Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

I think it's wonderful, especially with a squirt of whipped cream on top, but my husband recently told me it tastes bad. He prefers dark chocolate to milk chocolate and I disagree, so our teachers are still getting it as Christmas gifts anyway.

You'll need:

2 c nonfat dry milk
3/4 c sugar
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa
1/2 c mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c powdered nondairy creamer
1/8 t salt

(if you want a giant giant batch*, use these quantities

9 1/2 c nonfat dry milk
3 c sugar
2 c unsweetened cocoa
2 c mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 c powdered nondairy creamer
1/2 t salt)

How you'll make it:

~sift all ingredients except the chocolate chips into a huge tupperware container (or a small one if you're not making a giant giant batch)
~add the chocolate chips
~close the lid
~shake it like a polaroid picture (until well mixed)

If you're extra frugal (read: cheap) like I am, you'll save plastic peanut butter jars throughout the year and use them as your containers.

If you're extra frugal and OCD, you'll get the knock-off-Kroger brand Nutella spread and save those instead of the peanut butter jars because they are a cuter shape and the top doesn't say Skippy on it. And let's be honest, Nutella is waaaaay better than peanut butter.

Actually, I save them all. That's a lot of Nutella for one family to eat in a year.

Tie a pretty ribbon around the jar with a label- one side say what it is (hot chocolate mix) and on the other side write something like:

Add 1 - 2 heaping T to hot milk or water. Enjoy!



Just try to tell me you don't want a steaming cup of that all snuggled up by the fire.

*who doesn't want a giant giant batch? Well, maybe not my husband.

Dishing it Out

I'm pretty sure this violates some labor laws, but if your children begged you to let them do the dishes, would you tell them no?

Run, Run, As Fast As You Can

Growing up, my very favorite thing to do around Christmas was to bake gingerbread cookies. BigM and I made Christmas cookies when she was 2 but we completely skipped last year (I think I did break & bakes) so this year we busted out the trusty red & white checked Better Homes & Gardens cookbook (aka the Kitchen Bible) and got down to business.

You'll need:

1/2 c shortening
1/2 c sugar
1 t baking powder
1 t ground ginger
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 c molasses
1 egg
1 T vinegar
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour

How you'll make it:

~In a mixing bowl, beat shortening with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds
~Add sugar, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon & cloves
~Beat until combined, scraping sides of the bowl
~Beat in the molasses, egg & vinegar until combined
~Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer
~Stir in the remaining flour
~Divide dough in 1/2, cover & chill for 3 hours or until it's easy to handle*
~Grease a cookie sheet, set aside
~Preheat oven to 375 degrees
~On a lightly floured surface, roll 1/2 of the dough to 1/8" thick
~Cut into desired shapes
~Place 1" apart on the prepared cookie sheet
~Bake for 5 - 6 minutes or until edges are slightly brown
~Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool
~Decorate as desired**

Makes 36 to 48 cookies

*I put it in the freezer for 30 minutes, because we were taking them to a party and we only had an hour before we were supposed to leave. Yes, it pays to read the directions first. It pays even more to ask your husband if he'd rather put lights on the Christmas tree or cut out and bake the cookies- he picked cookies so the baking was the easiest part for me.

**I never desire to decorate my cookies, but if you do, knock yourself out.

The result: They're gingerbread cookies. I'm not sure how they could be bad.

This is How We do it...

Around this time last year, I decided to keep a running total of my grocery & household spending. I got as far as March and somehow kind of fell off the shopping cart, so to speak. So I'm taking this blog in a new direction- with money saving tips and recipes and deals, just because I need something to do other than housework. I won't start my running total until the beginning of the year, but until then I will post grocery lists, my favorite money saving recipes and deals I see, because I'm not normal and things like that make me really, really happy.