I’ve been in the mood for homemade granola so I decided to experiment. With Valentine’s Day approaching, I thought chocolate covered strawberry granola would be a great version.
We love chocolate chip cookies around here. However, I’m not always in the mood to mix up a full batch of cookies. Make ahead chocolate chip cookie mix to the rescue. The dry ingredients are already mixed up so all you need to do is add the wet ingredients and mix.
Hint: Use an electric mixer because it’s harder to mix by hand. It’s doable just harder to get all the ingredients mixed together.
These can be stored for 3 months in an airtight container. I used zippered storage bags.
In August 2010, I posted a recipe for an All Star Muffin Mix. With this cold weather, I’ve been baking more than usual. Last night I decided to make a batch of it. Then I asked the Imaginative One what he thought I should use as add-ins. He suggested chocolate chips.
Once they were baked, the Imaginative One had 1 and the Wee One had 2. I’ll say they were a hit.
I’m going to give you the recipe 2 different ways. One using the All-Star Muffin Mix and one without the muffin mix.
Here’s another easy gift idea. Who doesn’t like a nice cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows? Okay maybe someone who doesn’t like chocolate. Since it’s winter, this is a nice gift to help the recipient of the gift warm up on those cold days.
Hot Chocolate Mix
Stars of the recipe:
2 c. dry milk
1/2 c. cocoa powder
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. non dairy creamer (I used French vanilla.)
optional: mini marshmallows, mini candy cane, or chocolate chips
Steps:
Combine all the ingredients except for marshmallows, mini candy cane, or chocolate chips.
When ready to make a cup of hot chocolate, place 2 to 3 heaping Tbsps. of mix in a coffee mug.
Pour 6 ounces of boiling water over the mix.
Top with either chocolate chips, marshmallows, or mini candy cane.
Enjoy!
If you want to make a Mexican hot chocolate, add 2 tsp. ground cinnamon to the mix.
If you are going to give it as a gift, place 6 Tbsp. of the mix in a bag and the marshmallows or chocolate chips. If you are going to give a candy cane, tape it to the outside of the bag. Place the instructions: combine 2 – 3 Tbsp. mix with 6 ounces of boiling water.
One of my favorite candy bars is Almond Joy. This is a good thing on Halloween because the boys won’t touch them with a 10 foot pole or if the Imaginative One is being his snarky self a 9 and 3/4 inch pole. I get their Almond Joy candy bars on Halloween. The combination of chocolate and coconut is pure heaven!! 🙂
My other favorite treat is granola either plain or with plain Greek yogurt. So the combination of the taste of Almond Joy candy bars with yogurt is the best flavor combination at least it is to me.
With chocolate cats ready to be dunkedWith chocolate cats ready to be dunkedWith chocolate cats ready to be dunked
I love chocolate chip cookies. Actually I like most cookies. You might say cookies are my weakness! I mean dessert weakness. This dip reminds me of a chocolate chip cookie . Best of all you, you don’t have to bake cookies to get the deliciousness. 🙂
Now the question is, what should I dip into this yumminess! I’ve been dipping chocolate cat cookies from Trader Joe’s. Tomorrow I’m going to try dipping my sliced apples in the dip. That sounds absolutely divine.
Side note: Have you ever had someone obsessed with your food choices. I eat in my classroom and have a limited time to eat. Today I was running late getting to eat because I had to print some papers and then talk to two other teachers. I was finishing my lunch when my four students came in for social studies. They were intrigued with what I was eating. They would have been shocked to find out what was in the dip. (My students have seen my lunches many times. Fortunately most of the time it’s something fairly healthy. This way I can be a good role model for them. One is concerned that I don’t eat a lot of meat. I eat meat but it depends on my mood whether I eat a lot meat or not.)
I’ve been promising the Imaginative One homemade cookies all week. However with the stress of not knowing exactly what my assignment is for the upcoming school year, I’ve been nursing a headache off and on all week.
Let me explain, I am an Intervention Specialist which is a fancy title for special education teacher. Our middle school has an incredible amount of students who need services and I’m talking about those who were in the school district last year. Plus who ever is new to the building. It seemed like every time I walked by the office there was another parent registering their child. Okay sometimes it was the same parent because I went past there within a five minute period. So I’ve been two scenarios for next year. Both are fine but one requires lesson planning for next week. The other does not. Do you see my stress?
So right now I don’t have a caseload (no one does). Guess what? I’ve decided not to stress about it because next week we are going to go over expectations, consequences, and the student handbook. It will be okay!
Tonight I decided to bake the cookies because chocolate is good for you. Right!?! After I made these, the Imaginative One put his seal of approval on the cookies. So they are that good!
My absolutely favorite muffins are double chocolate chip muffins. When they bring in muffins to work, I gravitate to the double chocolate chip muffins. Usually they have a million bazillion calories in it though. I found a way to have my favorite muffin and still feel good about eating it.
The cool thing about these muffins are there is no eggs in them. You can lick the bowl clean without any worries about getting sick.
There are also surprise ingredients in it. If you didn’t tell anyone, they wouldn’t know it.
Double Chocolate Chip Muffins
Stars of the recipe:
1 ripe avocado
2 ripe banana
3/4 c. Sugar or 3/8 c. Truvia baking blend
1 tsp. baking powder
<1 tsp. baking sod
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 c. Light olive oil
1 c. all purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. cocoa powder
1/2 c. Chocolate chips
Steps:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line muffin tin with cupcake wrappers (12) or spray with cooking spray.
In a mixing bowl, blend banana and avocado until pureed.
Add sugar, lemon juice, and olive oil. Mix well.
In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix well.
Fold in chocolate chips.
Spoon mixture into tins or cupcake wrappers. (WARNING: The mixture will be thick.)
Yum! And healthy are 2 words to describe this smoothie. Since I was going to be making the boys homemade “Shamrock” shakes, I made myself one of these instead.
This is another easy recipe to put together. This recipe makes four servings. I put the other three servings in the freezer so I can enjoy them later. (They are already portioned out so all I have to do is pull it out of the freezer, thaw it out, pour it into a cup, and then enjoy.)
St. Patty’s Smoothie
Stars of the recipe:
1.5 c. of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 bananas
1 cup spinach
1 tsp. peppermint extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c. chocolate chips
Steps:
Place all the ingredients except for the chocolate chips in the blender.
Blend until smoothie.
Add the chocolate chips.
Blend until the chips have been combined.
Pour a fourth of it in a cup. Divide the rest into 3 quart sized bags that have been labeled. Place those 3 bags in the freezer for later.
We love chocolate chip cookies around here. However, I’m not always in the mood to mix up a full batch of cookies. Make ahead chocolate chip cookie mix to the rescue. The dry ingredients are already mixed up so all you need to do is add the wet ingredients and mix.
Stars of the recipe:
Chocolate Chip Cookies
