated, or my daughter feels left out because they get something she can't have.

My goal this holiday season (really all year round) is to try to keep this from happening. I have gotten comfortable enough in my kitchen that I really believe that any recipe can be adapted. If you have any recipe's you would like to see me try, just let me know. I'd love to hear what you're interested in learning to bake. Feel free to give me a challenge, or show me what you have done. I would love to share your success stories as well.

My daughter recently learned about hot chocolate. She saw someone drinking it and has been asking for some ever since. I don't know of any cocoa mixes that are safe for her. I found some vegan ones, and even one labeled allergy friendly, but they all are processed on lines with nuts. At the same time as I was looking for a safe mix, my friends daughter had just been taken off dairy and she was missing cocoa. I decided to mess around in the kitchen and make my own. I mean, come on, how hard can it be? Just cocoa powder and sugar. Well, silly me, I used granulated sugar the first time! YUK  In the end we settled with this mix.

Hot Chocolate (Cocoa) Mix

2 cups Cocoa

3 cups powdered sugar

I just mixed them together and put it in a sealed container. Any time she wants hot chocolate we heat up her soy milk and add a couple teaspoons of the mix.

Every one who has had this hot chocolate has given it their seal of approval. It makes me wonder why I ever bought the prepackaged stuff. Lately I've been paying even more attention to the foods we buy. I'm not only keeping it allergy free, but I'm trying to make sure the prepackaged foods I buy aren't full of gross chemicals and unnecessary ingredients. Not only is this hot chocolate recipe allergy safe, it is also "clean" and cheaper than the packaged stuff.

I'll be back later this week to tell you all about our Halloween. Stay safe out there everyone.