Mint Hot Cocoa Mix

I have been on a search for some REALLY GOOD homemade hot cocoa!  All the store-bought stuff tastes watered-down and a little blah.  I finally found one that I liked.  I did modify it a little though, because it was made with special dark cocoa.  We love dark chocolate, but my kids thought this was a little too bitter for their liking.  So I mixed it with some regular milk hot cocoa from the store.  Still good. :)

The great thing about this recipe, is you can make all different kinds of flavors.  We made a batch with mini chocolate chips instead of the mint ones, and we put them in cute little jars on the counter.  With the plain cocoa you could add in caramel topping, marshmallows, vanilla creamer, butterscotch chips, cinnamon chips, or even peanut butter!!

I always wanted a little hot cocoa bar during the winter!  I am going to have lots of little jars with some of the above ingredients in them to add in.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup special dark cocoa or regular cocoa
1/2 cup rich milk cocoa mix (We used Nestle in the red & gold can)
1 1/2 cups powdered milk
1 cup powdered sugar
1/8 tsp salt
*1 cup mint chips (green ones in the baking aisle), grind or blend up so there are no big chunks. 

The last batch I made, I didn't have the mint chips, so I used the red & white peppermint ones, a little different flavor, but still good.

*Substitute for mini chips if you are making regular flavor.

Mix everything together in a large bowl and pour into a jar or other storage container.

To serve:  1/4 cup cocoa mix with 1 cup hot water

Stay warm and enjoy!

Orange Julius

#24

On the 24th day of Christmas treats I share with you our Orange Julius recipe!  Okay, I know it's not really a Christmas treat, per se, but this is what we've had for breakfast every Christmas since I was young.  Orange Julius' with muffins or cinnamon rolls, like our Overnight Cinnamon Rolls.

This recipe uses 1/2 can of orange juice, and will make about 3 full glasses, so for my family I usually make 2 batches.  However, if you only make 1, just cut the can in half and put the other half back in the freezer in a plastic baggie for another day.  I have also poured left-overs into a plastic cup and put it in the freezer to eat later with a spoon - Yum!

Ingredients:
1 c water
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c milk
1/3 - 1/2 c powdered milk (or just use more milk, but I like the powdered milk)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 can frozen orange juice concentrate
ice cubes

Directions:
Put all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. Keep adding ice cubes until it is as thick as you want it. I like mine pretty thick. 
If you're using larger ice cubes, or you have a crappy blender, like me (lol) - you might want to break them up a bit in a plastic bag so they will blend easier.

Enjoy and have a Merry Christmas!

Layered Drinks

I made this for my Bunco group last night. It was so much fun to make and really easy, yummy and so pretty!

Ingredients:

3 different colored drinks each with different sugar content. For example 30g, 15g, 0g.

Directions:

Put a little ice in the bottom of your cup, about 1/3 full. Fill cup 1/3 full with the drink with the highest sugar content. Fill the cup the rest of the way with ice. Be sure it is completely full with ice. Slowly, over the ice, pour the drink with the next highest sugar content about 2/3 full. Then using the drink with the least sugar, pour, again slowly, over the ice to the top.

Some examples of drinks I've used:
Bottom layer; Mt. Dew Voltage (blue), Mt. Dew Code Red (red), Sunkist (orange), Cherry Crush (red)
Middle layers; Gatorade G2 series (any color), Powerade (any color)
Top layer; Sprite Zero (clear), Gatorade Low Calorie (any color)

Surprisingly, even with all the different flavors you can have and mix together, they all seem to go really well together and don't taste weird. :) Also if you want to watch a video on how to do this check out this web site.

LIMEADE

We had this the other night - it didn't have enough raspberry flavor, so I think I'll try doing a cherry next time with grenadine. It was really good, though.

1 (12 oz) can frozen limeade concentrate
1 (2 ltr) bottle Sprite

That's it! Crazy, huh? You can just add the raspberries for garnish if you want. If you want it like Red Robin, just add a bit of cherry grenadine into the bottom of each glass and then pour the limeade into it. Or you can pour the juice of 1 10oz jar of maraschino cherries into the entire thing.

Tangy Citrus Lemonade

Okay so we've been slacking. And this doesn't count as a meal, but I'm ready for summer, and cool drinks on the deck! Come on girls!!

Ingredients:

6 large lemons (1-1/2 cups juice)

3 medium limes (1/3 cup juice)

3/4 to 1 cup honey or 1 cup sugar

6 cups water

2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

Ice cubes

Lemon and/or lime slices

Honey or sugar (optional)

Directions:

1. In a 2-1/2-quart pitcher, combine lemon juice, lime juice and 3/4 to 1 cup honey. Add water and raspberries. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.

2. Just before serving, gently stir to combine. Pour into ice-filled glasses. If you like, add lemon and/or lime slices. Sweeten to taste with additional honey or sugar, if you like. Makes 8 to 10 (6- to 8-ounce) servings.