True Boo: Without Moo or Eew!

Yes, the October winds are blowing.  Yes, the weather is changing.   Yes, I need to talk about transitioning your body into winter,...

But (hello!), it is almost Halloween!   As far as I am concerned, the only thing scary about this celebration is: sugar.

I cringe every time I go to buy food.  Bright and shiny packages of confection stare at me, beckoningly.  I will not succumb.  I will not succumb.  I will not succumb.   

I hope.

The best way that I can assure myself that an entire bag of orange-wrapped peanut butter cups will not mysteriously find its way into my handbag -- or drawer -- or freezer -- is to make sure that I have prepared appropriate sweets ahead of time and have them on-hand so I can indulge as desired.

The truth about sweets is this:  we need sweets.  We need the sweet flavor in our diet as well as we need salty, sour, bitter and spicy.   Sweet flavor stimulates digestion, which is why, traditionally, it is taken in the form of "dessert" after a meal.   When we are stressed or sad or tense, sweet flavor relaxes our body.

We really need sweet.  

You can't and shan't remove sweets from your diet, nor shall you or should you remove sweetness from your life.

The question is:  how to take them?   Of course, instead of sugar, it is better to use brown rice syrup or barley malt, more digestible and easier on the pancreas.   Other moderate dietary sources of sweetness include (and are not limited to) hard squashes, carrots, onions (sauteed/carmelized) and cabbage -- as well as most other round vegetables.   


By ingesting sweet vegetables which nourish our pancreas, we are less likely to have those "sweet cravings" which many dread.   For more on curbing sweet cravings, read Margo's Fantastic Sugar Addiction.

It may seem to you that when you are craving s'mores, my suggestion of carrot juice as a replacement just does not fit the bill.   You may be right.   So...let's get right down to the fudge of it all.

If I am craving those peanut butter cups, why oh why would I eat artificial peanut butter filled with sugar and not-quite-good chocolate.   I somehow must have been influenced by those romantic chocolate/peanut butter television ads when I was a child.  Nevertheless, I want them.

I have a recipe to share for Peanut Butter Cups made with REAL chocolate and REAL peanut butter and NO sugar or dairy.   


The Boo Without the Moo or the Eew.   The True Boo.

It is inspired by Jessica Porter's recipe.   In her version she suggests painting the inside of the cup with the chocolate to create a vessel to hold the peanut butter.   My chocolate is more of a ganache and today I don't have the patience...so mine are "freeform!"

Don't eat too many of these on a regular basis.  Save them for "special occasions".  Peanuts are not fantastic for your liver if eaten regularly.  Chocolate, I am also sorry to report, is for special occasions.

Enjoy the Sweetness --in your life.

TRUE BOO CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUPS

One box Mori-Nu silken Tofu

4 Tablespoons Organic creamy peanut butter

1/4 t sea salt

1/4 cup brown rice syrup or maple brown rice syrup 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a food processor.   Refrigerate in a covered container at least an hour.

Then combine 1 bag Sunspire Grain-Sweetened Chocolate Chips (no dairy and sweetened with barley malt) with 1 cup Edenblend rice/soy milk in a double boiler.   Consistency should be slightly more liquid than molten chocolate -- and a little "fluffy".

Spoon a tiny amount of chocolate into foil or wax paper confection "cups".  Spoon peanut butter filling on top and drizzle or spoon another bit of chocolate on top of all.

Refrigerate or freeze and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cups - Freeform!