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What? Healthy Hot Chocolate!

It’s that time of year. The weather is getting cooler and leaves are beginning to fall. Time to get out the jeans and boots, carve some pumpkins and enjoy hot cocoa with the kids.

I specifically remember last year when the kids were out of school from a snow storm that paralyzed Charlotte. They played in the snow for hours and when they came in, wanted to enjoy a hot chocolate.

Of course I wanted to provide them this childhood moment that we have all experienced with such fond memories….coming in from the cold, stripping off the wet clothes to throw in the dryer, lingering cold red noses and ears, attempting to grip the hot mug of cocoa with frozen fingertips……in preparation to go out and do it all over again.

As wonderful as it sounded, I cringed every time they asked for that hot chocolate. Call me crazy, but have you ever read what is in that Swiss Miss packet??!  I definitely do not want my kids drinking that!

On a positive note, thank goodness there is at least SOME cocoa on that list?!?!  But next to  corn syrup, hydrogenated oil, artificial sweeteners and flavoring……is that REALLY necessary? I suppose if Con Agra wants their product to have a shelf life of 50+ years, then the answer would be yes. But not wanted OR necessary in my opinion!

So, this past Saturday morning Kendall and I were experimenting in the kitchen with a homemade hot chocolate…. and guess what? It passed the taste test with flying colors! It does have a slightly different taste in comparison 🙂 leaning more towards a dark hot chocolate, but absolutely delicious and the kids loved it.

Try it. If you need to adjust, I say play around with the ingredients a bit until you find your happy medium; but anything is better than “the packet.” Please don’t give your kids a cup of corn syrup this winter after coming in from the cold!

Enjoy!