HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year, all! 2015 – Crazy how fast time flies, isn’t it? I hope your celebrations last night rung in the new year with fond memories of the last year and left you hopeful for 2015. We got all bundled up and went to down to Niagara Falls for the concert! It was freeeezing!! We came back to Matts parents place just in time to watch the ball drop and warm up with some hot chocolate.

I’m sad Christmas is over, but really glad to start a new year. Always feels like a fresh start, doesn’t it? I’m so grateful for all 2014 brought us, but we are REALLY looking forward to 2015 and ready to embrace it! Matt graduates this March and is so stoked to start finally working as a firefighter. We are eagerly awaiting our pending posting… And ready to see what God has Im store for us. There’s also goimg to be some changes on the blog, as I will befollowing more of a schedule. I also am getting more used to some of the “techie” stuff blogging entails. So be on the look out!! 😀 Have a wonderfully relaxing New Year’s Day.

2014 In Review

WordPress.com prepared a 2014 annual report for my blog. Seeing as how onelovelylittlelife just launched in October, I’d say these stats are pretty great!

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,500 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 25 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

So excited to see where this blog goes in the new year! Thanks for all your interest, encouragement and support!

Things I’m Loving Thursday: Cozy Blanket Scarves

I’m just loving all the ways I’m seeing that you can wear and style a cozy blanket scarf! Images of these gorgeous, oversized tartan scarves have flooded my Pinterest feed for the past couple months. The popular item is often sold out, so I continue to drool look over these images longingly, in hopes that one day I will have my own. I’m REALLY hoping Santa brings me one this Christmas 😉 . It’s a wonderful practical and fashionable accessory. Take a look for yourselves…

For tips on how to wear a cozy blanket scarf click HERE.

Hot Chocolate…From Scratch!

I’ve been quite rude as of lately to not say anything…and for that, I’m sorry! How are you doing this evening? Matt has been studying a lot more; getting tested on the more medical aspects of firefighting, like “EMR” (emergency medical responder) and “HAZMAT”. We often relax together over a cup of loose leaf tea in the evenings, but tonight he wanted something else to satisfy his sweet tooth. He was craving hot chocolate, and well, we didn’t have any! I know, I know….it should probably be a staple in one’s pantry once the cold month’s are upon us. No hot chocolate was to be found but I wanted to make him one anyway. So today I’m going to pass on my recipe for making hot chocolate from scratch to y’all 😀 .

I actually had to do a few test batches to figure it out since I’ve always eyeballed the ingredients and never followed a specific recipe. I’ll try to be a little more exact.

Here is what I came up with in my non-test kitchen ;).

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The Perfect Homemade Hot Chocolate Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp Hershey’s cocoa powder

1/4 cup white sugar

1 3/4 cups skim milk

1/4 cup skim milk (to be used separately from other milk)

Directions:

1.) Stir together cocoa powder and white sugar in a medium saucepan.

The cocoa powder is going to be lumpy, but that’s ok. Just mix it up as best as you can.

2.) Add the 1/4 cup milk.

See how they don’t want to come together? We’re going to force them to!

3.) Force them together by applying heat. Bring the mixture to a low boil over medium – high heat, stirring constantly.

4.) I let it boil for a minute or two, until the sugar is dissolved and no longer grainy. Be sure to stir! Don’t let it burn!

P.S. – Is there anything more beautiful than boiling chocolate ;). YUM!

5.) Once it’s all mixed together, I add the rest of the milk. I’m not going to lie – I didn’t really measure this milk.  (I just wanted it to be enough for 2 cups – 1 for Matt and 1 for moi). If you like super sweet hot chocolate than add less than 1 3/4 cup, and if you like less sweet, add more. This recipe is totally flexible, guys!

6.) Since you added cold milk, you’ll (obviously) need to turn up the heat to get it back up to the right temperature. You can let it simmer on the stove for as long as you’d like.

And that’s it!

The trickiest part about this entire recipe is pouring it from the saucepan into mugs. You can do it carefully over the sink, or I just use a ladle.

Marshmallows and candy canes are optional! If you want to add a little somethin’, somethin’ and kick it up a notch, you can add a drop of  (doTERRA) peppermint essential oil to each cup. I haven’t done it yet myself, but I have tried it and it’s delightful!!

However you have it – enjoy!

Thing’s I’m Loving Thursday: Soup Du Jour

I.Love.Soup. I could literally eat it all Fall/Winter long for both lunch AND dinner. It’s so versatile – you can make so many varieties. And the ones you can throw on in the AM in your slow cooker are the BEST ones. Love me a hearty soup with biscuits (I think I may be an “old soul” at heart) – it’s the ultimate comfort food. And it’s been COLD here lately. This will be our first year “up North” and I’ve heard it’s only going to get colder. I’ve been craving anything and everything that will help stave off the chill – especially hot soups! I’ve been pinning more and more soup recipes lately…so I’ve decided I should share some of the ones I’m itching to make (and the ones I LOVE and have on our regular menu rotation).

 

Slow Cooker Pepper Jack Potato Soup

Apple & Cheddar Soup

Lasagna Soup

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Slow Cooker Zuppa Toscana

Roasted Cauliflower & Aged White Cheddar

What are your favourite soup(s)/recipes? What’s your ultimate comfort food?