Chai Cider

As my final post of the semester, I thought I'd share a drink that my husband created that is good for chilly days.
It requires one mug of apple juice, heated up in the microwave for a minute, and a chai tea bag.

Heat the juice, and add the tea bag, steeping it for however long you like steeping your tea. What you are left with can be described as a spiced cider with a hint of black tea. Delicious!

I've enjoyed sharing my love of food with you guys this semester, and have a great winter break!
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Holiday Flavored Yogurt

I was grocery shopping on Tuesday night, and I was in the yogurt area when I noticed something new: Lucerne's Holiday Edition yogurt in Caramel Apple, Gingerbread, and Pumpkin Pie. For you, the reader, I have sacrificed my taste buds and tasted the Gingerbread and Pumpkin Pie flavors.
When I say sacrificed, I mean that hopefully you read this and don't waste your money on them.

The Pumpkin Pie was okay. It definitely tasted like pumpkin pie, but the texture was all wrong. Besides, where was the crust and whipped cream?

But nothing could have prepared me for the Gingerbread. Usually I don't mind things that are gingerbread flavored. I love gingerbread men, and I jump for joy when Starbucks starts selling Gingerbread Lattes during the holidays. Whereas Starbucks has created a delicious beverage with artificial flavoring (and I'm not being biased because I work there), the combination of gingerbread flavoring and yogurt is all wrong.

At first I thought that eating the yogurt at 4 a.m. had something to do with it (I'm usually pretty cranky when I have to work that early) but then I realized why I threw it out after only a few spoonfuls. Yogurt is only good when it is flavored with either fruit, chocolate or vanilla. The pumpkin pie flavored one was okay, but that is because it had pumpkin listed on the ingredients, which is a vegetable, which can be lumped into the fruit/vegetable category.

Regardless, you should thank me for taking one for the team for you, the darling reader.
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Gingerbread Houses

So, I know that this blog is all about healthy eating and quick and easy recipes, but there is one family tradition that I have to share that involves frosting, lots and lots of candy, and more frosting. Every year, we get together and assemble gingerbread houses that range from ginger shanties to ginger mansions, and have a total blast doing it.

To make them, the first thing you need is a group of people. This year, we had seven, but four or more is usually good. The foundation for the houses are pint-sized cartons, and the ones that we use are for single servings of orange juice. Target carries six packs, and we either drink the juice or dump it into a pitcher for later.

We use graham crackers for the walls and roof of the houses, and frosting to bind things together and stick the candy onto the houses. There is no specific way that these have to be assembled, just use your imagination.

Here is a list of different type of candy that can be used:

• M&M's
• licorice
• gum drops
• gummy bears
• gummy worms
• candy canes
• animal crackers
• peppermints
  

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