My Chocolate Obsession

I am female. And like most females, I have a HUGE obsession with chocolate. When I was growing up, I could literally sniff out where my mom had hidden it away in the cupboards. It was like it was calling my name. I couldn't help but answer...

But over the years, my chocolate obsession has transformed. I have never liked white chocolate and still don't. It's too sweet and I don't think it tastes like chocolate. You can argue that it does. That's OK, but for me, NOPE. There is no way that white variety is a version of the decadent flavor I love the most.

When I was younger, my favorite type of chocolate was milk chocolate. Didn't matter who made it. My tastebuds were not skilled enough to tell the difference between Hershey's or Godiva. To me, both were just little drops of heaven....and the more, the better. Quantity over quality was what I wanted.

As I have gotten older though, my obsession has become more sophisticated. I prefer dark chocolate more often than milk chocolate (if it's the good kind). And as I have progressed on my journey to living healthier, my obsession has transformed into something else.....

This year was the first Easter that we dyed eggs, had an Easter egg hunt, etc. with my son. Since we live in Texas and it's already warm, we didn't hide the eggs we colored. Instead, I used plastic eggs and stuffed them with chocolate, bouncy balls, or money. For that reason, we now have an abundance of Hershey's chocolate eggs that are sitting on my counter. I swear they were calling my name this weekend, and I couldn't help but give in.... So, I selected a pink-wrapped egg (since boys don't seem to like pink), unwrapped it, and popped it into my mouth expecting a triumphant burst of satisfaction..

Holy crap! I couldn't spit that sucker out fast enough. It tasted waxy and gross! I couldn't believe it. Never before in my life have I spit out chocolate. The HORROR of it all. This stinkin' journey has made me picky when it comes to chocolate. Now because I have changed my tastes, the chocolate I eat better be so rich and decadent or else it will risk meeting the trash can.

Now, keep in mind that this event happened Saturday night. Well last night I was still craving chocolate, so I whipped up the following recipe. OMG!! They are good and as far as cookies go...they are healthy. The recipe comes from the March 2012 issue of Clean Eating. (Can I just say again how much I love this magazine? It's what we eat out of on a daily basis.)

Anyhow, here is the recipe:

Dark Chocolate & Chewy Cherry Drops
Makes 16 cookies

3/4 cup light spelt flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Pinch sea salt
4 oz. dark chocolate (80% cocoa - any higher and they aren't very sweet)
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup organic evaporated cane juice
1 large egg
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsalted almonds, roughly chopped (I used pecans last night--YUMMY)
1/4 cup dried unsweetened cherries, roughly chopped

Instructions:

ONE - Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, combine flour,cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside. In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate on low for 1 minute. Stir and continue to microwave in 30-second intervals until fully melted.

TWO - In a separate medium bowl, cream butter and cane juice on medium speed until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Add egg and vanilla, beat well until well combined (about 30 seconds). Add chocolate and beat on low until just combined. Add flour mixture in 3 sections, beating on low and scraping down sides, until just combined. With spatula, fold in cherries and almonds.

THREE - With hands, form 1 Tbsp dough into a ball and place on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, leaving 2 in. of space between each ball. With fingers, lightly press down on each to flatten slightly. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until top of cookies begin to crack. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes.

My 2 1/2 year old LOVED these too -- except for the cherries and nuts. :-)

Only one workout away...

One of the "pins" I have seen lately on Pinterest really hits home for me. Ironically enough, I haven't personally pinned it. But this one is so true that it really ticks me off most days. It says, "You're only one workout away from a good mood." Argghhh?!?!? Really???

There are not many days that I CRAVE working out. In fact, most days I would rather be curled up in our Love Sac with a good book. But since I'm a mom, we all know that's not going to happen any time soon. Even worse, my workouts tend to be on my lunch hour. So convincing myself to jaunt my grouchy butt over to the rec center so I can sweat it out is almost an impossible task. Add in the girls I refer to as gazelles, and my motivation plummets even further.

And we ALL know who the gazelles are. They are the ones jogging effortlessly on the track. Or they are trucking away at 7+ mph hour on the treadmill. They lift weights with ease and contort themselves into human pretzels when stretching. They are toned and tan and look like human barbie dolls. You know who I am talking about....the ones who make exercise look easy.

I have NEVER been that gazelle. I can keep a pace of 5.2 mph and go for quite aways. But if I were to run at 7 mph, you can bet that I would trip, slam my face on the treadmill, and be thrown off like a rock skipping across water. Yup, that's me.

However as much as I hate that saying, it is true. I have never regretted a workout, but always regret skipping out on one. That is when I have remind myself that this journey isn't a quick trip, it's about changing our mindsets to change our lives. To change our lives, we have to change our lifestyles. So no matter how many excuses we can come up with to not work out, the benefits are so much sweeter than the excuses. Because we all know what excuses are like.... and everybody has one. 

In a world without Photoshop, we'd all have better self-esteem

I love social media for various reasons. One of which, is that some people will include links to what they have recently read. The following link is one that several of my FB friends read recently. The headline was definitely an attention grabber and the slideshow did NOT disappoint.

This link just adds to the warped sense of reality and our society's pursuit toward a perfection that only exists with the help of computers and a program known as Photoshop. So if you want to feel better about who you are, you really need to check this out:

15 Photoshopped Transformations of Celebs and Models

http://mashable.com/2011/12/01/before-and-after-photos/

After seeing this, it makes me want to digitally alter all my photos. But since I have an extreme lack of time lately, I'll just continue to eat right and exercise. I may not be perfect, but then again, who is?