Let’s deconstruct chocolate cravings for a moment. It’s one thing to enjoy chocolate every so often. It’s another to seriously crave it.  An often overlooked reason for strong chocolate cravings is a MAGNESIUM deficiency. Chocolate contains a relatively high amount of this important mineral and cravings may indicate that there is not enough in the diet.  So, if you call yourself a chocoholic and crave chocolate more often than not (or at specific times of the month, ladies) include more magnesium-rich foods in your diet like rolled oats, pumpkin, flax, sesame, and sunflower seeds, Brazil nuts, pine nuts, almonds, cashews, molasses, bananas, figs, raisins, kidney and black beans, spinach, leafy green vegetables, and halibut. Oh, and chocolate! But not the sugar/GMO-filled candy crap – some real deal high quality dark chocolate, 70% or higher, low in sugar with few ingredients. Keep a bag of raw cacao powder in your cabinet to make magnesium-rich chocolate smoothies, oatmeal, cookies/brownies, soups/stews (I love adding chocolate to my chili recipe), or these simple truffles…

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES

Ingredients:
1/3 cup organic peanut butter (can experiment with other nut/seed butters)
1/4 cup unsweetened cacao powder
1 tablespoon goji berries
1 tablespoon sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons raw honey
2 teaspoons shredded coconut (to coat, optional)

Directions: Mix peanut butter, cacao powder, vanilla, cinnamon and honey well. Add goji berries and sunflower seeds. Make a one teaspoon-sized ball with hands. Place shredded coconut onto a plate and roll truffle balls around in it until coated, if desired. Enjoy then and there or store in freezer and remove as needed!

Happy LOVE day!