Homemade Hot Chocolate

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

How would you like to wake up to this rich, robust, homemade hot chocolate drink embellished with white chocolate and candy hearts?  I would love to.  It would make my day, especially it’s Valentine’s Day.  If I live in a farm, I would drink it by the window and enjoy a breathtaking view of a snow covered landscape.  Or, it sure would be fun to bundle up, bring a chair outside, sit down and savor this sinfully delicious hot chocolate drink with your loved one.  It would be lovely.

Doesn’t it look inviting?  Just looking at it makes you want to grab it and have a drink.  Little J & A loved it and and now prefer a homemade hot cocoa.  They told me to not buy those hot chocolate mix in a box anymore.   I agree.  Homemade is the best because you know you are getting the real thing and you can control the amount of sugar added.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s make it.  It’s really easy.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of your favorite milk ( I used 2% organic milk)
• 2 tablespoons Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 cup Ghirardelli semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)

Bring milk to a simmer over medium heat.  Add the cocoa powder and sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved and the cocoa powder is well mixed.  Remove from heat.  Then, add the chocolate chips.  Stir until the chocolates are melted.  Pour in a cup and top with whipped cream.  Dust with cocoa.   If you are using bittersweet chocolate chips, add  an additional 1/2 tablespoon of sugar.  Enjoy!

Wishing you all a romantic Valentine’s Day!  Thanks for stopping by.  If you like this post, don’t forget to Subscribe to get the latest recipe.  Thank you!  Have a fabulous day!

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Craving for Bubble Tea?

Hello!  Are you craving for Bubble tea?  Here’s an inexpensive, easy way to suffice your craving for Bubble Tea in a jiffy.

Okay, here’s the drink that I was crazy about eight years ago.  Of all Bubble tea flavors out there, here’s my favorite, Thai Bubble Tea.   I prefer my bubble tea with a lot of ice.

You don’t have to go through a lot of trouble trying to get the authentic bubble tea because believe me, this bubble tea tasted exactly  the same bubble tea served out there.  In fact, better! (I’m speaking based on my experience) I had one at a Chinese restaurant in Fairfax, Virginia and the tapioca pearls were overcooked and the tea was watered down.  It was expensive too.  Ever since then, I make my own bubble tea using the tapioca pearls sold at any Asian store.

I was staring at the Thai tea we had in the refrigerator and I saw the tapioca pearls in our pantry I purchased about a month ago.  I immediately thought of “Bubble Tea”.

I know it’s different when you drink bubble tea with a sophisticated straw, but I didn’t have any.  The ice tea spoon was good enough for me. 

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Here are the ingredients.  1 can (16 fl. oz. ) Thai tea, 1 cup black tapioca pearls, 1/3 cup maple syrup, 3 1/2 cups water.

*Note:  The cooking instructions for the tapioca pearls called for 10 cups of water to cook 1 cup, but I didn’t think it was necessary since the type of tapioca pearls I used require only 5 minutes of cooking time.  However, please add more water if you are using tapioca pearls that require cooking for long periods to prevent them from melting or sticking together.

FLAVOR VARIATIONS YOU CAN MAKE:

Chai Bubble Tea:  Chai Tea drink and tapioca pearls

Purple Yam (Ube) Bubble Tea:  Almond milk, purple yam spread, purple yam essence, tapioca pearls

Mocha Bubble Tea:  Coffe, ground chocolate, half and half, tapioca pearls, agave

Chocolate Bubble Tea:  Hot Chocolate mix or ground chocolate, tapioca pearls, agave or honey or sugar

Green Bubble Tea:  Green tea, cream, tapioca pearls, honey or agave

Cantaloupe Bubble Tea:  Cantaloupe juice, honey, and tapioca pearls

Mango Bubble Tea:  Mango juice, tapioca pearls

Orange-Carrot Bubble Tea:  100% Carrot juice, orange juice, tapioca pearls, honey or agave

Make sure you shake vigorously when mixing the above bubble teas.

PREPARATION METHODS FOR THE TAPIOCA PEARLS

Bring water over high heat to a rapid boil.

Add 1 cup of tapioca pearls and 1/3 cup of maple syrup.  Stir.

The tapioca pearls float after 2-3 minutes.  Continue to cook until the pearls are translucent.

Keep stirring.

The tapioca pearls are cooked when they’re chewy and translucent about 5-6 minutes.  Do not overcook.

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Drain and scoop some cooked tapioca pearls in a tall, wide glass. Add ice and pour the Thai tea.  Stir and enjoy.

*Note;  I didn’t want to remove the sweetness of the maple syrup in the tapioca pearls that is why I didn’t rinse them.  Besides, they didn’t stick together.

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Quick and Healthy Breakfast

Quick and Healthy Breakfast

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School will starts tomorrow and there’s going to be a time where I won’t be able to cook daily.   Some people will end up grabbing something unhealthy from time to time.  This is my emergency breakfast, lunch, or snack and I just want to share with you all.   You can add protein powder if you prefer, but I make it without it.  The protein in the yogurt is sufficient for me.  It has 13 grams of protein plus the protein in almond milk.  You can make this ahead of time and place it in the refrigerator and just grab it when you get hungry.

I normally open up a can of pureed pumpkin and transfer it to a container and put it in the refrigerator until I need it.  One can of pureed pumpkin will last me the entire week or less if I make my other favorite breakfast recipe (see below).  It really helps, especially when I am so hungry and want something quick and healthy.   If you don’t want a canned pureed pumpkin, you can always make it from scratch to take advantage of the abundance of pumpkins this fall.  You can also omit the pumpkin if you prefer.  It’s delicious either way.

Depending on the protein powder you use, one scoop of  vanilla flavor whey protein powder is normally around 140 calories.  You can check it out here for more information.

Ingredients:

• 1 Chobani low-fat Pineapple Greek yogurt (160 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 13 grams of protein)
• 2 tablespoons canned pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (30 calories per 1 cup)
• dash of cinnamon and nutmeg
• protein powder (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a tall glass. Stir and enjoy.

For calories information, click the link below.

http://www.calorieking.com/foods/calories-in-pie-filling-pumpkin-canned_f-ZmlkPTY4MDk3.html

Here’s my other favorite breakfast:  1/4 cup pureed pumpkin, 3/4 cup almond milk, dash of nutmeg and cinnamon, and 1 scoop protein powder. Blend and enjoy.