After school treat

I told you that my minis went back to school on Wednesday.  I was a tad nervous to pick them up after their first day and hear how things went.  This is the feedback I got......

Oldest Mini:  It felt really good to be back playing football at recess.
Middle Mini:  I love school so much that I didn't want to come home.  The only reason I came home was because I missed Lola.  (I chose not to be hurt over this comment, and celebrate the fact that my boy really loves his puppy.)
Tiny Mini:  I had so much fun with my new friend Chelsea.  (To which, I commented that I didn't know she had a girl named Chelsea in her class.  To which my tiny mini replied, "I don't have a Chelsea in my class.  I forgot her name, so I called her Chelsea in my head.")

Sounds like a successful day to me!

On the 2nd day of school, as I was driving my minis to school I asked my middle mini what he was most looking forward to at school that day.  He replied, "mom, can you be quiet for a second?  I am watching the movie Rio in my head and the best part is coming up."

And that's when I realized my middle mini is weird.  But in a good way.  Quirky, we call it.

 (And, yes, I realize these pictures of my middle mini on the beach have nothing to do with my story, but he's such a doll, I couldn't resist posting them.)

So anyway.....I wanted to have a special treat for my minis to enjoy when they came home from school.  My minis LOVE chocolate milk and I rarely let them have any because the ingredients on the label are a little shocking to me.  So, I found a recipe for homemade chocolate milk and I whipped up a batch for them.  

First you need to make the chocolate syrup.

• 1/4 cup cocoa 
• 1/2 cup water
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar 
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract 

1.  Add the water and cocoa to a small saucepan.  Stir and heat over medium heat until the cocoa is dissolved.

2.  Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.

3.  Heat to boiling and stir for 3 minutes while boiling.

4.  Remove from heat and add vanilla extract.

5.  Chill in fridge and add one tablespoon to one cup milk.

Mix your cocoa and water.

Dissolve cocoa and then add sugar.

Dissolve sugar and then heat to boiling.

Boil and stir for 3 minutes.

Store in a glass jar in the fridge.

Once you've made and cooled your chocolate syrup, add 1 tbsp of chocolate syrup to one cup cold milk.  Stir.  Chug.

This recipe got rave reviews from my minis.  This is probably the most popular unprocessed item that has left my kitchen in 8 months.  They LOVED this chocolate milk.  I mean, look how happy they are.

OK, so maybe we didn't enjoy our chocolate milk ocean-side.  And maybe I am the one playing movies in my head.