Category: Cooking

Is There a Difference Between Hot Chocolate and Hot Cocoa? (Yes There Is!)

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It is the season when people begin to consume all kinds of hot beverages, including hot chocolate and hot coco. I drink hot cocoa year round as an alternative to coffee, but for others they only drink it during the Christmas/Winter time. While doing research for a new hot coco recipe, I remembered I call hot cocoa hot chocolate. This isn’t right, but I’m someone who uses the names interchangeably for the same beverage: Hot cocoa!

If you are like me, then you probably want to know the difference between the two drinks. There are many posts online talking about the difference between the two drinks (Such as ) so this post is not really new, revolutionary news. Yet, it is truly important if you are looking for a recipe with certain ingredients in it.

Hot cocoa is made from cocoa powder. On the other hand, hot chocolate is made from an actual bar of chocolate. No matter which drink you want to make, both contain cocoa powder and also contain some sort of sugar. There are variations of both, cocoa for an example can have sugar infused with vanilla beans. Hot chocolate can be made with chocolate bars with flavors in it, such as peppermint. Yet, both need to be prepared different and stored differently.

Hot cocoa’s ingredients needs an air tight lid and stored away from any moisture. The bars of chocolate for hot chocolate needs to be stored somewhere cool so the bar won’t melt. As for the preparation, hot cocoa is easier to prepare than hot chocolate. Hot cocoa needs a warm liquid, such as milk or water heated in the microwave, to dissolve the power mixture in. As for Hot chocolate, the bar of chocolate needs to be melted and then stored into the warm milk or water.

Both drinks are great options for the holiday season. I prefer hot cocoa because of the ease of storing it (No refrigerator required!) and the ease of preparation. (Heat the milk, stir in the mix, then drink) I also prefer it over hot chocolate because many chocolate bars have ingredients that I am allergic to. Buying or creating a hot cocoa mix from scratch is the best way for me to avoid exposing myself to my allergens. Even though I’m a fan of hot cocoa, I do like hot chocolate. If I find a bar of chocolate without my allergens, I like to make it. To me, hot chocolate is always thicker and, depending on the chocolate bar I use, has better flavors than hot cocoa. Especially if I use a peppermint chocolate bar!

In closing, I always suggest anyone interested in drinking hot cocoa and hot chocolate, but don’t know which one they will enjoy more, to try both. Not everyone has the same allergens that I do (Thank goodness!) so someone may love hot chocolate more than cocoa. Just make sure you dedicate some time to make hot chocolate. It is easy to accedently make the chocolate burn, so take the time to do research before trying. Search for recipes and watch tutorials on how to melt chocolate properly. If you don’t have the time to research or actually make hot chocolate, then hot cocoa will be the best way to enjoy a warm, chocolate drink this winter holiday season!

Well, that’s all for now! Thank you for reading!

Making My Own Pumpkin Puree for Pumpkin Pies- Part 2

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Earlier this fall, I wrote a post about trying to make my own pumpkin puree out of a pumpkin I purchased in store. I wanted to use the puree to make pumpkin pies out of. I was worried I purchased the wrong type of pumpkin for pies. Sadly, I was right. So, in late October, I went searching for a new pumpkin that would be good for pies. I found not one, but two pumpkins. They are small but I was very happy to find them!

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Update on Baking Homemade Bread: The Good, The Bad, and The Tasty Mistakes

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A while ago, I talked about my intention to make bread from scratch as well as why I’m doing it in a post. Now that I have had some time to bake bread over and over again, I can honestly say that I love how my bread tastes! It isn’t like the store bought breads, but I still like my bread more. It is heavier and denser than the store bought bread. Even though this is natural for the type of bread I make, it does require me to cut thinner slices. I still haven’t master cutting the right size slice, so the bread is still larger than I want it to be.

Even though the problems I’m currently having with my bread isn’t a big deal, I’m still struggling mastering the recipe. My goal is to eventually become good enough at making the recipe that the only thing I need to review in the cookbook is the exact measurements for each ingredient. I still haven’t made it that far. Because of this, I have made many mistake loafs of bread.

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A Few Foods I Want to Learn How to Baking From Scratch (And Why)

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My attempts at baking homemade bread and cookies have been a great success! I still don’t feel like I mastered the recipes, but I am still excited about how they turn out. Now that I feel optimistic about my baking skills, I decided to make a list of foods I want to learn how to bake. In true-to-myself fashion, the list is long. Very long.

Even though the list is long, there are certain recipes I want to learn how to make more than others. This week, I will be attempting to make more foods to celebrate Halloween and my birthday next week. I narrowed down the food to five to focus my attention on, as well as write on this list. At least one of the foods on this list will be made this week. If  something stops me from working on it, I will work on it next week.

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I Bought a Pumpkin for Fall! Why I Did It and What I’m Going to Do With It

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Yes, the title of the post says it all. I purchased a pumpkin for the fall! It wasn’t very expensive, but it is still important. This pumpkin is the first pumpkin I ever purchased to create pumpkin pie with!

Before I talk about why I decided to not use canned pumpkin to make pumpkin pie with, I wanted to show off what it looks like…

Yes, I know it is really excessive to give a pumpkin I purchased at the grocery store its own photoshoot, but I was really excited to own it! Growing up, I used to make Jack-o-Lanterns out of real pumpkins. They were fun to create, but they never lasted very long. As an adult, I decided to used fake pumpkins to make Jack-o-Lanterns instead. Since then, I never bought a pumpkin.

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A Few More Thoughts on Allergies and Making My Own Food

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Over a week, I wrote a post about making my own bread due to my allergy to an ingredient commonly put into breads I normally eat these days. Since then, I started to wonder if there are other foods with my allergies in them. While on a recent shopping trip, I decided to look around at the baked goods at the store I normally eat to see if they contain my soy food allergy.

After walking around the store, I felt really disappointed with the foods! So many of them contained soy! Even though I have a tolerance to soy, and if I eat soy oil is within a certain amount of time after it was created, I noticed I am still suffering from allergic reaction symptoms. After discovering so many foods I normally eat have soy in them, I felt disappointed and discouraged.

For many years, I wondered if should start making my own food. I knew this was a major possibility due to how my non food allergies affect me. At that time, I found many premade foods I could still eat because it didn’t contain ingredients I’m allergic to. All these years, it wasn’t a problem. Today, it is.

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Baking My Own Bread and Why I’m Frustrated With Ingredients in Store Bought Bread

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I have realized for the past few years that finding bread made without my allergens is becoming harder to do. This problem has become worse over the past year. I have noticed my favorite place to buy bread at (a bakery in a specific grocery store) has changed their recipe to include an ingredient that I am allergic to. Fortunately, it is an allergy I have a tolerance for. Yet, after weeks of eating the bread, it became difficult for me to consume it anymore without getting sick.

This has lead me to acknowledge that the area where I live is somewhere where is too difficult to find food I’m not allergic to anymore without cooking it at home. I tried to spread my shopping range to other stores, but, sadly, these stores are usually too far away from where I live (About an hour or more drive)  without it becoming a major hassle.

Since I’m not moving to a different area right now (I won’t go into reasons why), I decided to start making my own bread from home. It may be time consuming, but, after taking into consideration my allergies,  travel time, and expenses, I am sure it will cost me less money, and possibly less time, to do this.

The problem is I haven’t made my own bread in years!

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5 Favorite Summertime Treats

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Summer, like the other three seasons of the year, have certain types of foods that are commonly associated with them. One of the most popular types of foods people associate with the summer season are the treats. Treats can mean different types of foods for different people, but to me it means deserts and other sweet foods. I have many treats I enjoy eating during this time of the year, some are better to eat than others. After thinking so much about what kinds of foods I would like to make for myself, I decided to write a post about five of my favorite summertime treats. These are also the treats I’m most excited to eat this year… if I can make them!

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5 More Favorite Summer Foods

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While I wrote a post about five of my favorite summer foods, I had to leave some of my favorite foods out. This made me sad because I really enjoy eating them and didn’t mind talking about them. Since I have so many foods I enjoy eating during the summertime, I decided to write another post!

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5 Favorite Summer Foods

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Whenever the summer season approaches, I start to change my diet. I know I feel better if I eat certain foods during certain times of the year. During the winter, I eat heavier foods. During the summer, I eat lighter foods. During the spring and fall, I transition between the two types of food.

Since it is summer, I have officially switched to eating as much lighter foods I can. Despite the lighter nature of the foods, they are still nutritious and filling. They just contain more ingredients that sit better on my stomach!

This year, I decided to share five of my favorite summer foods. Not everything is practical for everyone’s diet, but I enjoy them a lot. I have more favorite summer foods I enjoy and want to talk about, but I’ll save them for a future post! Continue reading “5 Favorite Summer Foods” →