Healthy Hot Chocolate!

Love Hot chocolate?  Me too!  What I didn’t like was all the junk that is added to instant hot chocolate.

For example here are the list of ingredients for Nestle’ Instant Hot Cocoa Mix –

Product Ingredients

SUGAR, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, VEGETABLE OIL (PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED COCONUT OR PALM KERNEL AND HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN)**, DAIRY PRODUCT SOLIDS, COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI, AND LESS THAN 2% OF CELLULOSE GUM, NONFAT MILK, SALT, SODIUM CASEINATE, DIPOTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM ALUMINOSILICATE, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, GUAR GUM, ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS.

Yum? After reading that list, it makes me want to pass on the cup of cocoa even on a cold day!

Fortunately, there is an EASY & most importantly a HEALTHY Hot Chocolate recipe that even your kids will love.

With No Sugar, No Hydrogenated Oils, and No chemicals you can’t pronounce!

(Yes, it passed my 12 year-old-daughter’s test!) She even said, “It is the best hot chocolate ever!”

So here it is –

• 1 1/2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder with 70% or more cacao.
• 1 packet of Stevia powder (or 1/4 tsp. liquid)
• 1 cup of raw milk  (Click here to learn more about the benefits of raw milk)
• For special times – add a dollop of whip cream (Natural by Nature uses organic cream and only 1 gram of sugar from cane sugar with no hydrogenated oils)

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and heat gently (DO NOT let boil) stirring frequently until cocoa is just beginning to steam.  Pour into a mug and enjoy.

*Heating on low will allow the antioxidants to release from the cocoa and will not destroy all of the beneficial ingredients in the raw milk.

To save time and allow my daughter to make it, I mixed the cocoa and stevia together in a glass jar so when it is time to make it, it is a little quicker and neater.

Enjoy!

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Don’t Give Up Your Chocolate! Try this Healthy Version…

Dark Chocolate Goji Berries!

I found these in my local co-op from a company called Extreme Health USA.

A couple of days a week I get an urge for chocolate.  So instead of giving it up, I’ve changed what kind of chocolate I’ll eat.

For the most part, I will only eat organic dark chocolate because of the increased antioxidant properties with less of the unhealthy part – namely sugar.  These use organic evaporated cane juice instead of the refined white sugar found in most chocolate.

I love these bite size chocolate covered berries because of their taste – but check out the health benefits:

COMPARE Antioxidant Levels
FOOD	ORAC Units*
Goji Berry	25,100
Prunes	5,700
Raisins	2,830
Spinach	1,260
Brussel Sprouts	980
Broccoli	890
Oranges	750
Cherries	670
* ORAC units (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity Scale) is a measure of the ability of antioxidants to absorb oxygen “free radicals”; 3000 units is considered an industry standard for health. Extreme Health’s Goji Berry is 25,100 units.

So if you get that chocolate craving- give these a try!  They also come in other flavors like Cappuccino, milk chocolate, and pomegranate yogurt.

To Your Health!

www.GreenLifeSaver.net