Made From Scratch Hot Cocoa

My kids and I love Hot Cocoa. The weather right now is just right for sipping on a steamy cup. I have many fond memories from when we lived in Virginia and North Carolina that involve this delicious treat. It is even better after coming in from building snowmen and having snowball fights.

We haven’t seen any snow since we’ve moved to Florida several years ago but the weather still gets a bit nippy. This weekend was definitely cocoa weather. I used the Keurig to make my cocoa to take out to the woods with me. Just place the cocoa in your mug and set it under the Keurig. You don’t need a K-cup as the hot water will flow right through it, into your cup, and Voila… Hot Cocoa. Enjoy it as it is or add some marshmallows.

We also enjoy making this when we have our ‘Polar Express’ parties… hopefully, I’ll be writing a post about this soon. This is also a great treat to take camping with you to enjoy on those crisp mornings.

I have two versions of this and you can try them both to find your favorite. I often make double batches as we can go through quite a bit of this rather quickly. (You will need a large container with a tight lid to store this in.) Continue reading “Made From Scratch Hot Cocoa”

Making Memories With Family

My oldest daughter and her husband came to visit this weekend. We decided to have an impromptu cookout with hamburgers, hot dogs, deviled eggs, baked beans, and pasta salad… yum!

The best part of the whole time was not the food but the time we spent together. I wasn’t feeling really well and tried to ‘keep away’ but watching the kids all spend time together was really amazing. The little kids enjoyed having big sister around and they loved playing with their dog.

The older kids decided to get down some games… I normally have them in a big coffee table, however that coffee table is out on the porch because we have no room right now, so they had to get them down from the storage loft. (We have a big collection of board games as we would request these for Christmas gifts as the whole family can enjoy them. Board games do make great Christmas gifts!)

First came Battleship, we have the older version somewhere but couldn’t find it so they got down the Electronic version, however we couldn’t find all the pieces so I guess that will need to go on the Christmas list. I am thinking about getting this Star Wars version.

Next came the classic Monopoly. We would spend hours playing this game when they were younger. We also have the set with a speed die. DD18 is planning on getting this out later to play again with the kids. I am thinking about checking out the Junior edition too as this is a great game to teach money skills.

Last they pulled down the old Scrabble. (We have a couple version of this game too.) I love that you can buy replacement tiles for this game fairly cheap and these tiles also work great for crafts. I think my oldest daughter took the electronic version home with her to play with her husband. This is also a great game to help with reading, spelling, vocabulary, and math as you count up the scores. You could start younger kids out with this junior edition.

After they played for a while we ate dinner together and talked a bit. Big sister also passed out some bags of Halloween candy for everyone. We cleaned up and they went home as it was starting to get dark and they had to work the next morning.

DD18 wasn’t ready to put up the games though. She asked Mr. Awesome and me if we would play and we did. We played Scrabble first and she went to grab the dictionary so she could make sure my words were ‘legal’… lol. Like I would really cheat. I do pull words out of my head that I don’t even know that I knew sometimes though.

Once that game was over they decided to play Monopoly again. We had a blast playing even though they lost… again. This was definitely one of those days that we will keep in our hearts forever. It has also encouraged us to start some new traditions with the younger kids. I am hoping to start having a game night at least once week like I did when my oldest kids were younger.

All in all today was a great day. I am so thankful for these days and feel so very blessed to have such a wonderful family! I definitely feel like a winner!

 

Special Holiday Meals: National Ice Cream Day

National Ice Cream Day is the perfect day to pull out that old ice cream maker and make a batch of homemade ice cream! Click here to learn more about this holiday. It is celebrated on July 13th.

This might also be a nice day to plan an ‘Ice Cream Social’, where your friends and family can have an ice cream-making competition. Have everyone bring their favorite ice cream toppings, and everyone can make a different flavor too! We had this every year before school started when my older kids were little, and it was SO MUCH FUN!! We also had their birthday parties together at this time… knocking out a few ‘birds’ at a time!

 Here are our favorite recipes for celebrating National Ice Cream Day:

Hot Fudge Sundae Cakeso good with fresh homemade ice cream!

Banana Splits

Fruit Cobbler with Ice Cream

Frappes 

Continue reading “Special Holiday Meals: National Ice Cream Day”

Special Holiday Meals: National Blueberry Day

National Blueberry Day is the day we celebrate the marvelous blueberry! Click here to learn more about this holiday. It is celebrated on July 8th.

We have a few blueberry bushes growing in the yard, but little Shyanne eats them as quick as they get ripe. One day, we may have enough to start freezing them so we can enjoy blueberry dishes all year round.

Here are some of our favorite blueberry recipes:

Blueberry Pie Filling

Blueberry Yum-Yum

Fruit Cobbler

Blueberry Oatmeal Bread

Blueberry Dump Cake

Blueberry Syrup

Plus, you can add blueberries to your yogurt, oatmeal, pancakes or waffles, and just eat them fresh for a snack.


Continue reading “Special Holiday Meals: National Blueberry Day”

Our Favorite Holiday Recipes

This idea came to me as Easter was approaching. Some of these recipes will be found in other areas of my blog but I wanted to gather them together to make it easier for others, and myself to find.

New Year’s

Black Eyed Peas

Easy Collard Greens

Hoe Cakes

 

Easter

Brown Sugar & Honey Glazed Ham

Chocolate Covered Eggs

Coconut Cake

Empty Tomb Rolls

Pickled Eggs

 

Thanksgiving/Christmas

30 minute Rolls

Brown Sugar & Honey Glazed Ham

Candies

Grandma’s Mac N Cheese

Green Bean Casserole

Luscious Four-Layer Pumpkin Cake

Russian Tea Cakes

Sweet Potato Casserole