Political Nutrition

Hubby is/was a peanut butter cup addict. Could eat them by the bag full. So I wondered, how hard could it be to recreate his obsession? Considering peanuts are out, so no peanut butter, we needed something a little healthier. We went with Almond Butter, which if you haven't tried it is probably tastier than peanut butter. So this was a small batch, and would probably make about 15 candies in a mold. But he always complained about the little peanut butter cups. Said took more effort to unwrap then they were worth. So go big or go home, right? I pulled out some mini paper muffin liners. And went to work. Chocolate 2 oz cocoa butter 1.5 oz unsweetened cocoa powder  1 oz swerve sweetener (or your choice) 1/2 tsp vanilla Filling 2 tbs butter 1/4 cup almond butter 1 tbsp swerve (or your choice) Make the filling first. I did not do that and was fervently mixing the chocolate to keep it from hardening while I made the filling so bad idea. Melt the Almond Butte...

The candy mold arrived. And so did my confectioners Swerve. My new go-to natural sweetener with no calories or carbs or things that make your tummy rumble. So, having just come from the dentist where it was determined my teeth and gums were healthy,  I felt it was the most appropriate time to attempt chocolates. Not chocolate bark. Not some weird looking blob on a tray. But chocolates. I have scoured the internet without success. I am beginning to suspect that the famous chocolatiers out there do not want to share their secrets. Fine. I'll create my own. Wait... that's it! Make your own. So I did. Chocolate made to order. Yep. Like that. They are a little sweet, so next batch I'm upping the cocoa and lowering the sweetness. 1/2 cup Cocoa Butter  1/2 cup high quality cocoa (maybe 1/3 cup is better if you like it a little less dark) 1/4 cup Sweetener/sugar/whatever you use. I use powdered. better texture.  1/2 teaspoon vanilla One 30 piece silico...

So I received my special order yesterday. Organic Cocoa Butter. No, I am not going into the beauty bar business... too late for me. All the beach and baby oil pretty much set my fate. But I've earned every line on my face. Back to food. That's my thing. If you can't tell I'm a chocoholic. There. I said it. My name is Mary and I live and breathe for chocolate. But I'm diabetic. Soooo. They do have sugar free chocolate. Typically made with commercial grade artificial sweeteners which, if you eat too much, like one piece, acts more like, let's be honest, a laxative.  So once again, my thanks to Google, I have scoured the earth and found the secret. First. Swerve. Fabulous natural based sweetener with no side effects. Then, the cocoa butter. It's important because it not only has to be organic, it has to be slave free. You do realize that the problem with most chocolate is it's ingredients are coming out of places that are using child and slave labor...