Ginger covered Hot chocolate; dairy free

I can up with this recipe because it is really hard to find decent tasting chocolate covered ginger in local shops, even hard to find stuff that's not made it milk chocolate.  This recipe is a little less messy then actually making ginger chocolate at home.

Ingredients:

Milk (soy, hazelnut, oat or rice) 3/4 cups
Vegan chocolate block 50g
Sugar to taste
1/2 teaspoon diced ginger

Directions

Gently heat your choice of milk over the stove top, stirring in the diced ginger.  It is important to never let it boil! Soy/rice milks tend to curdle when they boil.  Melt in the chocolate; stirring until it mixes with the milk completely. Pour into a cup, over a strainer if you dislike ginger lumps, and stir in sugar to your liking.

Servers 1.  For larger servings multiple the amounts by desired number of servings. :)

Spiced Hot chocolate; dairy free

This is a perfect complement for any sweet dessert. Like any version of hot chocolate it is perfect on it's own.

Ingredients:

Milk (soy, hazelnut, oat or rice) 3/4 cups
Vegan chocolate block 50g
Sugar to taste
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions


Gently heat your choice of milk over the stove top, stirring in the spices.  It is important to never let it boil! Soy/rice milks tend to curdle when they boil.  Melt in the chocolate; stirring until it mixes with the milk completely.  Pour into a cup and stir in sugar to your liking.

Servers 1.  For larger servings multiple the amounts by desired number of servings. :)

Chilli Hot chocolate; dairy free

A lovely spicy option - this makes a good compliment with curry dishes, or with dessert.

Ingredients:

Milk (soy, hazelnut, oat or rice) 3/4 cups
Vegan chocolate block 50g
Sugar to taste
1/2 teaspoon chilli

Directions


Gently heat your choice of milk over the stove top, stirring in the chilli.  It is important to never let it boil! Soy/rice milks tend to curdle when they boil.  Melt in the chocolate; stirring until it mixes with the milk completely. Pour into a cup and stir in sugar to your liking.

Servers 1.  For larger servings multiple the amounts by desired number of servings. :)

Peppermint Hot chocolate; dairy free + home made

Yummy home made chocolate.  This is an excellent drink to wake up to in the morning or to have with desserts.

Ingredients:

Milk (soy, hazelnut, oat or rice) 3/4 cups
Vegan chocolate block 50g
Sugar to taste
Peppermint essence 10millites

Directions


Gently heat your choice of milk over the stove top.  It is important to never let it boil! Soy/rice milks tend to curdle when they boil.  Melt in the chocolate; stirring until it mixes with the milk completely.  mix in the peppermint essence and remove from heat.  Pour into a cup and stir in sugar to your liking.

Servers 1.  For larger servings multiple the amounts by desired number of servings. :)

Organisation, It's a damn good thing

Life seems to get busier every year.  No matter what I do time seems to be getting away from me.  I'm student, a domestic, a re-enablement therapist, and a fundraiser.  This already sounds like a full schedule to me - and it's my life!  When I'm not at one job or the other I'm having to do basic house hold chores such as cooking, cleaning and budgeting!  This workload means that things can get quite stressful at times because it feels like there's not enough time in the day.  Especially if I want to sleep.

To cope with this there's a few things I find myself doing.  I prioritise.  I schedule.  I organise.

Prioritisation

This is essential to coping with any workload.  If you don't know what your most important jobs are then no amount of scheduling or organising will help with your work-load.  The most important things on my scheduled are my degree and my job.  I love my work fundraising and as a therapist but these simply to not bring any money in, so they come in second to my degree and my job.  The tricky part is how do I prioritise between academic work and employed work?  Thankfully, I don't have too - as I only work part time; this leaves me plenty of hours in the day which I can use for academic work.  After this is sorted I allow myself the equivalent of a day with the two other jobs (fundraising and therapist) as these are worth doing.

Scheduling

Scheduling for me goes hand in had with planning and organising to some degree.  However it is still it's own singular category in the essence of creating a time-line picture of my week.  The first time slot to got on everyday is my paid employment, the second thing is my lectures and seminars.  After this I keep everything as flexible as possible.  Only thing that need a fixed date and time will go on this schedule, i.e. a doctors appointment.  This is not to say I don't plan to use the rest of the time - the rest is broken down into task lists, tips for which will be in the following section.

Transport - this is an important thing to remember when designing a schedule. Keep in mind when writing up a schedule how you are going to get from point A to point B and how long the trip will take.  Give yourself extra time for this - it will save you so much stress and hassle!

Organising.

Organisation is often under rated.  It is so very integral to getting work done.  I organise myself with tasks lists.  They are so easy to write up and it is useful whether you are recording a shopping list or writing a to-do list.  The first thing to remember, though, is that you need time to eat, relax and sleep - I would ensure there's regular spots on your schedule for all of these.  The second thing to remember is be realistic.  I know that sound incredibly funny as a suggestion but the quickest way to feel like you're failing at your task is to give yourself a workload that is not simply doable.  Look very carefully at the schedule you have created for yourself as you create a task list for specific days.  Start by adding the most urgent tasks to your list first.  Continue adding only the tasks that you feel you can get completed in  the time you have available in that day.  The other aspect to tasks lists is to complete tasks at a time of day that will be ideal for the, such as doing shopping on your way too or from work.  Always allow yourself plenty of time.  This will save stress for things you really need to stress about.

Chocolate

Cocoa, so simple
Heady and sweet
Our little treat
Cocoa, so nicely sweetened
Our little sweet
Late in the night
A welcome site
To be received
Every eve

Bogged down

I've been a bit to bogged down to write up anything in the way of recipes.  May is a really hectic time of year.  I have over 8000 words to write on various assignments for university and I have to study for my final exam.  It will be worth it though because once they finalise my marks I will officially have a bachelors or science to add to my name.  WooooHoooo.  Them one year of this and It will be a bachelor of science with honours.  Yes!

I'm hoping I will have more time come June, when I've chosen next years modules and sent in my dissertation topic outline.