Home Made Paleo Chocolates!!
So I have to admit something to you all. Launching a blog and having your second post come right at the same time as the most awkward holiday of the year is a daunting task. I have been wondering what direction I want to take this post and considering how much of my own opinions about Valentine’s Day I want to allow to surface in it. Selecting what recipe to post was the easy part, it was as easy as deciding what to give to my Valentine (more on that to come). Putting my thoughts and feelings out there about Valentine’s Day and how to make it paleo will require a little bit of exposure to my personal life and opinions, so if you want to skip the Valentine’s Day rhetoric, I suggest you just jump down to the chocolates. If you’re into sappy love and paleo ramblings, get ready. It’s on.
For some reason, this holiday is awkward and controversial. Some people love it and have high expectations of expensive gifts and gestures. Others despise Valentine’s Day and resent its superficiality and materialism. And then there is the stereotype out there that single people are indignantly sitting at home alone eating ice cream feeling depressed (I really wonder how many people actually do this). It’s all so silly. When looking at it through the paleo lens, and asking myself the question “how can I make this day paleo?” the answer isn’t in fancy restaurants or expensive gifts or grand gestures or chocolates and candies and ice cream. At least not for me. The most paleo way I could celebrate this holiday would be to spend quality time practicing self-love by exercising, eating my beloved paleo foods (cheats for me become ominous because they usually result in some form of bodily discomfort – grain brain and fatigue from gluten, headaches from sugar, stomach aches from vegetable oils, skin problems, gastrointestinal problems, etc. etc. – not worth it!), by hanging out with people I love (including myself!), by not stressing about the expectations of the holiday and of course by having some quality time with the person I consider to be my Valentine. Allow me to explain how I make this day paleo.
I spend time on this day first and foremost remembering to love myself – I do that by working out (at Old City CrossFit, of course!!), eating delicious paleo food all day, sleeping well, and doing a job that I love (I’m a sign language interpreter by day). And then I spend time catching up with my friends and roommates, or I might give my family back in Michigan a call and tell them how much I love them (or maybe a shout out on my blog post). And of course, there will be time spent with my Valentine. I haven’t always had one every year, but I always knew that someday I would – and this year I happen to have one. He and I have started doing something we call “paleo night” where we turn all the lights off in his apartment, put away all electronics, he builds a fire in his fire place and we sit in the dark only illuminated by the light of the “fire pit” in our “cave” and talk – just as it would have been back during the Paleolithic era. Sometimes we’ll eat, too. And of course, that’s always paleo as well. That to me sounds like the perfect paleo Valentine’s Day. So I guess my Valentine’s Day is just like any other day, except that I set my intention for the day to recognize and appreciate the love in my life. And that’s how I make it paleo.
Now for the recipe! I used Valentine’s Day as an excuse to experiment on my Valentine with chocolate flavors. I love cooking and baking. So I decided I wanted to make him something. So I made him chocolates. He loves them, I love them, I love making them. Game over. Everyone’s happy. But I made them a little special for the holiday. And that’s my gift to him. You’re welcome, Mr. Valentine – here’s my science experiment. 🙂
Normally I only make one flavor at a time, but I thought it would be fun to experiment with different flavors and make my own version of an assorted chocolate box. Most of them are delicious – there’s one dud in my opinion, but don’t worry, I’ll tell you which one. So that’s what you see below. It was fun, it’s paleo, and it’s a small but thoughtful gesture to show someone special that I care.
Paleo Valentine’s Day Assorted Chocolates:
Ingredients:
1 cup of Coconut oil, melted
2 cups of baking cocoa (I recommend you splurge on a good quality cocoa – I love Ghirardelli, but for these ones I used an organic one that I found at my local health food store)
1 pinch of sea salt
½ cup of maple syrup
Optional 1/3 cup of full-fat canned coconut milk (for a creamier, milkier variety)
½ TSP vanilla extract
For the Flavors (in order from left to right, top to bottom of the first picture):
a. BACON chocolate (it sounds weird but it’s amazing!) I don’t recommend adding the coconut milk to this one. Leave it dark.
b. Aztec Chocolate – Cayenne pepper and cinnamon
c. Hazelnut Chocolate – Hazelnut Extract, garnished with chopped hazelnuts
d. Nut Butter Chocolate – Paleo mixed nut butter (no peanut butter), garnished with cashews and almonds
e. Dark Chocolate Peppermint – Peppermint Extract (no garnish)
f. Dark Chocolate – eliminate the coconut milk, garnished with cocoa powder
g. Almond – 2-3 almonds inside, garnished with almond slivers
h. Coconut Chocolate – Coconut flakes
i. “Orange” Chocolate – add 1 TBSP juice from a Clementine or tangerine, garnish with a twist
j. Balsamic Ginger Vanilla (this was my experiment – not my favorite) – Added 1 TSP vanilla extract, powdered ginger, balsamic vinegar (I use a thick kind I found from a farmer’s market), garnished with powdered ginger
k. Milk chocolate – Garnish with cacao nibs
Directions:
- Combine melted coconut and chocolate in a bowl, stirring until smooth
- Add maple syrup and taste to your liking – more or less depending on how sweet you want your dark chocolate
- Add coconut milk (if using) and vanilla
- Add salt and taste to make sure you don’t add too much
- Divide chocolate into smaller bowls and combine with flavors in individual bowls
- Spoon into small baking cups lined with mini-muffin cups (or into shaped candy molds – I don’t have any candy molds, so I used mini-muffin tins)
FREEZE – keep these in the freezer until about 30 minutes before eating, or refrigerate if you intend to eat them all within the day. I always store mine in the freezer. They will get melty if they are allowed to come to room temperature. And warning! They WILL melt in your hands and get chocolate on your fingers, so have your lover lick them clean for you. 😉 C’mon! It’s paleo Valentine’s Day!
It’s a heart, see? For Valentine’s Day! I’m clever.
That little buddy in the background is one of the loves of my life, my kitty Yogi. He wanted to be on the blog. Pardon him.
To wrap up, I thought I’d leave you with a little anecdote. The other day, Jamie, (Old City owner) Erin’s husband said something that I found to be quite romantic and poignant. When I asked him what their plans for Valentine’s Day were he said something to the effect of, “I don’t need a Hallmark holiday to remind me that I love my wife.” I was floored. So profound and so effortless. We don’t need a processed holiday to maintain the health of our love. We know this. That’s why we’re so touchy and opinionated about Valentine’s Day. We know in our most primal sense that expressing love isn’t something prescribed by a date or the purchase of goods or grand gestures. It’s primal and natural and organic. It’s paleo.
Happy Valentine’s Day!