Having what you want including....chocolate!

Have you ever noticed that as soon as you think you can't have something, you want it SO much it hurts - even if you weren't wild about it before? What is that about?

When I left the UK almost 30 years ago and came to live in the US, there were certain things I missed - double decker buses, telephone boxes, salt and vinegar crisps (chips - now available here!), rain (aaarrrggghhh no, no, no NOT rain!). You get the picture. But the one thing I craved and couldn't wait to get to when I returned for a visit was ........ sausages!! Huh? I hardly ever ate sausages when I lived in the UK but now, all of a sudden I had such a craving for a plate of good ol' bangers and mash (sausages and mashed potatoes) that I couldn't stand it.

When I stopped consuming gluten and soy there wasn't actually much I missed but, much like the sausage craving, I suddenly realized that life might not be worth living without chocolate. Now I had never been a big chocoholic before but now that it was off the menu, I couldn't stop a craving from building and building. Although gluten isn't a problem with chocolate other ingredients stood between me and increased chocolate consumption. I had also quit dairy products so any chocolate with milk in was out. The main issue however was that old bugaboo that I have written about before - soy lecithin. Seems most chocolate makers can't make a decent bar without its stickability qualities.

One day a friend and I were standing in a health food store bemoaning the lack of soy and dairy free chocolate, when a sales associate who had overheard our conversation told us that they did indeed have dairy and soy free chocolate in the next aisle. Amazing - I was saved!

The chocolate in question turned out to be produced by a cooperative of cocoa farmers in Dominican Republic, Panama, Peru and Ecuador, organized under the banner of Equal Exchange. Wow - dairy and soy free, organic and fair trade! How about that for a score?

The chocolate comes in a variety of flavors (I tried Organic Mint) and is dark and delicious. But here's another thing.....in my previous before-glutenfree life, I never touched dark chocolate. Milk chocolate was my thing and I couldn't get past the bitter taste of the dark stuff. Now however, I am totally hooked on the darkest, most saliva producing bitter version I can find!

Subsequently, I have discovered a couple of other brands of dairy free, soy free dark chocolate. El Ceibo Cooperative of Bolivia - also organic and fair trade - has an array of dark and delicious chocolate that is "sun dried and slow roasted". Mmmm, makes my mouth water just writing about it! This chocolate is distributed by Alter Eco (love the pun!) of San Francisco.

Lastly, chocolate-wise, I was browsing the candy aisle at my local Safeway store the other day and casually checked out their own brand of bittersweet chocolate. Guess what? It is also dairy and soy free.....and it was on sale!

So now I am an official chocoholic for the first time in my life. I think I'm loving this gluten and soy free life!!!