Drink Mix For The Chocolate Lover in 2 Quick steps – Great for gift giving!

After a cool evening walk, one of our favorite things to do is grab a cup of hot cocoa! Here’s a quick recipe that will keep your family warm throughout the season!

hot chocolate

The basic recipe is made by adding 3 parts nonfat dry milk & 2 parts semisweet chocolate chips.

Example:

3 cups instant nonfat dry milk & 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (12 oz.).

After you mix the amount desired, mix 1/2 of the recipe at a time in a food processor. Store in an airtight container.

To serve, place 3 heaping spoons of mix in a cup of hot water.

If you’d like, you could add a bit of vanilla or marshmallows to your cup.

* This recipe can be stored for up to 6 months!

This would make a great gift for friends, teachers, the mail man, bus driver, or anyone for that matter! Simply put mix in a pretty tin or jar, and include the directions for making on a nice card that you could attach to the container.

You could also put some of the mix in a zip lock bag, stuff that into a nice coffee mug, and attach the recipe for the mix on a handcrafted note card (brown paper bag with a stencil or stamp would be really nice!), and add a cinnamon stick or two. This would also make a great addition to a gift basket.

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To stop the mess made by pouring pancake batter from the bowl, squeeze your pancakes into the pan using a meat baster!
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Quick & Easy Sugar Cookies

This sugar cookie recipe is such an easy one, that it would make a nice project for family night. You could make up several batches – some for you, and some to share with your neighbors. How easy you say? You simply pour all ingredients into a bowl – then mix, drop, and bake!

2 eggs
2/3C oil
2t vanilla
3/4C sugar
2C flour
2t baking powder
1/2t salt

Mix ingredients in order (1 at a time) in a large bowl. Then drop onto greased cookie sheets. Dip fork into sugar & press cookies into desired shape. Bake @ 375 degrees until golden.

* For a nice change you could: add food coloring – mold into shapes – add colored sprinkles, choc. chips, cinnamon – or have kids flatten dough with hands & use cookie cutters.

Sugar cookies are one of my favorites, and this easy recipe makes it that much more fun to enjoy 🙂

Family Apple Picking Day – 5 Ideas For Using all Those Apples

Apple Basket
Autumn is the most wonderful, and brilliantly colorful time of year. Evenings are spent in front of the fireplace with a cup of cocoa, fuzzy slippers, grandma’s quilt, and fond recollections of the days events. This Autumn, as in previous years, our family spent a day at the apple orchard. Every year memories are made, not only in the picking itself, but in the wonderful dishes enjoyed by all – for months to come. Here are a few apple ideas for you.

Decorate with apples

Slice the apple in thin slices – across the middle (makes a beautiful star pattern). Hang them on a string & drape over mantle, or other area for decoration.

Arrange dried apples around a wreath for a great natural decoration. You can also bag them in zip locks when completely dry & use them as dried apples in recipes.

Grandma Pearl’s Applesauce

Cut apples into chunks
Put into large pot, with a bit of water in the bottom
Cook until soft, add cinnamon & sugar if desired
You can freeze the sauce in bags or containers, or can it.

Replacement Ingredient in Recipes

Replace the oil & egg in recipes with applesauce – it makes a wonderful moist cake! According to Mott’s applesauce, by replacing 1/3 C oil with 1/3 C of their applesauce, a total of 608 calories & 73 grams of fat will be saved!

Mini Apple Pies

Make pie pastry, cut into rounds (with drinking glass) fill with 2 spoons of sauce. Fold in half, crimp edges, brush top with butter, sprinkle with sugar. Bake until golden brown.

Our Family’s Favorite – Apple Crisp

Peel apples and cut into thin wedges. Sprinkle with sugar, and sprinkle a small amount of water around on the top of the apples. This helps the apples make a nice juice during the cooking process.

Topping: Mix 1 handful flour, 2 handful brown sugar, 1 1/2 handful oatmeal, good sprinkle of both cinnamon & nutmeg Add 1 stick of very soft butter. Mix until small crumbs form. Add to top of apples & Cook at 350% until bubbly.

*Make large batch of this topping & freeze for later use. Use it to top – applesauce, ice cream, hot cereal, pudding etc.

Chicken Salad

chicken salad

Growing up in the south, we never really mixed fruit directly into our recipes, however, over the past year or so, I have started to acquire a taste for these new recipe ideas!

This week I put together a chicken salad something like one that I had at a local restaurant.

Although you can feel free to mix the ingredients in any combination that suits your taste, this is what I decided to do today.

Mix together
– cooked chicken (cubed)
– diced green peppers
– very small sized pasta
– grapes
– mayonnaise
– salt, pepper, garlic salt, and any other seasonings that you fancy

Mix well & enjoy!

Like I said – this recipe may not be something that you might normally have, but I think you’ll come to love the little bit of crisp sweetness that the grapes add to this salad.

You can serve by itself – or in a pita or wrap as a sandwich.