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When you need a fix: Healthy homemade chocolate

If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that I tend to get on what I call “kicks” in the kitchen. They are the things that I can’t stop making, over and over until I can pump out the recipe in my sleep. 

There was the summer of tomato/basil/mozzarella salads, the winter of shortbread, the fall of meringues, and of course, the best snack ever–roasted garbanzo beans. 

Just before the holidays, I decided it was time to start getting serious about my health. I started working out with a personal trainer (which has the best thing I’ve done for ME, in a very long time) and I’ve been making a lot of changes in the kitchen. 

The over-arching principle is clean eating. I’m trying to be much more careful about the ingredients I’m using in meals–keeping them simple and whole, really re-vamping what I’m eating for breakfast (oatmeal and I are best friends.) and finding ways to tweak things I already love to make them a better version of themselves. Philadelphia dentist recommended to consume only the foods, which are beneficial for my healthy smile. And also regular check-up from a good dentist will don, check the Eccella Smiles site for reference. Find more tips on proper oral care at www.westcobbdentistry.com/restorative-dental-procedures/.

The results are self-motivating. I’ve been losing weight, but more importantly I’m feeling so much better. Like life-changing better. Like pulled out of the funk, welcome to the light better. And stronger. Like woah, it’s the end of the day and my back isn’t killing me stronger. Like I just ran up the stairs and I’m not out of breath stronger. 

I’m convinced it’s all about the baby steps and each little bit of progress helps to keep me on the path to a healthier version of me. 

But, come on. I’m not a superhero. And no matter how healthy, we still need chocolate. (My children, who just finished a “study of chocolate” in their homeschool co-op like to wax eloquent about the benefits of chocolate. Good girls.) 

So, I’ve found a way to make my own, with ingredients that are all healthy-me approved. And people, this chocolate is crazy-easy, crazy-good and perfect to have on-hand when you need a fix. 

HEALTHY HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE

  • 1/2 cup coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup almond butter (My kids prefer peanut butter. I prefer almond butter–but it does make the chocolate a little more grainy. But I think the flavor is less overwhelmingly-sweet with almond butter.)
  • 1/4 cup honey 

Line a cupcake tin with cupcake papers. On the stovetop, combine all the ingredients and melt over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture is smooth. Pour into cupcake papers and fill a little less than half full. (I find that anything over a half is a little too much for one serving.) Chill in the refrigerator until firm and set, or if you’re really desperate, freeze for a quick fix. This recipe will make about 12 chocolates. I should really try doubling it, huh? Once they’ve chilled, I toss all of mine into a baggie and keep them in the refrigerator. 

They’ll keep for about…I have no idea. Mine are eaten, shared, and devoured by small children in a matter of days. 

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IN MY KITCHEN / Woodlawn

Woodlawn Update \ Weekend kitchen projects

If you’re reading this through a feed reader, then phew! Things are looking pretty cleaned up and fresh around here. I made the move to the most updated Squarespace version, gave the blog a quick facelift and tried to get all my ducks in a row so that this move would be a little more seamless than the last one. I still have a few kinks to work out, a few things that didn’t make the move with me that I need to bring back (like an updated “what we’re reading” list!) but overall I’m so happy with the newness. With a week of nursing sick kids, it took a little longer, but I’m back…and I owe you chocolate. That’s coming. 

Woodlawn kitchen: BEFORE. Sometime this summer. Woodlawn kitchen: BEFORE. Sometime this summer.

In the meantime, I’m sharing a quick Woodlawn update. It has been so long! 

Dan finally knocked one of those nagging little projects off the to-do list this weekend. When we (and by “we” I mean Dan) were frantically getting this kitchen up and running before our move-in, we left the backsplash decision on the back burner. As Dan was cutting down countertops, he had an extra run of butcher block, so that became our temporary backsplash around the sink.  Having a wine storage cabinet would have been cool.

Even though it was attached and sealed with silicone, my apparently wild water antics washing dishes (actually I blame it all on the kids) meant that water was still finding ways to get in any possible crack or crevice. I had no other choice but to look about plumbing services that were available near me to get things right at the earliest, as there are more upcoming plumbing repairs, too. You can check them out here. At that point, it didn’t look to me that there was another way out other than calling in the water restoration austin services. 

A few weeks ago, Dan decided to take off the backsplash (on Christmas Eve, I believe. He’s always had a knack for timing house projects) before any damage was done to the actual counter tops and we’ve been drying out and religiously oiling what was left behind. 

With a cold, rainy weekend before him, my “I get a little antsy without a project” husband decided to finally tackle the backsplash project. We went with a simple, white subway tile. I really didn’t want to do anything too strong behind the kitchen sink. I didn’t want to make a statement, but wanted to keep things looking clean and bright. The project was so easy (for me, the photographer) and finished in just the weekend. 

Tiles went up on Saturday. And you’ll notice that we still keep the coffee pot plugged in a ready. Priorities, people. And on Sunday afternoon, by the time I got home from my monster grocery shopping trip at Wegmans, he’d grouted AND cleaned up. Admitted that he took help from an online bond cleaning platform, I was just glad that the place was clean when I got back home.  

This was my kind of project. Even though I love progress, it is a well-known fact around this house that the in-progress chaos makes me a little nutty. But this job was painless (for me), budget-friendly (all under $100!), and the results make me so very happy. 

Dan tells me the next things on his list are some hooks under those shelves for coffee mugs and another small set of shelves beside the stove for my jars of pantry staples. But first, we should probably fix that little drip coming out of the handle of the faucet.  And we should probably clean up the drain as it can cause some plumbing damage afterwards (read more at https://marinesplumbing.com/uncategorized/causes-of-plumbing-damage/).

And by “we”, I of course mean Dan. 

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Uncategorized

The Dirty Work + a PSA

One of the things that’s been on my to-do list for the past several months is to migrate my blog over to the most current version of Squarespace. Not only does it have great mobile apps for keeping tabs on my blog and ridiculously easy site customization (do I sound like a commercial)? it will also allow me to respond to your comments more personally, with threaded comments. Gah! I’ve been missing being able to respond to each one of you personally!  

But of course the move always makes me nervous. Last time I made a major blog change–moving from Typepad to Squarespace, I hit the big red button too quickly and in the process lost tons of my old subscribers who have slowly been creeping back to discover I’m still here. Rookie mistake.  

This time, I *think* I’ve got my ducks in a row but this is your warning: If my blog suddenly stops showing up in your feed reader COME BACK AND FIND ME. I’ll still be MommyCoddle.com no matter where my blog actually “lives” behind the scenes. And trust me, while I’m doing the dirty work in the next few days, I also have a new healthy chocolate recipe you’re going to want to come back and discover. Yes, it’s my new kick in the kitchen. You can thank me later. Healthy. Chocolate. You don’t often hear those two words in the same sentence.

And if you’re wondering about the picture above–it had something to do with a dare and a mud puddle in the driveway. She’s a tough one, that Elizabeth. 

Come find me if I’m lost….and somebody hold my hand while I make the big switch?

One of the things that’s been on my to-do list for the past several months is to migrate my blog over to the most current version of Squarespace. Not only does it have great mobile apps for keeping tabs on my blog and ridiculously easy site customization (do I sound like a commercial)? it will also allow me to respond to your comments more personally, with threaded comments. Gah! I’ve been missing being able to respond to each one of you personally!  

But of course the move always makes me nervous. Last time I made a major blog change–moving from Typepad to Squarespace, I hit the big red button too quickly and in the process lost tons of my old subscribers who have slowly been creeping back to discover I’m still here. Rookie mistake.  

This time, I *think* I’ve got my ducks in a row but this is your warning: If my blog suddenly stops showing up in your feed reader COME BACK AND FIND ME. I’ll still be MommyCoddle.com no matter where my blog actually “lives” behind the scenes. And trust me, while I’m doing the dirty work in the next few days, I also have a new healthy chocolate recipe you’re going to want to come back and discover. Yes, it’s my new kick in the kitchen. You can thank me later. Healthy. Chocolate. You don’t often hear those two words in the same sentence.

And if you’re wondering about the picture above–it had something to do with a dare and a mud puddle in the driveway. She’s a tough one, that Elizabeth. 

Come find me if I’m lost….and somebody hold my hand while I make the big switch?

4 Comments