White Peppermint Hot Cocoa

Ingredients:

8 ounces white chocolate, chopped
3 cups milk
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Instructions:

Place the chocolate in a large microwave safe measuring cup.  Add the mil and whipping cream.  Stir in the peppermint extract.  Microwave the cocoa on high for 5 minutes.  Remove and stir until the chocolate has completely melted.

Serves 4 or in our case 2 really big cups of the yummy stuff.

When purchasing rice milk out of the grocery store, these products have been fortified with minerals and vitamins, such as iron, calcium, vitamin B12, and vitamin B3. Commercial brands also offer various flavors, such as chocolate or vanilla. An unflavored selection is supplied for those who wish to substitute rice milk for cow’s milk in a recipe.

All over the world, there are different forms of rice milk, such as kokkok – of Thai origin. Brown rice is its main ingredient and sometimes the only thing added to the beverage. When preparing a kokkah recipe, other rice selections and seasonings are sometimes used, such as sesame, barley, sweet rice, and/or azuki bean. A recipe for homemade rice milk is listed below:

Rice Milk

Ingredients

2/3 cup of hot rice
3 cups of hot water
1/3 cup of cashews
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of honey

Instructions

1) Simply place all of the ingredients in a blender. Mix.

2) Chill before serving.

Ground almonds are used to make this milk, which does not contain any cholesterol or lactose. Decorating the shelves of grocery stores, there are commercial selections of almond milk that come in plain, chocolate, and vanilla flavors. Below you will find a recipe for homemade almond milk, but make sure you stay away from bitter almonds. When bitter almonds and water are blended, poisonous cyanide is released.

Homemade Almond Milk

Ingredients

1 cup of blanched almonds
3 tablespoons of honey (or maple syrup)
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Instructions

1) Place one cup of blanched almonds into a blender.

2) Grind into a fine meal.

3) Add three tablespoons of honey (or maple syrup) and one teaspoon of vanilla to the almonds.

4) Gradually add two cups of water while the blender is still running.

5) Strain the liquid to remove the almond pulp.

Mexican Hot Chocolate

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
4 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 eggs
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Gently melt the chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave, stirring frequently and being careful not to burn the chocolate. Combine the milk and cream in a pot and slowly heat them without allowing the milk mixture to boil. Add a few tablespoons of the hot milk mixture to the hot chocolate and stir until the milk is completely incorporated. Stir the remaining milk and cream mixture in and mix well. Add the sugar and cinnamon to this mixture. Beat the eggs and vanilla in a separate bowl or cup. Mix one tablespoon of the chocolate milk mixture into the eggs. ( Don’t skip this step or you’ll end up with chocolate scrambled eggs). Now that the eggs are warmed up, slowly add this mixture to the chocolate, stirring well. Whisk the hot chocolate briskly in the double boiler for 3 minutes, then serve immediately.

This thick and creamy hot chocolate is great by itself, or with a cookie.

Easy Peach Smoothie Recipe

1/2 c. milk
1 c. sliced peaches fresh or canned
1 tsp. sugar (optional)

Pour milk in ice cube tray and freeze solid. Once frozen, pull from tray and place in blender. Add peaches and sugar to blend on high speed until smooth. Serve immediately.

Of course this recipe works just as well with other types of fruit including strawberries, bananas and blue berries. If you’ve tried it with some other fruits, please leave a comment below and let us know how it turned out.