Minty Hot Chocolate

I was at Costco the other day, and the Vitamix demo guy was giving out samples of a perfectly creamy, peppermint hot chocolate. I was intrigued, and took a sip. It was so very decadent, without any heavy cream or half and half...it was delicious. He told me what was in it, one of the ingredients being vanilla coffee creamer. Blech. Not something that I would want to drink every day.
I've been trying a few recipes for a dairyfree/nut free hot chocolate that Maddie can drink...and that she likes. As much as she loves canned coconut milk, it just doesn't work very well in hot chocolate for us. This recipe is so simple, and you make it in the blender!

The Cast of Characters

I took the Vitamix Guy's idea and ran with it. We've had chocolate mousse with avocado, so I really didn't think it would be too difficult...and it wasn't!

I used liquid stevia drops, and then tried it with pure maple syrup. It tasted much better with the maple syrup, but feel free to use honey or sugar too.

Minty Hot Chocolate

Makes 1 cup

! Tbsp Cocoa powder

4-5 drops stevia, or 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup

2-3 drops mint extract

2-3 drops vanilla extract

1/4 of an avocado, sliced

1/2 cup boiling water

Put all of the ingredients into a blender, and pulse it a few times. Blend it until it's completely smooth, and there are no chunks of avocado.

Paleo Lunches

We're still in the paleo-type-of-food phase with Maddie right now, and I finally feel like I've hit my groove with making meals, and making them quick!
Most of our meals are totally paleo, but here and there I make something separate for Maddie, so that Charlie isn't totally missing out on the foods that he loves.
I have to say though, nearly everyday I'm amazed at what my kids will eat. Avocado? They'll pile that into their mouths faster than I can scoop it out for them. Broccoli? Served with a little lemon juice or apple cider vinegar on top, they inhale it. I've been so thankful that we started feeding the kids real, healthy, nutrient dense foods, since they first started eating...I truly believe that's what has made them into the good eaters that they are.
I wanted to share two of my favorite lunch ideas that I've found come together really quickly, and are so good for growing bodies (and nursing mamas!).

Salmon Salad
1 can of Salmon (wild caught, BPA free cans if possible!)
1/2 of a cucumber, chopped
1 avocado, diced
1-2 shredded carrots
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper
juice from 1/2 of a lemon
Drain the salmon, and mix everything together, to taste! I served this in bowls, with a side of fruit. It's loaded with protein, vegetables, and healthy fat!
**I don't have a picture of this one because...it doesn't look super delicious in pictures!)

Roast Beef Hash

Leftover Roast Beef Hash
1-2 C leftover roast beed
1 Large sweet potato, cubed and cooked (I prefer mine roasted with lots of coconut oil and garlic, but you can steam them too)
1/2 bag of frozen broccoli, steamed until fork tender
2 cloves of garlic, minced
salt
pepper
eggs
Chop up the roast beef so it's in small bites. Add a good heaping Tbsp of coconut oil to a cast iron skillet (or a frying pan!),put in the garlic and let it cook for a minute to soften it. Add in the beef, sweet potatoes, broccoli, salt and pepper. Try to mash up the sweet potatoes into the meat, but not completely...you still want a little bit of texture from them. While it's heating, fry up one egg per serving, in your preferred type of fat (PLEASE no vegetable/canola oil for my sanity's sake! :D ). Once the hash is complete, serve it up into bowls, and top with your fried egg.

**This is another one of those recipes that you can sub in whatever you have...ground beef/pork/turkey, carrots, onion, or any other type of vegetable that you have!**

Thrifty Tuesday

Whoops. I missed this yesterday, sorry about that! You know how it is...life with two kids and all.
Instead of sitting down and writing out this post, I actually made myself some lunch and cleaned up the kitchen...and then of course, as I sat down to eat, Charlie got up early from his nap :)

So anyway, this was a tough week for me. I can feel that we're in the middle of the month, because this is when I usually go downhill and get antsy. Instead of doing my grocery shopping at Aldi, like I've been doing the past couple of weeks, I went to Target. And oh, it was like a breath of fresh air. They have the organic whole chickens that I usually buy, and their produce is fresh. BUT...I spent more. I could feel it as I went through the checkout lane, and saw the total...even with my cartwheel coupons, and target card...it was still more than what I would have spent at Aldi.

Here's the good news though...I still managed to save some money last week! Here's what we did:
*The kids and I stayed home most days. Other than to BSF and Cubbies, we didn't really go anywhere. This saved me from spending more money at a store, AND saved gas money!
*Charlie and I DID go out on a date...but I got water, and no appetizer, even though we were starving! (does that count, at all??)
*We made crafts with things that we already had on hand
*I made all of our meals, except for the night that Charlie and I went out
* Baked with ingredients that we already had on hand
*Skipped going out for lunch on Sunday, even though it was already after naptime, I didn't know what we were going to eat, and we were all, once again, starving!

There really isn't too much from last week, and I'm probably not remembering some things, but there you go!

Thrifty Tuesday

Here we are again!
I'm actually really excited about this past week, I feel like I really remembered that we wanted to save money, and we did!
Here's how we saved last week:
*We only went to the store once. I kept thinking of more things that I wanted to eat, but had to keep reminding myself that we have plenty to eat, in the apartment!
*We didn't go anywhere special. We went to cubbies and to BSF and that was it.
*We kept Charlie in underwear all day, instead of using pull-ups more often
*I bought snow pants and boots for both kids at once upon a child, and only paid about $20 total!
*We didn't eat out, but had leftovers for lunches

That's about all that I can think of...but I feel like by staying home, we really saved this week! Hurray!

How did you save money last week?