Saturday, February 28, 2009

ChocolateBet: February 28, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:
2 oz.
Britt chocolates
Dark Chocolate covered Cocao Nibs
("Semillas de Cacao cubiertas de Chocolate Oscuro")
Very Good - Very Good +
Wt.: 2 oz. (56.6 grams)/6 oz. (170 grams) in total package
Calories: ~ 297 calories in 2 oz.
Cost: 3,539.82 c = ~ $6.43 for total pkg. (Orig. 4,000c = $7.26 USD)
Purchased from: Acacia Rosada gift shop in Hotel Bougainvillea, in San Jose/Heredia, Costa Rica

ChocolateBet: February 27, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:

1 oz.
leaves-n-trees
chocolate-covered guava (chocolate relleno de guayaba)
Good + - Very Good
Wt.: ~ 1 oz. (28.3 grams)/5.29 oz. (150 grams) total package
Calories: ~ 140 calories (estim.)
Cost: $ (need to translate into dollars)
Purchased from: gift shop in San Jose, Costa Rica airport

More chocolates from Costa Rica trip. I couldn't really taste the guava that much; the chocolate and sugar may be overpowering the fruit flavor a bit; but these were fun to try.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

ChocolateBet: February 26, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:

1 package
Britt chocolates
Dark Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans ("Granos de cafe gourmet cubiertos de chocolate oscuro")
Very Good+
Wt.: 1 oz. (28 g.) package
Calories: ~ 150 calories (estimate) for 1 oz. package
Cost: $ (need to translate colones to dollars for this one)
Purchased from: Hotel Bougainvillea gift shop in San Jose, Costa Rica

This is another nice rendition of the chocolate-covered coffee bean. I liked these better than some I've tried. I picked up several flavors of Britt chocolates on my recent vacation to Costa Rica. Both coffee and cacao are grown in Costa Rica, so maybe the ingredients are fresher. I enjoyed these coffee bean chocolates with a shot of steamed milk. Good stuff.

Note: My apologies for the low-quality image of the packaging (above right).
I tried to open this wrapper flat to scan it, but the pouch shape did not really want to cooperate with my efforts here.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

ChocolateBet: February 25, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:

1 package
Leaves-n-Trees
Chocolate Dipped Pineapple (Pina con Chocolate)
Very Good - nice tropical taste
Wt.: 5.29 oz. (150 grams)
Calories: ~430 calories for whole pkg.
Cost: $ ? (need to find/check receipt)
Purchased from: (store in San Jose, Costa Rica, airport)

ChocolateBet: February 24, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:

2.3 suckers
Signature Chocolates
Gourmet Chocolate Truffle Pops (3 different flavors)
1 oz. (each) x 2.3 = 2.3 oz. total
1.) Very Good (rolled in coconut?) 1 oz.
2.) Good (chocolate) 1 oz.
3.) Good +(white chocolate w/ lime?) ~.3 oz. bite
Calories: 150 cals for 1 oz. sucker (estimate) x 2.3 = 345 cals. total for 3 different suckers I ate
Cost: $ N/A (gift from Megan)
Purchased from: N/A - gift

It was a 3 sucker day. Thank you Megan!
Note: Entries were posted late this week due to international travel, and lack of regular Internet access.

ChocolateBet: February 23, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:

Approx. 2 oz.
Leaves-n-Trees
chocolate-covered macadamia ("chocolate relleno de macadamia")
Very Good
Wt.: ~ 2 oz. (~56.6 grams)/ 5.29 oz. (150 g.) in total pkg.
Calories: ~260 calories for ~ 2 oz. (56.6 g.)
Cost: $? (receipt?)
Purchased from: (store at San Jose, Costa Rica, airport)

Note: Entries were posted late this week due to my being out of the country (in Costa Rica), and not having regular Internet access.

ChocolateBet: February 22, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:

1.5 oz.
Aloha Gourmet Products, Inc.
Chocolate Covered Kona Coffee Beans
Good + - Very Good
Wt.: 1.5 oz. (~42.5 g.)/6.75 oz. (191.7g.) ttl pkg/bag
Calories: ~225 calories (estimate)
Cost: $? (receipt?)
Purchased from: (a shop in Hawaii a few months back)

Oh me of little faith. I brought a stash of chocolate along with me to Costa Rica (where I've been the past week or so), just in case I couldn't find a new chocolate each day of this trip. Chocolate has become so globally available, I needn't have worried.

And bringing coffee from Hawaii (U.S.) to Costa Rica was a bit like bringing coals to Newcastle.

ChocolateBet: February 21, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:

1 truffle
Starbucks Chocolate
Caramel Macchiato Truffles
Good
Wt.: ~.42 oz. (~11.5 g.) in 1 truffle /.84 oz. (23 g.) small box of 2 truffles
Calories: 65 calories in 1 truffle/130 cals. for 1 pkg. of 2 pcs.
Cost: $? (receipt?)
Walgreens, Palo Alto, CA

Note: Entries were posted late this week due to international travel, and lack of regular Internet access.

ChocolateBet: February 20, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:
1/2 bar
Harry & David
Moose Munch Chocolate Bar (Drk Choc.)
Good+ - Very Good
Wt.: 1 oz. (28.3 g.)/2 oz. (56 g.) total bar
Calories: 145 calories for 1/2 bar
Cost: $2.49
Purchased from: Walgreens, in Palo Alto, CA

Note: Entries were posted late this week due to international travel and lack of regular Internet access. This chocolate made the trip down to Costa Rica with me, and was eaten there. I have tried Harry & David's Moose Munch chocolate popcorn candy before. The combination of flavors is similar in this bar, however the popcorn plays more of a back seat to the chocolate.

ChocolateBet: February 19, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:

1 bar
Ghirardelli Chocolate
Luxe Milk Almond bar (milk chocolate with toasted almonds)
Very Good
Wt.: 3 oz. (85 g.)
Calories: 460 calories for 1 bar
Cost: $2.49 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Michaels (store), in Mountain View, CA

I enjoyed this bar for lunch one day while on vacation in Costa Rica. Yes, I admit I hauled down some chocolates to eat on my trip, even though I was traveling to a cacao-producing country...because you never know.

Note: Entries were posted later this week, due to my being out of the country without regular Internet access.

ChocolateBet: February 18, 2009



Chocolate of the Day:
~1/5 bar
Green & Black's (Organic)
Toffee bar (milk chocolate (34% cacao) with toffee pieces)
Good + - Very Good
Wt.: .7 oz. (20 g.)/3.5 oz. (100g.) total bar
Calories: 105 calories for 1/5 bar
Cost: $ ?
Purchased from: Walgreens, in Palo Alto, CA

Note: Entries were posted late this week due to travel outside the country.

ChocolateBet: February 17, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:
1/3 bar
Starbucks Chocolate
Mocha Dark Chocolate (made w/ Guatamalan Casi Cielo coffee)
Very Good +
Wt.: 1 oz. (28.3 oz.)/3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: ~ 132 calories for 1/3 bar
Cost: $ ? (need to check receipt)
Purchased from: Walgreens, in Palo Alto, CA

Note: Entries this week were posted late, due to travel outside the country.

ChocolateBet: February 16, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:
1/3 bar
Ikea Food
Choklad Mork (Dark chocolate) bar
Very Good
Wt.: ~1.16 oz. (33 g.)/3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: ~170 cals for 1/3 bar
Cost: $0.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: IKEA store in Palo Alto, CA

Note: Entries this week were posted after the fact, due to travel outside the country. This bar was shared with a small group while in Costa Rica.

ChocolateBet: February 15, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:

1 bar
Bumble Bar Inc.
Bumble Bar (Chocolate Crisp); Organic, gluten-free, vegan
Good + - Very Good
Wt.: 1 bar = 1.6 oz. (45 grams)
Calories: 200 calories for 1 bar
Cost: $ $1.79
Purchased from: Whole Foods Market, in Cupertino, CA

Note: entries this week were posted after they actually occurred this week - after I returned to the U.S. from a trip. I ate this bar near the Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica. What a beautiful country.

ChocolateBet: February 14, 2009


Chocolate(s) of the Day:

1.)
1/4 package
Saxon Chocolates
Belgian Chocolate Dipped Australian Ginger
Very Good
Wt.: ~.7 oz. (20 g.)/2.8 oz. (80g.) in total pkg.
Calories: 115 calories in 1 20-gram serving
Cost: $0 (gift from Megan - Thank you Megan!)
Purchased from: Loehmanns store, in Sunnyvale, CA
How wonderful to have eaten/shared these at the Nectandra Cloud Forest garden/reserve in Costa Rica. Thank you Evelyne for the great tour and lunch.

2.)
(El) Gallito (Kraft Foods)
2 hearts/pieces
Corazones (little red foil-wrapped milk chocolate hearts)
Cost: 685 Costa Rica colones (CRC) = (~$1.25 USD)
Purchased from: El Sesteo store in Heredia, Costa Rica

This was a "2 chocolate day" in honor of Valentines Day

Note: Entries this week were posted after they occurred, due to my traveling outside the U.S. and not having Internet access.

ChocolateBet: February 13, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:

2 pieces/clusters
Madi K's/Madison's Grand Avenue Chocolates
Dark Choc Almond Clusters - California Roasted Nonpareil Almonds (52% cacao)
Wt.: ~1.29 oz. (~37 g.) for 2 clusters/1.95 oz. (56 g.) total box of 3 clusters
Very Good
Calories: 200 cals. in 2 clusters (2/3 box)
Cost: $2.99 for total package
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, in Palo Alto, CA

I packed up these almond clusters to eat on a trip down to Costa Rica. As noted before, I almost never need this chocolate stash (as there is usually plenty of local chocolates to try). However, because my goal is to eat a different kind of chocolate each day, for at least 1,000 days, I travel with some extra chocolates that are on my list to eat, just in case.

I ate these at the Hotel Bougainvillea near San Jose, Costa Rica, which has a large, beautiful garden in back of the hotel. In this garden there are a few little cacao trees, coffee bushes, gardenias, and many other beautiful plants, trees, flowers, ponds, and statues. Seeing cacao trees on this trip (and a few days later trying the white fruit that surrounds the cacao beans) was a major highlight.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

ChocolateBet: February 12, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:

2 servings
Whole Foods
Truffled Roasted Walnuts
(ate with salad plate - sliced orange, avocado, beet, carrot, with lemon vinagrette dressing)
Very Good +; I enjoyed the bright colors and flavors together
Wt.: ~ 2 oz. (~56.5 g.)/7 oz. (200 g.) in box of choc walnuts (~8 oz. for total salad plate)
Calories: 340 cals. for choc. walnuts; ~ 650 for total salad plate + walnuts
Cost: $7.99 for total package of choc. walnuts
Purchased from: Whole Foods, in Los Altos, CA

Day #7 of chocolate and vegetable theme week. This colorful salad plate was my favorite of the week. I'm sorry I don't have a picture of it to post here. Yes, I realize that many of you are relieved to see the back of chocolate and veggie week.

Note: I will continue to eat chocolates every day or the next week or two, but I'll be out and will have to retroactively post entries when I have Internet access again later this month. Apologies for what looks like missed entries for the next week or so.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

ChocolateBet: February 11, 2009



Chocolate of the Day:
1 pouch/packet of sauce
Les Desserts Chocolate Sauce
(used as "fondue" for dried green peas from Japan)
Very Good - better than you'd think!
Wt.: 1 pouch (1.75 oz.(50 g.)/4 pouches (7 oz. (200g.) in box
Calories: 120 calories in 1 pouch chocolate sauce (+100 cals for peas)
Cost: $? (Alas, the receipt for the sauce is missing.)
Purchased from: ? (Green Peas were purchased from Daiso store in Mountain View, CA)

Yes, this is Day #6 of Chocolate and Vegetable week. Think of chocolate-covered nuts. They're good, right? I realize the veggie theme week is not as popular as, say, chocolate and brandy week, or chocolate and coffee or tea theme week. Once again, we're doing strange things in the name of chocolate; some work, others don't. I'd definitely make the chocolate carrot and zucchini cake again. And this combination of velvety chocolate and crunchy nut-like peas wasn't bad either.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

ChocolateBet: February 10, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:
1 individual serving packet
Jay Robb Enterprises Inc.
Chocolate Whey Protein (powder)
(blended with frozen broccoli, green beans, green peas, water, to make a green veggie shake)
Good + - Very Good - this tasted nice and healthy
Wt.: 1.06 oz. (30 grams) in packet of chocolate whey protein powder (plus veggies)
Calories: 110 calories in 1 packet chocolate whey powder (plus another 90 cals for veggies)
Cost: $2.99 for 1 packet chocolate whey protein powder
Purchased from: Whole Foods, in Los Altos, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of chocolate and vegetable theme week. I know I lost some of you here. Just in case you all thought I ate nothing but unhealthy sugar-filled chocolate 24 x 7, I make vanilla versions of these veggie blender shakes once or twice a week.

My apologies to Jay Robb for the reflections on the scanned image of your package. This happens when packaging and labels are shiny.

Digression: My two cats love the vanilla frozen vegetable shakes. (I don't feed them the chocolate version of this shake as dogs and cats apparently are not able to handle/metabolize chocolate well.) The cats used to sprint out of the kitchen when I turned on the blender, due to the loud noise. But, now that they know what I'm making, they run into the kitchen, to beg for a little taste of green shake in their food dish. Who knew?

Monday, February 9, 2009

ChocolateBet: February 9, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:
~ 1 Tablespoon
Whole Foods - El Rey
Venezuelan Cocoa Nibs
(with mixed greens - salad)
1.) The nibs were Very Good by themselves; 2.) They were Good with salad - the combination was a bit bitter, but this could have been due to the salad greens.
Wt.: ~ .5 oz. (14 g.)/4.16 oz. (117.7g.) ttl container
Calories: ~ 50 calories for nibs; ~ 300 calories for whole salad.
Cost: $3.38 for whole container
Purchased from: Whole Foods in Los Altos, CA

Today is Day #4 of chocolate and vegetables theme week. Well, I think an avocado and citrus fruit salad with cocoa nibs would have been more tasty than just semi-bitter salad greens with semi-bitter nibs. I'll try that next time. Now I'm going to try the nibs in a hot cocoa/latte drink for dessert.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

ChocolateBet: February 8, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:
1 teaspoon
McCormick (Gourmet Collection - Blends)
Cocoa Chile Blend
(used on/with some roasted eggplant and tomato)
Very Good
Wt.: ~ .3 oz. (8.5 g.)/2 oz. (56 grams) in total jar
Calories: ~ 30 calories (estimate) in 1 teaspoon (~335 cals. in eggplant dish)
Cost: $4.99 for entire 2 oz. jar
Purchased from: Safeway, in Palo Alto, CA

Today is day #3 of chocolate & vegetable week on the blog.

For dinner I made some roasted eggplant and one tomato (one each) with a dash of lemon juice - and about a teaspoon of this cocoa chile seasoning. (My apologies for the low-res scanned image of the jar (above right).) This spice blend is a mix of cocoa powder, chipotle pepper, sugar, and paprika. It was quite tasty.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

ChocolateBet: February 7, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:
~ 1 oz. (in 2 srvgs of cake)
Enjoy Life Natural Brands, LLC
semi-sweet chocolate chips (gluten-free)
(used in homemade, gluten-free chocolate carrot cake recipe)
Very Good
Wt.: ~ 1 oz. (28.3 g.) of choc. in 2 srvgs of choc. carrot cake/5 oz. (142 g.) in carrot cake recipe/10 oz. (283 g.) in total bag of choc. chips.
Calories: ~400 calories in 2 servings of cake (~ 150 calories of that = choc chips)
Cost: $ (looking for receipt for chocolate chips)
Purchased from: Chocolate chips were bought at Whole Foods, in Palo Alto, CA (+ other carrots and other ingredients from Safeway stores)

Welcome to Day #2 of chocolate and veggie week on my blog. Today's treat was chocolate carrot cake (with chopped walnuts and a little coconut added). See, not so bad. Who said chocolate and vegetables together sounded gross? Not so.

Friday, February 6, 2009

ChocolateBet: February 6, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:
3 servings
Trader Joe's
Dark Chocolate Edamame (Dark chocolate covered soybeans)
Very Good
Wt.: ~4.24 oz. (120 grams)/10 oz. (284 g.) in total container
Calories: ~600 calories in 3 servings
Cost: $3.29
Purchased from: Trader Joe's store in Mountain View, CA

These chocolate edamame weren't bad. Welcome to the first day of chocolate and veggie week on my blog. You would think finding chocolate and vegetable combos would be difficult, but I'm finding more possibilities in this area than you might think.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

ChocolateBet: February 5, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:

3 pieces
Starbucks Chocolate
Chai Truffles (milk chocolate)
Very Good - nice authentic chai taste
Wt.: 1.27 oz. (36 g.)/4.23 oz. (120 g.) in total package
Calories: 190 calories for 3 pieces
Cost: $ N/A (gift - thank you Megan)
Purchased from: N/A - gift

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

ChocolateBet: February 4, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:

1 (1.5 oz.) package
Gladstone's Under the Sun
"Orange Cranberries with Chocolate Covered Cacao Nibs"
Very Good
Weight: 1.5 oz. (~42 grams)
Calories: ~175 calories for 1.5 oz.
Cost: $2.50 (plus shipping)
Purchased from: www.mainemunchies.com (website) - online order

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

ChocolateBet: February 3, 2009



Chocolate of the Day:
1 package
Gladstone's Under the Sun
("The Caviar of Maine: Wild Maine Blueberries")
"Wild Maine Blueberries with Chocolate covered Cacao Nibs"
Very Good
Wt.: 1.5 oz.(~42 grams)
Calories: 180 calories for 1.5 oz. pkg.
Cost: $2.50 (plus shipping) for 1.5 oz. pkg.
Purchased from: http://www.mainemunchies.com site (online order)

Monday, February 2, 2009

ChocolateBet: February 2, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:
1 serving
Asher's
"Milk Chocolate Smothered Potato Chips"
Very Good
Wt.: ~1.16 oz. (33 g.)/7.5 oz. (212 g.) ttl pkg.
Calories: 150 calories for 1 serving
Cost: $5.97 (sale - gift from Megan - Thanks Megan!)
Purchased from: Loehmann's, in Sunnyvale, CA

Sunday, February 1, 2009

ChocolateBet: February 1, 2009


Chocolate of the Day:

2 servings (1 cup)
Breyers (Unilever)
Rocky Road ice cream
Very Good
Wt.: 1 cup (134 g.)/1.5 quarts (1.42 L)
Calories: 300 calories for 1 cup
Cost: $? (someone else bought)
Purchased from: Draeger's, in Los Altos, CA

There is something about good chocolate ice cream that always hits the spot for me.
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