*Yawn*
Is it really Monday already? Yes. It is.
It has definitely been a Monday. Over the weekend I tried my hand at around 4 recipes that I had intended to blog about this week. Guess what... they were all flops! Every. Single. One. Then this morning, it took me over an hour to find my list of recipes for our meals this upcoming week. Hello Monday!
So, while it was just not happening in the Ginger Lemon Girl kitchen this weekend, for new recipes... I did have my friend Amy and her family over on Saturday and made Mary Frances' Black Bean Enchiladas, which were fabulous! And I have to admit, we completely forgot about the "no sugar" thing and went whole hog since we had company. I made Melanie's Gooey Bars, and they were awesome. If you have a serious sweet craving, give those gooey bars a go! They were a hit!
This week we are back on schedule with our completely vegetarian, dairy free, meat free, sugar free week. And next week we can eat whatever we want, thank heavens! Poor Michael is just not happy with this diet. He can't wait to get a Pepsi again. And no matter what diet we are on, Michael says he refuses to give up his morning bowl of Cheerios. I can't blame him there.
This week I'm making simple, easy vegetable-based dishes. I do plan on posting at least 2 of the dishes! Please keep your fingers crossed they they will be blog-worthy!
The ingredient of the week is vanilla! I LOVE vanilla! I'm not sure what I will use it in this upcoming week since we are cutting out sugars completely, but I've included a special recipe at the end of this post featuring vanilla!
This Week's Menu:
Monday
Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers
Tuesday
Vegetarian Shepard's Pie
Wednesday
Curried Sweet Potatoes and Carrots over Millet
Thursday
Italian Style Veggie Meatballs with Polenta
Friday
Going out to a salad bar restaurant!
Monday
Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers
Tuesday
Vegetarian Shepard's Pie
Wednesday
Curried Sweet Potatoes and Carrots over Millet
Thursday
Italian Style Veggie Meatballs with Polenta
Friday
Going out to a salad bar restaurant!
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Saturday evening, after our friends had left, Michael asked if we could make hot chocolate! We had already blown the diet that day with Melanie's Gooey Bars, so I thought... why not! I created this recipe several years ago when I was being super frugal in my shopping habits. It makes an excellent, rich, creamy cup of hot chocolate! The vanilla really balances out the cocoa and makes it special!
Enjoy! I may try this recipe next week using almond milk or soy milk to see how it would work! I'd love to hear your thoughts!
A Humble cup of Hot Cocoa
2/3 cup powdered milk
2 Tbsp. cocoa
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 cups water
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
mini-marshmellows, if desired
Directions:
In a bowl, whisk together powdered milk, cocoa, and powdered sugar. In a medium sized saucepan, or double broiler, heat water until just boiling. Turn down to medium heat and add dry ingredients. Stir constantly on medium heat for additional five minutes. Take off heat and add vanilla extract. Serve immediately with marshmellows if desired. Serves 2.
For a printer friendly version, click here.
NOTE: This also works great as a ready mix. Simply double or triple the dry ingredients, mix thoroughly and keep in a tightly sealed container. Mix 1/2 cup dry mix with 1 cup hot water and serve. For a really rich cup of cocoa, we will occasionally also add a couple teaspoons of mini-chocolate chips to the dry mix!
