{sugar-free}: pudding?

So I'm on day 4. Day 1 was hard. Day 2 was scary. Today I'm getting my energy back and the headaches aren't as bad. I'm hoping by the weekend that I'll be back to full strength-or at least look like less of a recovering drug addict. Sylvia (our Store Manager) has been worried about me-she doesn't know what do to. Her exact words were: "I haven't heard you laugh at all today-this is the most sick you've ever been!!" I think if I start really exercising it will help me gain some more energy.

But about the pudding. I miss chocolate. Not just for the sugar, I just love chocolate. I've always liked my chocolate very, very dark like 80-90% cacao, but I don't dare risk any sugar. A good portion of the fake sugars and sugar alcohol products feed yeast just as much as sugar (ie Splenda, Asparatame, etc.) because they are derived from sugar, so I have to avoid those, and really I don't want any of the stuff anyway cause they have other health side effects. I read up on stevia so I decided to give it a try. The greek yogurt I've been eating for breakfast has the most wonderfully creamy texture like a rich mousse-my first thought when I tried it was that it would make delicious pudding. So today I dumped a bunch of cocoa powder in a bowl with the greek yogurt and added a couple of packets of truvia. In my mind, it is delicious-Jon thinks that the lack of sugar in my diet may be screwing up my perception of taste because he thinks it is disgusting. It's very cocoa tasting, which I actually really like.

The other thing that is hard is I can't have any vinegars. At first glance that is no big deal, but no vinegar wipes out salad dressing, mayonaise, bbq sauce, a lot of mustards, etc. So no salad dressing on my salad. I've found that if I put avocado on my salads and mush it in and eat it all with my hands it's really good. I was never a huge salad dressing person anyway, but not being able to have it at all has been weird.

Overall, I feel much better and since last Saturday, I have lost 5 pounds! That's not what this is about, but I'm sure not complaining about that side effect! Hopefully this will be just the shift I need in life to help me to be healthy and get me through my insatiable need for sweets. I know back in High School when I wasn't eating a whole lot of anything I didn't crave sweets hardly at all because I didn't eat them hardly at all-and that was driven by pride an vanity. Hopefully now that I have good reasons I can get back on the right track and not feel like I'm depriving myself so much when I'm around them. It will be for health reasons, which is ultimately so much more important!

Speaking of High School, and this is just embarassing, that last episode of Glee this week made me cry a little. I don't know if it's because of what she said about your relationship with food changing so much when your pregnant or just the song she sang, but I was bawling....I'm such a baby now which I continue to blame on the breastfeeding hormones, but if you didn't see the episode, it struck home. (sniff). Awww food, someday we will figure out our complicated relationship...

{consumer report}: chocolate

I feel qualified to recommend good chocolate. I love it. I crave it. It physically makes me feel better (I may or may not have an addiction). On my worst days, chocolate picks me up. It has magically healed everything from cramps to headaches. I love good chocolate. And I like it dark and creamy. So, without further explanation...my picks for best chocolate.

I actually typically buy this as a chocolate chip. Not only do I cook with them, but I do love to snack on them frozen. They are perfect for a sweet little pick me up at the end of a long day, and they give chocolate chip cookies a bit of a richer taste. Love it.

I also love this brand of chocolate chips for the same reasons. I currently have a bag of both sitting in my freezer and I can't decide which I like better...they're both perfect for cooking and can hold their own just as a snack...

I have not yet been able to find this regularly in the United States. I became hooked on this particular brand of chocolate in Germany, and I also found it in Mexico. It is the only milk chocolate that I really, really love. It is so creamy with such a smooth filling...and they make kinder eggs that come with prizes so really its a win-win.

I LOVE Ritter Sport. It is available at Wal-mart sometimes and always Target. The marzipan in something you MUST try if you haven't ever. You must. I promise.

This is the chocolate of my pregnancy. This is what I craved. Once again, Ritter Sport. Love them. This dark chocolate is so wonderful, and I LOVE hazelnuts. I would make trips to Target when I was prego just to buy one of these...wonderful! These are also especially delicious when frozen-for some reason I like the chocolate to be crunchy with the nuts.

Their truffles are to die for as well, but too rich for my everyday chocolate needs. This is a very dark chocolate, not their darkest, but very dark, and oh, so good. Just a couple nibbles of this is enough to settle down my chocolate cravings and it is so rich in antioxidants that I feel the need to justify eating it every chance I get...is that so wrong?

Ok, so I lied when I said Kinder was the only milk chocolate that I love. Once you try Milka, Hersheys will taste like the chocolate flavored wax it is. It is the smoothest most melt-oh so gently-in-your-mouth chocolate that there is. I was beyond excited to see that Target has started to carry it regularly...this became a fav in Germany and I'm glad to see it in the states!

Well, that is all for my bit on my chocolate addiction...I've got chocolate chips to tend to...