Diary of a Chocoholic

I had intended on posting on Friday but got sidetracked by everything going on Boston-- I was glued to the computer watching my hometown news from 1am until Shabbos. At the risk of sounding like a religious freak, I'm going to leave it at this: Hodu lashem ki tov (Give thank to the L-rd for He is good).

So now, let's get to it. The truth is, I am more than slightly obsessed with chocolate. It's not really my fault- my mom's also a certifiable chocoholic (sorry mom!). Forget gummy candy- I can totally live without it. And forget oatmeal raisin cookies; as some wise internet dweller once wrote, they're the reason I have trust issues. It's CHOCOLATE that's my comfort and most-craved food (admittedly, I'm a girl of many cravings. Any time of the day/week/month I've got at least one craving going on). So the lack of sugar (my other big-time love- sorry EE!) in this whole PCOS diet journey is rough.
Side-note: I'm not going to lie- this weekend I definitely cheated on this new diet that I've been romancing. Shabbos is going to be rough. I've got to figure out what to do about Challah... do I just eat the bare minimum required, or is even that amount going to throw this whole thing off? Clearly we've got some kinks to work out. But despite that, I was super "good" during BOTH meals this week. And when we went out to dinner with some of our best friends Saturday night, I ordered a salad! ....and mozzarella sticks and a milkshake, but shhhh. We're back on track as of Sunday afternoon! Hopefully for good. Buckle down, kiddos.
Clearly, the no-sugar rule mostly freaks me out because of all the chocolate it rules out. There was a faint spark of hope while we were out food shopping the other day. We found and bought a sugar-free coconut chocolate bar made with stevia... but not surprisingly, and yet much to my dismay, it was pretty gross. Like so gross that the fact it's chocolate I can eat gets completely cancelled out by it's grossness. So, what's a girl to do? I NEED my chocolate, people!

Worry not- as of today, there is hope! I found this recipe for "Chocolate Brownie Bites" on Pinterest Sunday afternoon, and by Sunday evening I had eaten about half of the batch. Yeah, I know. But can't we just work on WHAT we're eating first and then we'll focus on portion control, k? ....ugh, okay fine. We'll work on it all!

Here's the recipe:
Ingredients-

-1 cup raw almonds
-1 1/2 cups pitted Medjool Dates (approx. 10-11 dates)
-3 1/2 TBSP cocoa powder (the higher quality the better, obviously)
-4 TBSP shredded unsweetened coconut
-1/8 tsp salt
-1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract (more or less depending on your preference)
-Water

Instructions-

1. Add all ingredients except water into a blender, in the order listed (to keep the dates from getting     stuck to the blades)

2. Pulse until your almonds are well-chopped (there will be pieces).

3. If the mixture is dry/not sticking together, add a small drizzle of water.

4. Once combined, scoop the mixture into a bowl and mix/knead to fully incorporate it all.

5. Roll the mixture into TBSP-sized balls and ENJOY!


They're super good. Check out these pics!

YUM. I highly recommend them. They totally quenched this chocoholic's chocolate craving. :)