New Challenges, Sweet Potatoes and CHOCOLATE PUDDING!!?!??!?

Well, I have to admit that I have been a little lenient on my dark chocolate lately. SO, to regain my control I asked my husband to give me a challenge. And boy did he ever. He made me a chart of things to accomplish for the month and also a chart of rewards!! Among the list of things to do for 31 days is Cross Fit 2x's a week (obviously), NO SUGAR, keeping a food journal and turn it into him at the end of the month, running for 20 minutes 3x's a week. I HATE running!! I would rather lift all day than run for 20 minutes. I'm not even sure if I can without stopping. Anyway, I'm going for it all!! Wish me luck!!

Speaking of my chocolate obsession.....I have a wonderful chocolate pudding recipe for ya! I really wanted pudding one night so I scoured the pantry and spied a can of coconut milk. A-HA! I think I might know how to make what I'm craving. I had no idea if the coconut milk would get thick in the fridge so I added some coconut oil for good measure.

one can of full fat coconut milk
1-2 T of coconut oil
2 oz of dark chocolate (more or less depending on your goals)

I melted the oil and chocolate and then added the coconut milk. I wisked it till it was smooth, placed plastic wrap on top and put it in the fridge overnight. The next morning my daughter was so excited to see if it had turned out like we expected so she right right to the fridge first thing. We tasted it and....well.... I'll put it like this....I had to put my foot down and declare that we could NOT eat pudding for breakfast. It was really good and the consistency was perfect. I figure next time I can add some vanilla and cinnamon, or maybe coconut and almond extract and some shredded coconut. The possibilities are endless!! If you try a different flavor let me know how it turned out.

O.k. I love sweet potatoes, but I don't like baking them. So I saw on pinterest where you can bake potatoes in a crock pot and thought I would give it a try. But I made a few adjustments and I think they are important. I first placed 2 cups of water in the bottom of my crock pot, then inserted a steamer basket, and then put my sweet potatoes in. I also wrapped the washed and still damp potatoes in aluminum foil before placing them in the crock pot. I put them on high for 4 hours and off I went to run errands.

I only cooked two cause this will last me for four days. I can't eat too much of this, well I CAN but, ya know... Just like the chocolate, I can get carried away with some sweet potatoes. Anyway, they turned out perfect!! I was very pleasantly surprised!

I put in some grass fed butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, unsweetened coconut and ate it up!! Well, 1/2 of it. YUMMY! If you just happen to want a good read on the sweet potato, here is a book to try... It is called Sweet Potato Power and it is awesome! I'm a nerd....I know...