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5 Warming and Comforting Drink Recipes To Sip Slow and Savor

Warming spiced almond milk

Fall is my favorite. I get all nest-y when cooler weather hits. I get out the fuzzy socks, drape my couch in snuggly blankets, light candles and make sure my Kindle is full of good reads.

I fight the hustle and bustle of life, deliberately slow down and nestle in.

I delight in evenings when we are all home together, and when it happens I make sure there is soup simmering, and often offer mugs of warm drinks after dinner.

Even when I can’t gather my 3 lovelies (as they are teenagers and often scattered), you can still find me most fall evenings with a warm mug in hand.

Here are 5 favorites that I have on rotation:

5 Warming and Comforting Drink Recipes To Sip Slow and Savor

Warming Spiced Almond Milk

1 cup almond milk

1 tablespoon almond butter

1 tablespoon almond milk creamer, vanilla flavor (optional)

1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

a pinch of ginger

a pinch of cayenne

……….

Combine all ingredients in a small pan.

Heat on the stove over medium heat until warm.

Sprinkle top with a touch of cinnamon for pretty. Sit down, inhale, and sip slow.

Hint: if you like a bit of froth on top, you can put it into a blender & blend (venting to allow steam to escape) or use a french press and plunge a few times until bubbles form.  

pumpkin-spice-chai

3 Ingredient  Pumpkin Spice Chai

1 cup milk (I used almond)
2 pumpkin spice teabags
3/4 cup chai concentrate, or to taste

Put milk into a saucepan.  Add teabags.  Steep the teabags in milk for 5-7 minutes & warm to desired temperature.  Add chai concentrate.  Stir.  Pour into 2 mugs, sit with a loved one and sip slow.

Hint: if you don’t have pumpkin spice tea (my favorite is from Trader Joes) you can use black tea or rooibos tea and sprinkle in a little pumpkin pie spice. Also, the brand of chai I like is Oregon Chai Concentrate. Tazo is another popular brand but its cardamom flavor is too strong for my taste.

spices-warm-drinks

ALMOND VANILLA MAPLE SPICED MOCHA

1 cup vanilla almond milk

1/2 cup double- strength brewed coffee

1 Tbsp cocoa powder

1-2 Tbsp maple syrup

pinch of cinnamon

2-3 dashes of cayenne or a pinch of red pepper flakes

pinch of salt

……….

Brew a double strength coffee. Heat the almond milk until quite hot. Add cocoa powder. Whisk the cocoa powder into the milk, briskly stirring until all clumps have melted away. Stir in the coffee, spices and maple syrup. Adjust the sweetness and spice according to your own taste. Snuggle up in your favorite chair and sip slow.

Hint: if you don’t have vanilla flavored almond milk, just add a drop or two of vanilla extract.

Godiva Liqueur Hot Chocolate

Best Ever Hot Chocolate

8 oz  milk of your choice (almond, soy, dairy)

3 Dove chocolates (or your favorite brand chocolate square, milk or dark, I like dark)

1-2 teaspoons Godiva Chocolate liqueur

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar (optional)

……….

Heat in microwave until hot (less than 2 minutes.) Whisk until combined.

Sit back, relax, and sip slow.

Hint: use my favorite frother to whip it up and make it extra creamy and beautiful. 

 

Ginger-Lemon-Tea-Slider

Honey Lemon Ginger Tea

1/2 inch fresh ginger root, cut into slices (no need to peel)

2 wedges of lemon

1 tsp raw honey

……….

Squeeze 2 wedges of lemon into your tea cup. Add the wedges into the cup for added benefits of the oils from the lemon skin. Add 2 slices of ginger. Heat water in a tea kettle–I love my electric one that heats in minutes. Pour over ginger and lemon. Add honey and stir. Steep for a good 5 minutes. Strain, hug the mug, inhale the steam and sip slow.

Hint: both lemon wedges and ginger slices can be kept in the freezer in small mason jars. The hot water will thaw them. Also, a tea cup with an infuser like my favorite one is very handy. 

sip slow and savor warm drinks

{click photo for your pinning pleasure}

How about you?

What is your favorite warm drink?

Drinks/ RECIPES

Best Ever Hot Chocolate Part 2

I wrote this post on The Best Ever Hot Chocolate a few days ago, and had a reader ask for ideas on how to adjust this a recipe for someone who is a teetotaler.  I think it is a great question, as I know there are many people, with reasons I completely respect, for choosing to not consume alcohol.

I made the original recipe (click here for recipe) minus the Godiva Liqueur, and added another teaspoon of sugar.  I am drinking a cup right now, and it tastes creamy and good. (I used whole milk for creaminess.)  I have a few ideas to make it even better.

My first idea would be to make Homemade Chocolate Sauce, and add a teaspoon or 2 in place of Godiva Liqueur.   This recipe is from Small Notebook (I love this blog, one of my favorites), I put this on my “homemade gifts to make sometime” list.

The next idea I had is quite exciting!!   I owe the inspiration to my Grandpa Earl, who is a huge fan of Werther’s Original Candies.  They had a way of showing up in his overalls’ pockets, which delighted my girls whenever they got to see him.  When we go to Missouri to visit Grandpa and Grandma, there is always a bowl of them sitting in the entryway, inviting us to help ourselves. I will never eat a Werther’s Original candy without thinking of grandpa!

Back to my idea,  I think it would be delicious to drop a Werther’s Original candy into the mug along with the Dove Chocolates.  I like that it would keep with the theme of dropping candies in the mug.  In fact… I will call it Candy Drop Hot Cocoa.  Who wouldn’t want to drink something with a name like that?  I have never tried this in Hot Cocoa, but I have dropped them into a steaming cup of coffee and they would slowly melt, giving my coffee a great buttery, caramel-y flavor. If you wanted faster dissolving, you could crush the candies before adding.  The Werther’s hard candies come in a variety of flavors–Mocha, Butterscotch, Irish Creme, Vanilla– how fun would it be to experiment with all of those?  Werther’s also sell a soft caramel chew, which might dissolve easier.

Candy Drop Hot Cocoa
8 oz milk
11/2 tsp sugar
3 Dove Chocolates
2 Werther’s Originals Hard Candy-any flavor (can crush for easier dissolving)
 or Werther’s Original Soft Caramel Chew
Microwave milk in mug until hot (about 11/2 minutes).  Add Sugar.
Drop in Dove Chocolate Candies and Werther’s Original Candies.
Give it a whirl until Chocolate is dissolved and enjoy!

Here are some other ideas to add to a plain mug of hot chocolate to make it special:
~Marshmallows
~Crushed Candy Canes or a few drops of peppermint extract
~A few drops of almond extract
~Crushed Peanut Butter Cups to melt into it- oh yum.
~Espresso Powder
~A bit of flavored cappuccino
~Any flavor of powdered or liquid creamers
~A pinch of cayenne and some cinnamon for a Mexican Hot Chocolate
~A spoonful of Raspberry Jelly
~Red Hot Candies

All this talk of Hot Chocolate brings back a child hood memory.  My mom would have us make Hot Chocolate and accompany it with Buttered Toast.   She showed us how to cut the toast diagonally in half and dip it into the Hot Chocolate.  I know it sounds like soggy yuckness, but the saltiness of the butter mixed with the sweet chocolate was quite tasty!

PS.  Can you tell my healthy eating goes pretty much out the window during the holidays?  We still get all our nutrients from real food, but we definitely add more processed foods and sugar foods than normal.
I’m completely at peace about that, as long as my family holds on to their good health throughout the season and as long as we keep it to a minimum.

Drinks/ RECIPES

Best Ever Hot Chocolate

I am excited to share this jewel of a recipe with you.  It is a special drink, so make it when you are feeling.. special!:)  This would not be an every night kind of drink- too expensive and not good for the body- but for a treat, I say go for it!
It combines 2 brands of chocolate..Godiva and Dove.  I know, very indulgent.

I got the recipe from a very special lady, Ilo Tefft.  She told me about the recipe almost a year ago and I have not forgotten about it, but I was too cheap to buy a bottle of Godiva Chocolate Liqueur.  I had told a close friend about the recipe a while back, and guess what? For my birthday she bought me a bottle of Godiva Milk Chocolate Liqueur! How great is that? It is a beautiful bottle full of creamy milk chocolate.  Just a teaspoon in a cup of coffee creates a delightfully warm, evening drink, but.. back to the hot chocolate.  Ilo was kind enough send me the recipe again, and last night I was in creamy, dreamy, chocolate heaven.

Here is what you do:
*Pour about 8 oz milk into a mug (I used whole milk-yea, baby!)
*Drop 3 Dove chocolates into the mug of milk.
*Heat in microwave until hot (less then 2 minutes)
*Add Godiva Chocolate liqueur to taste, 1-2 teaspoons.
*Add 1 1/2 tsp sugar (optional)
*Use fancy frother to whip it up. (or just a spoon:))
*Sit back, relax, and sip!

(I love my Aerolatte Milk Frother, it makes me happy!  This would make a great gift!)

To cut down on cost, you can also use cocoa powder.  Heat the milk in your mug, add 1 Tbls Cocoa powder and a little less than 1 Tbls sugar.  Whip it up, add the Godiva liqueur, whip again, enjoy!

***For alcohol free hot chocolate ideas, Click here.

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