Simple Hot Chocolate Recipe & Christmas Traditions

With Christmas just two days away, I thought I’d share a very simple hot chocolate recipe, and a few of our family’s favorite Christmas traditions.

I love family traditions. Even if it’s as simple as playing a board game, or having a family movie night, I look forward to each one.

Having a new little one to join us this year in our Christmas traditions has made them all extra special. I am so excited to see the joy in her face as she opens her gifts, and gets to share in each of these special moments with us.

When I was a little girl it was our family tradition to open gifts on Christmas Eve. We would eat a big meal, and I promise my Dad ate more that night than all year. Or maybe it just seemed that way to a little girl who was very eager to enjoy her gifts. Ever since I can remember it was tradition for us girls (I have two older sisters) to wait in the bathroom while my parent’s put the gifts under the tree. All tree of us piled in the tiny bathroom of our little brick ranch house. It seemed like the longest ten minutes of the whole year. I’m pretty sure that my parents enjoyed making us wait as much as we couldn’t stand it. When we had Eli, I knew that this tradition of waiting in the bathroom was one that I wanted my children to enjoy. This year, he’ll have to wrangle his sister and keep her from playing in the toilet. It’ll be good times for him and one for the family memories, I’m sure.

Year after year, I make our family traditions a priority.

One other tradition we started when we first got married is the evening we put up our tree up we watch the movie White Christmas. It is one of my very favorite Christmas movies, and it kicks off our holiday celebrations every single year. We usually enjoy homemade hot cocoa, and make a whole family fun night! I’ve included the recipe below. This is a simple, healthy alternative to the powdered mixes. I enjoy it frequently during the cold months.

Another simple little tradition is lasagna. How is lasagna a tradition, you may ask? I started this a few years ago, and every Christmas Eve I make a pan of lasagna for our supper. Truthfully, this is almost the only time all year I make lasagna. I don’t know why, but it seems like so much more work than the rest of all the food. Soon after Eli goes to wait for gifts to be put under the tree. When all the gifts are under the tree, we read Luke chapter 2, and reflect on the Greatest Gift Ever Given…Jesus. We each take turns praying, and praising the Lord for His goodness. Once the gifts are open, we enjoy the evening as a family. Sometimes playing a game, other times watching a movie together.

We usually wake up on Christmas morning and enjoy a big breakfast. I usually make a french toast casserole with some scrambled eggs. On Christmas morning I love to put just a tiny bit of cinnamon in our coffee grounds. It adds just the right amount of Christmas cheer to the day.

I enjoy keeping our family traditions simple.

There’s so much joy in the simple things. I think it’s so important every day, but especially at Christmas, that we slow down to thank the Lord for our blessings. He has given us so much. Our family, our health, our home. So many things that we take for granted, and I know I don’t thank Him enough for just how good He is to us all the time.

Healthy and Delicious Hot Chocolate

This is a recipe that I have made for years. With just a handful of ingredients, it is easy to throw together any time of day. We often enjoy a mug of it after our farm chores are done on cold winter mornings. The little dash of cayenne really helps warm you up, and I love the added depth it gives to the chocolate. It is delicious without the cayenne, so feel free to try it both ways!

As always, thanks so much for spending a little part of your day with me! Merry Christmas!

Here’s an image to pin for later…