I make my own packets of my home-made instant hot chocolate. I haven't printed anything on the packets, yet, but I do label dear daughter's HC (she likes hers dessert sweet, I like mine a bit dark-chocolate-bitter with a touch of chile and cinnamon). This works if you have a seal-a-meal or a food saver.
Use freezer paper (paper on one side, plastic on the other). Once you know your size, cut out simple rectangle that will fold to the right size plus borders. Fold with the plastic on the inside. Use the hot wire on your FS or SAM to seal the edges, leaving one open to fill. (You can also use an iron just along the edge, I have used medium heat, as I recall.) Print anything you want at this stage. Fill, and then seal the final edge.
Another method for single-portion spices in
much smaller amounts is the drinking straw method. For this, I use the fat straws you can find for frozen drinks, like these:
http://www.amazon.com/Large-Extra-Straw ... 6HGNM76Q8DPinch one end closed with pliers and use a flame to melt the plastic closed. Fill with a small/mini funnel. Pinch the other end closed and melt the plastic. Wrap a small piece of masking tape around it and label with contents. I just checked my kitchen cabinet and discovered I'm out of the fat ones, but I filled a standard 8" straw to check its volume, and it holds exactly 1 tsp (I used salt). I haven't done it with liquids, but my kids have talked about making their own honey sticks, and I have considered vanilla and almond extracts for DO baking in camp. (Got this basic idea from a backpacker youtube series.)
Catherine
Hot Cocoa1 Cup vanilla sugar
1 1/4 Cup Instant nonfat dry milk
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
(Optional 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and a pinch to 1/2 teaspoon of NM red chile powder (this is more like cayenne than the spice blend you can buy most places)
1/2 Cup baking cocoa powder (I use natural, NOT Dutch processed) (3/4 Cup for my dark chocolate version)
To make vanilla sugar, put a vanilla bean in a quart canning jar and add sugar to the top, dry. Leave for a week minimum. Use the sugar as desired and always top it up again so you have it for the next recipe. We also use it in pancakes, for example, and in cinnamon sugar. I try to replace the vanilla bean once a year, but have gone as much as two years.
Put the sugar and the dry milk in a dry blender containter, add cornstarch, salt, and spices if using. (DO
NOT put the cocoa in. It starts to melt under the temperature of blending, just making a big mess.) Blend until fine. A blender really works much better than a food processor for this. Put through a sieve (I use one like this:
http://www.amazon.com/HIC-Brands-Cook-S ... fine+sieve) and break up all lumps. This makes it easier to mix later. Put the cocoa powder through the same sieve into the same container. Mix well.
Now you have to play to decide how much to package up for each drink. I put 3 heaping teaspoons in each packet for myself, and mix in a 15-16 oz coffee mug. DD likes hers sweeter, as I said, so she puts 4 heaping teaspoons in each packet and mixes with less water.
Build Thread Penguino II:
viewtopic.php?f=55&t=54919Build Thread Penguino I:
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"Oh, let's just stay here and sing camp songs for a while." 1966, My mom in Isle Royale, MN, in a women's bath house with a momma bear and two cubs outside the door, and three tired kids trapped inside
"Dad! Dad! There's a bear outside!" 1967, Lolo Hot Springs, MT, in a tent-top trailer
"Oh, no, there it goes!!" Nov 10, 2012 as Penguino I blew over in high winds
My husband named my company for me.
