Orange Monster & Chocolate Lovin'

For all the New Englander’s reading this, wasn’t the sun  amazing? I went out running yesterday right before lunch. Sure, when I got back I felt like a lobster that just got cooked, but damn did I feel good. The sun has reminded me of part of why I started running: to enjoy the outside. Today’s not so sunny, but I was pumped enough to go on my long run: 7.5 miles That felt pretty damn good. Well, needless to say after a hot run you need something to cool you down and heal you up. If you’re a blog reader no doubt you’ve seen the green monster. Hmmm, to each their own I guess. I’m not sure I could get something that looks like that down my throat, but so long as I don’t have to drink one I’m happy. However, what does work for me is an orange monster I thought of this guy on my run and couldn’t get home fast enough. As you all probably know, I love my carrot juice. As for my favorie fruit, I’m a peachaholic. It seemed natural in my mind that the two be put together, so I did! 6oz carrot juice with 140 grams frozen peaches and 1/4 cup greek yogurt gave me the orange monster:

Sooo good. It actually tasted more like a creamcscicle than any of its components, but I wasn’t complaining. It has plenty of carbs for recovery with a little hit of protein. And what a great way for weight gainers to get a compact serving of their favorite fruits and veggies! I’ll admit, since I’ve needed to eat 2500+ calories a day fresh produce has pretty much left my diet. Maybe blending’s the key to get the nutrients without the bloat.

Ok, what did I promise for today? Oh right, chocolate For today I reviewed four “gourmet” chocolates. Basically, these are not your checkout Hershey bars.

If you’ve stepped into a chocolate store, you know Lindt. The swiss company prides itself on using the purest, best ingredients. First up, I tried their 70% dark chocolate. This bar was basic, but definitely not boring. The flavor was rich and sweet; it was the quintessential dark chocolate. This is definitely the bar you want to keep in your pantry for that quick chocolate fix, or to share with friends(it was the cheapest after all that I tried).

Sticking with the Lindt family, next up was their 99% cacao chocolate. This is definitely an acquired taste which I have yet to acquire. The chocolate was dry and assaultingly bitter, and yet I loved it for that reason. A teeny sqaure of this was all I needed for the full flavor. My trick; take a tiny bite and then a sip of a light, sweet coffee, and your mouth will be in for a mocha sensation like no other.

Welcome now the organic chocolate of the bunch. I love the combination of chocolate and cherry(if you’ve been reading a while you’ve seen my parfaits). Add in some vanilla and I should be in heaven. My verdict; this bar was actually a slight disappointment. The chocolate base was very sweet and mellow. And the cherries were their texturally, but added very little flavor. As for the vanilla, I would never have guessed it was in their if the label didn’t tell me. Save your money on this one and buy something with a more promising flavor like Dark Chocolate and Citrus.

The last chocolate I had the pleasure of eating was Joey & Marty’s Amazing All Natural Belgian dark chocolate with raspberry ganache and nonperils. Holy yum was these good! The raspberry flavor was very present and sweetened the lovely bitterness of the dark chocolate. The nonpareils were a welcomed twist to the chocolate world, reminding me of sprinkles on a cupcake or Italian Christmas cookie. My only gripe was that each piece was so small, almost too “bite sized”. And I’m slightly confused if these were meant to be marketed to children or adults; what child would pay 2.89 for chocolate or even knows where Belgium is or what ganache is?

Anyway, I hope I got your taste buds fired up for chocolate eating. And I encourage you to go to the good chocolate aisle and splurge on something, because nothing can be more rewarding after a rough day than sitting down with a piece of fine chocolate.