Stop The Junk Food

A coffee is just a coffee, right? … But then why so many kinds of coffee? Just leave your coffee machine at peace for a couple of days and try these traditional recipes of coffee,  just to start your day better!!!

1) COFFEE WITH MILK

4 tbsps  coffee

3 cups milk

3 tbsps sugar

In a pot, boil the milk with the sugar. Add the coffee and leave it to cool a little bit. Serve with cocoa powder on top.

2)COCOA COFFEE

3 tbsps cocoa powder

3 tbsps powdered sugar

3 cups milk

3 cups  coffee (already made, concentrated)

100 g whipped cream

a pinch of salt

Boil the milk. In a bowl, mix well the sugar and the cacao powder, and add bit by bit the hot milk, stirring carefully. Continue until all the milk is incorporated, add a pinch of salt and start boiling the mixture at a small flame. After 10 minutes remove the pot from the fire and whip it well until it has a foam texture. Add the hot concentrated coffee, stir well, and serve in big cups with whipped cream on top.

3) MOCCA COFFEE WITH MIL K

3 cups milk

3 tbsps coffee

3 tsps grated chocolate

4,5, tsps sugar

Prepare 3 cups of very strong coffee. While it is still hot, mix it well with 3 cups of the grated chocolate melted in hot milk. Add sugar to taste. Serve hot.

4) CHOCOLATE COFFEE

150 g chocolate

1 cup coffee (already made, very strong)

3 cups milk

100 g whipped cream

sugar to taste

Melt the chocolate in the microwave until it becomes creamy. Add it to the hot coffee, stirr well, and then add the milk. Add sugar to taste and serve it  hot with whipped cream on top, and a chocolate chip cookie.

5) COFFEE CREAM

500 ml milk

150 g sugar

2 cups of coffee (already made, very strong)

4,5, tbsps cream

Keeping morale high at work can be quite a challenge in the current economic downtown, especially with so many workers fearful about their future employment prospects. However, if you are an employer a great way to boost everyone’s happiness and produce smiles all round, whether in a factory or office, could be by treating your co-workers to chocolate treats every now and then.

That’s because chocolate has been proven to contain certain mood-lifting substances that can brighten the day of anyone consuming it. It was South American civilizations that first harvested the cocoa bean almost 1,500 years ago and after turning it into a bitter beverage, discovered its impact as a mood enhancer.

Both the Mayans and Aztecs worshipped the Cacao Tree, believing it to be a gift of the gods. From its cocoa beans they produced a bitter drink they then laced with chilli and which was drunk only by the wealthy elite, normally only at special religious ceremonies. Indeed, that bitter drink was considered so valuable that cocoa beans were used by the Aztecs as currency and they often went to war with neighbouring Mayans to acquire them.

The Aztecs’ version of the Mayan drink was known as Xocolatl, which 16th century Spaniard conquistadors adapted to the easier-to-pronounce ‘chocolat’, further mutated to ‘chocolate’ once it reached English shores. Extensive recent research has proved that both the Mayans and Aztecs were right to value chocolate, as it is a source of phenylethlamine and serotonin, both of which are also chemicals naturally produced by the human body to lift moods.

So, as it has been proven that imbibing chocolate drinks or eating chocolate bars produces an artificial boost of mood-lifting agents, giving to employees or colleagues could certainly improve morale around the workplace!

But, even though chocolate does engender the feelgood factor for the majority, not everyone appreciates its fine qualities. So, if you opt for this fairly cost-effective way of raising office or factory morale don’t let it backfire. Remember to have an alternative handy for anyone who doesn’t eat chocolate, thus avoiding any accusations that they have been marginalised; perhaps a pack of wine gums or for those who shun chocolates and sweets altogether, something savoury such as crisps, or whatever takes that particular employee’s fancy. The important thing is to get them to feel as good as their colleagues and co-workers who will be getting a natural lift from the chocolate.