Healthy Hot Chocolate

It's snowing!! Well if you can really call hail and sleet snowing, however, it has settled on the ground in Dunedin and therefore shut down most of the schools. I am currently on dissertation leave at the moment so it hasn't affected me too much. One thing it does mean is that i am very keen to just stay inside with lots of warming food.

This hot chocolate definitely fits the bill! I came up with this last week when I was trying to watch the amount of sugar I was consuming. This actually makes a great afternoon snack as it is quite filling. I will note that I tried this with both full-fat cows milk and with an almond milk/ coconut  milk blend (both were delicious!). I know that there is a lot of debate around full fat dairy vs. low fat dairy, but at the moment I find full fat dairy much more satisfying. You also have to watch low fat dairy as often extra sugar is added to improve the flavour.

This would probably work with almost any type of milk so let me know what you used and if it tasted any good!

Ingredients
1 cup milk of choice
2 tsp raw cacao or cocoa powder
1-2 tsp rice malt syrup or honey (depends on your sweet tooth)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Cinnamon for sprinkling (optional)

In a mug mix the honey/rice malt syrup, vanilla and cacao to form a paste. Add the milk stirring to combine a little. Heat in the microwave for a minute or so, depending on your microwave. Stir very well to make sure that the paste has fully combined with the milk.

Sprinkle with cinnamon and enjoy!

Better than Powerade- Homemade Electrolyte Drink

I did intend on posting this recipe about a week ago, but between my sister's wedding and beginning my honours course classes I got a tad busy. 

Being a tad busy is something that I am pretty sure I am just going to have to get over this year. After 2 days back at uni I have a list of about 10 things to do including 2 assignment due in about 2 weeks time. I also have to begin all of my prep to write my dissertation now. Hungry Male, if you are reading this I advise you to find some sort of project or hobby for the year as you may be abandoned for the library quite often.

I will try to keep creating recipes for you and posting them, but it may be a case of me sharing more what I am eating at the moment than recipes themselves and be prepared for busy periods when it may be a matter of weeks between posts.

I am also pretty sure that I am going to be needing this recipe a lot this year! Last Saturday I unfortunately woke up with what we know at Otago as "Fresher Flu". Basically it was a head cold with a bit of a nasty cough, but with a busy week ahead preparing for the wedding I wanted rid of it quickly! After looking at a few didn't recipes for homemade electrolyte drinks I develoepd this one to my tastes. While I definitely have a sweet tooth, I tend to quite dislike things like drinks that I think have waaaaaay more sugar added to them than is necessary. Electrolyte drinks such as powerade and gatorade fall into that category. I much prefer this homemade version as it is packed full of Vitamin C and it is very easy to adjust it to your tastes.

Ingredients

2 large lemons

2 organges

1/2- 1 tsp fine salt

2-4 tsp honey (I went with 2)

1 cup coconut water (or if not available, 1 cup cold water)

1 litre cold water

Squeeze the lemons and oranges and pour into a jug. Add the salt and honey and stir until they have both dissolved a bit.

Add the coconut water and cold water and give everything a really good stir until well combined.

Best served chilled