Sunday, January 3, 2010

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free Hot Chocolate

     Brrr!  It has been so cold here over the last several days. 
     With wind chills below zero, it is truly frigid outside tonight, and if you sit near a window in our house, you can feel the wind coming through.  My poor hubby begged me for hot chocolate tonight.  We haven't had hot chocolate since going gluten free, dairy free, and all natural.  I have looked at all the ingredients on the commercial hot chocolate mixes.  In my opinion, they are inedible, even if you are able to have dairy.  I don't know about you, but I don't want to feed my precious loved ones corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and other harmful things.  So, when we got home from church tonight, I went to the kitchen and came up with a pretty tasty and healthy hot chocolate that even passed my picky husband's scrutiny.

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free Hot Chocolate
3 c. dairy free milk*
2 rounded Tbs. cocoa powder
2 dropperfuls NuNaturals Alcohol Free Vanilla Stevia liquid**

Whisk together the milk and cocoa powder in a sauce pan on medium-high heat.  Add the stevia.  Continue to whisk occasionally until the hot chocolate is heated through.  Ladle into 2 mugs.  Feel free to play around with this recipe for your individual taste.  I am thinking that I may try adding a few mint leaves, or maybe some cinnamon next time. 

* I used rice milk because that is what I have on hand.  However, this would be exceptionally good and creamy with MimicCream, cashew milk, or even coconut milk.  You could even do half rice milk and half MimicCream.  A lot of times I will mix up some coconut milk tonic, which is very good and good for you.  This would be great using that, as well.  You can find information about the health benefits of coconut milk tonic (as well as a great and easy recipe to make it yourself) here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2008/05/coconut-milk-tonic.html .  I usually do not make mine with the vanilla because I just prefer the flavor without, and I don't use the dolomite powder because I am still unsure about the health benefits of it verses the possible dangers.  I have to do more research on it. 

** You can use a little sugar or whatever other sweetener you prefer, if you don't want to use the stevia.  I understand that some people find stevia too herbal in taste, however I feel that the NuNaturals liquid stevia is pleasant and does not have as strong an herbal taste as other brands if used in moderation.  Sometimes I will use a little maple syrup with a little stevia in recipes, so as not to use an overpowering amount of stevia.  My sister uses a little less cocoa powder and some sugar instead of stevia. My husband usually does not like stevia, but he really loved this hot chocolate and couldn't tell it had stevia in it instead of sugar or maple syrup. You may decide you like a little less stevia, perhaps 1 1/2 dropperfuls.

     I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's.  We were very busy.  I have been especially busy baking.  Today was the last party--my grandfather's 89th birthday party.  He has diabetes, so I made my revised Banana Cake recipe in a 9x13 baking pan, frosted with a homemade chocolate frosting.  I sweetened everything with agave nectar, which I normally do not use because I have read that it has similar properties to high fructose corn syrup.  However, agave nectar is lower on the Glycemic Index than the other sweeteners I usually use in my cake and is, therefore, better for diabetics, according to my understanding.
     I also made a triple batch of Elana's Cranberry Walnut Bread from http://www.elanaspantry.com/ to give as Christmas gifts to my relatives at the party that we missed seeing on Christmas day.  On top of that, I made 2 gluten free pizzas with a few pieces of pizza being dairy free, because this was a pizza party, and my kids would have had a difficult time seeing and smelling the pizza without being able to eat any of it (my one son cannot have any dairy, while the rest have it occasionally).  I did most of this baking this morning (the cake and bread), went to church, and then made the pizzas immediately after church before leaving to go to the party.  We left the party early, dropped the kids off at home, and then went to church for a prayer meeting.  What a busy day! 
     I am so glad all the parties are over now, though they were fun.  I am looking forward to getting life back to normal and on a schedule. 
     Let me know how this recipe turns out for you and what your holiday celebrations were like.

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