For some reason my mom only made her homemade Hershey's Cocoa when it was raining. She would send my dad to go and pick us up at school, she didn't trust the bus driver to drive us when it was raining and the roads were slick.
We would come in, cold and wet and smell the cinnamony goodness of her cocoa. It was so thick and creamy and delicious. It hit the spot on a cold day. She would serve it in a bowl instead of a cup and we would sip it slowly with a spoon, that's how thick and delicious it was! Mmmmm!
I have only found one product that is almost as good as the one my mom made. It's Abuelita Hot Chocolate, and while you can make it from scratch with chocolate blocks, I love that they make it in an instant. But alas...the carb count is a killer! Each envelope has 19 net carbs. When you are trying to stay within 20 to 24 carbs per day, then having this is out of the question.
Today I was lucky enough to find a lower-carb hot chocolate. I found this recipe at Radical Geekery. The Radical Geek calls it Hot 'Cocoa'nut Milk and she uses coconut milk, water, vanilla extract, cocoa powder and maple syrup.
I tweaked it a bit to bring the carb count down. I used Goya Coconut Milk, Water, Vanilla Extract, Hershey's Cocoa Powder, granulated Splenda for sweetness and cinnamon to help make it as good as my mommy's.
I went ahead and used the whole can of coconut milk and did the math to figure out how much of each product to use and I have to say, it's wasn't bad. Not as good as my mom's, not as good as Abuelita, but definitely hearty and heart-warming. I drank a small cup and then poured the rest into a container and I'm going to keep it in the fridge so I can warm up a little bit whenever I have the urge. I may also try to add it to coffee as I love chocolatey tasting coffee.
Here's the nutrition facts. As you can see it's still 9.2 net carbs, but that's certainly much more doable when you're counting carbs and just crave a sweet treat. And as cold as it has been here lately this really hits the spot!
Speaking of loving chocolate in my coffee, I found this great product. It's Nestle's Coffee-mate sugar Free Creamy Chocolate. The best thing about this product is that it only has 1 carb per teaspoon!! I put 3 teaspoons in my coffee each morning.
You can also find sugar-free Hazelnut and French Vanilla and Vanilla Caramel. They need to invent a Raspberry Vanilla and a Dulce de Leche, Ohhhh and a Creme Brulee! That would be heavenly. I've kind of been wondering what it would taste like if you whipped this up with heavy whipping cream? Hmmm, might have to try that one.
What's your favorite winter drink? Tea, Cocoa, a hot toddy?
For the most part I dislike cocoa, but when I have been out in cold shoveling that miserable white crap, that is when I want a cup of cocoa. Just plain old instant cocoa...nothing fancy.
ReplyDeleteMy wife then takes the opportunity to stick it to me..."Poor abused baby needs his cocoa."
I love plain old instant cocoa, but the carb count is too high for me. You really have to prepare and work harder when you eat low carb. It's very difficult, you can't just walk into the kitchen and grab anything.
DeleteLol, I can just imagine your wife teasing you about needing some cocoa.
Thanks for stopping by, hope the snow is clearing up and you won't have to shovel that miserable white crap anymore!
MMMM sounds delicious. I love hot cocoa with lots of whip cream. As soon as the whip cream melts, I add more becuase I like the frothy taste of it. My favorite thing for a cold day is hot chocolate pudding. In fact your post has inspired me to make some in just a little while.
ReplyDeleteHot chocolate pudding!!! That sounds amazing. I just got home from grocery shopping and even though the sun is shining it's still a little chilly here. I think I'll let my post and your comment inspire me to heat up some of my cocoa :)
DeleteI wish the stores here would get better at stocking sugar free items. As a diabetic I usually try to find sugar free items. Though I have been reading lately that all the "sugar free" stuff does not trigger the sugar satisfaction in your brain so you crave it and eat more or drink more, or finally break down and buy something with sugar in it to produce that chemical in your brain that lets you know you have had your sugar fix. It's all pretty amazing how our little brain controls this big ole body of mine ;) Love your blog Alicia!
ReplyDelete~Claudia
Hi Claudia! So glad you stopped by and liked the ol blog :) I always wanted to be a writer and this is as close as I can get to it without too much effort :)
DeleteI've been reading a lot of fabulous blogs that give you information on sugar, sugar-free, gluten-free and learning to eat better in order to control your diabetes with diet or to avoid diabetes at all.
There are lots of wonderfully tasty winter drinks , like chocolate, for instance. However, if one wishes to loose weight,then it's better to stick to coffee (no or very few calories).
ReplyDeleteMy favorite all season hot drink is decaff. Nescafe, a swiss brand which I find very tasty. It has no caffeine and no calories. Of course, I put a little milk in it (1% fat) and this adds some calories to my cup of coffee. It's delicious.
My co-worker also loves Nescafe. I've never tried it but maybe I should! I'm not a big hot tea drinker and usually I only have coffee in the morning, but I could drink hot chocolate all day long!
DeleteIt's nice to hear from you DUTA, hope all is well in your world :)
I saw chocolate and came right over to see what you wrote. LOL! Well, I love this post and now I'm craving some hot chocolate. I have all these items at home, so I might try it tonight. But yeah, with low carb my favorite warm drink has been coffee with splenda and half&half. I tried mising in some sugar free cocoa but it gives it a bitter taste and I didn't want to add more splenda. Oh, I don't have the coconut milk. I'll have to stop by the grocery store.
ReplyDeleteSince you are going to the grocery I think you need to pickup some cream cheese and made the koolaid cream cheese cheesecake :) We will get Starbucks on Friday.
ReplyDelete