Bite-Sized Delights

When you need a little pick-me up, where do you turn?  I turn to chocolate, of course.  But opening up a 100-gram chocolate bar is not necessarily the best thing to do when our energy levels are at their lowest, because we are most likely to eat the entire bar in one sitting (precisely what the manufacturers want from us, despite their marks in the bars to make it 'easier' to break off small pieces!) and then we feel worse both mentally and physically because we've overdone it. So I love it when chocolate comes pre-packaged in bite-sized portions.

Apparently this is the time of year to cut out unnecessary indulgences, if you believe the numerous ads on television telling us that we have X-number of weeks left to drop five pounds in order to be beach-body ready for summer. But I say do not cut out, but rather, cut back! To me, this is the time of year to turn our attention to portion-controlled pieces of chocolate deliciousness.

Conveniently, I came across three different bite-sized portions of chocolate that would satisfy any chocolate lover's cravings during that 2:00 p.m. energy drop on a business day. The first were Saxon's 10 g bars of chocolate that came in two flavours: 70% Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and Milk Chocolate Hazelnut. I liked both of those for different reasons. With the Hazelnut, I got that milk chocolate sweetness but with a boost of hazelnut protein and flavour. The 70% dark chocolate satisfied that side of me that says "stick with the dark stuff because it's healthier", but the salt added an extra flavour to make it stand out from the plain-Jane usual 70% chocolate that I eat. The other bite-sized chocolate was Ghirardelli's 10.6 gram 'Squares', which was nice because it covered my cravings for both sweet and bitter.

I found all three of these at Loco Beanz Coffee House in Little Current, Ontario. But Ghirardelli can be found all across the U.S. and you can buy it online: build a bag of 54 mini 'Squares' on their website with any mix of flavours that you choose. If you have these on hand, you can pack a square or two in your lunch bag every day. Smaller bags are also available. Saxon is available across Canada and in the U.S.; check their store locator for more information.

If you are trying to get your 'beach-body' back in time for summer, or just like your chocolate to be in portion-controlled packages, here are some other kinds of portion-controlled chocolate that I've found in the past:

• Lunch-bag friendly milk chocolate (Green & Blacks and Ritter Sport)
• Portion-controlled milk chocolate (Starbucks and Valor)
• Camino Snack Bars