Today I want to talk about one of my major food groups and loves, chocolate. I love it when a new medical study backs up what my soul already knows, chocolate is good for me. I know I heard angels singing when I took my first bite of a Hershey's Dark Chocolate bar in college. Harlequin romances pale in comparison to our love. My love has been there for me through all my lame boyfriends and job losses. He puts his cupcake costume on for the good times; birthdays, Mardi Gras, any random Thursday. When we're together my endorphins swim, my heart sings and my soul smiles.
The great news is that he is so strong, just a little of him goes a long way. As dark chocolate has become more popular, I've found more and more ways to have him in my life, everyday. I just take it little and slow; little portions like M&M's or Kisses that I eat s-l-o-w-l-y. Oddly enough, it took me years to learn not to rush trough the pleasure. I never chew my chocolate. I learned that if I let it melt in my mouth we are together so much longer. If I throw 5 M&M's (around 20 cal.) in my mouth and crunch away, they are gone in an instant, the party's over. If I let them melt, one by one, slowly, the party lasts so much longer.
But, I have to admit my M&M's and I have issues in the summer. They're supposed to only melt in your mouth, but leave a bag of them in your purse in the car on a summer day and the truth comes out . Enter my summer love, Tootsie Rolls. The little midgies are chocolaty good, around 20 calories, and the only get better when left in a hot car.
The Official Chocolate of Summer
The amazingly clever people at Weight Watchers have come up with all sorts of ways to have your daily chocolate fix. This week I made a batch of their brownie bites. With only three ingredients (two of them chocolate), this is one easy, healthy way to indulge.
Brownie Bites
Ingredients: 1 box chocolate cake mix (dry) 1 can pumpkin 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
In large bowl mix all ingredients together till all the cake mix is moist. It's important to use the mini chocolate chips as opposed to the larger ones. More tiny chips= more chips per brownie = more chocolate flavor. I use a small ice cream scoop to fill each cup on a mini muffin pan.
The results: 43 brownie bites at 54 calories each (2 points on the old WW system).
(If you are counting, less than 43 made the final photo . . . hummm.)
