About wine: Embracing My Inner Chocoholic

Can I just be honest? I love chocolate. Some days more than others, but today I was definitely in one of those gotta have it chocolate moods. Yes it’s an addiction, and quite possibly a syndrome, but I don’t care. It makes me happy. So when I got to work and my usual Honeycrisp apple didn’t quite cut it (which by the way I’m eating like they’re going out of style, because they are infact going out of season).. and then the caramel wafers I found in the breakroom still didn’t curb my craving, so I slipped right on down to my corner Starbucks and ordered something chocolate. Now I really could have gone for a bag of dark chocolate M&M’s, but those weren’t at Starbucks so the next best thing was a chocolate cupcake.

The rather delicious apple..

The wafers that I could have done without..

And ultimately, the chocolate that I just had to have..

It’s true that I believe in honoring cravings, be it fried chicken or cheesecake, but I wouldn’t be a true nutrition nut if I didn’t take a minute to point out the fantastic health benefits of chocolate.

#1 Chocolate is a plant-based food, and rich in flavanoids (like leafy greens!)

#2 It’s packed with antioxidants that help fight cancer.

#3 Has been linked to lowering blood pressure and bad cholesterol.

#4 Chocolate contains endorphins and seretonin, which can improve your mood. (Coincidentally the body produces these ‘happy’ endorphins through exercise, although I don’t recommend replacing cardio with a chocolate bar).

#5 Chocolate tastes like a little piece of heaven! Therefore indulging in modest amounts keeps your body feeling satisfied, rather than deprived.

Well I could go on and on about chocolate, but lets move on… TGIF!! Can anyone agree with that? What a week. There have been a lot of good eats in my house, days full of school, studying, work, running, and wine.

I can’t think of a better way to start the day than a great big bowl of oats. Although I fear I might be getting into a rut. Don’t get me wrong, I love oats with a dollop of apple-cranberry butter and/or almond butter, but maybe it’s time to throw something new into breakfast rotation. Nut butters that is, as for oats I’ll never stray..

Treating myself to French Pressed coffee at every opportunity..

Salads are almost a given. I love a winter soup and salad combo, or just a great big dinner salad at la mia casa. This week I did a couple lunch salads, dinner salads, an attempt at a caprese sandwich (which was kind of sad because my mozarella got soft and drooped over the toast), a chicken skewer dinner, which made for good Friday leftovers, and of course this weeks’ veggies were out of control tasty!

A touch of fresh rosemary gave this salad huge flavor. Otherwise this arugula salad included a winning combo of chopped walnuts, goat cheese, grape tomatoes, cucumber, red bell pepper, sea salt + pepper.

Not to mention my new love for rosemary balsamic vinegar (not to be confused with sugary vinegarette dressing). This stuff is the bees knees..

Next, Chicken skewers. So simple if you have some basics on hand. I just drizzled about 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil over one 4-oz chicken breast (cubed), add 1 Tbsp garlic paste (or you can mince, but Trader Joe’s makes it so easy with their garlic paste in a jar so why bother?), 1 lemon–first use the whole rind for zest, then juice it, and finally, a sprig of fresh rosemary. Thread onto a skewer, adding veggies as desired, and set the oven at low broil for 10 minutes.

More salads..

And now for my lunch caprese. After this attempt, I probably won’t pack a caprese toast for lunch. I really prefer it served fresh.. but seeing how I love mozarella, tomato, and basil, I’m open to suggestions!

With that I think I’ve brought you up to speed in the food life of moi. I appologize for slacking on regular blog entries, but school is cramping my style in more ways than I care to share. For instance, I’m so whooped come Friday that all I look forward to is bloggin..from bed, with a bottle glass of wine. Tonight after work I stopped by Trader Joe’s for a jar of apple-cranberry butter and a bouquette of flowers. Then I went to the gym, only to be taunted with more images of chocolate thanks to the Cooking Light magazine I read while running. P.S. Cooking Light has not only great nutrition articles, but amazing recipes.