Cranberry Cheesecake Shakes

 

This was a start of the summer treat for my kids. It turned out with a beautiful pink color that would make a great drink for a girls summer party. Frosty pink happiness!

I keep cranberries in my freezer year round, because I love their tartness and they freeze so well. And then I always have cranberries to make Cranberry Coffee Cake or Cranberry Spice Granola or good old fashioned cranberry relish, which should not be relegated to just the Thanksgiving table.

I remembered years ago I tore a page out of Family Fun for a cranberry milkshake. I thought it was a little strange, but why not? Today was finally the day to make them. All the kids liked the recipe, since ice cream before dinner is a big deal. I think next time I'll actually make them with ricotta cheese instead of the cream cheese. I also used sweetened almond milk which I think added another layer of flavor, but you could use the original plain milk.

Cranberry Cheesecake Shakes
1 c cranberries
1 1/2 c almond milk
2 tsp vanilla
3 oz cream cheese or ricotta cheese
vanilla ice cream

Put the cranberries and milk in the blender. Pulse until smooth and a beautiful pink. Add vanilla and cheese, pulse again. Add enough ice cream to fill the blender and make a thick rich shake.

You could also add some vanilla whey protein powder to this one easily.

Gingerbread Latte

I posted about this beauty back here, but some of you have asked for the specifics of this recipe, so this one is for you. Just in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas parties. Make a big batch of the spiced milk and keep it in the fridge. When company comes, warm some up in a pot on the stove, brew the coffee or espresso and combine the two in mugs. Top with whipped cream and cinnamon. Voila! You have a fancy drink in just minutes and you look like the Hostess with the Mostess (as Mom would always say).

Gingerbread Latte

1 cup milk (I use skim)

2 Tbsp molasses

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (which is basically mostly cinnamon with ginger, cloves and nutmeg added) I just add a little of each, never measuring
1/2 tsp ginger (for that gingerbread flavor)

1 c strong brewed coffee or espresso

Brew the coffee. While brewing, get out a glass measuring cup, the kind you use for liquids. Measure the milk and then add the sugar and spices. Put it in the microwave on high for 1 min - 1:30. You want it hot, but not boiling. When the coffee is brewed, combine your coffee, spiced milk and vanilla in a large mug. You can top it with whipped cream and cinnamon if you want to go over the top, which I of course did!

Alternative method: Triple or quadruple the recipe and combine milk, molasses and spices. Heat and stir. Cool. Store spiced milk in a jar in the fridge until you are ready to use. When you want a latte, brew the coffee or espresso and heat up the spiced milk and combine for as many servings as you need. 

Apple Pie Smoothie

Perfect fall goodness in a cup. It's a guilt free apple pie smoothie. All of the flavor and sweetness of an apple pie, but healthy enough to drink after a run.

I made this one up because I like to drink a smoothie after working out, but I didn't have any fruit other than apples laying around. I have never blended a whole apple, only apple juice. Turns out the fiber makes it pretty filling. The kids tried it the next day and loved it, so we have a new smoothie in the rotation. I wonder how it would work as a popsicle in the summer?

We had these wonderful apples that we picked in Ellijay at our favorite stop: R&A Orchards like we have in previous years. This year was pretty hard on the harvest. Warm crazy weather will reek havoc on an orchard. All of the apples were dropping right off the trees and the Georgia Apple Festival hadn't even occurred! We managed to pick a few and of course I bought bags and bags of "seconds", which are perfectly good apples in my opinion. I made a bunch of applesauce, but no apple butter this year. I was going to make Apple Pie Soup and that's where the revelation came in - ah ha - I could make a smoothie with apples. Apple Pie Smoothie! 

Apple Pie Smoothie
1/2 small apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1/2 tsp apple pie spice
2 c vanilla almond milk 
1 scoop protein powder, optional
ice cubes

Put it all in a blender and whir into a creamy smoothie. 


{Almond milk is a new product in our household and we have enjoyed it. I like it because it keeps much longer than cow milk. I used Silk brand almond milk, pictured here and it's already sweetened, so I didn't add any sweetener to this smoothie. You could use milk and add honey and almond or vanilla flavoring if you like.}

Tropical Pink Dragonfruit Limeade

I've discovered a tropical paradise here in South Florida....Robert Is Here produce stand. Robert has one of those fun stories that I love sharing with my kids, stories of personal achievement. As Robert told me himself, it's a lesson on hard work, honesty and integrity. 

Robert and I talked...a lot!

Robert started his business at the tender age of six years old. He set up on a road to sell his father's cucumbers with a giant sign that said "Robert Is Here" and the name stuck, so the place is still called Robert Is Here. He soon progressed into hiring his neighbor to work for him when he was at school. Today, many years later, his business is still thriving with many friendly employees, loads of exotic fruits, fresh vegetables, and the MOST amazing milkshakes!! We came for the key lime milkshake, which was a perfect blend of sweet and tart - delicious, but we loved the mamey and the guanabana flavored milkshakes just as much, if not more. They were made with fresh fruit and they were delicious, creamy and vanilla with the fruit taste too - seriously good stuff. 

Sharing a mamey milkshake

We stopped at Robert's on our way to Key Largo, the northern most key and had such a delightful time, we stopped at Robert's again on the way home. We stocked up on avocados (and made guacamole three times while on vacay), the most delicious juicy Kitt mangoes that the staff was happy to slice up for us. They were so perfectly ripe that the juice dripped down our arms while eating them.

juicy mango!

We enjoyed longans (like lychee), key limes, jack fruit, tomatoes, and intriguingly named dragon fruit. 

Source: Tropical Fruit Nursery

Dragon fruit is strange looking from the outside, but the variety we had was beautiful fuchsia pink with small black seeds on the inside. I cut it in half and just scooped the fruit out with a spoon, much like an avocado.

Look at this beauty...

With this color, I knew I wanted to make something fresh to show it off. I figured it would make a beauitful drink and boy was I right. We had some limeade concentrate in the freezer which I mixed up and added the chopped dragon fruit. When stirred up, it all became this gorgeous pink color. It didn't change the flavor of the drink because the dragon fruit flavor is so mild, something like strawberries. I think this fruit would make an incredible mixed drink with natural coloring.

Tropical Pink Dragonfruit Limeade

1 can limeade concentrate

1/2 dragonfruit

Mix up limeade with water and stir in chopped dragonfruit. Let sit in fridge for at least 30 minutes to overnight. The color will deepen over time. Add tequila for an adult dragon-rita.

 

We tried it in orange juice too and it created a beautiful translucent coral color. A a little of the fruit goes a long way in coloring a drink so I had plenty of fruit to make different drinks.

Next time you are having a party and need a punch or fun drink to make, give dragon fruit a look. You won't be disappointed with this kinda color!!

Healthy {Drinkable} Teacher Gifts

Need a teacher gift that's fast, simple, easy AND healthy??? Uhhh, me too. I love giving them something, but I didn't have time to bake because I was so busy baking for the Awana teachers this year. I couldn't give the homeschool co-op teachers the shaft, so I had to think of SOMETHING.

While grocery shopping at Kroger, it all came together. First I picked up these cute insulated tumblers in pretty colors. Then I picked up the ingredients for some drinks they could enjoy in their new tumblers.

I love it when a plan [or lack thereof] comes together.

The entire gift came from the same store.

Done.

The day before we took these in to the teachers, I put it all together. Notice the "wrapping"?? Yep, it's a citrus bag. I've started saving those and apple mesh bags. They make cute wrapping for all kinds of things - even a fresh loaf of bread. Frugality with some cute thrown in.

Drinkable Teacher Gifts

reusable drink cups
limes (or lemons), in mesh bag
kiwis
bananas
mint sprigs
kale, bunch
plastic baggies
ribbon, see you can get this at the grocery store too :)
paper and printer, optional

Print the recipe for kiwi kale smoothies onto cardstock or paper. Or just handwrite it out, especially if you are one of those who has super cute handwriting and can make anything look adorable (me, not so much). Put the recipe in the cup if you can see through it. You child can make a card and put it in there too if you like.

Dump all of your citrus out of their bags. Trim off any tags that are sewn on, but be careful not to cut the stitching. Put a couple of limes and/or lemons, kiwi, bananas in the bags.

Trim stalks from kale, see recipe. Put a wad of kale in a plastic baggie. Stuff that into the mesh bag. (Wait to do this step the day you are giving the gift. Put the baggies in the fridge until then if you are doing it ahead of time and give yourself a pat on the back for being so on the ball.)

Wash the mint if it has been ripped out of the ground by a precious four year old, who has tracked the dirt into the house along with the mint. Wrap the bottom of the mint stems in a wet paper towel to keep it fresh during the school day. Put that in the top of the mesh bag, sticking out of the top if you like.

Tie it all up with a pretty ribbon (I would have used all the same color ribbon if I wasn't being so frugal and using up my ribbon remnants) and include another recipe on the bag. I made up a recipe for Refreshing Mint Limeade, which I actually put in the tumblers and the Kale Kiwi Smoothie recipe on the mesh bags. You customize it up. Change it to Lemonade if you like and lemons are what you purchase. Change it to Citrus-ade if you buy both.

The teachers will love you because it's healthy and delicious AND useful. Seriously you cannot go wrong with this one!

        Refreshing Mint Limeade

·       Bunch of limes, sliced

·       Mint leaves, stripped of stems

Put lime slices and mint leaves in large pitcher. Mash them with a large spoon. Add water, seltzer water, pineapple juice, or other beverage. Mix and serve. Keeps in fridge for a couple of days.

Kiwi Kale Smoothie

 

I have a confession to make, I've never tried a green smoothie, until now. Something about greens shredded up in a blender, just did NOT sound delicious to me. I love salads and adore my seaweed wrapped sushi, but mixed up with my favorite fruits...nah, I would always pass. It was way too Dr. Seuss- like. "I do not like green eggs and ham Sam-I-Am."

Last week, when my sweet friend Amy passed along some kale with that kohlrabi I figured I would saute it up like I normally do with greens like swiss chard or make these kale chips like I've done in the past.. But something on that stinkin Pinterest caught my eye (yes, I have an addiction and the boards to prove it). Those crazy green smoothies. They looked, well... yummy.  How bad could it be if so many people drank them? I had the kale and it was hot outside. Which at our house means I should be making smoothies or doling out popsicles. I figured if it was terrible tasting, I could always foist it off to the baby, because she'll eat/ drink just about anything. So I threw caution to the wind and made my first green smoothie!

I had a big bag of kiwi's from Aldi in the fridge. Hey, they are green and they would disguise the greenness of the kale. I had some apple juice and frozen bananas to sweeten it because adding my normal yogurt/ milk didn't seem right with vegetables.

Turns out this concoction was delicious, which probably most of you already know. I'm sure I'm the last green smoothie holdout, right? (It's like texting, I'm slow on the bandwagon, but I'm on now.)

This thing was REALLY tasty. Everyone liked it and asked for seconds. The baby finished hers first and was going around trying to steal from the others. So here's my endorsement, if you've never tried it, you might just like green smoothies....and ham, Sam-I-Am. Now please excuse me, I headed out to buy some kale.

Kiwi Kale Smoothie
8 leaves kale
1 c water
2 bananas, frozen is better but not necessary
3 kiwi, peeled
1 c apple juice
ice

Strip the kale off the stem just like you do with flowers. Hold the stem with one hand and pinch it with the other and pull up until the leaves slide off the stem. (Need a step-by-step of what I'm talking about?)

Stuff the kale into a blender. Add water. Blend until you have a very green smooth pulp. Add the banana, kiwi and apple juice. Blend again until smooth. Now top off your blender with the ice and whirl until you have a frosty smoothie. Serve immediately with straws for fun. :)

photo credit and stripping technique

Mango Lassi Drink

 

We just got back from a wonderful vacation in Maryland and Virginia. We travelled around the coast and saw LOTS of the Chesapeake Bay. I miss living in the in area every time I go back, but then I look at the housing costs and I realize why we live in Georgia. One thing I loved while we were up there was all of the great ethic restaurants. We ate Vietnamese, Indian, Persian, and seafood. All of those make up for the awful food that I feel makes up most "American" restaurants. I get so sick of seeing chicken fingers and mac n cheese on kids' menus that I want to scream. I mean...really my kids don't want that junk everyday and I sure don't want them to eat it. Where are the veggies in today's restaurants?? We all felt a little better when we ate at the Vietnamese place and could enjoy the large adult portions to share. With four kids, we will order three adults entrees and share everything between us all.

We all enjoy the fresh taste of a mango lassi when we eat Indian food. We sometimes order tandoori chicken, spinach paneer, naan, vindaloo, lamb kabob, or aloo matar gobi. About the only Indian recipe I ever make at home is the mango lassi. It's easy and doesn't require a ton of spices. In fact, if you made the Chai Tea recipe (which is the other Indian recipe I make at home), you have the one spice you need, cardamom. You could always use the leftover cardamom to make this beautiful bread wreath for Easter.

Lassi's are a creamy yogurt drink that my kids love. They will often request it for a birthday party menu. It's so easy to make at home and perfect for an afternoon snack.

photo credit Heart Healthy Online

Mango Lassi

Ingredients
2 sm ripe mangoes or 1 large

3 Tbsp sugar

1 c yogurt

1/2 c milk

ice (optional)

Peel the mango and section the flesh. The best way to do this is to cut the entire fruit all the way around with a paring knife twice. In other words cut through the skin all the way around the fruit from top to bottom and then turn it 90 degrees in your hand and cut top to bottom again. Then you have a section of skin to grasp at the top that you pull off if the fruit is very ripe. If the skin does not come off easily your fruit is not ripe enough. When you get the skin off you need to cut the fruit away. The pit of a mango is shaped like a flat oval and it's pretty big so keep that in mind when you are cutting.

The fruit goes into the blender with the other ingredients. Blend on high until creamy and smooth. I like to add ice and blend some more at this point to make it more like a smoothie, but that depends on your personal tastes.

 

Chai Tea for Now...or Later

As I mentioned yesterday, I want to share a Chai tea recipe. Not only because I love chai tea but I've been promising my Aunt a recipe for a few years. (I am a procrastinator.) I had given my whole family chai tea fixins (that's Southern for "ingredients") in canning jars for Christmas one year. Aunt Sharon asked for the recipe, which I didn't have, since I just made it up...as usual. How do you write down "a little of this and a little of that" and expect someone to follow it? When I saw this recipe on Lavender and Lime, I knew it might get me out of the dog house. Will you forgive me now Aunt Sharon??

Chai Tea Mix

Adapted from Lavender and Lime

Ingredients
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cloves
2 tsp green cardamom pods
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp anise seeds
1/4 tsp peppercorns
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
6 c water
10 black tea bags
1 c sugar (use more or less according to your taste)
2 c water
milk

Bring all the spices and 6 cups of water to a boil. Add tea bags and let steep until very strong tea is made. Remove tea bags and add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Add 2 cups more of cold water. Store this concentrate in the fridge in a closed pitcher.

Pour concentrate into a mug, filling halfway. Fill the rest of the way with milk and heat in microwave.

My kids request hot tea often, for afternoon snack or for special occasions, but they LOVE chai tea. Super Bear even requested it for his Secret Agent birthday party.

This makes a great gift  - end-of-the-year teacher gifts, new mom, get well, etc. Just change the colors I used that Christmas long ago and make it whatever colors you like. To make chai tea into a gift, bag the spices together. Fill a container with the sugar in the bottom. Lay the tea bags on top of a square of wax paper. I wrapped mine in colored tissue paper to jazz it up. Add the spice bag on the top. Tie a ribbon around the container with instructions. Your container could even be a pretty pitcher to keep the concentrate in!!

Anise Dusted Venison with Red Wine Grape Sauce

It's Secret Recipe Club time again!! I was pretty excited when I was assigned a blog from outside the US called Lavender and Lime. Tandy is from South Africa, a country where I know exactly two people...Ronald and Lize. I met Ronald in Australia, where he told me many South Africans often come to visit or live. I met Lize our preschool where I got to teach her precious daughter Neika at Vacation Bible School. So Tandy makes three people, wow, I'm on a roll.

I was charmed by the language used in Tandy's writing. For instance, the word "dessicated" which you never see used in the US, (we say dried) but dessicated sounds so much more intense. I also loved how her recipes are in grams. We really should have stuck with the metric system in the United States, it makes a lot more sense.

When I was browsing Tandy's blog I noticed she eats lots of foods that are not common here in the US: ostrich (which was yummy when I had it in Australia), springbok, lamb, liver, and crawfish. Talk about an adventurous eater, but maybe not by her country's standards. For all I know, ostrich may be a South African staple. That's why I like taking my kids to eat at different ethic restaurants. There they can learn people eat different things, look different, talk differently and dress differently. Respecting differences is something I was taught as a child and it's never left me. It's my hope that raising my kids this way, will teach them God created people to treasure differences. The only hard part is when they learn that not every kid has this respect. It wasn't until my son starting taking his lunch to the homeschool co-op that he even knew it was "unusual" for kids to eat sushi, liverwurst, deer burgers or Cesar salad. It actually broke my heart a little the first time he came home and told me the other kids said his lunch was yucky and weird. How sad is that? Especially when his lunch was SOOO much more delicious than the applesauce cup and Lunchable the other kids had.
I had some serious trouble deciding which recipe to make when I browsed through all the choices. The Orange Marinated Duck sounded delicious and I can see making it with chicken. I also really wanted to make these Cranberry Oat Slices because you know I'm a little obsessed by cranberries. I'm guessing I will make this outside of today's post.

When it came down to it, I decided to make two things from Lavender and Lime. Her Venison dish with anise and grapes got my attention since I have a freezer shelf full of deer thanks to my hunter husband. This dish sounded like something I would order at a restaurant - something fancy - something I would not normally make at home. I had to give it a go. I also decided to make her chai tea mix. I'll share that one tomorrow.

I did change Tandy's recipe a little just to accommodate my family. I choose to do a large venison roast so I could feed the entire family. I usually save the tenderloins for DNI. I marinated the venison overnight (which I do with all of the whole cuts, not the ground). We also cooked it on the grill since it was a beautiful spring day, but that meant I didn't have the pan drippings that Tandy did. I used anise seed because I had it and I didn't have the star anise. Never in my life would I have thought of putting anise and meat together, but it was a beautiful pairing and everyone loved it.

Anise Dusted Venison with Red Wine Grape Sauce
Adapted from Lavender and Lime

Ingredients
2-3 lb venison roast (you could use a piece of beef)
3/4 c apple cider vinegar
1/4 c soy sauce

2 tsp anise seeds (or 2 star anise or 2 tsp five spice powder)
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 c red wine
1 bunch of red or black grapes cut in half (apprx 20 grapes)

Combine the vinegar and soy sauce in a large zip lock bag and add venison. Marinate 2 hours or more (I leave overnight) in the fridge. Dump marinade and pat the meat dry with a paper towel. Let rest on a plate so it comes to room temperature. You never want to grill a cold piece of meat. Crush the anise seed in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Combine anise, pepper and salt together and dust over the meat on both sides. When meat is room temp (about 30 minutes of sitting out) grill over med high heat for 25 minutes, turning once.

While it's cooking, melt the butter, olive oil and wine over med-low heat in a skillet. When butter is melted add the halved grapes and stir around for a minute or two. Remove from heat. When the roast is done, put on a clean cutting board. Let sit for a few minutes before slicing into 1/2 inch pieces. Serve with grape sauce over the sliced venison.

Delicious, thanks Tandy!

PS. This was my recipe that was made over on Foodness Gracious. It's my Moist Chocolate Buttermilk Cake with Cream Cheese Icing.

Warm Pumpkin Spice Pancakes & Pumpkin Spice Lattes (or Gingerbread)

I love pumpkin: pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread. I mean really love it as much as I love cranberries and apples and well everything else fall. Fall is probably my favorite season despite the fact that the fresh air kills me. I'm allergic to all the pretty flowers that grow in the spring AND all of the pretty leaves that fall and get moldy in autumn. It kinda stinks when your favorite times of the year to be outside are the ones that make you miserable. MacGuyver always says he's going to buy me a bubble to live in. (I've never seen it, but I heard there is a movie.)

I made these pancakes last week and the kids were thrilled and even the husband liked them, which is saying something because he doesn't love pumpkin. So even if you a not the most pumpkin loving person, you might try these out. You can also adapt both recipes to create a gingerbread taste, by omitting the pumpkin, adding more ginger spice and a little molasses.

Every Thursday the kids and I enjoy a "day in". Since I homeschool the kids, we have decided that once a week we will stay home and do whatever we feel like. It always starts with a yummy breakfast. You know the kind that you promise your kids you will make and never have time to on normal crazy days? A normal morning for us involves a lot of "hurry up", "eat your food" and "stop kicking your sister". I'm I the only one with mornings like these? This is why my little family has Thursdays - for "yes" time. Yes to pancakes, yes to games, yes to stories read at the table, yes to wrestling, yes to bike riding and whatever else they can think of. BTW, there is a great book called "Yes Day" that my 3 year old told me about. It's so cute and all the kids love the idea of a "yes day" at our house.

I usually make extra of whatever they choose for breakfast on Thursdays (pancakes, waffles, coffee cake, quiche, or bacon) and save them for one of the hectic mornings as a reheat. This pancakes starts out like our traditional buttermilk pancake recipe, but you just add the spices and the pumpkin puree. And if you make the pancakes, you are going to want to make the latte...trust me they go together like peanut butter and jelly.

Warm Pumpkin Spice Pancakes - Chocolate chips optional :)

2 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 c sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/3 c buttermilk
1 c sourdough starter or milk
1/2 c pumpkin puree
2 Tbsp oil
1 egg

Combine all dry ingredients in large bowl with whisk. Add buttermilk, starter, pumpkin, oil and egg to the dry mixture. Whisk until combined. Can be thinned with milk or water if the batter is too thick to easily pour. When griddle or pan is hot, pour batter on. At this step you can add chocolate chips if you like. Cook until bubbles form and then flip.

If you want to make gingerbread pancakes, you need to increase the ginger to 1 tsp and decrease the cinnamon to 1 tsp. Then omit the pumpkin and sugar and add 1/4 c molasses.You can even serve them with molasses as the syrup!

Pumpkin Spice Latte OR Gingerbread Latte

1 cup milk (I use skim)

1 Tbsp canned pumpkin

1 Tbsp sugar (or substitute)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (which is basically mostly cinnamon with ginger, cloves and nutmeg added) I just add a little of each, never measuring

1 c strong brewed coffee

Brew the coffee. While brewing, get out a glass measuring cup, the kind you use for liquids. Measure the milk and then add the pumpkin, sugar and spices. Put it in the microwave on high for 1 min - 1:30. You want it hot, but not boiling. When the coffee is brewed, combine your coffee, spiced milk and vanilla in a large mug. You can top it with whipped cream and cinnamon if you want to go over the top, which I of course did!

Variation: if you want to make a gingerbread latte, you omit the pumpkin and up the ginger spice a little and add use molasses as your sweetener. Equally delicious!

Russian Tea

I have no idea why my family calls this recipe "Russian Tea", but I love this hot drink. During the wintertime I drink tons of hot tea with some coffee and hot chocolate thrown in for variety. This drink is another one of my varieties that gets in the mix. It's based on instant tea and Tang (I use a generic version). This also makes a great gift for someone when stored in a pretty container much like the hot chocolate cones I posted here. And who doesn't love getting a gift in a jar? I think giving consumable gifts is a great thing to do and food is always welcome. Check out my other gift posts for more ideas.

Russian Tea

2 1/2 c instant orange drink

1 c sugar or splenda

1/2 c instant tea

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp allspice (optional)

Mix all the powders and spices in a large bowl and store in an airtight container. Put two tablespoons in a mug and add 8-10 oz hot water.

Hot Cocoa Cones

These creations were what got me hooked on Family Fun magazine in the first place. I saw the article in Family Fun at a doctor's office and asked to take home the magazine. This was back when I only had one child and he was an infant, but I knew I would want to make these one day. I ripped out the page and kept it with my Christmas decorations for a few years. A few years later, when my son went into preschool, I whipped out the magazine page, all matted and folded, but readable and made these for teacher gifts.

These are so fun and easy for the kids to make. The kids had no problems putting the toppings on. We made our own hot chocolate mix with cocoa powder, instant milk, sugar and a little cinnamon for kick.

Hot Cocoa
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups powdered instant milk

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 Tbsp cinnamon (optional)

Mix all together in a large bowl. Will keep for all winter. You use about 3 Tbsp with hot water for yummy hot cocoa.

Put some of the hot chocolate mix in a cone shaped cello bag and then double bag it in another. Then roll the inner bag down and tuck it in. Put all of this in a sturdy mug to hold it up for the kids while they do the next part. The kids add toppings, some had peppermint, some had instant coffee (for the mailman and the bus driver). We used a red gumdrop on the top for the cherry. I think these would be a great favor gift for any winter birthday party. Maybe an activity for the tween sleepover?? You could use sugar snowflakes inside to make them more wintery or crushed hard blue mint candies.  Or make it more "adult" and use candied ginger or dried orange zest.  Yummy!