Sure, I’ve raised a few eyebrows with my enthusiasm for broccoli, yogurt, or the perfect summer peach. I admit, I love most healthy food, atypical as that may be. But rest assured, I am a normal, red-blooded, chocolate loving woman. Given flavor options of almost anything (ice cream, cookies, protein bars): I’m heading for the chocolate!
But like many other chocolate cravers, I don’t always want to consume hundreds of calories to quell my chocolate fix. In addition to my regular standby’s: Zone bars, sugar free hot cocoa, and chocolate soynut butter, I’ve found a few chocolate-themed products the past couple weeks that I’d like to share. I hope you like them too!
Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds are a great snack that I’ve been recommending highly to clients lately. They combine crunch, sweetness and chocolate, all with healthy fats to satisfy your hunger and a big dose of vitamin E (20% DV). Best of all, they come in portion-controlled packs that are ideal for stashing in lunches, purses, and backpacks. What’s not to love? Each pack contains 100 calories, 8 g fat, 4 g carbs (2 g fiber, 1 g sugar) and 3 g protein. If you don’t snack on nuts because you think they’re “fattening” you’re missing out on some hunger taming, immune boosting powerhouses! Of the 3 products, this one wins the Gold for nutrition.
Jell-O has a new product that’s also awesome. Called Mousse Temptations, these small dessert cups are filled with creamy, light and fluffy goodness in three flavors: Dark Chocolate Decadence, Chocolate Indulgence, and Caramel Creme. It’s hard to reconcile those extravagant names with the words sugar-free and “60 calories”, but somehow, they’ve done it. And done it well! Try these and you will not be disappointed. (You’ll find them in the refrigerated section.) My husband and I agreed, we need to go buy more! This one wins Silver for coming across not at all like diet food. We all need to feel like we’re treating ourselves sometimes.
I try and minimize sugars in my diet, thus I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I had chocolate syrup. But last night we had company over and decided to have ice cream with some fun toppings. I remember buying sugarfree chocolate syrup once, and discovering that it tasted beyond awful. But when I spotted Hershey’s Light, I figured I’d give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was far better than the sugar-free bitter stuff I remembered. Among our group of 4 dessert eaters, we all thought it was delicious atop Edy’s Light vanilla ice cream. Now that I have the bottle still in my fridge, I’m temped to drizzle it over some sliced banana for dessert.
Chocolate syrup, light or otherwise, is certainly not health food, mind you. But if you want to have chocolate syrup, you can cut the sugar and calories in half by choosing the “Light” and it still tastes great, with the right texture and intense chocolate flavor. 2 tablespoons contain 45 calories (and 10 g sugar). This one gets the Bronze medal. Nothing nutritious in it, and still mostly sugar, but it’s a classic, with some damage control.
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That mousse sounds fantastic! What flavor do you recommend?
From other reviews Ive heard, people are raving about the creme caramel. Not being a caramel fan myself, I only bought the chocolate. But I’m going to get all three next time. (Hubby likes caramel)