Homemade Chocolate Syrup

I came cross this article on a friend facebook and loved and tried myself ....so yummy.
Homemade Chocolate Syrup

Ingredients -

•1/2 cup of cocoa
•1 cup of water
•2 cups of sugar
•1/8 tsp salt
•1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Whisk cocoa into the water until dissolved. Start heating on high and add the sugar. Stir well while the syrup starts to boil. Once boiling I turn it down so that it won't boil over, but I keep it high enough that it is still slightly boiling. Boil for 3 minutes. Then add the salt and vanilla and stir well. Cool and then store in the fridge for several weeks. I keep mine in an old store bought chocolate syrup container for easy pouring. You can also store in a regular tupperware container and spoon out as needed. Quick, easy and yummy! You can't beat it.


Also some great recipes I came across on www.LivingOnADime.com .

*Calico Stuffed Squash

3 small acorn squash
6 Tbsp. margarine or butter
6 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 (10 oz.) pkgs. frozen mixed veggies in butter sauce*
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup walnut halves

Cut squash in halves, scoop out pulp (the stringy gooey stuff around the seeds) and seeds. Place in a shallow baking pan, cut side down. Fill baking pan with 1/2-1 inch of water. Bake at 350° for 1 hour. Carefully turn over, dot each squash with 1 Tbsp. margarine and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp. brown sugar. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake 20 minutes more. While the squash are baking, cook veggies according to package directions. Add 1/3 cup brown sugar and walnuts. Fill centers of squash and serve. Makes 6 servings.

*Note: to make this recipe easier, you can use some canned mixed veggies with melted butter. You only really need to warm the veggies rather than worrying about cooking them when you do this.



*Speedy Breadsticks

1 (8 oz.) can of refrigerator biscuits
1 egg white, slightly beaten
Coarse salt

Heat oven to 400°. Grease a cookie sheet. Separate dough into 10 biscuits and cut each one in half. Roll into a pencil shape about 4-6 inches long. Place on cookie sheet, brush with egg and sprinkle with salt. Bake 12-15 minutes until golden.



*Easy Pumpkin Bars

1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin
3 eggs
1 yellow cake mix
3 tsp. pumpkin pie spice*
1 can vanilla frosting
3 oz cream cheese, softened
Nuts, optional

Heat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 15x10 jelly roll pan. Combine sugar, oil, pumpkin, and eggs on high for 1 minute. Add cake mix and spice. Mix 2 minutes on high speed. Fold in nuts, pour into pan and bake for 25-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes clean.

Combine frosting and cream cheese until smooth. Frost cooled bars. Store in fridge.



*Here's the pumpkin pie spice recipe from our Dining on a Dime cookbook. You'll need to triple it if you want to use it in the above recipe. You can also make a large batch and store so that it's ready for all those holiday recipes you want to try!

Pumpkin Pie Spice

1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ginger
1/8 tsp. cloves

Mix well. Makes 1 teaspoon


Also some great tips there.....We do not celebrate Halloween, but I do take advantage of day after sales on costumes for my kids because the dress up all year and candy for cooking and treats.

Today's Tips:

Don't forget to hit the candy sales after Halloween.


Check out non-candy items, too. One year, the store had a bag of 24 bags of lunch chips for a dollar. This was an even better deal then packaging my own chips.


If you make candy for the holidays and use the melting chocolate wafers to dip it in, buy the orange wafers on clearance and add red food coloring (paste or gel) to use for Christmas.


Don't forget to think about New Year's parties. Black and silver is used a lot for them, so pick up some black plates, napkins etc.