My chocolate reviews

Remember the Japanese Chocolate I mentioned in the previous post?

Well, I enjoyed each and every wonderful morsel that I decided to do a review of the chocolates and put it up in my website. Did I mention how incredible it all tasted? Well, I’m going to say again that it was indeed lipsmackingly delicious!

So, if you are really curious and wants all the saliva-inducing details and my ratings for the chocolates, go on over to My Chocolate Reviews. You will find that I have reviewed other types of chocolate too. It is my goal to review as many type of chocolates as I could encounter so the site will definitely be updated regularly.

I know I have been irregular here and I have yet to post the rest of the Chocolate Diet meal and exercise plans but I am getting there. Have some patience and your patience will be rewarded. In the meantime, why not have a break, have a Kit Kat? ;-D

Japanese chocolate

When it comes to chocolate, we often talk about Belgian chocolate as the premium and best of all. Sure, those are really good quality chocolate but for the sake of variety, I like to try chocolates from as many countries as possible. I have tried Swiss chocolate, German chocolate, Italian chocolate and American chocolate.

You may think chocolate taste the same wherever it came from but I beg to differ. There are very distinctive different in taste and flavor in the chocolates that came from different countries and manufacturers. Perhaps it is the different processes they go through or perhaps, it is the ingredients they used.

So, recently I decided to give Japanese chocolate a try. I have always loved Japanese food and the occasional Japanese junk food so, why not give their chocolates a try? So, I picked up a few packets of Japanese chocolate for some chocolate tasting session and guess what? I absolutely loved it!

Their dark chocolate is absolutely heavenly; smooth, creamy, just the right amount of sweetness and yum, yum, rich and just slight tinge of bitterness. Definitely my kind of chocolate! Though a tad expensive as compared to other imported chocolates, it is well worth the price. Their milk chocolate is also similarly wonderful. There is even an easy melt kind called ‘Meltykiss’ which I particularly liked. Just pop it into your mouth and you will immediately get a burst of sweet, creamy chocolaty sensation melting on your tongue.

My only problem with Japanese chocolates is that the packaging is mainly in Japanese with only the name of the chocolate in English. Even the ingredients are in Japanese and a basic sticker loosely translating it in English was pasted above it. So, if you are the type who wants to know the detailed ingredients of the chocolates, either you have to learn up Japanese or you will have to make do with the loose translation.

I just hope one day they would come out with better packaging with an international appeal…but then, we are talking about Japanese stuff here, I doubt that they even cared about appealing to the international market when they have their very own self-sustaining market…

Chocolate Diet 3

This is a continuation of my previous chocolate diet entry (chocolate diet 2). Here is the meal plan and exercise regime for Day 3.

Day 3

Morning:

Exercise – 10 minutes light stretching, 30 minutes brisk walk / treadmill

Breakfast

A banana

Two slices of wholemeal toast with less than a teaspoon of margerine

A glass of chocolate milk (low-fat milk with a teaspoon of chocolate sauce)

A glass of water

Morning tea break

Two Hershey kisses

A glass of low-fat, low-sugar, chocolate-flavored weight-control protein shake (you can get this at any pharmacy/ health store)

A glass of water

Lunch

A glass of water

Chicken salad with low-fat Italian dressing on the side

Celery and carrot sticks

Afternoon tea break

One Snickers bar

A glass of water

Evening

Two sets of sit-ups, two sets of crunches, two sets of side bends, 20 minutes on exercise bike (medium speed) – one set is 8 reps.

Drink as much water as you can manage

A chocolate-flavored low fat, low carbo energy bar

Dinner

A bowl of nutritious vegetable and chicken broth

(Recipe for broth: Place a pot of water to boil and add chicken meat, chopped carrots, green peas, chopped onions, tomatoes, celery and cabbage. Let it simmer for about 30 minutes or until the meat is cooked. Add pepper and salt to taste. Can also add fresh mixed herbs for extra flavor.)

Two scoops of light chocolate ice cream

5 – 10 minutes of slow and light stretching before bed.

I will be posting Days 4 and 5 soon. Look out for it. Meanwhile, for those who have just stumbled upon this entry for the first time, this chocolate diet meal and exercise plan offers no guarantee of weight loss but offers a great solution to enjoying your daily chocolate without having to worry about gaining weight from it. I formulated it based on my own experience so you can give it a try and feel free to tell me all about your experience trying it out.

Chocolate Diet 2

So, you have been indulging in loads of chocolate recently and suddenly found that all your clothes had shrunk. Including the ones you bought a week ago! So, what do you do? A professional dietitian will tell you to dump any leftover chocolate in your house along with other sinfully fattening foods such as chips, candies, sweets, cakes, ice creams, etc. She will probably put you on a strict, low-calorie, low-fat, low-sugar, tasteless food diet which leaves you craving for more of those sinful stuff.

To a chocoholic, like me, dumping the rest of the sinful food is easy but when it comes to chocolate and chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream, I just could not bring myself to it. It is like throwing out my BFF (that’s Best Friend Forever). It is like throwing out my lifeline. It is like throwing out the reasons for living…I am sure you get the picture.

So, what do I do when the scales are moving the wrong side of the spectrum? It is sadly true that I go on a diet too but nothing as restrictive and as boring as a normal diet. I go on my very own ‘custom-made to suit myself’ chocolate diet. And I combine that with exercise and an active lifestyle to get the pounds moving. Or simply to keep the pounds away.

The meal plan of my chocolate diet was mentioned in my first chocolate diet post and to keep from getting bored, I have since changed some of it and incorporated an easy exercise regime to burn off some of the unwanted calories. Here is my very own customized meal plan and fitness regime.

Disclaimer: This blog author shall not be held responsible for any additional addiction to chocolate or addiction to exercise (if ever that is possible!) as a result of this meal plan and exercise regime. These are merely her very own custom-made plans based on personal experience and readers are advised to follow it at their own peril! No weight loss is guaranteed but I absolutely guarantee that no chocolate will be left out!

Day 1

Morning:

A brisk 25 minute to 40 minutes walk / jog

Breakfast: Chocolate and banana shake (refer to this post for recipe), a glass of water

Morning tea break: One serving of fruits, a glass (or two )of water

Lunch: Wholemeal cheese and tomatoes sandwich (Recipe: Place cheese on bread, add chopped tomatoes and you have your sandwich!), a glass (or two) of water, small bowl of mixed salad.

Tea break: One bar of chocolate wafer, a glass (or two) of water, 5 roasted plain almonds and if still hungry, a banana.

Evening:

Hit the gym for a bout of 20 minutes to 40 minutes of resistance training. Do two sets of each exercise. This can be two sets of sit-ups, two-sets of lower body exercise and two sets of upper body exercise.

Replenish body moisture by drinking loads of water after gym.

After workout snack: A tall glass of fruity freeze (Recipe: Throw in green apples, peeled oranges, carrots and ice into a blender and blend it all together. If too sour, use ripe red apples instead).

Dinner:

Starter: Big plate of mixed salad, dressings on the side

Entree: Grilled / poached salmon / cod topped with mushroom or lemon sauce and served with stir-fried vegetables.

(Recipe for stir-fried vegetables: Cut broccoli into bite-size. Slice carrots thinly. Chop some garlic. In a pan, heat a spoon of olive oil. Stir-fry the garlic till fragrant and then add the carrots. Stir for a while and add the broccoli. Add soya sauce or salt to taste. Once the broccoli turn a bright green, it is cooked.)

Dessert: Two scoops of low-fat chocolate ice cream topped with a spoon of chocolate sauce and some roasted almond flakes.

At least another two glasses of water.

Day 2

Morning:

30 minutes to 1 hour of power yoga and floor exercises.

Breakfast:

Fruits, milk with chocolate sauce, a bowl of full grain muesli, a glass (or two) of water

Morning tea break: two glasses of water, 3 pc wholewheat crackers, 5 dark chocolate-covered almonds

Lunch: a glass (or two) of water, wholemeal egg sandwich, celery and carrot sticks

Afternoon tea break: 5 dark chocolate-covered raisins, a glass (or two) of water, one serving of fruits

Evening:

Pre-workout snack: a banana (preferably an hour before workout)

Workout: Go for a 30 minute jog or power walk. No cheating. Really sweat it out. Drink a glass (or more) of water.

Dinner :

Starter: Mixed salad, dressings on the side.

Entree: Roast chicken breast in brown sauce served with baked asparagus, carrots and tomatoes.

Dessert: A bar of 75g chocolate bar or four truffles.

Do remember to drink lots of water throughout as it is really good in cleansing your system. Do note that most of the meals do not have simple carbohydrates (except for the chocolates!), this is so that you can indulge in some chocolate at least twice a day!

I will come up with Days 3 to 5 soon. Just keep a lookout for future postings.

Chocolate and Losing Weight

As I have mentioned, creating a chocolate website and maintaining a chocolate blog is putting extra inches on my waist and butt, let’s not even get into the extra pounds and the upgrade in dress size. So, it is with much interest that I actively seek out the fad diet called ‘chocolate diet’ but it was not exactly what I was looking for.

The diet do contain chocolate which is supposed to act as a vitamin replacement due to its health benefits of preventing high blood pressure and heart disease. However, the meals are not all chocolate. It is the usual diet stuff of wholemeal pasta, healthy fruits and vegetables and lots of water. The only difference is that you get to eat some chocolate in the diet.

There is another fad chocolate diet which requires dieters to consume healthy food throughout but they take chocolate powder shakes as healthy snacks in between meals and also some chocolate diet pills which supposedly boost metabolism.

I am not sure if either of these diets do work but if the meals are all healthy low-fat, low-calorie, low-sugar and low-carb foods and only a small portion of chocolate is allowed, then I guess it could work. That is if you don’t go overboard on the chocolate allowance!

Besides that, I came across a really interesting chocolate product (ChocoLeans) which supposedly promotes weight-loss by suppressing your appetite. Again, I have not tried it so your guess is as good as mine on whether it really works or not. They have the sugar free and organic dark chocolate variety too. In case you are wondering why I am promoting this product, I am not getting any commission from this. I just thought I would share it with whoever dropped by here. So, if any of you out there who has tried it, feel free to comment here about your experience trying it!

So, am I still putting on weight due to my chocolate forays? Well, let’s just say I am padding up for now but I will definitely lose it with the right exercise and diet plan…if ever I get around to it! ;-D

Chocolate shopping

I have been such a die-hard chocoholic for so many years, my husband has gotten used to my frequent trips to the mall for my chocolate fix, that is, until recently. I love chocolates and I do chocolate reviews but I am by no means a chocolate snob, as in, I do not turn my nose up over cheap chocolates or standard supermarket quality chocolate.

However, recently, just for the sake of my chocolate website, I started bypassing the waxy, sweet, cheap chocolates and went for imported, Swiss and Belgium chocolates. My hubby of course was taken aback. My chocolate stock is now with percentages and of ‘fine’ quality and not in the least cheap!

So, how do I search out these chocolates? Other than dropping by the chocolate-specialty shops (which is very rare where I come from), I get it from large grocery stores. Often these stores are well stocked and they have a section especially for imported, expensive and fine chocolates (at least at where I come from, which is a tiny Asian country out of nowhere). Then I look through the selection. I look out for ‘Made in Sweden’ or ‘Manufactured in Belgium’ which is often printed in small tiny prints before buying.

The types that I buy often are dark chocolate, white chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, milk chocolate and chocolate covered nuts and raisins. The chocolates are in a variety of forms from bars to truffles to even wafers. Now, I have loads of chocolates to taste and review and though I constantly snack on chocolates, I am deferring the expensive ones. Just tearing the wrappers makes me cringe. I just do not want to eat it and then, that’s it. I won’t have it anymore. You know, the classic ‘you can’t have your cake and eat it too’ dilemma.

I will be working up my courage to really bite into one of it soon as I really need to add new pages to my website real soon. To those who have been visiting the site or have visited the site or are planning to visit the site, please be patient. I am working on the chocolate recipes now and hopefully I can put it in within the next few days.

See you then.

Chocolate Percentage

There is nothing I love more than shopping for chocolates whenever we go to the grocery store. It is like being transported into pure chocolate heaven, especially if it is a particularly well-stocked grocery store with an aisle of wonderfully heavenly scrumptious, saliva-inducing chocolates. You know what I mean…row after row of absolutely delicious chocolates of all brands, types and percentage.

Yep, you read right. Percentage. It seems like it is a new fad or something that chocolates now comes with numbers proudly emblazoned over its front. You will see 75% or 90% or 99%. So, what are these percentages for? Well, there is no great mystery to it. The reason for it is to clearly state out the percentage of cocoa contained in the bar of chocolate.

Due to recent research over how healthy chocolate could be especially the ones with higher cocoa content,  I guess many manufacturers are finding it more profitable to tell consumers how much cocoa is contained within their products. I can’t conclusively say that the ones with 99% cocoa are healthier or better (since I am not a scientist or doctor) but I sure can comment on the taste!

The ones with about 90% cocoa content are often more bitter (and we all know how I can’t stand bitter stuff) and richer in the sense that you get a thicker cocoa taste which leaves a sort of buttery after taste on your tongue after consumption. I sometimes eat these together with hot cocoa and marshmallows…to take away the after-taste and also the bitterness.

Those in the 60% and 90% range are pretty much like regular dark chocolate except that for 60% it is sweeter and as the percentage increases, the sweetness reduces and bitterness increases. If you are a dark chocolate type of person (like me!), you will have no qualms picking these up but do try the range of different percentages until you get the ones that you really like.

Happy shopping and let’s go lose ourselves in the wonderful aisle full of chocolates….

Can chocolate keep you awake?

I don’t know about you but it sure do keep me awake!

Unlike the general population who depended on coffee to keep their eyes cracked open, I don’t like coffee. Well, I don’t see the point of drinking a bitter brew just to keep awake. I remember trying to down a cup of coffee with loads of sugar and milk and still it tasted horrid to me. Before coffee lovers start throwing coffee beans at me, let me say in my defense that I have a very low ‘bitter threshold’. As in, I can’t take anything too bitter (well, except for bitter chocolate which I absolutely love but that is another story…). Anyway to cut a long story short, I don’t drink coffee in the mornings. Nor in the afternoons or evenings. I don’t drink coffee, period. The only time I bring myself to drink coffee is when it is a frappucino from Starbucks (even then, I prefer the chocolate one rather than the coffee ones).

So this brings me to the subject matter. Why do I say chocolate keeps me awake? Simple, it was tried and tested to be true…for me. Recently, I have a load of work which includes building up my chocolate website so I had to work real late into the night. In the first few weeks, I snacked on chocolate often (after everyone else has gone to bed…heh heh…) when I worked late till about 3am on a daily basis. I was not sleepy and raring to go all the time…well, except in the daytime when I am without my chocolate fix.

Then about a week ago, I decided to cut down. It is not helping my waistline to be consuming every single bar of chocolate in my fridge and cupboard. I was even gorging on my expensive imported gourmet chocolates which I was keeping to slowly savor in a chocolate tasting session. So, I stopped eating chocolates. Entirely. The end result, I was sleepy and falling asleep in front of my computer. I was nodding off by midnight and calling it a night by 1am. This is not good for my freelance work, not to say my cocoa-chocolate.com website which is still in the midst of construction.

So, last night I started snacking on chocolates again. Wonders of wonders, I stayed up till 4am without a single yawn!

 

Now, I know, scientifically, chocolate do contain caffeine but not as much as coffee. The amount of caffeine found in a 30g chocolate bar is about 6mg per ounce of chocolate. So, it is not really a substitute for coffee but hey, it worked for me and it is darn good too!

So, do please excuse me while I go stock up on my chocolate supplies…

Chocolate Fantasies

I have been in love with chocolate since I could remember so I often have this weird out fantasies about chocolate. No, there is nothing sexual about it if that is what you are thinking!

It is more like finding the most perfect chocolate ever created by mankind. Thus, I started a journey long time ago to taste every single chocolate I came across and this includes dark, milk, white and what-have-yous. As a real chocolate junkie, I do not really care what chocolate it is, whether it is the cheap, mass-produced, ultra-sweet waxy kind or the expensive, imported, branded and gourmet kind. As long as it is chocolate, I’ll try it.

So, over the years, I have gobbled, swallowed, licked, savored, tasted, chewed and munched on the likes of M&Ms, Hersheys, Mars and Snickers to the likes of handmade, custom-made one-of-a-kind chocolate truffles. Trust me, my waistline is enough to attest to all those years of binging on all variations of the creamy concoction. Fortunately, no diabetes to tell me to stop. (I have since taken up a healthier diet with ample exercise to keep my body healthy enough to binge some more on chocolates)

In my long years of journey in a chocolate-lined path, I found that I actually loved dark chocolate (or bitter chocolate) more than milk or white chocolate. Of course, I also hanker for the more expensive kinds too but hey, sometimes I just can’t afford it so I had to settle with the store-bought kinds (not that those aren’t good at all!)

Which gets me to the whole point of this brand new blog. I intend to write about my chocolate adventures and reviews here for the enjoyment of other chocoholics and to start off on the right foot, may I say again that I do not by any means look down at the generic chocolates out there. I eat all types of chocolate (even imitation chocolate!) and I will do my best to describe my experiences with this wonderful dessert or sweet snack or whateveryouwannacallit in full colorful detail here.

Towards our chocolate journey together! (*A toast with a chocolate milk shake in one hand and a bar of half-eaten Snickers on another*)