Yes this is a repeat of last year's. I drug out this recipe for a friend and thought...hey, why don't I repost this? I am going to make some and this recipe was on my old computer which will no longer... umm- turn on. =0) Sooo glad it was here!

Next week-ish I will share some photos of when we went up to Lassen Volcanic National Park...yes a volcano. Since we have a very small baby we couldn't hike into some of the really good spots and some were closed off for the winter. But we did drive up Sulpher Works and checked out some stinky fumerols. It's amazing these things are hot steamy ...steam with stinky rotten gas coming out from downnnnn under. I'll post nearly all scenic pictures with very few people or I will try to crop them out. If you'd like to show your kids the pics and then do a quick search on the net to learn what a fumerol is. Very educational! The kids had a blast...I am telling you though- it was stanky!! LOL

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Lime Mint Sugar Scrub

Instead of posting a bunch or words- how about I say with pictures? =0) We had a great Thanksgiving, hope you did too. Here are pics of our Thanksgiving (we went on a nature walk instead of the typical Turkey Day). We ate the previous weekend.

Here are my beauties and handsomes!

To catch a cold!! All 4 of my kids and myself have a nasty chest cold. My house is wrecked, school is abandoned for another week and the laundry is piling up. Still the best job in the world! Hope everyone else is healthy! =0)

Amy

I was hoping to make it 2 weeks without going to the grocers, but I will have to go to pick up some milk and bananas. Unavoidable. I have 2 fridges and to get through 2 weeks - I'd need to buy about 8 gallons of milk. I still couldn't fit that many jugs of milk in 2 fridges. Yipes! And bananas (which hubby must have daily) has to bought weekly or they is nassshhhty. They come out tasting like nanner wine or something. Yick! But other than those 2 items, we need nothing.

Monday- Beef Stew, Fresh Bread and Veg

Tuesday- Chili, Corn Bread, Veg

Wednesday- Roasted Chicken, Yellow Rice, Veg and leftover breads

Thursday- French Toast, Eggs and Berry Fruit Smoothies

Friday- Homemade Pizza

Saturday- Enchiladas, Veg (they were a huge hit last week- all the kids loved them - I think it was the addition of the mashed kidney beans- weird!)

Sunday- Egg Fried Rice, Egg Drop Soup, Veg

(we missed this last week, will post recipes for these tasty Asian dishes later this week)

I came up with this recipe when I wanted some hot cocoa but ran out of mix. My kids and husband love it. It is very rich and chocolate-y. Try it once and tweak it to your own taste. If it is too rich, dilute with some more milk. Too sweet? Decrease sugar. Too chocolate-y. Reduce cocoa powder. I run this through my blender because it blends the cocoa powder and sugar in so that it is creamy. Otherwise cocoa powder has more of a gritty mouth feel. Unavoidable to some extent but using the blender helps tremendously.

This makes 4 nice sized mugs of hot cocoa. We like to top with mini marshmallows AND whipped cream. The cocoa itself is very lowfat- so feel free to leave off the toppings to keep calories down.

Amy's Rich & Creamy Hot Cocoa

into blender:

32 ounces milk

1/2 cup sugar (1/3 cup will make it taste like dark chocolate mmm!)

1/2 cup powdered milk

1/2 cup cocoa

Blend for about 1 to 2 minutes on high. Pour into 4 mugs. Heat in microwave for about 1 minute each mug. Remove mug and stir and check temp. If you want it hotter after stirring, nuke for 30 more seconds. That should do it! You can heat this on the stove too. Just pour in small saucepan and heat over low heat for a little bit, stirring almost constantly. Too long in the microwave or too high heat or too long on the stove could cause the milk to curdle- so just watch it.

*Psssst....this also is delicious as a creamy chocolate milk. When made in the blender, this becomes thick and creamy like the kind you buy at the store but without all the calories and unpronouncable extras. A very good kid friendly treat!

YUMMY!!

I don't know how everyone else's school year is going- I hope well! Our's has not been going long but it is going well. No more fighting with...I don't wanna do schoolwork whines. Yay! And it's exciting watching his reading progress! Second grade is a lot more work than the first though, I gotta say. Well and having a newborn I am sure makes it a tad more busy. LOL

I attempted to go 2 week shopping this week instead of 1 week. We will see how it goes. I didn't buy any meat, using what I have on hand and I also have a ton of eggs. So we'll be using up some of that. If anyone has any eggs dishes or breads or anything that call for several eggs- and you wanna share- please do! You can share it as a comment or share it on your blog and link me to ya. I'd love to eat up all these eggs- using them as our main protein source for the next 2 weeks. That's called frugal and resourceful right? *wink* I think the only things my family are not crazy about are quiches and omelets.

Monday- German Lentil Soup (it's spiced with caraway mm!), Biscuits and Mix Veggies

Tuesday- Beef Enchiladas (1/2 beef a dn 1/2 kidney beans) w/Green Sauce, Corn and Apple Sauce

Wednesday- Pancakes, Eggs and Fresh Pears...OJ too

Thursday- Egg Fried Rice, Egg Drop Soup and Veggie Medley

Friday- Homemade Pizza

Saturday- Chicken Vegetable Noodle Soup (from a chicken I will roast Friday), Fresh Bread and Salad

Sunday- Leftover Soup, Grilled Cheese, Salad and homemade Chocolate Shakes or homemade Hot Cocoa (depending on what the general consensus is lol)

Yay, I'm back!! Trying to eat healthier while using up shtuff I have on hand and also incorporating fall veggies into our dinners. Mmm! I LOVE Autumn!

Sunday- Garlic & Thyme White Bean Soup, Toasted Sourdough Bread, Salad

Monday- Spaghetti Squash w/Pine Nuts, Sage and Romano cheese, Garlic Bread, Salad

Tuesday- Homemade Refried Beans & Cheese Burritos, Corn-on-the-cob, Peaches

Wednesday- Meatballs, Basmati Rice and Orange Baked Sweet Dumpling Squash

Thursday- Roasted Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Fresh Green beans in olive oil and garlic

Friday- Pizza (Little Caesars Pizza for now hehe)

Saturday- Leftovers from the week!