How to Survive Easter
How to Survive Easter: It’s Easter time and as far as food is concerned, it’s all about chocolate. Just look around! It’s everywhere! If your kids are like mine they are begging for it every time I try to rush pass the candy aisle. For a lot of people, this is a difficult time for eating healthy. The good news is that you can still enjoy sweet treats and today I am going to share a quick and easy recipe you can make so you can enjoy some chocolate without the guilt.
Welcome to the Dark Side
Chocolate is one of those foods that people avoid when trying to eat healthy because of the thought that it is fattening and unhealthy. The truth is there are a lot of chocolate products that are unhealthy because of all the additional substances such as sugar.
The good news is that you can leave out all those unwanted substances and added sugar by making your own chocolate at home with unprocessed cocoa powder. Its rich chocolate flavor has virtually no sugar and little fat. In addition, it is highly nutritious and provides many health benefits that helps fight chronic disease.
What’s The Good?
Cocoa is a good source of the minerals magnesium, sulphur, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, potassium, and manganese; plus some of the B Vitamins. They are high in flavonoids which are strong antioxidants that help maintain healthy blood flow and blood pressure. Flavanols help make blood platelets less likely to stick together and cause blood clots, heart attacks, and strokes – without the negative side effects associated with the use of aspirin.
Did you know it can also improve blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke, improve blood vessel health, help with insulin sensitivity, and even improve your cholesterol levels? Cocoa also helps keep us from feeling depressed, helps with cognitive thinking, stress, mental alertness, and even helps with increased feelings of fullness, which can help with weight loss.
There are lots of nutritional benefits to using unsweetened cocoa powder and lots of creative ways to use it on a daily basis. Today, I am going to share with you a simple recipe I came up with to help you during those moments you crave chocolate. There is nothing worst than feeling deprived and with all the benefits of cocoa it’s time to enjoy chocolate once again.
In preparation for Easter, I wanted to create a healthy chocolate treat for my children. I have to admit it was no easy task. I tried many different recipes until I tweaked it and came up with my own. I was happy with the end result and so were the kids.
One of the struggles I encountered was that all the recipes used Coconut Oil. Although I love Coconut Oil, I didn’t want to use it for this recipe as it would melt outside of the refrigerator. After much research and the help of many, I discovered Cacao Butter. This is a great alternative in place of Coconut Oil as it will not melt and makes some beautiful handmade chocolates. Just click HERE and it will show you which one I use. You can even have it shipped to your home! 🙂
This simple treat will help you survive Easter and will take care of your sweet tooth. Say goodbye to feeling deprived and get ready to enjoy some delicious chocolate on Easter. Your body will thank you for it!
Gift Tags
No handmade gift is perfect without a personalized touch and so I created this beautiful, yet simple gift tags I cut out using the Silhouette Cameo. Then, I took a piece of Add a Little Dazzle Craft Metal Sheet and attached it to the back of the card stock and let it dry.
Then, the fun began as I traced around the inside areas of the design with the Deer Foot Refiner Tool and then puffed it out on the back with the Paper Stump. Using the Embossing Tool Kit made this process very easy and effortless.
Once I attached another piece of card stock to secure the back, I simply punched a hole on the top and tied it with some ribbon to my lollipop. Of course, I had to add some stamping so I stamped a simple Happy Easter sentiment, cut it, and attached it to my tag with Foam Adhesive.
- 1/2 cup unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. Cacao Butter
- 6 tablespoons Swerve Confectioner's Sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
- Dash of Salt
- Place Cacao Butter in a big glass measuring cup, melt in microwave in one minute intervals, and stir with rubber spatula.
- Once butter is melted, add each additional ingredient one at a time and mix well.
- Once you are done, pour chocolate in mold and set for 30 minutes in freezer.
- Place the chocolate in an airtight container and allow it to sit overnight to harden and doesn't melt in your hand.
My plan was to not make an Easter basket! Now I wish I had seen this earlier!
Where can I find Cacao Butter?
Stephanie,
I have added a link to the Cacao Butter on today’s post so you can see which one I use and where to purchase it. Let me know if I can be of further assistance. Have a great day! Monica