a little bit of comfort

I'm mostly an upbeat, positive kind of gal. But every once in a while, I get a case of the funks. Take this morning for example: I woke up early with every intention of doing a kickboxing workout. I really love kickboxing because I'm kind of a wuss and it makes me feel like a bad ass tough girl. However, once I rolled out of bed and started moving around, I realized all was not well in Crystal land. My back is really hurting today. I'm due for my next injection tomorrow and sometimes I get really stiff and sore as my previous dose runs low in my body. I have some prescription pain meds to use in cases like these, but I try not to use them unless I'm in quite a bit of pain. (Sorry for the Debbie Downer intro. In trying to be honest through this blog process, I'm sharing my experiences on good days as well as not so great ones.)

When I'm feeling a little on the crappy side, I like to treat myself to something I enjoy to try to pick my spirits up. I usually like to lounge around a bit in some comfy sweats and an oversized sweatshirt I inherited from an ex-boyfriend. I also like to watch something fun on tv, such as reruns of Law and Order: SVU. For back pain I like to roll around on my therapeutic foam roller purchased from my physical therapist. And in my previous, carb-loving life, I would chow down on a piece of heavily buttered toast with extra jelly and some homemade hot cocoa.

A lot of the foods typically known as "comfort foods" contain high levels of starch and sugar. As I have mentioned before, I wasn't as much into the high fat, southern type of comfort foods like fried chicken, biscuits, and mashed potatoes. My comfort foods were things like brownies, ice cream, and hot cocoa. It's kind of difficult to concoct something resembling a homemade chocolate chip cookie without using any starch or sugar, but I have created a tasty sugar-free, starch-free hot cocoa:


Heat 1.5 cups of milk in a saucepan over medium heat
Microwave another 1/2 cup of milk for 20 seconds
Whisk 4 heaping teaspoons of unsweetened cocoa powder into the microwaved milk. I like to use Saco Premium Cocoa.



Whisk in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 3 packets of Truvia or other stevia sweetener
Combine the cocoa mix into the milk warming on the stove.
Whisk it all together and heat to desired warmth.



Pour into your favorite mug, snuggle on the couch, and enjoy! I savored my cocoa while watching some SVU and you know what? I think my day is looking up already.