Slow Cooker Hot Cocoa

The youngest Veggie Son turned 4 at the end of February.  For his birthday he chose to have  Polar Express party.  I tried to explain to him that the Polar Express is really about Christmas, but he insisted that he wanted to ride the Polar Express with his friends for his birthday.  Not being able to actually get the train to the house I opted instead to serve hot cocoa and make the house seems as frosty as possible.  

The recipe below is based on my one serving Hot Cocoa recipe and to make it more party friendly I adapted it further for my small crock pot.  Yes, I have two crock pots.  A large one for making dinners, and a small one used for side dishes and beverages. Both are true Crock-Pot crock pots and I highly recommend going with that brand.  They always heat perfectly. 

The Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoons salt

1/2 gallon milk

1 tablespoon vanilla or 1 tablespoon cinnamon (your choice)

The Tools

a small slow cooker (1 qt to 1.5 qt)

a whisk 

cups with lids, if serving to 4 year olds ;-)

The Slow Cooking

Combine all the ingredients in the slow cooker, and whisk to combine.  Cook for 2-4 hours on low.

Serve warm and prettily if giving to adults.  If giving to children, go with disposable lidded cups! 

Pineapple, Mango, Greek Yogurt Smoothie

Smoothies are often made in this house.  Let's face it, they are the healthy milk shake.  I love to keep frozen fruit on hand: strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, mango, whatever I can find.  As with most of my smoothies, I prefer to use frozen fruit as it alleviates the need to add to ice to the smoothie.  For sweetness I added some organic apple juice and some almond milk.  For creaminess,  I used 0% Fat Fage Yogurt.  This is where I inform you that, as a selected blogger, I have been entered for the chance to win a trip to Greece courtesy of FAGE. You too can enter to win one of three trips to Greece by entering the FAGE Plain Extraordinary Greek Getaway here: http://www.fageusa.com/community/fage-greek-getaway (look FCC, I did it in red!). Again, Fage did not require that I use their product and save for the legally mandated statement avoid I need not even mention their product, but I'm gonna mention it anyway, because I love Fage yogurt.  Honest and for true, I do. 

This recipe was inspired by a story someone told me about a trip they took to Greece.  This person and some friends had been on a tour of Crete and after a long day of sightseeing they were hot, and thirsty.  On their way back to ship (they were on a cruise of the Greek Isle) they came upon a man selling yogurt and fruit smoothies.  My friend chose the mango flavor and her description of how wonderful this drink was on that hot, tiring day has stayed with me over a decade.  The tang of the yogurt and mango was perfectly balanced with the sweet of the fresh fruit juices the vendor used to make his beverages.  Of course the chill from the frozen fruit was exactly what was needed to combat the heat of this summer-time Mediterranean location.  It truly must have been an amazing drink to transcend both time and translation.  I can only hope that I came close to re-creating it.  Even on this relatively cold November day, my youngest son was more than willing to sneak up behind his most beloved mother as she cleaned up the kitchen to steal this drink directly from it's photo shoot location.  Of course in doing so he became part a prop in the photo~more on that below:

Ingredients

1 cup frozen pineapple

1 cup frozen mango

1/2 cup organic apple juice

1/2 cup almond milk

1/2 cup 0% fat Greek-style yogurt

Place the frozen mangoes and pineapple into a blender.

Pour the apple juice into the blender. 

 Pour the almond milk into the blender.

 Last, but not least add the 0% fat Greek style yogurt.

Blend until completely incorporated and smooth.

Chocolate Strawberry Smoothie

I serve the above smoothie to my children all the time.  It is a quick and easy way to get them to consume fruit, milk and yogurt.  The smoothie photographed above is special because it is served in my spiffy new foodbuzz Tastemasters tervis cup.  This is where I have to tell you that as part of the Tastemasters program I receive this tervis cup for free. I must say, I have never reviewed a product before.  Sure, I get stuff via the Tastemaster's program, but usually the items I received are ingredients and I would not apply to receive them unless I knew I liked the item.  I applied for this one just get the cool foodbuzz cup, but I have to say I have been very pleasantly surprised with this cup.  It really does work.  It really kept this smoothie ice cold.  And it stood up well to being used by my 3 year old and by used I mean thrown.  I am going to buy more of these cups just for this kids to use. 

1 cup plain Greek yogurt
5-8 large frozen strawberries
1 cup low fat milk
1 teaspoon powdered chocolate milk mix

1. Combine the above ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. 
2. Serve cold and enjoy!

Simple Syrup

I finally decided to make large batch of my simple syrup. I use this in many of my drink recipes.

1 cup water
12 tablespoons sugar

1. Combine the above in a large mixing bowl and microwave for about 5 minutes or until the mixture is boiling. Carefully remove from the microwave and pour into your storage container fo chose.

Makes 12, 1-ounce servings. 54 calories, 0 grams of fat and 0 grams of fiber

Minted Hot Cocoa

This recipe is from an old Weight Watcher recipe card that I recently found in a book. I guess I only used it as a bookmark, because I certainly do not recall drinking this before. The original recipe was for one cup of cocoa, but it contained 2 cups of liquid. This might fill one cup if you have a very large cup, so I split it in two. I also added an additional peppermint candy to up the peppermint flavor. I used some crushed peppermint left over from my cutting board for the photo above.

2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 hard pepper mint candies (crushed)
1 cup hot water
1 cup low-fat 1% milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 packets of Splenda (use what you like, I like Splenda)

1. Combine the cocoa, candy and hot water in a large microwave safe container. Stir well and microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir again.
2. Add the milk and vanilla and continue to microwave for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until hot. Stir in the Splenda and serve immediately.

Because I added the additional candy I ran this recipe through myfitnesspal.com.

Serves 2: 109 calories, 2 grams of fat, and 2 grams of fiber

A Non-Tini Cherry Limeade

Sadly I did not progress past task one of Project Food Blog. I guess my post just did not speak to the judges. I would like to thank everyone who voted for and supported me. I wish I was one of those people who could wish those still left in the contest all the best, but I am not on of those people. I sincerely hope that all those left in the contest have their sauces separate.


I usually end the week with a nice cocktail, so I thought I would start out Monday with a nice refreshing non alcoholic drink.

1 ounce simple syrup
2 ounces lime juice
1 teaspoons grenadine
ice
chilled glass

Shake first four ingredients with ice and pour it all into a chilled glass.

Homemade Hot Cocoa

This is our traditional after Christmas Tree shopping beverage. Honestly it does not get that cold here in December, but we like to pretend. With the addition of the movie Polar Express to our lives this past Christmas, this beverage was consumed almost daily by my oldest son. To quote the book and movie my son says this cocoa is, 'as rich and thick as melted chocolate bars.' I vary the amount of cocoa powder based on whether the beverage will be consumed by child or adult.

6 ounces hot milk
2 tablespoons sugar
2 to 4 teaspoons cocoa powder
pinch of ground cinnamon
whipped cream (optional)
chocolate shavings (optional)

1. Warm milk on stove top or in microwave until desired temperature is achieved.
2. While milk is warming mix together the sugar, cocoa powder and ground cinnamon in your serving mug. Whisk warm milk into sugar and cocoa mixture until well incorporated.
3. Top with whipped cream and shavings if desired.
   

Spiced Apple Cider

2 quarts apple cider
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 orange sliced thinly

1. Combine the cider and oranges in a slow cooker or stock pot. Add the spices to a tea ball and add that to the pot. If using a slow cooker, cover and cook on low for 3 hours. If using a stock pot, cover and cook until warm, but not simmering.