Trying something new

Update: the boys LOVED the new chocolate syrup. It is thick, rich, and oh so yummy! My husband tried some in soy milk and it was very good. I am still not sure about the savings yet. I am going to see how long this lasts.



Tonight, I tried out a recipe from Amy Dacyczyn's book, "The Tightwad Gazette". Our teenage sons have been going through a certain chocolate syrup like gangbusters. I am all about saving money but tonight I am not sure if this recipe will be a money saver or not. The jury is still out until further evaluation. Anyhoo here is the recipe:

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup tap water
2 cups sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
In a 2 quart saucepan mix the cocoa and water with a wire whisk. Heat the chocolate water over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add the sugar and continue to stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and boil for a full 3 minutes. DO NOT LET IT OVERFLOW! Remove the syrup from the heat.

Add the salt and vanilla, stirring to blend. Pour the syrup into a clean pint sized canning jar, or a clean container. Put a good lid on the jar and store it in the fridge.

I cleaned and used our empty 42 oz plastic container of the 'other' chocolate syrup. Plus I also tripled the recipe since I know how much my boys seem to go through this stuff after football practice.

I had all the items on hand and it was fairly easy to do. However, next time I intend to do several things different. The first is to use a bigger pot! Oh my goodness it about overflowed everywhere and it is HOT! Also I am going to use less sugar and may even decrease the amount of cocoa. It tastes just like the other syrup and it has a great consistency but I am concerned with the amount of sugar. However I love the fact that I used more vanilla and plus the brand I use is from Mexico which is DIVINE!

I am still not convinced that this will be a moneysaver for our family. I am going to price the sugar and cocoa next time I am at the grocery store. Since I buy these things only a time or two a year and in bulk I am not in touch with the current cost of these two items.

This fall I am going to try to find ways to cut back and cook more from scratch. This time of year we are racing from football games and such and the tendency is to eat out.....I do not want to do that this fall! I have a few more ideas that I will be posting later this week that I am going to try out.

I will also post whether my boys noticed a difference or not in their nightly glass of chocolate milk!