needing a little something

a couple of my friends, who have also converted to a primal or paleo diet/lifestyle, have gotten very excited about the cooking and baking of all things paleo, and are posting constantly about their latest recipes and giving rave reviews to most all of the stuff they’ve made. for some reason, I haven’t really jumped on that bandwagon. I’m not really sure why. maybe it’s because this isn’t really a whole family effort over here (I have hope, but I’m not holding my breath). or maybe because I have a ridiculous apprehension about cooking things I don’t already know how to cook. or maybe it’s because I’ve been perfectly happy just eating things, for the most part, as they are, or modifying stuff, already in my repertoire so as to serve it without any grains or sugar. the baking thing hasn’t really appealed to me. for one thing, it’s rare that I crave sweets, and stuff like cakes or sweet breads have never had  that big of an appeal to me. for snacky stuff, I generally look for something salty, so my big jar of nuts and raisins is what I usually turn to. or sometimes I’ll go for some dried fruit, or even some slices of meat. but, in general I really haven’t had a situation where I’ve been attacked by a case of the munchies.

but today, I got close. I ate a bowl of leftover soup for lunch, and I wasn’t really hungry. but I kept finding myself in the kitchen, opening and closing cupboards. really, what I wanted was something chocolaty. lots of times, in the past, I have solved this problem with a cup of hot chocolate. that is something that, as the weather has gotten colder, I’ve started to miss a bit. so I was poking around on the internet and found a couple of paleo hot chocolate recipes that looked promising. of course, they all called for coconut milk, which I don’t happen to have any of. but the search put an idea into my head. I decided to make an almost paleo version of what my MIL likes to call a ‘ghetto mocha’. I made a cup of coffee, and prepped my mug with a spoonful of cocoa powder and a little shake of cinnamon I added my coffee and stirred really well, then I added a little splash of vanilla extract, about a teaspoon of honey, and some half & half (that’s the ‘almost’ part, since I still eat dairy). it was really quite good, and did satisfy my chocolate craving. it was also a lovely, november day, companion to cuddling up with a book!

I had to chuckle after I set it down on my book, which happens to be ‘the primal blueprint’.