stevia-sweetened chocolate bars

Alright, so as I've mentioned before, I've been on this crazy diet since July.  I'm thinking I will modify it a bit when the baby arrives, although I'm still unsure exactly what that will look like.  But back in October I took it upon myself to make a change in what I was allowing myself.  I decided to bring cocoa powder back into my life.

See, on the Body Ecology Diet, cocoa powder isn't allowed, at least not for a long time.  But I know of other anti-Candida diets which do allow it.  For me, after three months without, it ended up being a quality of life issue...of a sort.  So I decided to try it, and I've been a quite a bit more fulfilled since that day, I've gotta tell you!

I played around with some quality ingredients and came out with a stevia-sweetened chocolate recipe I really like.  In all kindness, I decided to share it here with you, on the blog.  Well, kindness, and also so I can find the recipe quickly and easily.  I guess that qualifies as a win-win situation...?


Stevia-Sweetened Chocolate Bars
1 c. gently melted coconut oil
1 T. alcohol-free vanilla
dash sea salt
1 t. milk chocolate liquid stevia or other stevia, to taste
3/4 c. cocoa powder
2 drops pure, food-safe essential oils, optional:  cinnamon bark, orange, or peppermint are nice choices


Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Stir well.  Pour into a pan* lined with parchment paper and refrigerate.  The coconut oil gets really hard in the fridge, so you may want to set it out 5-10 minutes before you plan to cut and/or eat it.

*Pan size depends on how thick you'd like your chocolate.  My perfect size is to use two loaf pans, but you could also use just one, or an 8x8 pan too.  Feel free to experiment!

This chocolate is absolutely divine used in my friend Kathleen's Sunbutter Cups recipe!

food snob

So, I suppose I've always been a bit of a food snob.

Between the spring of 1998 and the summer of 1999, I lost 65 lbs. I had always struggled a bit with my weight, and I had finally had enough. I'd had enough of hating my body. I was tired of crying over it, and wanted to do something about it. My weight loss strategy consisted of portion control, "balanced" meals, and going way low-fat. I became the low-fat/fat-free queen. If there was an item at the grocery store that bore a "fat-free" description, you can bet that I knew about it. I've spent so much money on fat-free cookies, low-fat crackers, fat-free & no sugar added ice cream, fat-free cheese, and so much more. It makes me feel a bit sick now to think about it all.

Yet I suppose that playing the food snob goes farther back than that. I was a picky eater as a child. I know kids tend to be, but I suspect that I frustrated my parents far more than did my brother. I turned my nose up at...well, the list is really too long to go into here. It might be easier to say that I would eat only one variety of cheese (American) until the day I finally deigned to try cheddar, and as far as vegetables go, I believe I had an "acceptable list" of three. My mom's meals were tasty, but I was very stubborn about what I allowed to pass my lips.

And yes, I am certainly getting what I deserve in my children. They, too are...selective eaters. But I do see improvement!

Back to my days of being the fat-free queen. All my life I had been a slave to the “diet dictocrats” and the belief that way to be healthy was through a low-fat diet. Even after I had lost that weight (and I maintained my new weight, too) I frequently had little slip-ups where I would overeat on “fattening” things -- because eating as I was, I simply wasn't satisfied. I was borderline obsessive about low-fat food (although I gave myself free rein with sugar!!), and it made for very dissatisfying mealtimes.

Then last summer I stumbled across some information that started a revolution in how we eat. I've learned how essential fat is to our health (yes, even animal fats!) and the wonderful benefits of raw foods, particularly dairy. Yes, we've started buying organic foods, but that's only part of it. There is so much validity to preparing whole foods in the traditional way (although I certainly use modern equipment like a food processor, mixer, etc.). For all that we think we know about food and nutrition now, it seems we as a society have lost some vital knowledge of what's best for our bodies that people of past ages practiced.

And the result is that I so satisfied in the foods I eat these days! We eat a lot of butter in our house, and coconut oil, and olive oil. We eat as much grass-fed red meat as we can manage to squeeze out of our budget. Pastured chickens, and eggs from the same. Full-fat yogurt, milk, and cheese. I doubt I'll buy any low-fat anything, ever again.

Here is some information about why whole dairy products are so good for our health:

Average butterfat content from old-fashioned cows at the turn of the century was over 4% (or more than 50% of calories). Today butterfat comprises less than 3% (or less than 35% of calories). Worse, consumers have been duped into believing that low-fat and skim milk products are good for them. Only by marketing low-fat and skim milk as a health food can the modern dairy industry get rid of its excess poor-quality, low-fat milk from modern high-production herds. Butterfat contains vitamins A and D needed for assimilation of calcium and protein in the water fraction of the milk. Without them protein and calcium are more difficult to utilize and possibly toxic. Butterfat is rich in short- and medium chain fatty acids which protect against disease and stimulate the immune system. It contains glyco-spingolipids which prevent intestinal distress and conjugated linoleic acid which has strong anticancer properties. (source)

There is so much freedom in eating this way! I am falling back in love with cooking again, and I feel so good about the service that these foods are doing to my family. So... I guess I'm still a food snob. It seems I always will be. But the changes we've made feel so solid. No more will we be tossed by the waves of trendy diets. Instead of being the obsessive low-fat queen, I'm once again picky about my food. Yet now I have a much greater sense of satisfaction & peace.

My hope is that my children will grow up loving real, whole, well-prepared food, and never be slaves to the way society expects us to eat.

the meat of it: a nutrition summary

So! Here is the summery of what is up with our eating lately. Jeff and I just finished an experiment of sorts. It's something we read about in a book called The Maker's Diet, by Jordan Rubin. It's called a "40-Day Health Experience," and it's been so good for us. It was this book which began our health odyssey, which continues to this day.

Back in July I "stumbled" across a TV show on TBN. The show was called "Perfect Weight America," and the guy hosting the show said some things that immediately intrigued me. I did some research and ran across this article. I checked out his book, "The Maker's Diet," from the library, and was completely fascinated.

It's from this book that I've learned about raw milk, soaked and sprouted grains, grass-fed beef, nutritious oils & other healthy fats (we eat butter daily!), the impact of eating organic...pretty much all the health changes we've made in our family life. I highly recommend the book, it's amazing. I also learned of a cookbook called "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon. It's very much in the same vein as the Rubin book, but with even more information, and an abundance of wonderful recipes. I am loving it!

To tell you more about our 40-day health experience: it's broken into 3 2-week phases. The first phase, the carbohydrates that you can eat are pretty restricted. Phase 2 has a bit more leeway, and in Phase 3 there is greater freedom still. The main goal is not weight loss (though that did happen) but health. Cutting out simple carbs and highly-refined foods helped regulate our blood sugar and insulin levels. It helped us push past our cravings for sugary stuff...a detox, if you will.

Again, our motivation was not weight loss, yet we did both lose weight. I now weigh what I did when we conceived our first child. Jeff lost 20 lbs. We didn't even change how we exercise...just cutting out the crud did it. Who knew?

We're both really pleased with how our experiment has gone. Our children have weathered it pretty well (no, we didn't put them on the "diet," but some of the changes we made did trickle down to them...for example, they're getting used to eating lentils instead of biscuits at dinnertime). I feel that all "systems" of my body are working better now. My complexion is clearer, I no longer have trouble getting to sleep during the night, and I have more energy. Jeff and I are planning to continue with the gist of this diet; the main thing is to eat foods that God made, in a form as easily digestible as possible. It makes so much sense, when you think about it.

If you're still reading, and not utterly sick of my "food" talk, I have one more point that I want to make. Many of you are probably shaking your heads, thinking something like, "That would be too hard, it's an ideal," or "I'd rather just eat the good stuff!" My thought is this: how do we define "good stuff?" My definition has changed, and I am coming to see that God has given us an incredibly wonderful variety in the foods He has provided.

Okay, so here is my bottom line: it seems to me that trying to eat this way is something of a reflection of what it is to live according to the guidelines God has set for us. Stay with me now: I am NOT saying that sugar, etc. is sinful, not at all. I do believe that it can lead to a myriad of health problems down the road. But listen: it may be hard to give up some old habits, yet it appears that the payoff is worth it. And there is so much delicious freedom, and benefit, within these guidelines! It's not about self-deprivation.

It's about eating for the health of it...for the joy of it!