On a stormy, rainy day...

I had me a small(-or rather a tall) Caramel Apple Cider before class today and it was so goooooood.



It wisked away that pesky sore throat like it was nothing and mmmm... I'm still dreaming about it.  So warm and smooth on my palet.  Only problem was A. it was gone to fast and 2. It cost me almost $4!!  For a small! Tall!  Whatever!

 Eeek!  

Note that I don't treat myself enough-I admit it.  And I was on an in-between-class date with my brother, but you do that every day until finals and your wallet will be hurting man!

As I may have mentioned here that I recently went grocery shopping and I knew I wanted to make apple cider so I purchased the necessary items, but then when I got home today I was jonesing for more caramel appley goodness that I couldn't help myself make the whole shebang.  From scratch-ish.

Oh yum.

If you wanna make it too, here's what you do:

Apple Cider:

*2 quarts apple cider

*1/4 c brown sugar-packed

*1/8 tsp ginger

*1 orange cut into wedges

*1 lemon cut into wedges

*2 cinnamon sticks

*1 tsp whole cloves

I got my recipe from here but of course I fudged it a little and this is what I came up with.

I didn't have cheesecloth so I just dumped everything in my slow cooker that was put on low.  Before drinking I put it though a colander so I could catch everything-especially the clove, get the cloves out as they are kinda potent potables.  I'm a creamy texture kinda person so I added some whole milk to my cup then added some drizzle of caramel sauce to mix in.  Can you say HEAVEN?

For the caramel sauce,

One of my favorite websites for food right now is Skinny Ms. Ah! Love it.  They have awesome wholesome, healthy recipes that make my tum-tum go yum-yum!

Anywho- I saw a recipe for clean eating caramel apple and thought-Hey! lets do that for my caramel sauce!  

And guess who had everything in pantry...this girl :)

Caramel Sauce:

*1/3 c coconut milk

*1 cup brown rice syrup (I used regular maple syrup)

*2 teaspoons vanilla extract

*1 tbsp coconut oil or butter

*1/4 teaspoon salt

Whisk coconut milk and syrup in medium sauce pan over medium-low heat.  Allow to cook for 10 mins. Whisk in salt, vanilla and coconut oil or butter.  Remove from heat.  Sauce will thicken upon standing.

Goodness without any extra "stuff" in it.  I like the convenience of having caramel sauce and most times I will just make it, but when you can make it with wholesome-ish ingredients, it's a win-win in my book.

Speaking of, I'm going to curl up with one and sip some of this yummy stuff and call it a night.  

What kinds of yummy fall treats do you enjoy on cool days? Please share!

(it was mentioned to me that my comments aren't working? is this true??  If you're having problems email me and we'll see if we can get it fixed right quick.)

Much love,

-a