Eat: Dark Chocolate!

Dark chocolate is actually really good for you. So eat it, will ya?! :D
Q. Why dark chocolate?
A. Dark chocolate contains more cacao and less sugar than milk chocolate. So more of the good stuff our body needs.


Here are some benefits of dark chocolate:
~It's good for your heart and helps lower your blood pressure.
~Dark chocolate contains 4x more antioxidants than tea.
~The smell of chocolate can make you feel relaxed.
~It can elevate your mood.
~Drinking hot chocolate can curve your appetite.
~Chocolate can raise your serotonin levels and give you an overall sense of well-being.
Which means it can do wonders to your stress levels which are a leading cause in many illnesses including heart disease, a lowered immune system and cancer. I say, instead of taking a chill pill, take a dark chocolate and call me in the afternoon. ;) (sorry, not a morning person:P)

I over simplified the benefits to give you a rough view of what chocolate is actually doing for you. If you'd like to check out more about it and more scientifically 'why', check out the links below.


It is still key to eat it in moderation since chocolate is still high in calories, sugar and fat.
Q. So how much is too much?
A. Easy. Chocolate comes with nutrition labels so you'll see exactly how much sugar, fat and calories you are eating.

I use a rule of not eating a snack that is over 100something calories. If it doesn't start with a "1" or lower, I don't count it as a snack. For example: 100-150 calories, sounds like a reasonable snack to me. If it's 50 calories, that's even better.

If you want to get super technical, the average person needs to take in 2,000 calories a day. I'm a petite(4'11"), female so my daily calorie intake is more like 1,600. If you're an active, big male, you might have to take 2,200. And well, if you're dieting, you'd take in less calories than your daily calorie intake. I'd shave about 200 calories off. (Basically that equates to not eating that french fries with your burger, or switching soda to water.)

Portion control can be real handy to be able to enjoy foods you like without unbuckling the belt.
I try to go for pre-wrapped, bite-sized chocolates.

My favorite is Dove Dark Chocolate. With only 42 calories per chocolate, this special little treat also has a little pick-me-up line written inside the wrapper. My favorite chocolate inscription is: Naughty can be nice. I giggle to myself and savor the smell, taste and feel of the chocolate as it takes me over. It's something that can really make a difference in your day. (well, mine at least.)

Besides, you always savor something more when you have less of it. So unwrap that wonderful goodness. Let it melt on your tongue and cover your body in ultimate ecstasy!


Links:
Is Chocolate healthier than green tea?
Dark Chocolate Is Healthy Chocolate
Health Benefits of Chocolate?
Heart-Health Benefits of Chocolate Unveiled
The Health Benefits of Chocolate: Can Chocolate Benefit Your Health?
Chocolate's Potential Health Benefits
Health Benefits of Chocolate

Recipe: Sloppy Rice Patties

Okay, so I made sloppy rice and had leftovers. [It's quite a filling dish!] It felt blase' and I didn't want to waste it so I just changed it up a little. :)

Ingredients:
Sloppy rice leftovers [doesn't matter the quantity]
2 eggs
salt and pepper
extra virgin olive oil


Blend the eggs in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper. Heat up the leftovers and dump blended eggs right into leftovers. Mix it well. Heat up the pan to a little over medium and pour very small portions of the concoction into the pan. Fry it like you would tiny pancakes. [tip: make sure that the leftovers are globbed together as a whole and are not mountain shaped in the pan so it cooks evenly and doesn't fall apart.] After flipping once, set it on a napkin covered plate to soak up excess oil. Done!

It was interesting. Reminded me of hash browns? Eating this with some ketchup is awesome!

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I paired this with some nuked potatoes covered in margarine, paprika, salt and pepper. A couple chopped up and fried mushrooms does it wonders. [my mouth is watering just thinking about them P:]

I'll show you how I make my nuked potatoes another day. :)

When I ate this, I thought "Wait! Where's my vegetable side?" And I realized, it's ALL vegetables. Hehe. Fooled the cook. :P

Recipe: Sloppy Rice

It's a weird name for this dish but since I used sloppy joe mix, I thought it was fitting. :) This dish has a smokey, hearty taste to it. You could easily substitute the rice with pasta or another starch. I just happened to have leftover rice.

Ingredients:
1/2 an eggplant
1/2 a zucchini
1/2 an onion
handful of mushrooms
about 2 cups of rice [I used leftover rice]
sloppy joe mix
can of tomato sauce [you're supposed to use 2 but I only had 1 on-hand :s]
2 T. garlic margarine [I mince garlic and mash it with margarine. I make it prior and refrigerate it.]
salt&pepper to taste
extra virgin olive oil


Heat pan to medium heat. Throw all the vegetables in a big pan and fry it up! Add garlic marg., salt and pepper. [tip: adding seasoning after cooking the vegetables for a little bit helps it absorb the flavor better]


Turn up the heat to medium high. Add the rice. This part reminds me of fried rice. :)


Add sloppy joe mix and tomato sauce. Cook it all together until it looks good. Add salt and pepper as needed. Eat!

*I couldn't help but notice that it would make an awesome soup. Since I was already using a pan, I opted not to. But you could easily cook this in a pot and add vegetable broth and maybe some legumes.