How will I manage?

“But you have no chocolate! I think of that again and again! My dear, how will you ever manage?” Marquise de Sévigné

Woe is me. 

How will I manage?

I just scarfed down the last remaining chunk of my two pound, 85% dark chocolate bar. According to my food buying moratorium, May 31st is a long time to go without.

Woah! My serotonin and dopamine levels are dropping. Gotta get me more of that” love drug,” phenylethylamine, Gotta find me another way to bring on those elevated moods and high energy.

Fortunately, I do have two bags of chocolate related powders— cocoa and cacao, in my cupboard. It appears that I have ample supplies of both, maybe even enough to get me through to June. Always cheaper to buy in bulk!

I have six pounds combined, and 120 days to go. Doing the chocolatized math, I can consume one pound (16 ounces) every twenty days, or one ounce of powder a day and still have a cocoa-y cushion leftover for emergencies. This translates to almost four tablespoons a day. Hah! I don’t think I will be snorting such a quantity that often, but am relieved to know that I needn’t worry about running out.

All is well.

My mouth waters when I consider the variety of delicacies I can create, and how much better for me they will be since I will have to make them from scratch, without refined sugar, unhealthy fats, and dairy. Who needs chocolate bars when you can have cocoa beverages, cookies, tarts, candies, sauces, cakes, puddings.

I look forward to spicing up my chocolate concoctions with ginger, cayenne, orange, mint, or cardamom. After all, I do have quantities of spices which would be nice to use up as well.

I prefer using cacao powder for uncooked treats, as it is raw and much less processed than cocoa powder. Because the seed of the cacao fruit is not processed, cacao powder contains more fiber, nutrients and calories than cocoa powder.

In addition, cacao is the highest source of magnesium, and thought to be the highest source of antioxicants of all foods. The raw bean, and bi-products, have nearly four times the antioxidant effects than refined cocoa goods.

Cacao nibs are chopped up, edible pieces of cacao beans.

Cocoa powder is produced similarly to cacao but undergoes a higher temperature of heat during processing. It still retains a large number of antioxidants and is heart- helpful, skin, and can help regulate blood pressure, and even reduce njyour stress levels.

T’is true. Not all chocolate is created equal.

For health reasons, it makes sense to pay the higher price for cacao.

In terms of cost, it is important to consider that child slave labor is still being used today on cocoa plantations in West Africa, especially in the Ivory Coast and Ghana. Fair trade chocolate is more expensive, but puts one’s conscience where one’s mouth is.

Off to bake my family’s favorite nib cookies. I just happen to have a frozen, uncooked “log” in my freezer.
I might even have enough to share.

This recipe is close to mine, but I sub maple syrup for sugar
VEGAN ALMOND SABLE COOKIES WITH CACAO NIBS
https://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-vegan-sable-cookie-recipe-201602122-story.html