high octane cocoa

So I've cut way back on sweetened foods. I've suspected for some time that I might have been going a little heavy on the carbohydrates, since I'd been a bit drowsy and generally out-of-it just about every afternoon, and I could more or less use ice cream or candy as a sleep aid--it predictably knocked me out. The problem may actually be that I go too easy on the protein, as I only end up eating meat two or three times a week and I'm not careful enough to cover that category in other ways. Sidebar: When I was a vegetarian for six years once, I learned the hard way that I need to balance carbs with proteins and salt if I don't want to be chronically cranky, tired and spacey. I decided then that vegetarianism did not seem to be for me, and I think that's still true. But I had recently let the balance tip once again toward yin foods, as I think of them, and this time I figured it was time to take a hard look at my sugar intake.

It wasn't good, and it's not like I'd been eating candy or Ho-ho's every day. I'll spare you all the details. Well, most of them: Until turning over the new lo-sug leaf, I usually ate frosted shredded wheat with soy milk for breakfast. When I switched to Grape Nuts (zero added sugar) with plain yogurt and fresh fruit, I swear-ta-god, I felt worlds better immediately. My energy is just so much more level now. It was enough to get me to start regarding honey oat granola bars like I used to treat M&Ms. And I have not had to exert any effort to maintain the new approach--I associate sweets with feeling like crap, so unless I've just had a nice big, salty and meaty meal, I just don't eat 'em.

This created a dilemma when it came to chocolate, however. Time was, three seasons of the year I could just mix up some instant hot cocoa to satisfy that jones. Now that stuff tastes like candy to me. Well, come to think of it, I'd been meaning to finally face up to its obscene ingredient list and get real anyway. Seriously. Ew. So I finally made the break. I bought some baker's cocoa, nothing fancy--just the store brand ("ingredients: cocoa"), and my, my, my... in Tim Gunn's parlance, I'm making it work. The recipe I saw on the side of the fancy baker's cocoa called for a tablespoon and a half each of cocoa and sugar, dissolved in 8 ounces of milk being heated to steaming and stirred constantly. I'm using 12oz milk (no girly-ass portions for me), with two heaping tablesoons of cocoa (probably the equivalent of three measured units) and one heaping teaspoon of sugar. Which is still a lot. But the milk I use has extra protein. AN-yway, this ROCKS, and it takes the same time it used to take to heat up the kettle. It's very dark and chocolatey, with no subsequent nap required. (Oh, and I dissolve the cocoa and sugar in a little hot water first to get banish cocoa clumps. Recommended if you're trying this at home.)

Three ingredients! Reasonable sugar levels! Deep, dark, and chocolatey! What's not to love?