My Favorite Self-Help Stuff

T’is the season, and one thing just about everyone loves:

Chocolate truffles.

I’ve just been experimenting with a super easy recipe… that allows also some amazing variation.

1) Take a bar or two of your favorite chocolate.

I happen to like sugarfree chocolate, but sometimes this can get kind of boring, which is why I came up with the idea for turning it into truffles.

See, I bought a huge stash at the grocery store when it was on sale, and I don’t like tham all that much.

So I decided to try an experiment. And by the way, if you like regular chocolate, this will work with regular chocolate too of course.

I broke a couple of bars up into small chunks and melted them in the microwave.

Then I mixed in some butter and some Coconut Oil (experiment with whatever combination you enjoy — I also like it with all coconut oil).

That will add the extra smoothness and softness…

Then, mix in whatever flavorings you like.

Try cinnamon, a bit of rum, vanilla, or get a bit adventurous. I tried 5 spice seasoning (the same kind I happen to like in hot chocolate), and wouldn’t you know it — it works really well in truffles too.

You can also add “mix-ins” from raisins to chopped nuts to…

Bacon bits! Be sure you get the REAL kind.

That’s right. There’s now a high priced chocolate out there that combines chocolate with bacon and it is a VERY nice combination. Mo’s bacon bits or something.

You can do that yourself at home.

Or you could cook some strips of bacon and drag it through the chocolate mix while it’s still melted and then put it on wax paper and refrigerate.

Ooooh. I’ve got to try that!

To make it even better, get this fancy peppercorn bacon!

Of course, this works with all kinds of other stuff too. Just have fun.

Oh, about finishing those truffles… Let them cool off enough to be able to form them into balls, then roll them in something suitable, i.e., cocoa powder, chopped nutws, shredded coconut, or whatever.

Or you can just deposit lumps of them on a piece of wax paper and enjoy it in various shapes.

Needs to keep refrigerated or else it will melt before you have a chance to eat it.

Experiment with various ratios of chocolate to coconut oil. I’m using about a couple of spoonfuls per 3 ounces of chocolate for pretty good results.

There are fancier recipes out there, but this one is great for turning your favorite regular chocolate into truffles. Also works with chcolate chips.

Enjoy.

Elisabeth

Hot chocolate is one of my favorite comfort foods, and I’ve figured out how to improve on it (at least I like it even better myself with those enhancements).

Last year (I think), I wrote about curried hot chocolate. Basically, I added curry and garam masala in various proportions (I like half and half) to my sugar-free hot chocolate mix (with a bit of milk added). I’ve been drinking it like this ever since. Until…

Recently, I discovered something new that I like even better:

Chinese Five Spice mix.

Same basic recipe, just add that Chinese Five Spice mix to the hot chocolate.

Yummmm!

And here’s a bonus (and this is the reason why I found the Five Spice mix in the first place): It contains star anise, a spice that has a powerful immune strengthening function and seems especially effective against swine flu (though please don’t take medical advice from me — I’m a doctor of philosophy, not a doctor of medicine).

Anyway, I went out looking for star anise, and since I couldn’t find it by itself, I got Chinese Five Spice. And since I was trying to use it as much as possible, I put it in my hot chocolate. And… Yumm!

And if you read the post below on swine flu prevention, you’ll discover an immediate connection and an excuse to enjoy your 5 spice hot chocolate often!

Meanwhile, I’ve discovered another winning combination (although I will try not to overdo it in spite of its yumminess, as I’ll explain below):

General Foods International French Vanilla Cafe — enhanced with Chinese Five Spice.

OOOOhh. Double Yumm!

Unfortunately, that Gerneral foods stuff contains a few substances I’d rather avoid (Including aspartame (I like sugar-free) to partially hydrogenated oils (yuck! trans fats!).

Sure, it claims there are no transfats in there, but we know better. They’re allowed to say “No Trans Fats” if there’s less than half a gram in there per, uhm, “serving.”

The thing is that according to them, one serving is 6-8oz of coffee. Who has just 6-8 oz of such a ymmy treat when we’re used to Starbucks ventis?

I think just one mug has at least 2-3 times as much, and what if I want seconds? So you can triple the transfat load, and maybe double that, and now you’re looking at 3 grams of the stuff!

So I’m trying to keep a lid on it, somewhat, and save it for a special treat.

Meanwhile, hot chocolate it is — prepared according to my new favorite hot chocolate recipe.

Enjoy!

Elisabeth

P.S.: What’s YOUR favorite hot chocolate recipe??? Please share in the comments section.

P.S.: Like to blog? Want to make your blog work harder for you? Check out my blogging course at http://www.thebloggingcourse.com

How come a self help blog features posts on sugar free ice cream and chocolate?  Hey, come on! Both of these can be great mood boosters (if used wtih discretion).

If you’re trying to avoid sugar and love chocolate or ice cream, I’ve got some treats for you.

Chocolate first:  Russell Stover comes through again!  I love their Private Reserve Sugar Free Triple Chocolate Mousse (with 60% Cacao  Dark Chocolate!)

Extremely good.  They also have a caramel version of the same thing.  Also excellent!

Of course, they also have a whole bunch of sugar free candy in green baggies, and those are good too, but the Private Reserve ones are more than a notch above.

And speaking of notch above: icecream!  Oh my! My newest “addiction”/”wish I had never tried it”:

Edy’s Slow Churned Rich & Creamy No Sugar Added Coffee ice cream.  Wow!

It’s the creamiest stuff I’ve had in a long time, and the perfect latte flavor.  Incredible. It’s much like I remember Haagen-Daaz (sp?) coffee from way back when I used to still eat sugar.

Also, if you can still find them, the sugar free peeps are pretty good too if you like peeps.  Almost as good as the real thing.  And if they’re on sale, now that Easter is over, grab them.  Last year they turned up on eBay for something like 4 bucks a pack that used to cost 99 cents in the store (this year $1.09).

I wish I had stocked up…  This year, I bought a few.  I think I’m trying to go easier on sweet stuff, ever since I read that book about the fact that sweet stuff makes our bodies think it’s time to fatten up.  Can’t remember the book at the moment.

I’ll write about that later when I find it again.  In the meantime though, it’s time to ratchet back down the sugar free chocolate thing…  Once they’re THAT good, they can be seriously addictive too.  I almost liked them better whent hey weren’t that good…  Helped with portion control.

Ditto with the ice cream.

Have a fabulous day.

Elisabeth

P.S.: I think tomorrow I should write a little something about how sugar free goodies can be helpful for weaning you off sugar…

Is sugar addiction making your weight creep in the wrong direction?  Does it slow down a weight loss plan you’re on, or is it even making it a complete joke?

Here’s the way I have weaned myself off sugar…  Actually several ways. It was a multi-step process.

First of all, for some of us (and maybe many of us), sugar is addictive.  Period. You eat it, you want more.  That’s what it’s been like for me.

Sooo, hard as it may seem, the easiest way to get off that roller coaster is quitting cold turkey.  But you knew that and you didn’t want to read THAT here, so I’m not going to stop there.

The reason why sugar needs to go is because it triggers addiction. But there’s no need to quit sweet stuff right there.

Here’s what I did instead…  I experimented with “sugar-free” goodies.  In moderate doses.

Now how would this help?  First of all, the selection isn’t quite as big as that of sugar-containing sweets, so temptation is reduced a bit. Just make a real commitment to forego actual sugar and it becomes surprisingly easy. You know you can still indulge, after all, just not then and there (unless you came prepared, which I actually recommend).

Secondly, most of these sugar-free goodies don’t quite trigger the physiological addiction the way sugar does.  For me anyway, I was able to stop at a couple of candies when they were sugar-free, while sugar would have triggered the vicious cycle of eating more of it, and eating it more frequently too.

This is different for different sugar substitutes though, so you may want to experiment. Stevia is by far the best, and you may want to go easy or avoid Nutrasweet. Also, try to reduce the sweetness gradually when you have control, for example in coffee or tea. Learn to like it without.

Third, depending on which sweetener you picked, you may find that you don’t WANT to eat more than a small portion because eating too much leads to major gastro-intestinal distress.  What kind?  Gas, bloating, and the runs, depending on how much you eat.  Who needs that?  So you eat just a little…  That’s what’s called “self-limiting” in medicine, and it works for sugar addiction as well.

So far so good.  You may find that you still don’t make as much progress in your weight loss efforts as you’d like.  And there might be a reason related to the sweet stuff.

So here’s another step:  Once you’ve weaned yourself off the sugar addiction, cut down on the sugar-free goodies too.  In fact, all but eliminate them.

How does that help?  I came across this very cool diet (can’t remember book title right now, but will add that if it comes back to me, and if you recognize it, please add it in the comments section).

Anyway, this plan talked about how sweet stuff signals to our bodies that it’s time to fatten up for winter.  Uh-oh!  Not the message we want to send.

For me, that piece of information just about killed any desire for sugar, and finally, my weight is slowly moving into the direction I want it to move… down!  Yippie.

And it wasn’t hard.  I had been off sugar for years at that point, but was still liberally ingesting the artificially sweetened stuff.  No more.

One occasional cup of spiced hot cocoa (which isn’t all that sweet actually), and sugar-free chocolate on only very rare occasions (and I go for the dark kind, which is less sweet too.  Then some fruit.  That’s it.  And it wasn’t that hard.

So if sugar addiction is getting you down, try this two-step plan.  Get off sugar and wean yourself with the sugar-free stuff (in small doses), and eventually face those out too.

If the going gets challenging, just think “Fatten up for winter?  No thanks!”

Have a fabulous and sugar-free day!

P.S.: If you’re interested in one of my FREE exploratory coaching sessions, just send me an email at coaching AT myfavoriteselfhelpstuff.com and I’ll get back to you to arrange it.

Easy spiced hot chocolate is my latest guilty pleasure. I generally use the sugar-free hot chocolate mixes as a base, but it will work just as well with the sugar-containing ones.

I got the idea when I found a curried sugar-free hot chocolate mix on Ebay — it was so overpriced, though, that I didn’t order it — and when I finally decided to buy one just to try it, it had become unavailable

So one day, I decided to experiment…

I often have a mug of hot chocolate in the evening — generally I get the sugar-free version, and I mix it with half low-fat milk (cold) and half very hot water. Because I like my mugs huge, I usually need two packets to get the right flavor and consistency.

But one day, I decided to add some spice to my hot chocolate. I experimented with various combinations, and found that my favorite is a little (1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon?) Garam Masala powder and a little (same amount) Spice Hunter Curry Powder. If you want things spicier still, you can use more (or less) and/or add cayenne pepper to taste.

Pumpkin spice mix works nicely too (a slightly different effect though). The possibilities are endless.

Yumm. And you know what? I discovered I only need one hot chocolate mix packet when I add the spices.

If you’d like to try it yourself, you might want to experiment with different spices to taste. You can mix them with the hot chocolate powder first, then add water and finally the milk, especially if you don’t like things clumpy. Experiment and enjoy.

BTW, a few days ago, I read to my great amusement that “they” have discovered to their great surprise (!) that hot chocolate mixes taste MUCH better if you add milk. They had to do a study to figure this out???

Meanwhile, have a great day, enjoy your hot chocolate or whatever you’re having, and if you come across a particularly good combination, please let me know at supportATmyfavoriteselfhelpstuffDOTcom.

P.S.: I finally tracked down a bag of that high-priced mix that inspired the whole thing, and you know what? I liked it a lot, but I liked my own mix even better!

You may or may not. If you want to try the special fancy curried mix, you can find it at www.eSutras.com (and it’s quite a bit cheaper there than it used to be on Ebay, though it remains a pretty premium-priced product).

Chocolate? Melt-in-your-mouth creamy? Easy to make? Not particularly expensive?

I’m not really big on cooking, and so when there’s a potluck coming up, I generally just go to the store and grab something delicious-looking. But this year, I had a flash of sudden inspiration…

And I’m going to share it with you, what with the theme of the “edible gifts” book I’m giving away from now all the way through Christmas Eve as a bonus when you sign up for my e-musings and e-tips, also known as newsletters, though I have to say they’re sometimes kind of informal (surprise…)

(I’ll send you the link for the e-book by personal email AFTER you confirm your subscription)(unless I manage to get around to set up the automated thing).

So here goes my potluck story:

I happen to love those little mini cream puffs. I rarely buy them for myself, especially since I’m trying to stick to a mostly low-carb diet. So any excuse I can find… I’ve brought buckets of them to potluck functions over the years.

This year, though, would be different: What if I dipped them in chocolate?

I got a big bucket of the cream puffs at Sam’s Club (80 for less than 9 bucks). Then I stopped at my local grocery store to investigate what chocolate-y thing I could dip them in to make sure they had the right texture.

I actually asked the clerk, who pointed me to something that didn’t seem quite right. Then I headed to the produce section to see if maybe they had something. After all, the chocolate-dipped strawberries seem to be big these days. No luck!

Mercifully, a lady shopping nearby pointed me to the chocolate chips, which I could melt in the microwave oven. Yay!

They even had a sale on Hershey’s chips. And some of the chips had melting instructions on the back. So I was all set.

I got the mint chocolate ones, which turned out to be perfect. I even added a secret ingredient to give the chocolate a smoother texture: coconut oil. About a tablespoon per cup of chips. Yummm.

Then I dipped the cream puffs in the melted chocolate after sticking in toothpicks for easier handling, set them on plates covered with wax paper and let them cool in the fridge.

At the party, they all disappeared in a hurry, once word had gotten around. Somebody even told me she had never tasted anything this delicious, not a compliment I’m used to getting!

So all you need is a bucket of mini cream puffs, a bag of chocolate chips (mint work extremely well, but you may want to experiment with other flavors too — or even several different ones if you’re making a big batch.

And, well, coconut oil is really healthy they say! It goes incredibly well with chocolate, so you may want to spring for a jar and keep it around. It’s supposed to help fire up the old metabolism too, so imagine that: chocolate-covered cream puffs that help you lose weight! Is this a winning recipe or what?

I hope you’re enjoying the pre-holiday season and maybe a batch of those chocolate-dipped cream puffs or whatever yummy other dessert you’re making.

I’m going to go see the tacky light show in the next few days, and maybe I’ll post some pictures

Have an amazing day!

Elisabeth

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