5 Things: Guide to Chocolate Therapy
Chocolate Truly is a Wonder Drug!
Well, the events in our country over the last several days has left me spiraling. I know that many others have felt this way too. If you recall my last post, I stressed that this is exactly what this new administration wants to do, and dang it, I fell into the trap! BUT once again, I found my head and calmed myself down. I had been feeling adrift and unheard, as I know many of you feel too! I had reached out to my Democratic elected representatives, and not heard a word from them publicly or in response to my emails. I was feeling angry and frustrated that it seemed nothing was being done to stop this small group who are essentially hackers, stealing our highly sensitive data, much of which is our own personal data! I wanted to be reassured that someone, somewhere was doing something and had a plan of action. Finally, late on Monday night, we found NY Rep Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) on a live stream. She clearly set out everything that I already knew and understood, but also reassured me and almost 100,000 other people that there is a plan, gave us tasks, and issued a stern, calm, and caring pep talk for all of those who had been spiraling all day! I finally felt heard and more secure about today and the next day, and the next, which brings me to my point.
These are dark days, don’t fool yourself. And dark days call for chocolate therapy if we have any hope of survival. I am actually not kidding. Now, as we enter this period of scary, confusing, and frustrating days, I want us all to be prepared with the various forms of chocolate and have some form at the ready at all times. Arm yourselves with chocolate.
First of all, I want to assure you that chocolate, especially dark chocolate is full of all kinds of health benefits. This is not a joke. It contains antioxidants and improves blood flow, reduces inflammation, enhances moods, protects cells from damage caused by free radicals, boosts energy, increases good cholesterol, improves heart function, and more! Now, the key is to use really good, higher percentage chocolates. The higher the percent, the more cocoa solids and cocoa butter there is in the chocolate, and that’s where the health benefits come from. So, choose wisely because a lousy, cheap chocolate is just not worth eating at all for a number of reasons!
The other thing to consider is that most recipes call for a huge amount of sugar. I always reduce the sugar in recipes, and no one misses the added sweetness. However, don’t take too much sugar away, you can mess up the recipe this way. It sometimes takes a bit of trial and error. I love chocolate, but I hate sweet stuff. I am constantly trying to push the limits on reducing the sugar in recipes I make.
Now, here are my five levels of chocolate therapy for a quick reference guide when you start spiraling and need mood lifting, heart strengthening, brain food, in no particular order.
Chocolate Bars. If you’re going to eat chocolate, go for the good stuff! Our household favorite brand is Omnom. It’s Icelandic and absolute pure bliss. When we visited Reykjavik back in 2018, one of the founders gave us a tour of the small company’s operations. Many of their bars are single source chocolates with high percentages of cocoa solids and cocoa butter, but all taste amazing, not bitter or chalky like cheaper, dark chocolates taste. And you don’t have to travel to Iceland to get them either. You can find them online at omnomchocolate.com or on Amazon or in Whole Foods stores (a limited selection). There are many other delicious chocolate brands too. A really good quality chocolate is so satisfying that it takes a small piece to lift the mood and satisfy a craving, and that’s a bonus for your waist line and your bank account. So, find your favorite, and stock up. You’ll thank me later!
(not my cake - this amazing not too sweet cake is from The Olde York Tea Room in York, England)
Chocolate Cake. I really am not much of a fan of bought chocolate cake (above example, notwithstanding) - most are not worth eating! So, my suggestion is that you grab a mix or bake one from scratch. It is so worth it! A warm, fudgy cake is heavenly! Again, I always reduce sugar in my recipes. I have two standby cake recipes. One is Presto Chocolate Cake from Moosewood. I have been making this cake for about 17 years now. And as luck would have it, I have already posted this cake recipe and several others on my old blog. So, you can find these recipes here! I do reduce the sugar to 3/4 of a cup and add Ghirardelli 70% chocolate chips. It is topped with a super simple ganache, and I use the same chocolate chips for that. It’s our go-to crisis-need-chocolate-now cake! And the recipe says to eat it warm, right out of the oven! The 2nd standby chocolate cake is a mug cake. Now, I am always working on finding the best recipe out there, but I may have found it. Stay tuned!
Chocolate Pudding. We love homemade chocolate pudding. This may surprise you, but our go-to recipe for chocolate pudding is a Weight Watchers recipe (see photo). It is so rich and creamy! This is a recipe my husband makes for us. Is is such a decadent treat and is definitely a mood booster! It is quick and easy to make too! You can see my husband has made few adjustments, and truth be told, we usually double this recipe.
Hot Chocolate: I like to make my own hot chocolate, and I do not even sweeten it. I use 70% Ghirardelli chocolate baking bar, milk, and a little vanilla. I like to whip cream for the top, but I do not sweeten that either. I use a lot of chocolate, so that the hot chocolate is rich, but not too sweet at all. Whatever you choose, make it rich and chocolatey! The photo is a Christmas Hot Chocolate that was totally decked out with yummy toppings, but typically our hot chocolates do not look like this!
Ice Cream. And here I will include brownies too! My pick is always going to be Haagen Dazs what used to be called Belgian Chocolate Chocolate but is now called Double Belgian Chocolate Chip. It is the best - talk about a mood booster! I also find that an ooey, gooey, rich chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream really does make one feel better about life! Everyone has their own favorite brownie recipe, but you can’t really go wrong here.
Of course, one needs to consume sweets in moderation and keep your body moving each day with exercise, but studies have shown that people who eat chocolate more often than those who do not, are slimmer, overall. So, choose your chocolate wisely, eat it in moderation, but with frequency, keep your hearts strong, and your moods boosted. And make sure you never run out of good chocolate {hidden} somewhere in your home! While you might take this tongue in cheek, it’s truly meant in all seriousness from a true chocoholic who knows a thing or two about the benefits of consuming and savoring chocolate! Call and email your elected officials about this madness (every single day!)! Over and out…
Anna