Hot Cocoa In A Bag - Last Minute Gifty- Tutorial

If you need a super EASY gift for teachers, friends, neighbors etc. The Hot Cocoa in a bag is for you. It does require one hardship though, going to the supermarket at a very busy time of year. So here is the tutorial for you...
Materials Needed:

1. Frosting Piping Bags 12in (12 to a package) Wilton found at JoAnn Fabrics
2. Holiday Twist Ties (Found in Candy Making Section)
3. Mini Marshmallows One Bag (makes 12 bags)
4. Mini Chocolate Chips (Bulk Section of your supermarket) 6 large scoops
5. Spice Drops 12 in Green and Red or whatever color you wish (one scoop in bulk section)
6. Large Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa Container in the Hot Cocoa isle of your supermarket
7. To & From Label stickers (optional)

First take the piping bag and fold it over about 3-4 inches. This helps prevent hot cocoa dust to get on your marshmallows.

Put a 1/2 cup of hot cocoa mix in the bag. Plus a bit extra if you wish. I actually did two 1/4 c. plus a little. It doesn't have to be perfect.

Add approximately 1/4 c. of chips. Or more, just for fun.

Add a generous amount of mini marshmallows 1/2 cup.

 Add a green, red, or whatever color gum drop on the top (just for fun and color). Give it a good twist, your marshmallows will smoosh a bit but that is ok. Some of the Internet instructions call for a clear rubber band, I just used twist ties on mine and they were fine. Add your twist tie and you are DONE!!! You can add stickers or To:/From: labels if you like.

Reindeer Girl :-). She will take these to school to give out to the principal, VP, secretaries, special area teachers and so on. I like this whole idea because it helps to teach my 6 year old how to give. I hope to raise a child whom is both a good giver and receiver!

Our final stash looked like this. And yes she did have to take them ALL to school and pass all of them out!

Fall at my house...LITERALLY

D.D. (which stands for dear daughter sometimes affectionately and other times kinda sorta sarcastically) decided that leaves should fall in our home as well, so she plucked them off of my banister garland and let them drop to the floor.

I decided to try Lisa's recipe for pumpkin bread. She has talked about it a lot on her blog and now I know why. Everyone who has tried it has loved it. We shared with A.'s preschool teacher today too.
The next picture I took this past weekend, couldn't resist! We had such great weather that A. was almost over dressed, unprecedented for this time of year.

Sign of fall in my backyard...OMG I didn't notice the rainbow in this picture until just now!!!! I have seen a rainbow in that same spot about 5 or six times now.
Another YUMMY Soup for ya....
My husband even likes it with all the healthy stuff in it I was surprised he liked it but he did!

Classic Minestrone this is from Allrecipes.com:
SUBMITTED BY: Michelle Chen "This famous Italian soup has been much imitated around the world with very different results. The homemade version is a delicious revelation and is also extremely healthy, as it has pasta, beans and fresh vegetables. Try to make the minestrone a day early and refrigerate as this improves the flavors. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese and chopped fresh parsley."

US
METRIC
INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 leek, sliced
2 carrots, chopped
1 zucchini, thinly sliced
4 ounces green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 1/2 quarts vegetable stock
1 pound chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, with liquid
1/4 cup elbow macaroni
salt and ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan, over medium heat. Add leek, carrots, zucchini, green beans and celery. Cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 15 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally.
Stir in the stock, tomatoes and thyme. Bring to a boil, then replace the lid, and reduce heat to low; simmer gently for 30 minutes.
Stir in the cannellini beans with liquid and pasta. Simmer for an additional 10 minutes, or until pasta is al dente. Season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.

Culinary Post...

These tomatoes all came from our vegetable garden in our back yard. This was our first year doing a veggie garden and I am really looking forward to doing it again next year. It is SOOOO incredibly easy to do. We used starter plants from a local farm market. We even have a resident bunny that left our crop alone. We did zucchini (just one plant, it produced a lot) and 4 tomato plants which was about right. We also did three pepper plants. And one yellow squash which didn't make it. I had to give all of the below tomatoes to my mother to make sauce with because I couldn't keep up. She in turn gave me 4 frozen boxes of sauce, can't wait to try it!

I love a good hot soup in the fall. I love the fresh apples from the farm market. And I will share a No Clam Clam Chowder Soup that is fun to make and to die for!!!!



No Clam Clam Chowder:

1 medium onion
3 Tblsp butter or margarine
1.5 cups chopped peeled potatoes (or if you are feeling really lazy get the white small round potatoes like I used in the photo and leave the skin on, just clean well)
1/2 cup water (sometimes more to cover potatoes to cook in)
1 can cream style corn
2 c. milk (I use skim and it still tastes yummy)
1tsp salt
pepper to taste
5 slices crisp fried bacon (optional - or you can use bacon bits)

Saute onion in butter. Add potatoes and water, cook covered 15 - 30 min until potatoes are softened. Add corn and milk and just heat until hot. Add salt and pepper and bacon if using. Enjoy!!!!