Clean Coco

My calendar tells me it's Autumn! Oh- thank goodness! Autumn is my favorite season. It's the season in which I got married to my best friend, the season in which both my man cubs were born. It's just my favorite!   On Facebook my friends are talking about cooler weather & posting pictures of their pumpkin spice lattes, I think quite a few of us are just ready for a change of season & all the goodies that come with it!

Last night my youngest man cub "B" and I were downtown for a lecture (more on that later) and I noticed a little chill in the breezy air. Not quite chilly enough for a sweater, but just enough chill to give me an excuse to make hot chocolate when we got back home. (not to mention the theatre was Cold!!) I don't make just any hot chocolate though, I like my hot coco CLEAN!

Now, I am not a religious clean eater, but I try my best. It just makes sense to want to eat foods that are minimally processed and sweetened as naturally as possible. I could step on a soap box here about we are what we eat, etc, etc...but I'll save that for another day (also because as I type this I am drinking a Dr. Pepper... so I don't judge) but a few years ago I found a great clean eating blog, Tiffany at http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/ has been one of my go to resources for clean eating recipes and tricks. I honestly can say that I have not been disappointed with any of her recipes- some I make again & again. One of which is hot chocolate. I challenge you to read this ingredient list and then compare it with store bought hot chocolate- and then ask yourself why you'd ingest that??  

It's not so chilly today in Savannah, in fact it's a wet & balmy 78 right now, but those cooler temps are coming so I'd like to share this with you.   http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-hot-chocolate/
As I do with many recipes, I have modified this one to suit our taste, but I credit Tiffany with this original. For example, I use a little more milk than 2 cups and I use ancho chili pepper instead of cayenne (they both are awesome though!)  This is so simple to make and is sooo scrummy on a chilly day! I hope you will give it a try.

Many blessings to you & yours!
Sarah