Chocolate Orange Milk

All these recipes smoothies with strawberries, with some additional ingredients. If you want to reduce calories, you can replace the milk with skim milk or ice with low-fat yogurt.

If you like your smoothies really sweet, try adding 1-2 tablespoons of honey for your recipe. I always make my smoothies in a chilled glass, but you can serve them in any way you want. You can drink straight from the jar, use a straw or eat with a spoon. It is best to always serve your smoothie immediately.

Strawberry Mango

C. 1 fresh or frozen strawberries, sliced

1 / 2 cup mango, diced

1 / 4 c. orange juice

6 ice cubes

C. 1 Tea. honey, optional

Place all ingredients in a blender and mix well. Makes 12 ounces.

Strawberry Lemon

1 lemon, peeled and all seeded

4 LG. fresh strawberries, sliced

1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. sugar

1 / 8 C. Water

8 ice cubes

Place all ingredients in a blender and mix well. Makes 12 oz.

Strawberry Frost


1 (14 ounce) can condensed milk

1 (8 ounces) plain yogurt

6 oz strawberry juice frozen concentrate

C. 2-3 ice cubes

In blender, combine sweetened condensed milk concentrate, yogurt and juice. Cover and blend until smooth. With the blender running add ice cubes, stir until smooth. Makes 4 servings.

Strawberry Lemon Crush

1 1 / 2 c. of low-fat milk

1 1 / 2 tsp. lemonade-flavored soft drink mix

1 (8 ounces) vanilla low-fat

1c frozen strawberries

1 cup ice cubes

Mix all ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed until smooth. Hare 4 a portion of a cup.

Double Strawberry

1 / 2 c. fresh strawberries

1 / 2 c. strawberry milk

Vanilla yogurt 1 C.

3 / 4 C. milk

whipped topping

Mix all ingredients except whipped cream in a mixer. Mix until smooth. Pour into tall glasses and garnish with whipped cream. Makes 2 servings.

Fresa y Chocolate

1 / 2 cup chocolate frozen yogurt

3 / 4 c. strawberry yogurt

1 / 2 C. frozen strawberries, sliced

C. 1 Tea. sugar (optional)

ice cubes

Place ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Makes 1 serving important.

Strawberry Sorbet

2 points. strawberry sorbet, softened

1 1 / 2 c. cold milk

2c frozen strawberries, thawed

2 tsp. Honey, optional

In blender combine all ingredients. Mix until smooth. Makes 6 servings.

You can make these smoothies recipes for breakfast or healthy snack. I hope these recipes as delicious as I do.

FRENCH HOT CHOCOLATE MILK

FRENCH HOT CHOCOLATE MILK

Hot Chocolate Milk French

1 / 4 c. milk chocolate chips

2 c. soup. corn syrup, light

2 tbsp. water

1 / 4 cup tea. vanilla

1 / 2 cream

2 C. milk

Chips in double boiler heat corn syrup and water over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth. Add vanilla and cool. Whip cream until stiff and gradually add the chocolate cool. Continue beating until the mounds are formed when the mixture is passed from the spoon. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Heat the milk, but do not boil. Fill half of the mixture of 4 cups of cream and pour the hot milk into each. Stir and serve immediately.

See also,Chocolate Brownie,Chocolate Cake,Chocolate Recipes,Chocolate Sweet,Hot chocolate,white Chocolate Cake , Chocolate Mug Cake

HOT CHOCOLATE MILK

HOT CHOCOLATE MILK

3 c. Tea. sugar

1 tsp. cocoa

3 / 4 c. milk

Mix sugar and cocoa in saucepan. Add milk and stir until hot. Pour mixture into glass and add marshmallows, if desired. Makes 1 cup.

See also,Chocolate Brownie,Chocolate Cake,Chocolate Recipes,Chocolate Sweet,Hot chocolate,white Chocolate Cake , Chocolate Mug Cake

Milk Chocolate

milk chocolate

chocolate Milk contains chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, vanilla, milk solids and lecithin. Milk chocolate must contain chocolate liquor 10%, 3.7% fat milk solids and 12%. It contains less chocolate liquor, chocolate and are therefore not as pronounced aroma of chocolate.

The quality of milk chocolate varies from brand to brand European brands generally better. The best brands contain a higher percentage of cocoa liquor. Look for brands that contain pure ingredients and no artificial flavors. Milk chocolate contains general European condensed milk, while chocolate milk contains a blend of U.S. milk and the United Kingdom and sugar. It should be soft on the palate of fat in the mouth.

Consumed mainly by hand, like a bar of chocolate, but is used in some of the desserts, pastries and confectionery. It is very sensitive to heat, due to its high sugar content. Do not substitute milk chocolate for recipes that use chocolate semi-sweet or bitter.

Milk chocolate will keep for up to one year if stored in a cool, dry place.

chocolate milk

Note: The best way to choose which brand of chocolate to use in a recipe, the taste, the taste of chocolate does not change after cooking. A good quality chocolate has a delicious chocolate fragrance and a polished appearance and flawless. The taste should have no traces of chemicals and should be smooth and velvety, not grainy or too oily in the mouth.

I like most is a trademark of Cadbury. Other popular brands are Callebaut, Nestle, Valrhona, Baker, Lindt, Droste, just to name a few.

See also,Chocolate Brownie,Chocolate Cake,Chocolate Recipes,Chocolate Sweet,Hot chocolate,white Chocolate Cake , Chocolate Mug Cake

Ghirardelli All Natural Chocolate

My beloved readers know that, in my book, politics and chocolate don't mix.  I don't care if chocolate is made by underpaid farmers or if it is produced by highly paid factory workers.  I only care if it is good.

Ghirardelli has this new all natural line, but they don't beat you over the head with it.  They aren't screaming about the evils of chemicals.  Their other stuff has the chemicals, so I guess that wouldn't be very wise of them.

Ghirardelli's PR people sent me some coupons for free samples and I managed to find all the first three flavors (milk, almond and hazelnut), but couldn't find the crisp to save my life.  I finally resorted to buying a combo bag that was on massive sale at Kohl's. (On sale because it was in a Christmas package - lucky me!)

I swear sale chocolate somehow tastes better.  And if it's a really great deal, I feel I must buy it.  Look to see me on an upcoming Hoarders episode.  I'll be the crazy candy lady.  They'll try to take my candy away and I'll claw their eyes out.

The first flavor is milk chocolate:

Love the Ghirardelli logo.

A nice, creamy and delish milk chocolate.  If you've been looking for an all natural chocolate - here you go!

This is my favorite of the bunch - hazelnut:

Look at all those nuts!

I like the mix of the hazelnut with the milk chocolate - a great combo.  The slightly bitter hazelnut sets off the sweet milk chocolate very well.  Love this one!

Here's almond:

It looks like a lot of nuts, but the almonds got lost in the chocolate - I would have liked more of them.

Here's my crazy assorted Christmas sale bag:

Seems to be a lot of rice crisps.

I gotta tell you, I've never been a big fan of the rice crisp.  Nestle Crunch is lame to me.  Why take up space that could be filled with about 1,000,000 better things?  Nuts, caramel, fruit, peanut butter, even just chocolate.  Yeah, yeah - they have an interesting texture.  Whatever!  They have zero taste.

Here's the bottom line - if you want a natural chocolate line - you've got it!  Delicious, creamy Ghirardelli milk chcocolate in four flavors.  It.s good - and with the hazelnut - possibly great. 

JTruffles - Amazing New Truffle Line

I've raved bout the folks at Seattle Chocolates before.  But now - well - I have to tell you - they have completely blown me away.  They've developed a new, amazing truffle line (http://www.jtruffles.com/) they told me about at the Fancy Food Show.  They said they would send me some samples.  Now it has been in the 100's in North Carolina, and chocolate truffles are fragile, very fragile. 

The first set of eight they sent me contained two melted ones.  When Kirsty (their Marketing Maven) heard that, she said - "No way - melted is unacceptable" and sent out more.  All of those were melted.  But I told Kirsty it was okay, I could work with the first ones.  Oh, no - she sent a third set!!!  These people are not only passionate about chocolate, but passionate about customer service and getting it right.  I am very, very impressed!!!

I love architecture, so these designs really appeal to me - look at how cool they are!  Pyramids, deco skyscrapers - I LOVE these creative designs.  I got to meet their chocolatier at the Fancy Food show - and he's so creative and awesome!!  And excited about delicious chocolate creations.  My kinda guy!

Think Mayan and Aztec temples - where chocolate originated - and gorgeous Art Deco skyscrapers as you look at these chocolate works of art.


This is Pura Vida Cafe:

I'm usually not a big fan of coffee and chocolate, but this truffle is the perfect blend.  The milk chocolate is creamy and delish and the strong coffee flavor (actually Turkish ground espresso beans - oh la la!) is offset by the cream it's mixed with.  I loved it - that's how slight, but definitely there, the coffee taste was.  YUM!



This is Limoncello:

Wow!  If you like lemon - this is for you!  It contains a white chocolate ganache with lemon zest and fresh cream in a dark chocolate shell.  This is a super creamy lemon filling - think lemon tart - offset by dark chocolate.  Lemon lovers - this is your nirvana.

See the influence?

The Chrysler Building - one of my favorite buildings in all the world.

This is Cherry Praline:

I think this one could use a stronger cherry and pecan flavor - they were awfully subtle (the chocolate was stronger).  I really love the idea of those two flavors together!!

This is Savory Hazelnut:

Now I really like hazelnut and chocolate, so I was pretty excited about this truffle.  And it did not let me down!  It's almost like eating a hazelnut brownie.  It has tiny hazelnut pieces and a great texture.  I honestly can't think of a better way to describe it - think of the best chocolate brownie you've ever had and add hazelnuts.  That's what this is like - not as sweet as Nutella, a bit more on the salty side.  A+++ 

This is the Magma 65 Dark:

Billed as the line's signature truffle.  It is pretty damn amazing.  A flavorful, smooth dark chocolate with fruity notes.  It's fantastic and dark chocolate lovers will do back flips.  I usually am drawn to milk chocolate, but this one was so good it won me over.

This is my favorite of the shapes - so detailed and so deco!  It's Creme Brulee:

This truffle is filled with vanilla custard ganache and has a layer (at the base of the cream) of carmelized sugar.  And I thought I was going to love it more than I did.  The mixture of textures was awesome, but the slightly burnt taste of the sugar and the bitterness of the dark chocolate took away too much of the sweetness for me.  I bet I would have liked it better in milk chocolate.  But I have a crazy sweet tooth (I like frosting out of the can).  I loved the way the sugar was handled - just like on a real creme brulee (if it's done right!).

This one is Creme 40 Milk:

This is a delicious creamy milk chocolate truffle.  A great basic.  But I actually prefer a truffle with nuts or caramel or some other flavor infusion.  But for a plain milk chocolate - this is delicious.

Another art deco influence:

This is salt water caramel and it's the one I was most excited about:

HOLY SMOKES!!!!  This truffle is a world rocker!!  Chewy caramel - so so fresh and delicious with a dash of salt coated in delicious milk chocolate.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!!!!!!!

Overall I adore this new line - creative shapes - unlike any I've ever seen and delicious accessible flavors.  Not that crazy weird stuff like lavender or bacon. Glacck!  Think elegance and deliciousness.  And passion - for chocolate and for people.

Milk Chocolate Eggs (and a Carrot)

These are the most beautifully packaged chocolates I've yet to see:

Each of the eggs is slightly larger than life size and the color Mylar wrapping is tied with a golden cord:

I found them at Williams-Sonoma and they are Florentine Chocolate Eggs. They even have their own little plastic pedestal!

They were hollow and I find it hard to compare hollow chocolate to solid chocolate. I know - it shouldn't matter, but the thinner pieces let so much air get in and the smooth surface changes the texture. This is a wonderful silky milk chocolate - I'd place it between Lindt and Neuhaus (see below). Not quite as earthy as Neuhaus, but wonderful and delicious.

I found these Madelaine chocolates in Kohl's of all places (chocolate is everywhere - life is good!):

I really like these springy, tropical foil wrappers - they just scream aloha!

This is a solid milk chocolate. Good.

They also made these large solid milk chocolate eggs:

Very pretty, very good.

Isn't chocolate a beautiful thing?

These Hershey's Bliss eggs (in the stolen Cadbury packaging) are pretty good:

Mostly because of the "meltaway center":

It gives them a smooth, creamy richness. I really liked these.

Palmer has an egg assortment (we already reviewed caramel and peanut butter). This one is fudge:

Because it's more like a truffle with the fudge filling than their solid egg (below) it's better, but it's still got the outer waxy mockolate shell. These are just too sugary sweet and not chocolately enough. But the assortment was fun overall.

Palmer's regular solid mockolate eggs are just plain bad:

So waxy and just awful. Not worth the calories. Not even close.

I got this carrot which was originally $4.95 for 47 cents. I couldn't say no to it.

I'm showing you the back because I thought it was interesting to see all the drizzle marks:

This carrot was made by Seattle Gourmet Foods and was richer and creamier than both the Madelaine and the Harry and David Milk Chocolate Easter Eggs (I see why it was originally $4.95 - it was very good. I think they didn't sell because it was a carrot. No one wants to think about carrots when they are indulging in chocolate). The H & D Milk Chocolate Eggs:

In fact, I couldn't tell this one and the Madelaine eggs apart. They tasted exactly the same to me.

These are sooooo cute! They are a little bit smaller than all the other eggs:

Lindt has some great packaging - this is a little tin box:

These blew all the others out of the water. You just can't beat that super smooth and creamy Lindt chocolate. And this smaller size is great! Very poppable! (And thus very dangerous. Thank God they have the foil wrappers to slow you down.)

These are mini Lindor truffle eggs in the Lindt trademark golden bunny (I reviewed the little bunny that was in the middle in an earlier post - yep, he's gone):

But not forgotten!

Of course, they are fabulously creamy and delicious:

And the larger eggs? Need I even say anything?

So rich, so creamy, so decadent - I don't see how Godiva can stay in business with Lindt out there. There is just no comparison! These truffles are transcendent!

Speaking of Godiva:

I hate to say it, but these milk chocolate eggs are pretty good. They are not as good as Lindt, but they are better than H & D and Madeline.

But yet again, the ultimate winner is Neuhaus - at least in the solid milk chocolate category:

What makes these so good is they really taste like chocolate - that wonderful earthy, complex, rich taste. They aren't overly sweet or cloying. They are just about the chocolate.

You know, I'm really starting to get the hang of this chocolate thing. I see why Palmer is so bad and Neuhaus so good. But I had to pare it down to the essentials - i.e. no peanut butter or caramel confusing things. You really do have to try a lot of different things to figure out what works best for you. And you have to be brave enough to say - I've tried them all and I still like the Snickers bar! If you don't try different things though, you really can't know. That's what the journey is all about - trying things, exploring and figuring how who you really are.

Thanks for taking this chocolate journey with me! And let me know what you think or what you'd like me to review. Kris - coconut is still coming, I promise!!!!!