Chocolately Treats

I like treating myself. Especially to coffee. Not just coffee. But the really good coffee. My latest favorites are White Chocolate Mochas and, for the holidays, Peppermint Mochas. I first discovered these at Starbucks, but God knows I can only afford so many of those. I then learned that McDonalds has them, too, and they're not bad at all, but cheaper. Still, I'm a poor college kid. So I decided to see if I could make something similar at home.
My mom hates coffee, so we've never had a coffee maker. So I borrowed my boyfriend's coffee maker and started Googling. After reading several recipes, this is what I came up with.

1. In a small bowl, combine equal parts warm water and sweetened cocoa powder.

2. Stir until it forms a smooth syrup.

3. Pour 2 Tbsp. of the syrup into an 8 oz. cup.

4. Add a shot (1 oz.) of espresso or double-strength, dark-roasted coffee. (To brew double-strength coffee, use 4 Tbsp. of ground coffee for every 6 oz. of water.)

5. Fill the rest of your cup with steamed milk. (If you don't have a milk steamer, heat milk on the stove to between 140 and 160 degrees.)

6. Top with whipped cream and enjoy!

I don't have a milk steamer, or a thermometer, so I just heated up the milk until it started steaming. I also didn't have any whipped cream on hand, but I did add a drop of peppermint extract. I thought it was pretty good, though Josh didn't like it.

Monday morning I woke up and wanted a breakfast treat. Once again I went to old reliable Google. Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins and Creamy Hot Cocoa it was. Here's the delicious recipes I used.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons best quality cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup superfine sugar
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Special equipment: Muffin tin with paper muffin cases

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, sugar, and 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips into a large bowl. Pour all the liquid ingredients into a measuring jug. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together, remembering that a lumpy batter makes the best muffins. Spoon into the prepared muffin cases. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips on top and then bake for 20 minutes or until the muffins are dark, risen and springy.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/3 cup boiling water
• 3 1/2 cups milk
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup half-and-half cream

Directions

1. Combine the cocoa, sugar and pinch of salt in a saucepan. Blend in the boiling water. Bring this mixture to an easy boil while you stir. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn't scorch. Stir in 3 1/2 cups of milk and heat until very hot, but do not boil! Remove from heat and add vanilla. Divide between 4 mugs. Add the cream to the mugs of cocoa to cool it to drinking temperature.

Homemade hummus!

I just made my hummus and it is delish! And super easy! After getting the ingredients, it only takes ten minutes or less. There are tons of recipes out there, but here is the one I used.

I actually couldn't find any roasted garlic or garlic cloves so I just used minced garlic, and I think it turned out great. The downside is that from what I've read you can only keep it in the fridge for about 2-3 days.

Ingredients:

• 1 can chickpeas/garbanzo beans (15 oz.)
• 2 tablespoons roasted garlic
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano

Preparation:

In a food processor, process beans, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and oregano until desired consistency. If hummus is too thick, simply add olive oil in small increments (1/2 teaspoon) until desired consistency.

Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.

Quote by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
How come no one says anything quotable anymore? I mean, honestly, 90% of quotes I hear are from centuries back. And 67% of statistics are made up on the spot.


I got an incense burner today :) And some incense, of course. It smells gooooddd. I'll be honest, many of the scents I smelled were pretty bad. But I got strawberry, honey almond, rose, cinnamon, and love... I think.

I'm going to attempt to make hummus tomorrow. I know I could buy it, but I think it would be more fun to make it, plus it would make me feel more accomplished ;P I'm also skeptical of the nutritional value of anything packaged. If it turns out, I'll post the recipe.

Speaking of nutritional... I just watched this documentary called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. It was actually pretty interesting. Makes ya think how easy and quick it can be to "reboot your system" and lose a ton of weight (if applicable) or just get much healthier. Obviously it probably wouldn't be smart for someone of my size to fast and have nothing but fresh fruit and vegetable juice, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to add that in!

Still cranking out the paracord bracelets, hit me up if you're interested. I've also made kitty collars, and let me tell ya, they're pretty darn cute ;)

And Annie made a great model.... Tinkerbell is prettier, but I couldn't find her and didn't suppose she'd stand still for a picture at all, haha.

I kinda love my job. Really, caring for and helping animals all day... not too bad. It's sad at times, and frustrating at times, and tiring at times... but also a lot of fun. :)

I have been cracking my knuckles and popping my back and neck for really as long as I can remember. With some strong discouragement from Josh and after looking into some of the effects of doing it, I'm making an effort to stop. It's hard because it's such a HABIT, and also because it does hurt when I don't pop it. But I've already noticed that I feel like I need to pop them less and that they hurt less. My back is sore a lot, and I've found that some yoga moves can realign my spine and make me feel much better. I don't do it often, but I'd like to get back into it.

I think that's enough randomness for now.
Love and peace,
Emma

Yummm

So I love Slim Fast and other meal replacement shakes, such as the Kellogg Protein Shakes. Not that I'm trying to lose weight, but they're low calorie and have lots of vitamins and nutrients. But, they can get a little redundant if you drink them a lot. So this morning I tried something new, that I got from this website. It's simple, all you need is a blender, a can of slim fast (or a scoop of slim fast powder and milk), some instant coffee, a little sugar or sweetener, a few ice cubes, and a dash of cinnamon if you'd like. Voila, yumminess!