DIY bargain book stands

These Ikea Spice Racks are amazing to create your own little reading haven and at just $2.45 each (at time of purchase), they are a bargain as well. You can do this many ways, and they don’t just have to be for the kids! Place one above your bedside table. Or in the kitchen to hold your recipe book. Are your kids beds against a wall? Got bunk beds? Place one along the wall half way down for easy access to reading in bed.
The spice rack itself is very easy to assemble as it simply screws together with the Allen Key (all included). The racks only come in a plain wood finish so if you would like a splash of colour you will need to paint them first. For a more sophisticated look go for a plain white high gloss or even just match it to the wall colour. Could also have the kids decorate their own for a fun activity!
How are these are fixed to the wall? This can be a tricky job and if you are like me, I just marked out where I wanted them placed with a pencil, asked my husband to do it, then quickly found an elsewhere to be! (haha)
Unfortunately there is not only one way of fixing these to your wall of choice so this will require a little of your own research as the methods could vary depending on your wall type. Ikea DO NOT provide the screws needed to attach this to a wall (I suppose this is due to the possible variations), you will therefore need to find out what you need for your particular room – however here is a little more information before you commit.
* The official ikea assembly instructions are here: http://www.ikea.com/au/en/assembly_instructions/bekvam-spice-rack__AA-111092-7_pub.PDF
* The back view of the spice rack is shown below. Once you have the suitable two screws in place on the wall, you can see the rack clicks on and sort of locks in place with a push downwards:



Finished product

Christmas gift idea – Roasted Cinnamon Nuts

These roasted cinnamon nuts make the perfect Christmas gift, although they taste so good they are unlikely to last long enough!  You can substitute the almonds for any nuts you like.  This recipe makes for the perfect budget gift, particularly when almonds are in season.

Roasted Cinnamon Nuts
1  egg white
1 tsp vanilla extract
500g (3 cups) whole almonds or pecan halves
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

In a large bowl whisk the egg white and vanilla until frothy, or about 2 minutes.  Stir in the nuts.  ix the remaining ingredients together and then add the nuts, stir to coat.  Spread the nuts in a lamington pan sprayed with oil.  Bake at 120c for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stiring halfway through.  Bake for a little longer if the nuts are still sticky.  Cool in the pan and then transfer to a container, gift jar or cellophane gift bag.

Doh Magic - The easiest way to make your own play dough

I have to admit I was very excited when asked to try Doh Magic,  as my 2 year old daughter had not yet used play dough.  I often come across recipes on the internet for homemade play dough, but I never seem to have all of the required ingredients on hand.   Doh Magic makes it easy; you can keep the packets of mix in the cupboard ready to go, which makes a very convenient rainy day activity.

The instructions on the packet were very easy to follow, only requiring the addition of water and oil, and within minutes we had play dough!  It was actually really fun to watch the mix turn into dough, and the colour appeared as though by magic as soon as we added the liquid ingredients.

Once the dough cooled we got creative.  The Doh Magic mix makes a very generous amount of dough, and looks, feels and smells just like play dough.  The packet containing the mix has a zip lock seal, so you can use it to store the Doh Magic when not being used which I loved.

Doh Magic is a budget friendly activity at $7.50 each, and also makes a fantastic gift.  We also loved that it is Australian made and owned, a very important factor when making purchases at Bargain Mums HQ.

You can purchase Doh Magic here http://dohmagic.com.au/main/page_home.html#.UKr6QYbWGyE.  Make sure you also visit the Doh Magic Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/dohmagic to receive updates from the wonderful Doh Magic team.

Bargain Mums (www.bargainmums.com.au) were provided with a product sample for this review thanks to Doh Magic.

How to save money by using Reusable Cloth Nappies

How to save money by using Reusable Cloth Nappies and 5 Quick Tips for those who are new to Cloth Nappies

Our children, our babies, the apple of our eye, ones we would do anything for our children but boy do they cost us a lot of money! I try hard as possible to save money on my babies. I didn’t buy a baby bath, or a change table or even a bassinet. I rarely buy ‘good’ clothes as I know my children will just grow out of them or run around in the dirt. I rather buy toys that cost a little more that will last then the $2 ones that fall apart.

  

I love saving money and if you have babies in nappies using cloth nappies is one easy way to do it. It may seem daunting at first but there are many things that can help you to make it easy. I was always going to use cloth nappies and had a vision of buckets filled with smelly water and dirty nappies soaking but when I started to research modern cloth nappies in the early days I found that this is not the case anymore and they are really easy to use and it doesn’t cost the earth.

Lets quickly work out the math:

Young babies will require 8 to 12 nappy changes a day and toddlers will require approximately 6 to 8. Of course some babies will require more and some will require less.  It works out to be approximately 6,000 nappy changes in 2.5 years. That is a lot of nappy changes!

Single Use/Disposable Nappies and Wipes

Let us assume you use one wipe per nappy change even though there may be times you wont use any.  Then there are times such as the ‘pooplosion’ you will use many. I must admit in the beginning I used to wipe with every change even when it was only a wet nappy.  It is seriously not needed regardless if you use cloth or disposables. I am one that uses several wipes with the soiled nappies and even more so with ‘pooplosions’. I can never understand how my husband gets away with one or two wipes when it comes to soiled nappies but he does.  

Anyway let us get back on track….

On average it costs 50cents per single use nappies and 3 cents per wipe. This equates to $3,180 conservatively.

The Cloth Nappy System

Depending on your system you can cloth a bub full time between $750 and $1125. If you wash every 2^nd day 1 child will need approximately 20 day nappies and 5 night nappies. I recommend 30 reusable wipes too. An example of a basic day nappy can be found here. A sample of a night nappy can be found here.

You can save well over $2000 and the best thing is that some of these nappies can be used on subsequent children or family members thus saving even more money in future years to come.   

Little plastic bags to hold the used nappies have not been accounted for as well as the extra wipes that are used elsewhere besides the baby’s bottom. I also haven’t factored in the costs of water consumption.  My reasoning as to why I haven’t factored in water consumption is that everyone washes cloth nappies differently and thus it is not easy to determine an average amount used by each family. Also we are all charged differently depending on which State or Territory we live in.

However to give you an idea I wash every second day and I have 2 children in cloth. I wash in cold water and I run a quick eco rinse and then full cycle with the water level on low. My water consumption does go up but in my mind saving water is not in my opinion a cost saving exercise in terms of $$ it is an earth saving exercise. I prefer to compare the amount of water I use for 1 child in cloth nappies to that of the water used to produce 6000 disposable nappies and it is for another blog post as it is too complex to look at here. It has been found however that water consumption of an eco-minded person using cloth nappies is far better for the environment than the manufacturing of single use disposables.

Please visit this link for more information:

http://www.crdc.com.au/uploaded/file/E-Library/Climate%20Change%20July%2009/LCA%20Cotton%20v%20Disposable%20Nappies%20OBrienetal2009.pdf    

5 Quick Tips for those who are new to Cloth Nappies

1.       Use biodegradable liners! They make clean up easy and flush away the mess. I cannot live without them.

2.       Use a water hose connected to your toilet (or laundry sink) to rinse your nappies easily. Something else that I would not live without.

3.       Stick to a One Size Fits Most Brand as this will save you more money over the long run. Some nappy brands come in sizes such as, small, medium and large. You will need to buy more once they grow up and change in size. Nifty Naps signature piece is an OSFM (One Size fits Most) that fit from 5kgs to 17kgs approximately.

4.       If cost saving is a major factor for you, use an AI2 (All in 2 system). That way for nappies that are just wet you will save even more money as you do not need to change the whole nappy. Changing the booster is just fine in this case. You can buy boosters separately and instead of buying 20 day nappies you may even only need 15 with 10 extra boosters (depending on the bubba).

5.       Get your partner involved. It is fun to choose prints with them and it makes cloth nappying easier when they help ;)

If you have any queries at all please email me at contactus@niftynaps.com.au

Thank you,

Director of Nifty Naps

Susan

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References:

http://www.crdc.com.au/uploaded/file/E-library/Climate%20Change%20July%2009/LCA%20Cotton%20v%20Disposable%20Nappies%20OBrienetal2009.pdf    

Using credit cards to your advantage

Credit cards are often referred to as evil, unnecessary and a certain way to get into debt, but used to your advantage they can be a fantastic financial tool.  The most important thing to consider when applying for a credit card (and considering your credit limit) is, can you pay it off in full each month?  This is a MUST.

To make the most of your credit card, use it at every opportunity, and by that we don’t mean shopping sprees.  Use it for your everyday purchase, such as groceries, petrol, bills etc.  You will be surprised at how quickly your spending adds up, and if you are spending the money, you may as well be rewarded for it.  Once you have accumulated enough points from the rewards program, you can then convert your points into gift vouchers, you might be able to get a voucher to cover a week’s worth of shopping a few times a year.

The features to look out for when credit card hunting include:

They offer up to 55 days interest free – This is especially helpful if you are making a large purchase on your credit card (and you would of course already have the cash in the bank ready to pay it off).  It means you can keep your cash in the bank longer, earning interest that you wouldn’t have otherwise earned had you paid cash for your purchase.

They are often connected to rewards programs –meaning you can get rewarded just for making your everyday purchases.  Credit cards offering an attached rewards program often have higher interest rates than those without a reward program, however if you are paying of your credit card in full each month the interest rate won’t matter.  Even if your credit card only offers frequent flyer rewards, you can usually still turn these into gift cards for major retailers.

Choose a credit card with no annual fee, or a fee as low as you can possible find – Obviously it’s ideal if you find a credit card with no annual fee, but these can be hard to come by when you want additional features such as rewards programs.  A card with a low annual fee can work, just be sure that the annual fee is less than the benefits you will receive from the rewards program.

Our pick of the best credit cards featuring all the benefits of a rewards program, without an annual fee:

American Express Qantas Discovery Card – Offers an interest rate of 20.74%, 44 days interest free, $0 annual fee, and a rewards program.

Horizon Credit Union Visa – Offers an interest rate of 12.95%, 44 days interest free, $0 annual fee, and a rewards program.

Qantas Staff Credit Union Lifestyle Plus – Offers an interest rate of 16.5%, 46 days interest free, $0 fee, and a rewards program.

 

How to Freeze Onions

Sometimes you come across amazing bargains, like the 10kg bags of onions for $1.97 at our local fruit & veg shop, but have no idea how you would make good use of such a bargain?  Well the good news as I have discovered is that chopped onions can be frozen for 6 months, just like the ones you can buy from the freezer section of your supermarket.  Here is how:

Use a food processor to chop your onions, you probably wouldn't want to cut onions by hand in bulk amounts, I know I wouldn't!  Just peel, chop into quarters and process.  Then package 1/2 cup amounts of the chopped onions into freezer bags, and place these freezer bags inside a zip lock bag.

When you are ready to use your onions just take them out of the freezer half an hour before you need them and the are ready to go (you can also cook them without defrosting, you will just need to break them up a bit).  Saves time and money (not to mention all those tears)!  If you are wondering what to do with all the onion ends you end up with, freeze those too and use them in homemade stock.

Making your own vinegar

Who knew it was so simple to make your own vinegar!  You can make endless combinations of flavoured vinegar by using different fruit and vegetables in the recipe.  It's the sugar in the fruit and vegetables that ferments, so anything with sugars in it will turn the water into vinegar.  It also makes a fantastic gift, make a flavour combination the gift recipient would love and pop the vinegar into a pretty bottle.

First of all you will need a large glass jar or bottle.  This will need to be sterilized, which you can do by pouring boiling water straight out of the kettle into jar or bottle, and let it sit for 5 minutes, then empty you jar.

Next, place the peelings or flesh from fruit or vegetables (both work well) into your jar, and cover with distilled water.  Place any type of porous cloth on top of the jar, and secure in place with a rubber band.

Place the jar in a cool dark place, and be sure to stir it every day to ensure the vinegar ferments evenly.  Leave the vinegar to ferment depending on how string you like it, the longer you leave it (and the more sugar in the fruit/vegetables used), the stronger the vinegar will be.  Once it has reached your desired strength, strain into a glass bottle and store in a cool dry place.

                                                    Image: Herbal Gardens

The latest supermarket marketing attempts

I was a little annoyed this week when I received my mid-week catalogue delivery, my Woolworths catalogue was wrapped in plastic!  I have never been a fan of catalogues wrapped in plastic, especially when there is no obvious reason for it, no inserts, freebies etc.  However, on closer inspection I realised there was a sticker sheet attached to my catalogue, so that was the reason for the plastic wrap, although it's still a terrible waste of resources in my opinion (but that's another story).

The idea is that you receive a sheet of stickers, to be used on specific products only, that will give you a discount on that particular product once you attach the sticker to the item.  For example, there was a $1 off sticker for Cadbury chocolate blocks. This while exercise seemed pointless to me, often Woolworths will offer these discounts in their catalogues anyway, so I'm guessing it's a bit of a marketing gimmick.  Judging by your comments on our Facebook pages this week, not many of you are impressed.

Another question raised on Facebook this week, and one I have always wondered myself, is why are such a great portion of discounts on unhealthy, heavily processed products, such as chips, chocolates and soft drinks?  This applies to both the new sticker promotion and the weekly supermarket catalogues (all supermarkets are guilty of this one).  I'm not sure about you, but I have absolutely no interest in the products, so if any of the higher powers in the supermarket world are listening, can we please have some healthier specials?  I seriously skip over the first 75% of supermarket catalogues (except Drake and Foodland/IGA, who do seem to offer a greater portion of healthy food discounts).

Back to the sticker discounts, this seems to be the latest in the big supermarkets attempts in gaining our loyalty, with the Coles My 5 promotion and the Flybuys re-launch, and Woolworths Everyday rewards member discounts with the orange tags.  Are the massive amounts of money they must be spending worth it?  This latest attempt has me wondering if we are heading the way of the USA with their coupon culture, where to gain a discount you need to cut a coupon out of the catalogue and take it to the store.  As a mum of a toddler, who has time, for stickers and coupons (which would no doubt end up lost thanks to the toddler on the way to the supermarket anyway)? I say let's just stick to the catalogues!

The Show on a budget, is it possible?

The Royal Adelaide Show and a budget don't often go hand in hand, however it can be done!  Here are our top tips for saving money at the show, and even if you are not in Adelaide read on, it's much the same for any annual show around the country.  We visited the Royal Adelaide Show earlier this week and spent $12 other than entry costs, and that was for parking (It helps that our daughter is too young to understand showbags and rides)!

• Take food with you, or eat just before you head to the show - You can take food into the show, and there are plenty of grassed shady areas to sit an eat, usually with some form of entertainment nearby.  If you are heading to the Adelaide Show, check out the IGA stand for bargain priced fruit.

• Decide on a budget before you go, and stick to it! - Work out how much you have to spend on showbags, rides, food etc before you go, it's better to have a plan than blindly spend money and regret it at the end of the day.

• Find the free activities - There are so many free things to do, the favourite with my daughter was the farmyard walk.  There are plenty of animals to see, entertainment in the arena and on stage, demonstrations etc all included in the entry price.

• Pre-Purchase entry tickets - You can save money by pre-purchasing your entry tickets, for the Adelaide show you can do this from IGA supermarkets.

• Plan to visit on bargain days - The Adelaide Show has bargain days on Wednesday and Thursday where adults can enter at kids prices before 1pm.

• Plan your transport to the show - depending on where you live, determine if it works out cheaper to catch public transport or pay for parking, which can often be expensive.

• Determine which showbags are the best value for money - In Adelaide my pick would be the Yellow Brick Road bag, it's only $10 and kids love following the trail and collecting all of the goodies. 

 So with a bit of planning you can have a great family day out without the budget regrets later on.  Feel free to share how you keep costs down when visiting the show.

2012 AusMumpreneur Awards

What a mind-blowing weekend I have just had.  I am very excited to announce that Bargain Mums have just won the Connect2mums AusMumpreneur Best Blog award for 2012, a massive achievement!

I have also spent the last two days attending the Connect2mums conference at the Parkroyal Darling Harbour, Sydney.  I have met so many amazing mums,  just like myself who juggle kids and their successful businesses on a daily basis.  It was the most inspirational and motivating weekend I have ever experienced, and I can't wait to get back to work on Wednesday and start putting all of my new ideas into practice.

This is only my second visit to Sydney, and I have to say this visit has completely changed my perception of the city.  After my first visit was back in 2008 I was less than impressed, and I have no idea what has changed (it could be the beautiful weather we are having), but I am having the most fantastic time.  If you have children, you must visit Darling Quarter, the playground is the best I have ever come across, and the whole area is just buzzing on a spring Sunday.  I'm so excited to be coming back in 2 months, now to enjoy our last 24 hours here before we head home Monday night.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who doesn't love chocolate chip cookies, they are such an easy and budget friendly treat.  You don't even need to use chocolate chips, you can get creative and try making your own combinations.  We have listed our favourite combinations under the recipe.

150g softened butter
1 egg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 3/4 cups plain flour
125g chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 160C.  Beat the butter, caster sugar, brown sugar and vanilla essence for 1-2 minutes.  Beat in egg.  Stir in the plain flour in 2 batches.  Stir in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed.

Spoon the mixture into balls and place on lined baking trays, pressing down slightly.  Bake for 15-18 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Other flavours you could try:

- m&m's
- White chocolate & macadamia
- White chocolate & cranberry
- Caramel choc bits by nestle ( a big hit in our house)
- Dried fruit (Sultanas, dried apricots etc)

Kath & Kimderella

I have to admit, I have been a Kath & Kim fan right from the start, when Kath & Kim were still on the ABC, and I haven't missed an episode yet!  Naturally, I am very excited about the release of Kath & Kimderella, the Movie!  The movie follows the storyline of Fountain Lakes' foxy ladies who turn more than just heads when they go on an overseas trip and end up being the centre of their very own fairytale.  I am even more excited to be giving 10 of my fans a chance to see the movie with a friend for FREE.

To celebrate the very exciting release in cinemas on Thursday September 6th, Bargain Mums, thanks to Foster Hill PR & Marketing are giving away 10 double passes to Kath & Kimderella, valid for use at participating cinemas nationwide.  Entry is easy, email your name and postal address to jasmine@bargainmums.com.au, that's it!  Entries close 9PM Wednesday the 5th of September.  Winners will be drawn at random, and the passes will be posted to the winners on Thursday the 6th September.

DIY Fathers Day Gift Ideas

It can be very hard to buy for Dads, especially those that seem to have everything!  Here are our top DIY Fathers Day ideas, that we are sure Dad more than a gift of the shelf, will appreciate given the thought that goes into them.

• A Coupon book, including coupons for things that Dad loves to do (and eat)

• A chocolate bar bouquet - You can personalise it with Dads favourite chocolate bars

• Home made fudge, or another homemade sweet that Dad loves

• Personalised stubby holder, mugs etc, with photos of the kids and filled with his favourite chocolate bars

• A car cleaning kit made yourself, containing all of his favourite cleaning products in a nice tub or bucket

• A picture frame containing a favourite photo, and decorated with scrabble letters like this:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

We have won...

While it's not official until the 8th of September, the night of the award presentations, it's safe to say that Bargain Mums have won the Connect2Mum Mumpreneur Best Blog award!  Thanks to everyone who voted for me and showed there support, I had no idea there were so many out there who found my money saving tips so helpful. 

The very exciting news is that I will be heading to the Connect2Mums national conference in Sydney next month.  This is going to be an amazing opportunity for Bargain Mums, for both networking and inspiration, and my amazing husband and daughter are tagging along, I'm sure they will have a fantastic time sightseeing while I am attending the conference!

The next big task, now that I have turned this trip into yet another bargain hunt (Flights to Sydney for $99; 5 star apartment for $169 per night) is to find the perfect dress for the awards night, at a bargain price.  I would love any ideas you may have, I can't remember the last time I had an excuse to dress up!

Falls Creek family holiday on a budget

Bargain and snow holiday don’t often go together, especially when travelling with 2 children in the school holidays. We travelled by plane to Melbourne Airport then the coach to Falls Creek. We stayed at Snow Ski Resort in the Bowl. How much did this cost?

The Coach from Melbourne Airport to Falls Creek -  2 Adults  & 2 Children     - $596 return

Accommodation at Snow ski apartments for 5 nights - $1695

So before you have even got your toboggan out it has so far cost $2291 + flights.

The coach was very comfortable, and stopped at a really nice and reasonably priced restaurant / cafe where you can pre order hot food and pick it up straight away when you get inside. There were no toilets on the coach so I was a bit concerned that there would be issues with the children, but there weren’t. The Coach stopped twice on the 6 hour journey, once at the restaurant and again at the depot at the bottom of the mountain, there you could buy food and use the bathroom.  On the way back down the mountain I was glad for the stop at the bottom of the hill, My Daughter was motion sick and crying. I had a bag ready, luckily it wasn’t used but after a walk around the depot she was fine and we continued back to the airport with no drama.

Once we arrived at Falls creek we were dropped off at the transport gate, there were people and luggage everywhere it was hard to move and no one seemed to know what they were doing. I found a staff member who was pleasant and helpful. He gave me a map of the village and said the wait for the over snow transport was going to be over an hour and our best bet would be to walk. So with both kids and 4 suitcases we set off up the hill. The climb took about 30 mins. Cant say I would do that again. If it was just the 2 of us I would but it was hard for our son to drag a suitcase up a snow covered mountain! However by not getting the over snow transport we saved $50. We also dragged the suitcases down the hill the morning we left, that wasn’t too bad, total saving there $100.

I would recommend sending 1 person on the over snow transport (cost $33 one way) with all the suitcases with any children under  5 (free) then the walk up the mountain isn’t too bad especially if you don’t have to drag a suitcase. Also there is a free chair lift to take you from the bottom of the hill up into the bowl. Snow Ski Apartments is right next to the lift.

The accommodation looked pretty average, but it was warm, clean and comfortable, although the bed was really hard. We were up 3 flights of stairs so that was another challenge to drag the bags up there after dragging them up the mountain. The manager did help with one of the suitcases and came in and set the temperature. All the staff we came across during our stay were very helpful and pleasant.

We hired toboggans, they were $30 each for a four night hire. Well worth the investment, the kids loved them. At the opposite end of the village there was a dedicated toboggan field, to get there you take the free over snow bus, it looks like a tank. Then you get a regular mini bus the rest of the way. It took about 20 mins to get over there including the waits between buses.

We did not go skiing, the weather for the last 3 days was really foggy and I didn’t feel comfortable to go skiing for the first time when I couldn’t see really far and I was concerned the kids would get lost. To go skiing for 2 days, including ski hire, lessons and lift passes was going to cost close to $1000 to book through the travel agent. There are so many ski hire places I am sure with a bit of leg work you could find a better deal. As mentioned before there is a free lift from the bottom of the hill up to the bowl, but it does say repeat riding requires a ticket, I didn’t see any tickets being checked. Also that lift doesn’t go up to the top of the mountain, but it goes higher enough for the new to skiing.

We filled in our day by going out in the morning on the toboggans and throwing snow balls and making snow men and just playing in the snow, we would come in for lunch and hang our suits in the drying cupboard then head out again a few hours later.

Overall it was a great holiday and we will be going back in a couple of years when the children are a bit older and we will be going skiing this time.

Other Tips for saving money on this trip.

Hiring a snow suit is around $20 a day per person, depending on how long you are going see if you can borrow or buy a second hand suit, there are so many good ones out there as alot of people buy them and only use them once or twice.

Use one of your suitcases for food that will travel, cans of baked beans, canned vegetables etc, muesli bars, cereal, coffee, tea, sugar, 2 min noodles, pasta.. anything you think you will need. There are 2 shops in the village, the on half way down the mountain is super expensive, over $6 for a packet of tim tams! The Foodworks at the bottom of the hill is cheaper but everything is at a premium and there are no specials. We shopped there and then got the free chair lift back up the hill. Snow ski also had some items in the reception for sale. Surprisingly the price of milk was cheaper there. $4 for 2 lt, compared to $4.39 at the bottom of the hill.

Unless you plan on going to the snow a few times, rubber boots with thermal socks will be fine. The kids had a pair of $15 Woolworths winter boots, with 2 pairs of socks, the tops of the boots were not quite waterproof  but they were ok. I had a pair of ankle high rubber boots, not the smartest move, as if you stepped in deep snow your boots fill up, luckily the knee high thermal socks for snow were quite water proof, so it took about an hour before my feet were wet and cold. Next time we will get knee high rubber boots or proper snow boots.

See if you can find a private rental, it will probably be alot cheaper.

Hot Chocolate Gifts

Hot Chocolate

These simple to make hot chocolates are great for using up the left over chocolate from the first two recipes. They make excellent gift ideas or to keep for your self!

Ingredients

Cooking Chocolate

Spoons

Cello Bags

Ribbon

Silicon cup cake holders

Have your silicon cup cake holders ready to be filled

Melt the chocolate in the microwave in short bursts.

Move the cup cake holder next to the wall, Once the chocolate is melted fill the holders as shown, leaving a bit of room at the top.

Stand the spoon in the chocolate using the wall for support. You can use any spoons you like, or to keep costs down you could also use pop-sticks.

Once the Chocolate is set carefully remove the cup cake holder. Place into a cello bag and use some ribbon to tie closed.

To use, heat half to 3/4 of a mug of milk, depending on taste in the microwave until hot, place the spoon into the hot milk and slowly stir until the chocolate has melted.