Chocolate Syrup of Win

Image by 427 via Flickr

1/2 cup of high fat (22-24%) Natural Cocoa powder
1 cup of water
2 cups of organic sugar
1/8 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 tsp of natural vanilla extract

In a 2 quart saucepan whisk the water and cocoa together over medium heat until simmering, stirring constantly. Whisk in the 2 cups of sugar slowly until it is all dissolved. Bring mixture to a rolling boil on medium high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium low and boil for 3 minutes, still whisking constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in salt and vanilla. Store in a sterilized mason jar or bottle in the refrigerator. It will seem thin at first, but will thicken as it cools. Use on anything you would regular chocolate syrup on . It makes AWESOME chocolate milk. :D


Important note: You can use regular sugar, regular cocoa, regular vanilla in this recipe. It will still taste sooo much better than anything you can buy at the market. This is just what I have on hand.

Terra's Corn Casserole

Yummy Corn Casserole. My sister makes this every time we go to a family event, and Mark asks me if I know it every time. Terra finally shared the recipe (read: I finally got it in print, I am sure she's told me a million times) and I made it last night. Now, I am sharing with you :)

All there is to it:

One can cream corn,
one can regular corn,
one stick butter,
one cup velveeta cheese,
one cup shell macaroni.
Melt butter,
then add the other ingredients.
Bake 30 min. covered and 30 min. uncovered at 350.

MockBisquickity Mix

Light, fluffy and perfect! I absolutely cannot get enough of this Biscuit mix replacement. The lactose (milk sugar) adds the perfect amount of sweetness, and the salt isn't overpowering.

You'll need:

• 9 cups of AP flour (or whatever mix of wheat and white flour you want, just know that the more whole wheat you use, the heavier the mix will be)
• 2 Cups of Non-Fat INSTANT Dry milk powder. (I cannot stress the instant enough, if you don't know that difference, then you probably only have access to instant. The non instant is through the LDS Cannery)
• 1 Cup of Coconut Oil (It does not taste like coconuts. It's just very good for you, trust me)
• 1 Tbsp Sea Salt
• 1/4 cup Baking Powder

Mix it up in either a kitchenaid mixer with the whipping attachment or with a pastry cutter (or even a fork, just mix it up thoroughly) until it starts looking a bit like cornmeal. Use where you would use Bisquick. Store in a sealed container (I use a reclaimed #10 can that my freeze dried veggies came in) in the freezer to keep it at it's freshest, or in the refrigerator.

Making Coffee Cake :)

So I was thumbing through my copy of the Better Times Cookbook (printed from the website)
and I found a really easy coffee cake recipe. It was about 2 am and my oldest son wasn't going to sleep, so I decided to let him help me bake for breakfast tomorrow.

Easy Very Tasty Biscuit Mix Coffee Cake Recipe

2 cups of biscuit mix
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup milk or 2 Tbsp milk powder plus 2/3 cup water (double the powder if using instant milk powder)

Cinnamon Streusel Topping
1/3 cup of biscuit mix
1/3 cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter/margarine
(I mix this up with my fingers)
*optional 2 Tbsp of Maple syrup (the real stuff, toss out that corn syrup impostor)


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.Grease up a 9 inch round pan. Mix the cake ingredients together (or let your kid do it) and then pour evenly into pan. I jiggle it around a bit. Sprinkle the topping onto the batter making sure that the entire top is dotted with the yummy streusel mixture. Bake for about 20 minutes. If using syrup, drizzle it on the top when you take the cake out of the oven. Let cake cool before removing from pan.

I am letting it cool off before I put the cover on it. And when everyone is ready to eat, the coffee cake will be an easy thing to pull out! :) Sorry for the blurry pics. All I have is my crappy cellphone camera that is blurry and the color is off. Soon enough I will have a camera again!

Update- I haven't gotten the camera to get pics. (Darn heart issues are tuckering me out) but I made a cute recipe card to go with.