Mint Hot Chocolate

The Herbal Beverage Book doesn't just have smoothies it also has hot chocolate. I chose to do the normal hot chocolate and add some spearmint leaves like the book suggested. The recipe called for:


-1 cup milk
-4 tsp cocoa powder
-4 tsp sugar
-1/4 tsp vanilla extract
-1/2 tsp dried spearmint leaves
Combine sugar and cocoa powder in small bowl. In a saucepan heat milk over medium/low heat. When steamy slowly whisk in cocoa and sugar mixture. Add herbs if desired. Reduce to low heat and cover. Stir occasionally and remove from heat after 10 minutes. Add vanilla, strain herbs, and serve.


I didn't have dried spearmint leaves so I went to the store. The store didn't have any so I thought fresh mint leaves would be a good substitute. When adding the vanilla instead of using a measuring spoon I thought I could be cool and just eye ball it. I failed and ended up adding about a whole tablespoon worth. But once I went to taste it I couldn't taste the vanilla. This drink tasted amazing and is definitely the best hot chocolate I have ever had.

This is what the Hot Chocolate looked like when finished.

Chocolate Covered Banana Smoothie

In my book one of the recipes is for a Chocolate Covered Strawberry Smoothie. I decided to make this because I like chocolate, strawberries, and smoothies so I mean it had to be good. The recipe called for:


Base
-3 Tbsp raw shelled hemp seeds
-2 cups of water
~you may use any other dairy or non-dairy milk as a base instead


-1/4 cup coconut
~fresh coconut blends best but you can use dried
-1/4 cup raw cacao powder
-1/2 ripe avocado
-1/2 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
-1 cup ice


Place all ingredients in blender and blend till smooth.


So I have never heard of hemp seeds before so I went on Google and it said these seeds are really healthy and that people put them in recipes to make it healthier. I needed to go to the store to grab a few things as well that I didn't have like hemp seeds, cacao powder, avocado, coconut, and some strawberries (pretty much the everything). The store didn't have any hemp seeds so I decided to just leave that out and replace it with almond milk which we already had.
When I started to make the drink I decided to half the recipe cause I was most likely going to be the only one to drink it and my blender is small and wouldn't hold that much.
I blended the stuff together like it says and tasted it. It had way too much cacao powder so I added a few more strawberries and a half of a banana, because I thought it would taste good. I blended it up some more, tasted it, and it tasted like watermelon. I honestly don't know how adding a banana made it taste like that but it was good so I kept drinking it.

This is what the Chocolate Covered Strawberry Smoothie looked like when completely finished.

The Herbal Beverage Book - A Note About Sweeteners

In The Herbal Beverage Book it talks about sweeteners. The author gives their advice about when to use sweeteners and which kinds you should be using to keep it a healthy drink. I learned that there are many other options of sweeteners that you may have lying around your house that are a way healthier option than using processed sugar. For example, "raw honey, one hundred percent fruit juice, coconut sugar, maple sugar, xylitol, stevia, or agave"(Whitcore 2). I hadn't heard of xylitol, stevia, or agave before so I looked them up.
Xylitol is a type of sugar alcohol which is a common sweetener used in drinks.

Stevia is a sweetener and sugar substitute extracted from the leaves of the plant species Stevia rebaudiana.

Agave is a plant with a special nectar that is used to sweeten drinks.

But before using these sweeteners, you always need to try your drink first. You don't want to just assume that your drink needs a sweetener and then have your drink turn out bad because it is too sweet. "I would advise tasting all of the beverage recipes without sweetener, aside from the lemonades and syrups, so you can get a sense of how much sweetener you may need"(Whitcore 2). The author also mentions that tasting your drink without sweeteners will help with how much sweetener you will want to put in.