The Candy Drawer

It’s no wonder that I have such a sugar and chocolate addiction. My mother had a “candy drawer” in her kitchen. It wasn’t just some small drawer that nothing else really fit in…no, it was 1 of the big, deep drawers. She kept it well stocked too. Her favorite was Reese’s pb cups and Daddy liked Hershey’s chocolate. He preferred the assortment bags with the small pieces. He would eat everything in the bag except for the semi-sweet chocolate. Those, he gave away.

My mother came by it naturally too. My Granddaddy Ray loved sweets. He was easy to buy for at Christmas. Everyone just always gave him boxes of chocolate candy. He was pretty stingy with it though. As soon as he had opened his presents he would always go put them away. My mom and my aunt caught on to his trick and would always make him open them up and share. He would, but he didn’t leave the box laying around for seconds.

I still love chocolate but now I get my chocolate fix by either breaking off a piece of a dark chocolate bar or using cacao in my breakfast smoothie. Research has shown that dark chocolate, at least 72% cacao, in moderation is actually good for you. I read an interesting article the other day about the difference between cocoa and cacao. I knew cacao was supposed to be better for you but didn’t know why. Basically, cocoa is processed and cacao isn’t. You can read more about them both here. https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/cacao-vs-cocoa-what-you-need-to-know/

The problem with refined sugar, at least for me, is that it is so addictive. I don’t just eat 1 cookie, or 1 piece of candy. Once I start I crave it and I will keep going back for 1 more bite until I have eaten the whole bag of candy or 5 or 6 cookies. I’m kind of like an alcoholic; afterwards I feel really guilty, swear off sweets, and feel physically bad for a couple of days. I know this about myself so I try really hard just not to ever start. You might not be like me though. Some people can have just 1 cookie, or 1 bite of cake. If that’s you I admire you. I’m not saying I never have sweets, I do, but I have decided it has to be something really special. I satisfy my sweet tooth with fresh fruit. I keep either fresh or frozen fruit washed, sweetened with Stevia, and ready in the frig nearly all the time.

I should have titled this true confessions of a sugar-aholic. Now you know my kryptonite.