Why I Love Chocolate and Why it Loves Me Back

Homemade Superfood Chocolate

If chocolate is your weakness you don’t need to give it up altogether just because you are eating healthy.  Chocolate created with super food ingredients is as delicious as it is good for you. Packed with essential vitamins and minerals, simple homemade chocolate contains nourishing properties. 

The wonderful thing about this chocolate recipe is that you can make it your own with whatever flavourings you would like to add in depending upon your specific craving. Maybe its orange or peppermint choc chip or hazelnut? Whatever your fancy this recipe will rock your socks off.

My basic chocolate recipe is made without sugar, dairy, preservatives, colours or artificial flavourings so you can make your mouth happy and consume all those feel good chemicals and neurotransmitters without the guilt or sugar crashes afterwards.

Here are 5 reasons why you should include a square or two into your diet:

1. It’s one of the richest sources of magnesium which is a mineral essential for clarity of mind and a healthy heart
Amino acids, the building blocks of cells are in abundance.

2. If you think a glass of red of a green tea is full of anti-oxidants then why not try chocolate it has much more.  Did you know that dark chocolate has more than 8 times the antioxidants found in strawberries?

3. It’s loaded with essential feel good chemicals such as serotonin to pep you up and provide a sense of wellbeing in the brain.

4. It’s good for your love life… The Aztec king’s believed that chocolate has aphrodisiac properties and labeled it food for the gods. Believe it or not recent studies have shown that women who consume a small amount of chocolate a day have significantly more sex than women who don’t. Bring on the romance and the chocolate!

5. Make your own scrummy chocolaty treats at home using raw cacao products such as raw cacao powder, nibs, beans, and butter. These days you can pick these goodies up at just about every health food store, and they can all be used to make a host of delectable desserts and sumptuous smoothies, while also topping you up with mountains of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.

Try this basic recipe for homemade chocolate, use fun chocolate moulds and see your creations come to life:

Ingredients

• ¼ cup raw organic cacao powder
• ¼ cup organic coconut butter or oil
• 5 mls peppermint or vanilla essence
• 10-12 drops liquid stevia or 1 tsp. powdered or to taste
• 1 TBS shaved cacao butter (optional)

Method:

• Melt cacao and coconut butter/oil in a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water then add additional ingredients
• Place in a container or mould of your choice and freeze for 30 minutes. Break into bite size pieces.
• You can make other versions by adding orange or peppermint essence, crushed raw almonds, walnuts or cashews.  Looking to spice things up? Try hot chocolate just by adding a drop of chili oil.

Enjoy!

Lee

xo