Usually, the luxury items of life, cost us the most on our grocery bills. I am not only trying to become more sustainable and more healthy, but I try to keep all of it in a $70 a week budget (actually closer to $65). And in doing that, the "luxury items", either have to be left off the grocery list or we have to pay the price... I also think there is a WONDERFUL third option... Make it yourself! Like chocolate syrup! Mmmm! Chocolate syrup is wonderful in milk or on top of ice cream...
So, I found this recipe, I guess it is originally by the Tightwad Gazette. But you will find people (like me!) re-listing it all over the Internet... The only problem that I have with the recipe (or recipes LIKE this), is there is so much sugar!!! The average American consumes 22 teaspoons of sugar a day, and I also read about 152 lbs a year!!! So, I try to reduce our sugar intake as much as I can. And the thing I try to replace sugar with (in the NEEDED cases!), is honey. We use raw, natural honey. So, in the recipe listed below, I have replaced one cup of sugar with honey...
Chocolate Syrup
1/2 C. cocoa
1 C. water (I reduced the amount of water to 1/2 C. using honey)
2 C. Sugar ( I used 1 C. sugar, 1 C. honey)
1/8 tsp. salt (sea salt!)
1/4 tsp. vanilla
Whisk cocoa into water until dissolved . Heat on high, then add sugar. Stir well while syrup starts to boil. Turn down a little bit, but keep a rolling boil. Boil 3 minutes. Add salt & vanilla. Stir well. Cool and store in refrigerator for several weeks.
Adding this to your milk for chocolate milk, you won't need to add much and you need to stir it a bit more, but oh my!!! It is good! I haven't had it on ice cream but have tasted it on it's own, and hubby says it tastes like fudge! It is a DELICIOUS alternative to the store bought!
Enjoy!
6 comments:
Awesome, Awesome, Awesome!!! I love you!!
I hate buying this with the hfcs in it!! Can't wait to try this recipe. Looks soooooo easy!
okay maybe I'm a little toooo excited!
I'm so glad to see this recipe. I'm finding that so many pre-made chocolate ingredients have GMO's in them including chocolate syrup. But from what I can tell, the cocoa is okay. Thanks for sharing something that we can use instead!
I have made my own homemade syrup and my family likes it better than the store versions. You are right homemade versions are usually healthier and cheaper than store bought ones.
I think this sounds wonderful!! I'm happy to find your blog and glad you posted your healthier substitute for the store variety. Love it!
:o)
Sarah, one of my favorite blogs for great nutritious sugar free foods is http://thefrugallyrichlife.wordpress.com/
She recently posted a recipe for chocolate syrup/sauce with no sugar. Let me know what you think. I hope this helps you in reducing the amount of sugar intake in your family and replacing it with "natural" sugars.
THANK YOU - THIS ONE WILL BE WELL USED!
Post a Comment