Kim’s Hot Cacao

Hot cacao? In the middle of July? Oh yes. I guarantee once you get hooked on this stuff you won’t care WHAT month it is, as long as you have some.

You see, I gave up coffee last October. Crazy, right? Unfortunately, I’ve become increasingly intolerant of it over the years. I haven’t had soda in years, and even had to cut back on my beloved sun tea. Finally I got to the point where I had to cut out the coffee too. It didn’t help that I needed heaps of sugar and heavy cream in it to make it palatable, especially since I’m a mom and half the time I end up drinking it cold. I actually cut the sugar and cream out of my diet at the same time, which made for a very sad Kim. 🙁

(Yes, there’s whipped cream in the picture, but you’ll see who ate it later in this story! Stay with me here!)

So…what to drink instead? I got by for a while on herbal teas and green teas, but they were soooo boring. And I was still having these horrendous chocolate cravings! I read somewhere that one of the reasons why we crave chocolate so much is because we’re magnesium deficient. After researching a bit, I found raw cacao. It’s cocoa that hasn’t been processed nearly as much and has most of its nutrients still intact. It’s high in magnesium, antioxidants and other good for you things that I probably should care more about. But did it taste good?

I found this Terrasoul Raw Organic Cacao on Amazon.com and gave it a try. OMG, it’s amazing. It’s mild, and very chocolate-y, like the finest dutch processed cocoas, but without the harsh chemical processing. It’s not cheap but it’s worth it, so I buy it in bulk and save about $2-3/lb. I also use this cacao to make Brownie Batter Smoothies, which keep me deliriously happy and somewhat sane. Well, as sane as you get when you’re the mother of five boys (six, if you count the husband!)

After some experimenting, I came up with my own quick, easy way to make hot cacao with no sugar and no cream. And you know what? It’s delicious, satisfying and even filling! I drink this every day on the way to work and sometimes in the evening when I’ve had a tough day. It’s soothing and really knocks my cravings down. And it’s only 58 calories! What’s not to love?

But hey, we’re foodies! We love all things food related!

Kim's Hot Cacao

 

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Cook time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

 

This delicious, healthy version of hot cocoa will satisfy your chocolate cravings without going to your waistline! It can be vegan or vegetarian, depending on the milk you put in it. This recipe makes enough to take with you in a large travel mug.

Author: Kim

Recipe type: Drinks

Cuisine: American

Serves: 1-2

Ingredients

• 2½ cups hot water
• 2 tbsp organic raw cacao
• 2 packets of stevia or other sweetener of your choice
• ¼ to ½ milk of your choice (cow, goat, almond, coconut, soy, etc)

Instructions

1. Boil 2 /12 cups of water in a tea kettle.
2. While the water is heating up, put the cacao and sweetener in your mug/large cup.
3. Pour the boiling water into the cup and stir well to dissolve the cacao well (there will still be some that sinks to the bottom, it's a bonus at the end of your drink!)
4. Top off with a milk of your choice. This cools it down enough to drink and makes it nice and creamy.
5. Enjoy!

Notes

I prefer stevia to sweeten my cacao, but you can use whatever sweetener you prefer. I don't normally use whipped cream but it sure looked pretty in the picture! Save that for a bad day or a special occasion.

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