There is packaged chocolate out there that Paleo people eat.  A lot of Paleo recipes call for Enjoy Life chocolate chips.  Dark chocolate bars exist like LuLu's Chocolate or Pascha.  But I don't buy them.

Why?

They all contain some form of sugar.

Call it cane sugar or coconut sugar it's all sugar.  (Yes, even coconut sugar which made one friend of mine all hopped up just like she was eating regular sugar.)  Not to mention some say coconut sugar is unsustainable and I really, really like my coconut oil and coconut milk and I want to keep them.  No coconut milk, no Paleo vanilla ice cream!  (Link coming soon!)

I don't eat sugar, except for the listed ingredient that makes 0 grams in my bacon (what's in there, a pinch?) which I tested and does not make make me climb the ceiling or get addicted.  Sugar really affects me.  It probably affects everyone, seeing as how it buzzes the same center of your brain as um, cocaine, but since I haven't had any sugar (sans bacon) for almost two years I can really, really, really tell.

Like when went to The Counter for the first time and had a burger-in-a-bowl.

They also had certified gluten free sweet-potato or white-potato fries.  I went crazy and got some ketchup.  Regular ole Heinz with its high fructose corn syrup.  I'm not intolerant to corn and although corn isn't Paleo I decided to splurge a little and dip, just a teeny bit, my fries into it.

It took me a while to figure out that I felt different.

Perhaps it was the overly bright look in my eyes, my bouncing legs or the fact that I sounded like one of Alvin's chipmunks talking a mile-a-minute in a higher than normal voice.

"I feel kinda drunk", I admitted to my friends, perhaps in apology for the barrage of talk they had to endure.  Their hair was blown back like an 80's music video.

Yeesh.  It was only ketchup.  But like I said, it had been almost two years and my body could tell.

So I make my own chocolate when I want the cravings.  A mixture of honey, coconut oil, and cocoa powder like in the Coco Munch recipe.  I will make the munch, or else I will make the munch without the coconut flakes and dip strawberries and bananas into it, freezing them afterwards for 20 minutes and then eating them.

I will make Chocolate ice cream (link coming soon) or Chocolate Muffins (link coming soon).  All of these things are made with honey and cocoa and they keep me from turning into a chipmunk.

Why am I telling you this?

I'm just sharing my story in case it helps someone else understand why the chocolate that lots of Paleo people eat might make them start dreaming of donuts, if it does.  It might not.  But it might.  You know?  And to share that there are alternatives to satisfying your chocolate desire that don't involve sugar like making it yourself.

Or.... upping your magnesium intake.  I started taking magnesium supplements and I had zero desire for chocolate for years.  I talk about that more in this post.  I think I only make chocolate covered strawberries right now because I'm pregnant.

That's right, I blame the baby.  ;)

P.S. Chocolate (cocoa) is one of the items that your body can think is gluten.  If you are gluten intolerant or celiac you might not do well with it.  Everyone in my family is fine with cocoa except my eldest daughter who has gluten-light symptoms after she eats it.  That's why I make my pregnant-mama chocolate covered strawberries in the morning while she is still sleeping. Shhh.

P.P.S. It's OK, my daughter knows about the strawberries.  I can't keep the secret very well when my face is covered in chocolate.

I woke up, all pregnant and dreaming of food. "I want a cinnamon muffin!" I wailed in my head and the search began.

OMgosh these are amazing.  The best things we have baked since going Paleo 1.5 years ago.  By far.  It's like a snickerdoodle and a Cinnabon had a baby.  I hope my baby likes them because I'm eating them.  A lot.

Almond flour is the same thing as almond meal.  When you cook with it (like putting it in a meatloaf) you can use whatever you want - any brand, blanched or unblanched, but if you want to bake with it.... that's a whole different story.

Just made this tonight with chicken thighs.  It was super easy and way delicious.  It reminded me of pizza but as I haven't had pizza in two years, maybe not so much for a real pizza eater. ;)

I also made it with steamed and "riced" cauliflower (just spin it in the food processor) so I could pour the sauce on it and mix it all up if I wanted.  That and because this pregnant lady is craving cauliflower like crazy.

Someone just asked me if going Paleo cured my candida.  It wasn't Paleo that cured my candida, but I believe eating Paleo has kept it away.

I've been meaning to write about it so let me explain in my short, non-long-winded-version.  (Ha!)

(If you want to skip the back-story, scroll down to the heading "What Worked To Rid Me Of Candida".)