Chocolate Rocks?!?

Yesterday my students and I did a cool little project.  We made chocolate igneous and sedimentary rocks out of chocolate and sprinkles.  

I posted the directions on my other blog - Ramblings of My Crazy Life.  

Here's the link to the how to make chocolate rocks:  Chocolate Rocks.



Happy eating and learning, 

Traci

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.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Hot Chocolate 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:

1. Combine all the ingredients except for marshmallows, mini candy cane, or chocolate chips.


2. When ready to make a cup of hot chocolate, place 2 to 3 heaping Tbsps. of mix in a coffee mug.


3. Pour 6 ounces of boiling water over the mix.


4. Top with either chocolate chips, marshmallows, or mini candy cane.


5. 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.

Almond Joy Granola

Kiss My Broccoli

 

Stars of the recipe:

• 2 c. quick oats


• 3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder


• pinch of salt


• 2 Tbsp. coconut oil (I heated mine up in the microwave for a minute.  Then it smelled like paradise.)


• 1/3 c. honey (Spray down your measuring cup with cooking spray first.)


• 1 tsp. sugar


• 1/2 tsp. almond extract


• 1/3 c. shredded coconut (I used sweetened.)


• 1/2 c. almonds - 1/2 whole, 1/2 slivers

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.


2. In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, cocoa powder, and salt.


3. In a smaller mixing bowl, combine the coconut oil after it's heated up, honey, sugar, and almond extract.


4. Pour the wet ingredients over dry ingredients.  Mix until combined.


5. Spread in a thin layer on a cookie sheet.


6. Bake for 8 minutes, stir, and then bake for another 8 minutes.


7. Take out of oven and let cool for 10 minutes.  Then add almonds and coconut.


8. Store in an air tight container for 2 weeks.


9. Enjoy by itself or over yogurt!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

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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.)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie

Stars of the recipe:

• 
  
  1-1/2 c. chickpeas or white beans (1 can, drained and rinsed very well)


• 1/8 tsp. salt


• 1/8 tsp. baking soda


• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract


• 1/4 c. nut butter of choice - I used almond butter.


• up to 1/4 c. of milk


• 2/3 c. brown sugar


• 1/3 c. chocolate chips


• 2 to 3 tsp. oats

Steps:

1. Add the ingredients except for chocolate chips and milk to a good food processor.


2. Blend the ingredients - streaming into milk until desired considency.


3. Remove from food processor cup.  Mix in chocolate chips.


4. Put in the fridge overnight.


5. Enjoy with apples, graham crackers, or just eat by the spoonful!

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!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Stars of the recipe:

• 2-1/8 c. all-purpose flour


• 1/2 tsp. table salt (I used sea salt and they turned out okay.)


• 1/2 tsp. baking soda


• 1-1/2 Tbsp. butter, melted and cooled slightly (I did it for 1 min. and 15 sec. in my microwave.)


• 1 c. packed light brown sugar


• 1/2 c. granulated sugar


• 1 lrg. egg


• 1 lrg. egg yolk


• 2 tsp. vanilla


• 2 c. semisweet or milk chocolate chips (I used semisweet.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.


2. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda.  Set aside.


3. In another bowl, cream the butter and both sugars together until well mixed.


4. Add the egg, yolk, and vanilla.  Mix well until the batter has lightened in color.


5. Add the dry ingredients and chocolate chips at the same time.  Mix until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.


6. Form dough in tablespoon sized bowls and place on parchment or silpat lined cookie sheets.  (I sprayed my with cookie spray and it worked great.)


7. Bake for 10 - 12 mins.  (I baked mine for 11 minutes.)


8. Enjoy with a glass of milk, cup of tea, or cup of coffee!

Since  I used  cookie scoop for my cookies, I baked 57 cookies with the dough.

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 bananas


• 3/4 c. Sugar or 3/8 c. Truvia baking blend


• 1 tsp. baking powder


• 1 tsp. baking soda


• 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:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


2. Line muffin tin with cupcake wrappers (12) or spray with cooking spray.


3. In a mixing bowl, blend banana and avocado until puréed.


4. Add sugar, lemon juice, and olive oil. Mix well.


5. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients.


6. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix well.


7. Fold in chocolate chips.


8. Spoon mixture into tins or cupcake wrappers. (WARNING: The mixture will be thick.)


9. Bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes.


10. Enjoy!

St. Patty's Smoothie

Yum! And heathy 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:

1. Place all the ingredients except for the chocolate chips in the blender.


2. Blend until smoothie.


3. Add the chocolate chips.


4. Blend until the chips have been combined.


5. 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.


6. Enjoy the smoothie in the cup!

Best Dessert Recipes

S'Mores Bars

Toffee Brownies

Peanut Butter Cups Chocolate Cookies

Easy No Bake Cheesecake

Homemade Brownies

This has been linked to Finding Joy in my Kitchen's countdown to 2013 - best desserts.

Vegan Brownies

My husband has a cousin, J., who is a vegan.  We went to his hand fasting (another new experience for us) a year and a half ago.  The reception afterwards featured Indian food (another new experience for us) and vegan cupcakes.  We were pleasantly surprised on how yummy they were.

J. and wife had their first baby in September.  Since they live in Canada and we live in Ohio, we had not met baby S until last night.  He is totally cute and very long for his age.  J. is a tall man so it's not too surprising. 

Since we were going to meet up with J., wife, and baby S., I knew there was going to be Christmas goodies there.  J. wouldn't be able to enjoy the goodies so I decided to make him a batch of vegan brownies so he could enjoy some Christmas goodies. 

These are very rich so a tall glass of water, milk, tea, or coffee is in order when you eat a piece!

Vegan Brownies

Hevil's Special Delights

Stars of the recipe:

• 1 1/3 c. whole wheat flour


• 1 c. cocoa powder


• 1 3/4 c. sugar (This may be reduced to 1 1/2 c. sugar or if you use Truvia baking mix, use 3/4 c.)


• 1 c. applesauce


• 1 banana mashed (I used my mashed potato masher.)


• 1 tsp. vanilla extract


• 2 tsp. baking powder

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.


2. In a large size bowl, mix together the apple sauce, banana, and vanilla extract.


3. In a medium size bowl, mix together the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.  Warning:  the batter is going to be thick.


4. Pour into a greased 8 by 8 pan or 9 by 9 pan.


5. Bake for 35 minutes and then check to see if the brownies are done baking.  (Mine took longer when I checked.)


6. Cool and then cut into pieces.


7. Enjoy with milk, water, coffee, or hot tea.