WEEKEND UPDATE - Thorntons No Sugar Added Chocolate: Explosive in Flavour and a Whole Lot More

Well, I managed to go my first weekend sugar-free; it's actually getting a fair bit easier, now that I know what foods/ brands to avoid as they have "hidden" sugar (see: pretty much any "ready-made" food item in Tesco). I also think that my taste buds are finally starting to readjust; only a week ago, I would have severe hankerings for something sweet after a meal. Now, I'm somewhat more content to just have a coffee and/ or fruit.

On Saturday, my boyfriend and I went to Whole Foods in Giffnock, as we planned and stocked up on healthy and overpriced food items for our sugar-free adventure. To be honest, we did quite well as Whole Foods, as you can imagine, has a lot of healthier options and some of the best food items on offer in Glasgow - it's just like grocery stores back in Toronto! Indeed, we even managed to spend a fair chunk of change on no-sugar added chocolate. But after yesterday's exploits in no-sugar added chocolate, I'm thoroughly traumatised and weary of trying the brand's I picked up at Whole Foods.

You see, yesterday as we stumbled around a mall (always traumatic, especially at this time of year), we decided to see if Thorntons (a chocolate shop, here in the UK), offered any no-sugar added chocolate. Imagine our delight when we saw that they did and we purchased a small bag to try them. Our scepticism was quickly cast aside when we joyously discovered that the chocolates were delicious! You couldn't even tell that they were sugar-free!

After gobbling up a couple, we looked again at the ingredients and saw this:

Please note that excessive consumption may cause laxative effects.  

Sure, ok; don't eat a whole bag to yourself then - fair enough, Thorntons.

We split the small bag between us and continued shopping, before heading off to meet G's sister for dinner.

It was during dinner that I noticed my stomach was churning, gurgling and chugging. I started to feel really bloated and painful in my general stomach area. G was feeling the same. Was it the chocolate? we asked one another. Surely not; I mean, we only had about 4 - maybe 5 - TINY pieces each. Surely? Right? RIGHT?!

PLEASE NOTE THAT "EXCESSIVE" CONSUMPTION, IN THORNTONS TERMS, IS FOUR PIECES.

Needless to say, I don't care how delicious those sugar-free chocolate were (and oh god, they were); I would need to schedule an entire day off from doing anything, if I ever want to eat them again. Such a shame. And now I am reluctant to incorporate the sugar-free chocolate I bought at Whole Foods into recipes, for fear of a relapse.

That being said, I did manage to make some simple, delicious and sugar-free sweets/ treats.

In my research to find sugar-free desserts, I came across this website and I cannot recommend it enough: Chocolate-Covered Katie : "healthy desserts" and there are loads of sugar-free options. There are some recipes, however, that make me crinkle my nose at the thought of but I reserve judgement until actually trying them.

Inspired by this recipe on her blog, I made some raw peanut butter cookies: instead of peanuts though, I used hazelnuts. I also added a wee bit more vanilla to incorporate that raw cake/ cookie batter flavour. Sure, they're not the real thing but you know what? They were totally good and satisfying! I can't wait to try more and experiment with her recipes.