Aryn Henning Nichols

Just DIY: Hot Cocoa (hot chocolate, whatever you wanna call it!)

This section was originally going to be called “Things That Aren’t Actually That Hard to Make Yourself.” But it didn’t quite have the same nice ring as DIY. So often, we find ourselves looking at some of the products we use or eat or drink and think – I don’t know how to pronounce that ingredient! There has to be something better!

So we ran some science experiments on homemade hot cocoa, play dough, and bubble bath. Our lab (kitchen) smelled real nice (although Roxie says the play dough doesn’t, so maybe next time we’ll add some essential oils)!

We took lots of pictures and have tons of details – spoiler alert: the play dough turned out perfectly, the hot cocoa (featured here) is quite good, but the bubble bath is a work-in-progress…(coming soon)!

—————-

Hot cocoa is always something that sounds lovely to me, but once I pour a cup of it and take a little drink, the sugar goes straight to my head and makes me feel pretty much the opposite of lovely. So I set out to make a cup that made me feel cozy, not crazy.

I really wanted a hot cocoa that you could just make with added hot water…I didn’t want to mess with a pan of milk on the stove, because, you know – toddlers: Impatient and unpredictable!

So check this recipe out and let me know what you think! I’ll keep working on it too, and will update as it evolves. But this one here is pretty darn good, if I do say so myself (and apparently I do…). Enjoy!

Homemade Hot Cocoa (print recipe here)

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup powdered milk
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped (I used chocolate chips, but nicer chocolate would surely make nicer hot cocoa)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in a food processer and blend! It’s noisy, but I promise the chocolate chips or chunks will eventually break down into little tiny, delightful balls of chocolate. (Note: it’s also kind of dusty! Let it settle a bit before opening after blending.) The mixture will keep up to two months in an airtight container.

To use: heat water to boiling in a kettle. Put two tablespoons of mixture in 8-10 ounce cup, and add hot water. Stir thoroughly, and add marshmallows if you wish! Enjoy!

(Note: I bet this would, of course, be AMAZING cooked on the stove with milk, so if you want to give it a try and don’t have an impatient toddler waiting for a cup, do it!)

(Print recipe here)

Recipe inspired by this hot chocolate mix at Smitten Kitchen.

DIY Play Dough

2 cups water
1/2 c. salt
2 tbsp. cream of tartar
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 cups flour
Food coloring
Essential oils (if desired)

Homemade play dough was something I heard about from other moms, but totally thought I’d never make myself. C’mon… “real” play dough comes in those cute little containers! But I really wanted to try to make glitter play dough, and, hey, I had all these awesome food coloring options from egg dying! So it was time to try it out.

Turns out, it really IS easy! It takes a bit of stirring, but the texture is just perfect!

1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a heavy pan on the stove. Pour in the water and cook on low.

2. Then stir. That’s really it. It will get smoother and thicker as it cooks. Keep scraping the edges in and folding the bottom up. Once it globs together (like the texture of play dough), it’s ready.

Note: It seems weird to be cooking without tasting. I wrote that down, and then immediately tasted it. Don’t do it! Because: Whoa, salt!

3. Put the dough on a cutting board that can handle a little food coloring. Roll it out and cut into as many balls as colors of dough you’re planning on making.

4. Squeeze a fair amount of food coloring on your first dough ball. Fold the ball over and over again, working the colors in. Add more color if needed. And if you’d like it to smell nice, add a drop of essential oil to it!

5. Repeat until all your dough balls are colored up! I tried glitter, but it took A LOT of glitter to show up, so I nixed it.

6. Store in plastic baggies or containers. It’s been weeks and the texture is still so great on this dough! I love it! Total convert here.

Fall seems like a good time for doing things. Days are still long, the weather is good and opportunities (necessities?) abound for fun, exercise, and taking care of da house and yarden. But that very fact often drives me into a funk. Because I’m all like, I don’t wanna do things! Mainly, I want to drink beer with friends and/or watch all the Netflix. But, ultimately, doing things helps you get out of pretty much any funk, so here I am, doing things. (Because, yes, even this crazy cheerleader-type lady who started a sun-shiny magazine about inspiration gets in some funky darn funks.)

So what things am I doing? Well, for starters, I’m writing! (I know; it may not seem like it just yet.) Taking the time to just write (Ha. As Hemingway said, “There is nothing to writing. All you do it sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”) is something I haven’t done in a long, long time. And that’s a damn shame.

My trouble is finding the motivation.

The ball we need to get rolling can feel like an 800-pound boulder. But if we can just get it rocking past the tipping point, we can watch that mother-flipping thing roll down the whole damn hill. Momentum, baby. It’s what we’re trying to harness here. I have a few tricks to make this work in my life and I thought I’d share them here today (spoiler alert: I’m a list fan).

1. Lists: Today, To-Do, Life

It’s fitting that the first thing on my list today is “make a list” (check that off the list, woot!). I have three lists: “today” and a general “to-do” one sitting next to me, and a “life list” on my computer. Let’s talk about today lists first.

A. Today lists:

Sometimes I look at the big (giant) general to-do list of things I need to get done and I feel over-freaking-whelmed. Give yourself a break –make a breakout list! Breakout lists are smaller – for me, usually just a quarter of an 8.5×11 page – and only have the things I need/want to get done on one day. Breakout lists also give me the chance to cross things off twice (on the to-do and today lists), which is so very, very satisfying (amIright?).

But still: how to get the motivation? Do the easy stuff first. I have been known to write, “take a shower” on my list. (Especially post-becoming-a-parent, because, damn, it can be hard to find the time!) We work from home, so my day list is a little unique in that I can include housework too. The thing that gets my ball rolling is laundry (that sounds a little dirty, ha)! That blessed machine does all the work, but somehow makes me feel like I’m getting sh*t done! I often do laundry first-thing in the morning. Sometimes I even shower WHILE the dryer is going…cause then we’re really getting somewhere! If you have a more traditional job, maybe you can write, “organize desk” or “make office coffee” or even “clean up computer desktop”. A tidy workspace can make the day seem so much brighter. And, look: You can cross something off your list already. Go, you!

B. To-do lists:

This is the stuff you need to get done – written down because you don’t want to forget, but know you can’t possibly get it done in one day (or month) – all in one place. This list is often long, and can freak me out. I sometimes hide this list and only look at what’s on for today.

C. Life lists:

What are your dreams? Your goals? Think this month, this year, the next five, and, ultimately, your entire life. Breakout lists can come handy here too! 🙂 My current life list is titled “35 Before 35” – I turn 35 next year, and made this list at age 30. Before that, I had “30 before 30” made at age 22. I had some “rollover” goals move from that list to current – NBD, folks. Just writing goals down is a motivator. If you’re making a life list like this, make sure to also include some easy stuff. (See 1A, re: motivation.)

2. No fun Internet until you get the most important thing on your list done.

Simple concept; big impact.

3. When you find yourself getting off track – trailing into your time-wasters – go do something else on your list. For me, it’s usually house stuff or prepping/cooking food. I recently starting making exercise the “hey, do something for yourself” thing I do too (hopefully that’s a new habit!).

None of this is to say you can’t spend a little time on Facebook or searching for vintage campers on Craigslist; just recognize when you’re doing those things to simply avoid other work.

4. Pat yourself on the back

Stop being so damn hard on yourself. Once you give yourself a break, you’ll realize you’re doing pretty well in this here life. Did you get one thing done today? Did you even slightly utilize your day in a way you wanted? Then give yourself a high five, friend, because this is LIFE! No guilt, no worry, no regret. Are there only five minutes left in the day and you didn’t get one thing done? Do one little thing, then plan to ride the momentum into tomorrow. And then pat yourself on your damn back. You got this.