You know when you get to the bottom of a jar of chocolate spread, and there's not enough left for a sandwich? Don't you dread cleaning it out so you can put it in the recycling? Usually I fill the jar with hot soapy water, replace the lid and give it a good shake. But today I filled the jar with hot milk instead, gave it a really good shake, and poured the resulting hot chocolate into a cup for Sam who is off school today with a high temperature and a bad cough. Frugal hot chocolate and a pretty clean jar that just needs a quick rinse in the sink. Nice one.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Frugal Hot Chocolate
You know when you get to the bottom of a jar of chocolate spread, and there's not enough left for a sandwich? Don't you dread cleaning it out so you can put it in the recycling? Usually I fill the jar with hot soapy water, replace the lid and give it a good shake. But today I filled the jar with hot milk instead, gave it a really good shake, and poured the resulting hot chocolate into a cup for Sam who is off school today with a high temperature and a bad cough. Frugal hot chocolate and a pretty clean jar that just needs a quick rinse in the sink. Nice one.
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16 comments:
Love it. Love the easy, frugal thing I never thought of. For me recently it's been reusing the bags other stuff comes in (cheese, apricots) and not buying any more (plastic) bags.
love the idea of the hot choc, just one question dont you use your jars for preserving? I have found that choc jars make grate pickling jars because they are not metal tops
I hope Sam is feeling better real soon. I'm sure the chocolate helped. :)
Yum. This reminds me, too, that I forgot to finish my promised hot chocolate post. Better get back to the tasting part. hehe
I'm going to try that next time we run out of Nutella. Possible nut allergies aside you can remove the label from a Nutella jar and they make great drinks glasses for the kids. We use them for juice in the morning as well.
Love it. I do the same with the Marmite jar ... hot water, although I remember my sister used to drink Marmite in hot milk when she was a child.
Joanna
I made Squid a hot milk and honey last night the same way. There wasn't enough scrapeable, but it melted/dissolved nicely.
Ahh - the sign of true frugalite! To be one you must belong to the 'scrape the jar" mentality.
I do that with all kinds of jars and cans - ketchup, veggies, condiments - for a really good soup base. Also save fruit juices, jelly jar rinses for syrup. And don't forget crax & cereal crumbs from the box and bread crumbs from the bag and/or cutting board. Bellen
Great ideas everyone and thanks for the comments.
Mamabird: I save bags, too. Must do a blog post about that one day. Thanks for the reminder.
Thrifty Kate - I have a cupboardful of jars for preserving now, so I'm not saving anymore. I know when to draw the line between frugal and clutter - well, most of the time.
Robin - thanks for the concern. Sam was feeling well enough to come and see the bees. I'm sure the hot chocolate was a crucial part of the cure.
Simon Sherlock - I have a few Nutella glasses, although I mostly buy Green and Blacks' fair trade chocolate spread. It's the best tasting as well as being ethical. I think Nutella tastes waxy in comparison. If G&B came in reusable glasses like Nutella that would be perfection.
Chile - I'd like to read that. I'd also like to help you research it.
Joanna - I drink hot Marmite drink too, but I'm the only one in my family who does. I sometimes use Marmite jar rinsings as stock in soups and casseroles for the family, but I don't tell them. Marmite and hot milk? That sounds a bit weird even for me.
Skipweasel - yes, we make sure we get every milligram of honey out of the jar too. Did you know that in her whole lifetime a worker bee produces about a quarter of a teaspoon of honey? I wouldn't want to waste a whole lifetime's work.
Bellen - in the UK it is illegal to feed food waste from domestic kitchens to chickens? So I would never give the ends of the cereal packets to my chickens, or the crumbs from cracker or bread packets. Oh no.
Mel, when I post it, you'll have plenty of tasting opportunities because I'm into variations. :)
First, though, I've got to conquer my colossal cauliflower. And I don't think it would be good with cocoa, not even a spicy mole.
This is a great idea for anything that comes in a glass bottle, but I just want to mention that it's probably not such a good idea for a plastic bottle of chocolate syrup (thinking of the Hershey's squeeze bottles because I'm down to my last one right now before making my own syrup from now on.) Hot liquids do bad things to plastic that can leach into your cup.
Had to laugh when I was reading this. It sounds like a great idea but in the back of my head I just kept thinking "but that's what fingers are for!". I don't buy chocolate spread very often but if I do, then it would be unthinkable to me to not positively scrape the jar clean, including using my finger to wipe out and eat the last remnants (it's the kid in me, what more can I say) before deciding to wash the jar for re-use/recycling. :-)
Bellen says - have no idea why you thought bread/crax/cereal crumbs were to feed to chickens - the crumbs are to use as you would any crumbs. I find a mix of crumbs to be very tasty in meatloaf/meatballs/casserole toppings.
chocolate... sandwiches...? ::wipes drool from chin::
Beth, if you're reading, you could make cold chocolate milk by pouring milk into the Hershey bottle and giving it a good shake.
Oh Heather T, I am soooooo gonna do that when it gets near the end! And when I post that bottle on my blog tally finally, I'll be sure and give you credit for helping me finish it off. If I remember, that is. Lack of sleep is wreaking havoc on my brain cells lately.
What a simple idea and yet something most people wouldn't have thought of. I certainly hadn't. Not that I use chocolate spread these days but we went through our fair share when the children were small.
Having read through the other comments I shall definitely be using your method on the Bovril jars - extra drinks or soup/casserole bases (with water of course, not milk).
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