Homemade hot chocolate

I love hot chocolate once the weather turns cooler!! I started to dislike the packaged variety once I realized how easy it would be to make it from scratch! With recipes like this, everyone's taste is different, so add ingredients slowly to get the right cocoa/sugar levels for your liking. Also, you can adjust the ingredients using different types of milk/cream (I always use skim milk), different types of sweeteners, and different varieties of cocoa (I used regular here, but I love using Hershey's dark chocolate cocoa!).

Homemade Hot Chocolate
serves 2

2 1/4 c. milk
4 Tb. cocoa
4 Tb. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Pour milk into saucepan. Heat slowly over low heat so as to not scald the milk. Add in all other ingredients and stir until warmed. Top with marshmallows!!

Hot Apple Cider (Crockpot version)

Recently I helped out with a post-wedding shower at church, and brought, among other things, hot apple cider. Since its fall-ish outside, I felt the need to bring something that went with the season. I ended up with this recipe from Tasty Kitchen, which I then adapted. It turned out very good, and everybody seemed pleased with the results!

Hot Apple Cider
adapted from a recipe by Tasty Kitchen user babskitchen


1 gallon apple cider
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 apple
1 orange
3 tsp whole cloves
4 cinammon sticks, each broken in half
1/4 tsp allspice
2 dashes nutmeg

Pour the apple cider into a Crockpot (mine was a 6 quart Crockpot and worked perfect). Add in brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, allspice, and nutmeg. Turn on low.

Cut up the orange into 4 slices. Drop into cider mixture. Cut the apple in half and stick cloves all over the apple, both sides. Drop apple halves into cider mixture.

Cook on low for 4-6 hours.