On July 1, I embarked on one of the most difficult challenges I’ve ever faced – eating NO CHOCOLATE for three months. No See’s Candies, no white chocolate mochas, no cookies n’ cream ice cream, no chocolate. PERIOD. Why? I’ll admit it…I’m a junk-food lover, and to try and get a grip, I’m abstaining from the junky foods I love the most – with chocolate ranking in my top 3 favorite junk foods.
So eating no chocolate brings up many interesting dilemmas – what would I drink in the mornings (vanilla chai) and how will I get that little sugar pick-me-up that so many of us often need after staring at the computer for 8 hours straight?
My solution: Vanilla Cookies. It started with Golden Oreos and progressed from brand to brand from there. After sampling several different kinds of cookies, and deciding on which are my own personal favorites – I decided to take an official informal poll to see which cookie reigns supreme. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post, where I will announce the winner of the Un-Official WCatDD VCCC (Vanilla Creme Cookie Challenge).
Most chocolate lovers would not recognize the foods that you are avoiding as really good sources of chocolate. For example, See’s assorted chocolates contain, in order of abundance, sugar, nutmeats, cream, chocolate, corn syrup, cocoa butter, milk, brown sugar, butter, etc.
When I think about “real” chocolate, I think of Ghiradelli’s Intense Dark 72% or 86% cacao chocolate bars, or Lindt’s Excellence 70% or 85% cocoa chocolate bars. Trader Joe’s imports a 72% Dark Chocolate 500 gm bar from Belgium. These bars contain (in order of abundance) cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, and cocoa solids. Period. The point is, you can get your chocolate fix without having to consume lots of corn syrup or sugar.
With these highly concentrated and intensely flavored chocolates you don’t eat huge quantities, and you may enjoy the leisurely alternation of the taste of chocolate with sips of Starbuck’s Sumatra coffee.
So by all means avoid the junk food; however, chocolate lovers wouldn’t consider “real” chocolate to be a junk food. But what about those Vanilla cookies? Are they junk food?
-D
Most chocolate lovers would not recognize the foods that you are avoiding as really good sources of chocolate. For example, See’s assorted chocolates contain, in order of abundance, sugar, nutmeats, cream, chocolate, corn syrup, cocoa butter, milk, brown sugar, butter, etc.
When I think about “real” chocolate, I think of Ghiradelli’s Intense Dark 72% or 86% cacao chocolate bars, or Lindt’s Excellence 70% or 85% cocoa chocolate bars. Trader Joe’s imports a 72% Dark Chocolate 500 gm bar from Belgium. These bars contain (in order of abundance) cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, and cocoa solids. Period. The point is, you can get your chocolate fix without having to consume lots of corn syrup or sugar.
With these highly concentrated and intensely flavored chocolates you don’t eat huge quantities, and you may enjoy the leisurely alternation of the taste of chocolate with sips of Starbuck’s Sumatra coffee.
So by all means avoid the junk food; however, chocolate lovers wouldn’t consider “real” chocolate to be a junk food. But what about those Vanilla cookies? Are they junk food?
-D
D,
Valid point! There are many health benefits to eating “real” chocolate. That gives me another idea for an official unofficial WCatDD review!
And yes, the Vanilla cookies are definitely junk food. But at least they are helping me to break my dependency on the “unhealthy” chocolate. One step at a time…