This time of year is always difficult for me. Yes, you guessed it...it's Girl Scout Cookie season again. From every street corner girlish faces accost me with pleading looks. Every time I close my eyes to sleep, fevered dreams of Thin Mints and Shortbreads haunt my nights. I'm telling you, it's torture. I don't know what they put in those cookies, but I'm pretty sure it's addictive.
But this year is different. This year, I know myself enough to realize that whatever gratification I will get from inhaling a box of Thin Mints will pale in comparison to the shaky, zitty, yucky post-sugar situation. (By the way, I love what the Girl Scouts do, and I want to support them. But I just wish they sold something healthier for a fundraiser).
So, in honor of Girl Scout season, I had to find something healthy that satisfied my craving for mint-chocolate yumminess. I found this Mint Chocolate Chia "Tapioca" on a blog called "Healthy Tidbits," written by Dawn Balusik, an Oriental Medicine practitioner in Florida. Click here to see the original recipe post from the Healthy Tidbits blog. I changed the recipe slightly, but you can try Dawn's original version if you prefer.
Here's my slightly-altered version of the recipe:
Mint Chocolate Chia "Tapioca"
1 c. almond or hemp milk
1 peppermint teabag
3 Tbsp. chia seeds
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
15 drops liquid stevia
Agave nectar to taste
Warm the milk on the stove; once warm, add the teabag and let steep for 5 minutes. Remove teabag (be sure to squeeze out excess liquid), and allow milk to cool. Place all ingredients in a jar with lid, and shake until well-mixed. Place in refrigerator; let sit for an hour or so to allow the chia seeds to absorb the liquid and become like little tapioca pearls.
I chopped up 6 raw almonds and 1 Medjool date, and sprinkled it on top of my pudding for a crunch!
I do want to say one thing about healthy desserts. If you've been eating a Standard American Diet (SAD) with lots of sugar and refined flours, the healthy desserts we post here may not taste good to you. Your mouth will be craving the more intense sweetness of white sugar or high-fructose corn syrup. But, I promise, as you slowly transition into a healthier diet, your palette will become more subtle. I'm not saying you will never again crave a Girl Scout cookie! But you will begin to crave healthy foods, too, and eventually low-glycemic healthy treats like this chia pudding will be just enough to satisfy your sweet tooth.
My own mixed, ever-changing relationship with "SAD" has made me think a lot about availability and will power. If the cookies aren't in the pantry, I don't eat them. And that's the hard thing about things like Girl Scout Cookies--when they come to the door, those cookies are so in your face that they almost inevitably end up in the pantry.
ReplyDeleteThe will power studies suggest that the key is to substitute new habits for old: so perhaps one approach would be to develop the habit of donating a few dollars to these cute kids who arrive at the door, rather than following that habitual thought that we ought to help them out by giving money for cookies.
That's a ways away from the tapioca recipe, but perhaps part of the larger world in which tapioca exists.
Thanks for the comment. I totally agree, and it's a thoughtful perspective. Maybe next time I wander past a table of well-meaning Girl Scouts, I will ask if they accept donations in lieu of purchasing cookies. I want to be able to support their work without having that awful experience of trying to exert will power against the terrible pull of the Thin Mints in the pantry... :)
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