Well it’s Easter time which means we are well and truly into 2021. I think we’ve got to take any celebration offered to us by the horns this year, don’t you think?
Have I told you how much I LOVE chocolate? Basically every sweet recipe I make is chocolate. I don’t really see the point if it’s not chocolate to be honest. Although I have come to love fresh fruit desserts too.
So please, totally enjoy some chocolate this Easter, and hot cross buns, and family time, and long weekend feasting… but try to eat mindfully, chew slowly, savour each mouthful and listen to your body. There is no need to deprive yourself but there is also no need to lose control and eat so much that you no longer feel good or have a sugar hangover.
My biggest tip when it comes to chocolate and sweet treats is to reserve them for within an hour of a main meal. The fat and protein present in your stomach will slow down the blood sugar response and the fibre will have coated your small intestine, further slowing sugar’s access to the blood stream. Keeping desserts as a follow up to main meals means you’re much less likely to have elevated insulin and the resulting inflammation, gut irritation and energy storage (AKA weight gain).
When it comes to chocolate I live by the quality over quantity principle. I would much rather have an 80gm block of ethical & locally produced dark chocolate over the Easter weekend than a 300gm cadbury egg. Those mass produced milk chocolate options just don’t taste like chocolate to me. And don’t even get me started on the entanglements these cheap chocolate manufacturers have with child labour, trafficking, environmental devastation and perpetuating poverty cycles in Africa. Mmmm delicious. My personal chocolate go-to’s are all Australian, Loco Love, Pana Organics & Monsieur Truffle.
Recipe Freebie!
I wanted to share one of my all time favourite chocolate recipes that I have been making regularly for about 8 years now, I know the recipe by heart. You can find the download for my Peppermint Patty recipe here.
Did you eat Peppermint Patties when you were a kid? I sure did!
I make these alll the time and I actually think they are an improvement on the original so trust me, you do not feel like you are compromising because they are decadently good! Hot tip from me, keep some in the freezer, they make amazing frozen treats.
Considering food photography is clearly not high on my list of skill sets I wanted to share four of the recipe blogs I have been following for years and always check for delicious sweet treat recipes. The following four women are much more proficient in recipe blogging than I am! They manage to make recipes that taste amazing but are still nourishing. What a bunch of generous and clever Australian women we have access to…
- Wholefoods Simply‘s Bianca Slade’s chocolate recipe collection is full of delicious ideas.
- Teresa Cutter The Healthy Chef (her Naked Chocolate Cake is a celebration staple in our house!) but I also love her Utimate Chocolate mousse to the moon and back.
- Jo Whitton’s Quirky Cooking blog is great if you have a Thermomix.
- Cyndi O’Meara’s Healthy Habits recipe blog has a large range of whoelsome chocolate recipes too.
If you are looking for some Easter inspo you won’t be disappointed!
My husband prepped a sourdough double batch of these Gluten free bad boys this morning which we’ll bake tomorrow, freezing half for Easter Sunday. He made them last year and they were GOOD.
Easter is a special time for our family, I hope it is for your family too. I believe a bit of chocolate and Easter feasting is good for the soul. I teach my clients in Food Freedom Hashimoto’s Edition that they need stick to the 90/10 rule to feel fabulous. 90% of the time they stick to a balanced, mediterranean & wholefoods diet while 10% of the time they can relax with some sugar, processed foods and treats. Easter definitely falls into the 10% category.
To balance and joyful eating,
Tessa
