Gifts for mom

Here are two ideas on how to celebrate mom this coming weekend:

 
Make a garden

Buy some potted flowers/plants and start a garden together with mom (in the backyard, on the balcony, or a potted "garden", inside the house). This idea came from Mr. Money Mustache's blog.




Make a chocolate pudding dessert (you do not need to be a master chef).
 
I tried to make this treat as healthy as I could by decreasing the amount of sugar and introducing healthy additions:

In a saucepan, mix ¼ cup of white sugar with 5 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/4 tsp turmeric (optional), 1/3 cup of cornstarch, and 2.5 cups of water. 

Heat and bring to boil.  Mix  until the pudding starts to thicken (this happens fast). Turn the heat off, add 2 Tbsp of butter (instead of butter, I use Smart Balance, a plant-based spread), 1 Tbsp vanilla, and walnuts and/or raisins (optional). Stir and distribute into small glasses (depending upon the size of the glasses, you may get 4-6 portions). Let it cool and serve with chocolate shavings on top.