Tasty Tuesday: Hot Chocolate Mix

I know it's not Tuesday, but I really wanted to get this recipe posted before winter is over.

Not that you can't drink hot chocolate in the summer - because my kids totally do - but because if I posted this in the middle of July when the temps are climbing into the 90s, people would think what is wrong with her???

Ok, so people might be thinking that anyway. But for completely different reasons.

And besides, we got one final dusting of snow today before spring joins us next week, so today was the perfect day to make some hot chocolate.

We've been making our own chai tea mix for several years now. Seven? Eight? It's been a while. The mix is a family favorite. We've given many batches away as Christmas gifts over the years. And we drink our own fair share, pulling out the jar and mixing up a cup of hot chai tea as soon as there is a crispness in the air.

I've made that mix many times.

But I had never made my own hot chocolate mix. 

Crazy, huh? Sometimes I bought a big ol' canister of Swiss Miss. Other times - if I got a really good deal - I bought the individual packets. Most times though, I'd make it from scratch. 

Here's the thing - making things from scratch takes time. (I know, I'm just full of surprising information today.) Every time my kids come in from playing when it's cold, they want hot chocolate. Every time. But not every time do I feel like pulling out all the ingredients and starting up the stove. 

It was time to make my own hot chocolate mix. Not only is it more convenient, it's cheaper and tastier too.

I started searching for a recipe and found one that boasted it was The Very Best Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix. Well, who would want to settle for less than the best, right? I found my recipe.

Sure, anyone can label anything "the very best" just because they want to. Just look through some of the recipes on allrecipes.com that claim that same thing yet have not-the-very-best reviews.

But this one???

Really is the very best! All 3 kids informed me, "This is the best hot chocolate ever!" And that was without knowing its true name. Ha.

It is rich and extremely creamy. It's honestly is better than any from-scratch hot chocolate I've ever made.

And to think, every time one of my little darlings peels off layer after layer of snow-covered clothing, dropping each piece randomly on the floor and asks for a warm, chocolatey drink, all I have to do is toss some mix in a mug, and press a button on the Keurig.

Simple. Fast. Yummy.

And the very best.

And as a bonus . . .

It makes the very best chocolate milk, too.

So I could have published this in July after all!

Hot Chocolate Mix

Ingredients:   

25 oz. powdered milk
32 oz. Nesquik chocolate milk powder
16 oz. powdered creamer
1 lb. powdered sugar

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients together in a very large mixing bowl. (I used the one in this post. Anything smaller won't do.)

To prepare: Stir together half a cup mix and one cup of boiling water. Garnish and enjoy!
Recipe adapted from somethingswanky.

Make It Monday: Polar Bears

Happy Polar Bear Day! The kids and I are really enjoying celebrating the silly and random holidays. So many times they'll ask when they wake up in the morning, "What national day is today?" There's just something fun about taking the time to enjoy the little things in life. Like polar bears. Not that they're little in size, but little as in not a big part of our life - thank God! One, they're too big to keep in an aquarium, which is about the only pet I want in my house. And two, I don't want to live in the cold region of the polar bears. However, that did not stop us from celebrating their cuteness. 

Here's our cast of characters: pipe cleaners, googly eyes, glue, pencil, construction paper, pom-poms, cotton balls, and a bowl.  This craft is so versatile though that you can use any supplies you have on hand. 

 Use the pencil and bowl to draw a template for the bear's head.

 Gently stretch the cotton balls to make them light and fluffy.

 Cover your circle in a thin layer of glue.

Fill in the circle with the cotton balls. Add 2 cotton balls for ears.

Little Zac did not care for this part. Every time he'd try to place a mush of cotton, he'd get glue on his hand and some of the cotton would stick to him. He was not thrilled with the "pider web" on his hand.

Bend a piece of pipe cleaner into the shape of a smile and glue it on the face. The polar bear's face, not your face. Please, flash your own smile.

Stop to play with the bag of cotton balls.

 Glue on a pom-pom nose and googly eyes.

Look at the cute, fuzzy polar bears! We're out of big googly eyes, and Jake thought the size we have is too small. He used white pom-poms and drew eyeballs on with a black marker. Part of the fun of crafting is making it your own! These little guys are hanging on the wall in our kitchen. Hmm, maybe that's why it's a little chilly in here . . . 

Felt Board Snowman

I mentioned a couple weeks ago about a very special project we were working on. Well, here it is . . . a felt board customizable snowman!

All three kids love playing with our felt board sets. We have upper & lowercase letters, numbers, pirates, princess/castle, and firefighters. I like that it keeps them playing quietly while enhancing their imaginations.

Mostly I like that it keeps them quiet.

I thought it would be fun to make a set myself instead of buying another one. With it being winter, a snowman seemed like a logical choice. And since we've had no snow this winter, this gave them the opportunity to build a snowman despite the uncooperative weather.

I've said many times, I am not the artistic one of the family, but I gave it a try. I used a compass to make 3 circles for the body of the snowman on plain printer paper. Then, I used those templates as guides for the accessories. Sometimes I drew it how I wanted the first try . . . other times I had to draw, erase, and redraw before getting it how I wanted. Overall, I didn't do too shabby. Jake and Alyssa had fun giving me ideas of what to add.

Once the accessories were drawn, I cut them out and used a fine-tipped black marker to trace them onto the felt. Then I cut the shapes out of the felt.

FYI, it's hard to see black marker on black felt, in case you were wondering.

Some of the pieces needed to be glued together. I used regular school glue, but a glue gun might work better. 

And here is the finished (for now) set! I keep coming up with more ideas of pieces to add. I'm trying to recruit Leighton into helping me with some of the harder things. He hasn't been nearly as enthusiastic about creating this as I have been. Party pooper.

The kids love it though. We've had so much fun creating and recreating snowmen.

Here are a few of the ones we've made. Aren't they cute?


Oh, but the real fun comes when you start combining other felt sets.

 Arg! It be pirate snowman! He found me buried treasure in the snow.

Hurry, firefighters! Help the poor melting snowman before all that's left of him is a big puddle!

I admit, those last 2 scenes I made while the kids were in bed. I was playing with the felt and having entirely too much fun . . . by myself. I may even have been a little slap-happy. I was laughing so hard at my own creations that I had tears rolling down my cheeks. Leighton just rolled his eyes. Again I say, party pooper. He asked, "Who did you make that for?" Uh, the kids . . . I think.

I will definitely be adding to my new felt obsession, I mean, our felt collection over time. It really was a lot of fun to make and even more fun to play with! Even if you're not overly artistic (or not artistic at all, like me) try making a set yourself and see how easy and fun it is!

Just make sure you let the kids play sometimes, too.

 

* If you don't have your own felt board and don't want to spend the money on a pre-made one, you can easily staple or hot glue a large piece of felt to a panel of cardboard (cereal box, shipping box, etc) and have your very own board in minutes.

Linked to T.G.I.F Linky Party and the Sunday Showcase

Sock Ball Fight

We have gotten a lot of snow this winter. Unfortunately, it has not been good packing snow. No snowmen. No snow forts. No snowball fights. No snow angels. We decided to remedy this situation in the warmth of our living room where the "snow" is always packable.

Make It Monday: Snow Flakes

I've mentioned before how much the kids like cutting paper. It must be the thrill of doing something "dangerous." Since the weather's gotten much colder recently, we decided to make snow flakes to decorate the house. They needed help cutting the circles, but did pretty well with the rest. And they certainly did a good job of making a mess!

Coloring her paper before cutting.

Cheese!

Hard at work.

Proud of his snow flake.

Helping tape them to the window.

Let it snow!

The perfectionist in me started to emerge when their flakes became more like rocks, and I wanted to "fix" them. Then I realized that they didn't need fixing. It showed me their personalities, their abilities. Their snow flakes were perfect.