Basic Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

 Dear winter, thank you for forcing me to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life.

With the increasingly cold weather keeping me inside, I've been taking every opportunity to cozy up with my kids in front of the fire place with some hot chocolate. I've never really been a big fan of winter, I prefer heat (beaches!!!), but I have to admit that since having kids, winter is a lot more fun; snow angels, snowmen, sliding, skiing... and most importantly, cuddling up on the couch! I also love the slower beat of things.

This year, for our Christmas tree decorating party, I wanted to give out Christmas themed party favors. That obviously meant gingerbread cookies and hot chocolate. I prefer things being personal and we all know I love making my own recipes. So I spent a bit of time trying to figure out the exact ingredients to my basic homemade hot chocolate mix. This is another one of those things where I usually just randomly dump ingredients together and just like magic, out comes deliciousness (that's a word right?). 

It turned out quite delicious and smooth. If you want it sweeter, you can always add a bit more sugar, but I find it just right this way. I have every intention of making tons of variations of this basic recipe so stay tuned!

Hot Chocolate Mix

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup cocoa powder (pure, unsweetened)
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp corn starch

To make the mix is very simple. Just pour all the above ingredients into a container and shake. If you want to make sure it's homogeneous, you can mix the ingredients in a bowl first.

When you're ready to have some hot chocolate, all you have to do is add 2 tablespoons of the mix to 1 cup of cold milk and bring to a boil on med-high, stirring constantly (it shouldn't take more than 2-3 minutes). You could also microwave it, but I prefer the stove.

And if you want to give this as a gift, don't forget to make a pretty label with the instructions!

Single Serving Homemade Hot Chocolate

If you don't want to make a big batch and prefer just making a cup as you go, you can use the recipe below.

Ingredients

1 cup milk
1 tbsp cocoa powder (pure, unsweetened)
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp corn starch

Easy Gingerbread Cookies (Egg Free)

Christmas time is in the air and nothing screams Happy Holidays louder than gingerbread cookies.

Can I just take a minute to say how much fun I had with this photo shoot. I'm getting so much better at styling my photos and using daylight (although challenging with babies) to my advantage.

Oh, and also, I discovered that I have absolutely no self control. I ate every.single.cookie. Every last one of them.

I'm so happy that I finally have an egg free gingerbread cookie recipe... and just in time for our Christmas Tree decorating party!

Do you have any cookie recipe you make every Christmas?

Ingredients

5 cups Flour
1 cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Molasses
1/3 cup Plain Yogurt
1 tsp Baking Soda
3 tsp Ginger
2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ground Cloves

(makes about 75 small cookies)

Steps

1. Mix the dry ingredients together.
2. Add the wet ingredients and mix.
3. Roll dough and use cookie cutters to make pretty shapes.
4. Carefully place each cookie on a platter and bake at 350F for 9-10 minutes.

I have to be honest, the gingerbread cookie, in my opinion, is all about the molasses. A brown molasses will make a milder tasting cookie than a darker one.

I ended up making another 2 batches of cookies to serve at a family Christmas event and they were devoured. DE-VOU-RED. They are seriously yum.

Hearty Taco Rice

I love quick and easy meals. Who doesn't right? Personally, there's a hundred other things I'd rather be doing (unless it's baking - 'cause I just can't get enough sweets).

I've been playing around with rice lately. I just adore how versatile it is. You can have it warm or cold. You can have it as a meal or as a dessert. You can have it on its own or mixed with other ingredients. It's seriously one of the most fun ingredient to play with.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup Rice (cooked)
1/2 can of Corn
1/2 can of Red kidney beans

To be honest, I've never really calculated the portions. I kind of just mix everything in to my liking. You might like it with more rice or more veggies, with more oil or more salt. It's totally up to you, play around with it!

OPTIONAL

1 or 2 tomatoes (diced)
Hand full of chives
Olive oil, salt & pepper (to taste)

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix the rice, corn and beans.
2. If you're going to add the optional ingredients, cut them and add them to your rice.

That's it. Pretty easy no? The whole thing takes about 10 minutes to prepare. That's about how long it takes for your rice to cook. While it's cooking, you can wash and dice your other ingredients. Once the rice is ready, just dump everything in and mix. It seriously can't get any quicker than this. Oh, and did I mention it's deliciously tasty?

Do you have any quick and easy go-to lunch recipes?