For those of you who have never given up chocolate or sugar cold turkey before, I must say, it is one of the hardest things to do! I am struggling today. It doesn't have to be chocolate, I'll take anything sweet. But, by Dr's orders, I am not allowed not one grain of sugar, fruit or anything sweet until further notice. This is tough. I am getting creative though. I used to hate carob, but the other day, out of desperation, I ate some natural, unsweetened carob chips, and I swear, it was pure heavenly chocolatey tasting! Now I know I've gone over the edge. I work 20 hrs a week, and last week my co-workers celebrated my birthday, and one of my sweet friends brought chewy, moist, chocolatey chocolate chip brownies to celebrate with, and as all of my co-workers dug in, and started to indulge, out of our little office refrigerator she pulled out this little pan of something. She had made me a special birthday treat because she knew I couldn't eat the brownies. It was made of tofu, pure unsweetened cocoa sweetened with stevia, and vanilla mixed up over a triscuit crust. I am sure your mouth is watering now. Let me tell you, it tasted great! I was so touched by her ability to do this for me! Now when the others in the office tasted it, they all just about lost it. It is amazing to me how aversive most people are to really healthy food. They don't want to even try to change their eating habits. I see this all the time at work. Even those that want to lose weight wouldn't try my little dish. Oh well. I enjoyed it! So, to answer some of the questions I've had regarding this healthy eating adventure, no,  my family is not enjoying my new found way of cooking yet either. Today was the first time I felt I am making some progress with it though.  Tonight we had 3 people from church over for dinner and I made crock pot taco soup that everyone seemed to love! No dessert for me though. One day when I am finally back to normal, I believe that I will continue on this path of cooking and eating right, but I hope to be able to enjoy an occasional treat once in awhile, but it won't be a daily occurance as it always has been. More to come...