Chocolate: One of the Essential Food Groups – Part I

Welcome to the inaugural blog post for Every Food Fits. The idea for this blog came from the desire of likeminded friends and colleagues – Samantha Lewandowski, a registered dietitian, and Stacey Viera, a communicator and photographer – to work together.  Sam and Stacey’s mutual love of food – cooking it, eating it, sharing it – was the catalyst for this weekly web log.  We hope that you enjoy the mouth-watering photography, prep ideas and sensible nutrition tips we bring to you every Thursday.  The best part about the nutrition info and recipe ideas we’ll share?  You can enjoy them all guilt free.  Remember:  Every Food Fits.

And now, to our very first post.  (This one’ll be a bit longer than most since it’s the first.)

Stacey’s Flickr followers know that she recently posted a mysterious kitchen shot.  Today we’re sharing the delectable outcome of her culinary adventures, and we’ll get to that after we explain how this recipe fits right in with Samantha’s dietary philosophy. We believe that you can have your chocolate and enjoy it, too.  The key is balance.  Sam likes to think of chocolate as one of the essential food groups. When you enjoy chocolate in a balanced diet that includes healthy portions of fruits, veggies and lean proteins, you’re fulfilling a natural desire to indulge and – GASP! – actually enjoy food!  Indulging in treats every so often also protects us from going positively out of our minds from depriving ourselves of chocolate and other simple pleasures.  Besides, chocolate can be good for you as part of a balanced diet.  Really:

A recent clinical trial (which is pretty robust as far as scientific studies go) showed that “eating a small, 1.6-ounce bar of dark chocolate every day” can aid heart health, according to WebMD.com.

Been avoiding chocolate to reduce your caffeine intake?  While it’s true that chocolate does contain caffeine, the amount is actually very small. One ounce of milk chocolate has 6 milligrams and one ounce of dark chocolate has 20 milligrams, compared with 3 milligrams in 8 ounces of decaffeinated coffee and 85 milligrams in 8 ounces of regular coffee. (Source: American Dietetic Assn.)

Valentine’s Day is Saturday, so was there any question in the first place that you weren’t going to enjoy some chocolate this weekend?  This week’s photo is of Warm Chocolate Puddings – recipe modified from Everyday Food Magazine – which are easy to make and oh-so delicious.  Instead of chopping chocolate, Stacey used semi-sweet chocolate chips.

If cooking isn’t your thing, use this Simple Serving Guide for Intelligent Indulgence:

One serving of chocolate will likely be between 200 – 300 calories, and will vary depending on brand and ingredients.
o    M&Ms – one 1.7 ounce package, the smaller bag you find in checkout lanes
o    Hershey Kisses – 9 pieces, about a small handful
o    Godiva truffles – 2 pieces, about the size of a ping pong ball

Finally, each week we’ll reveal “How Stacey got the shot.”  For this photo, Stacey used her “Nifty Fifty” lens (50mm fixed focal length) at f/2.8 and bounced the flash off the ceiling.

Thank you for joining us for this first posting.  We hope that you continue to follow our blog each week.  Don’t forget to check out the “About” section to find out more about Stacey and Sam and contact us with any questions.  Happy Eating!