Valentine's Day Chocolate Bars

How much better can the news get?? According to researchers, (bless their chocolate hearts!), dark chocolate helps lower your blood pressure and can help reduce your LDL cholesterol (the Lousy kind) by up to 10%. Oh, and this miracle sweet treat is also noted for its anti-depressant and endorphin-producing properties.

Dark chocolate is defined as 65% cacao or greater…sorry milk and white chocolate lovers. Apparently the higher the cacao percent the greater the health benefits. And, as you might imagine, all good things in moderation.

As I travel around the country I’m always on the lookout for great chocolates and especially when I’m in cities. One of my favorites is Fog City News in San Francisco. They boast one of the largest chocolate selections in the country and their staff is highly trained to help you with your chocolate choice.

Small boutique chocolatiers may offer tours or tastings at their places of business where you’ll get to see how things are made and talk with the chocolate experts.

If you’re on your own, when considering a chocolate bar take a moment to review the ingredients. Leave any bar that has fillers like high-fructose corn syrup, anything hydrogenized or artificial flavors behind.

$7+ for a chocolate bar is a far throw from my childhood favorite of a large Hershey’s bar *with almonds* stored in the freezer but that’s what a lot of bars are going for these days. Here are a few choices that I think are pretty terrific and won’t break the bank (and one that will):

Scharffen Berger 68% Dark, any of Dagoba Organic’s Single Origin Darks, Lindt Excellence 70% (available at most grocery stores for just a couple bucks), Chocolove Darks, and Trader Joe’s Single Origin Darks.


Bumping up a notch on the price point and down on the percentage of cacao, Vosges produces some really different combo bars that people simply rave about. For example, Mo's Bacon Bar: applewood smoked bacon + alderwood smoked salt + deep milk chocolate, 41% cacao or Black Pearl: ginger + wasabi + black sesame seeds + dark chocolate, 55% cacao.

If you are serious about tasting chocolate (maybe even hosting a chocolate tasting party) check out this “how-to-taste chocolate” website. There’s more to it than taking a bite, chewing and swallowing.

Here’s a very extensive chocolate bar review and information website – the Chocolate Bar Database. They have all sorts of information on hundreds of chocolate bars and chocolatiers. Gee, I wonder if they are hiring?? :>

Make every day “Valentine’s-like”. Eat dark chocolate…your heart and your head will thank you!

Happy Valentine’s Day!! Love ya!

Evanne
www.RVCookingShow.com
Watch the latest RV Cooking Show - Romantic Jekyll Island Retreat and Champagne Shrimp

PS – Make your own “sinful” hot fudge…watch this Valentine’s Day episode – RV Cooking Show’s Romantic RV Escapes and Sinful Hot Fudge.



Let me know how it turns out…

Recipe for Herb Salad Mix

If you’re a regular RV Cooking Show viewer you may have noticed that I love Trader Joe’s products. When I travel that’s one of the markets I seek out. Fortunately for me, there are 3 TJs where I’ll be spending a good portion of the winter. However, sometimes that is not the case.

Just the other day I picked up one of my favorite TJ salad mixes – herb mix –and have been enjoying it all week long. That’s when it hit me…I can make this salad mix on my own – anywhere I am…and so can you. Bonus if you have a local farmer’s market with lettuce sellers...don’t miss that opportunity!

Here’s the quickie herb salad mix recipe:

3 cups baby green salad mix (greens of your choice – could be green and/or red romaines, butterleaf, oak leaf, frissee – if you like spicy add some baby arugula, too)

FYI – You can almost always buy pre-mixed bags or clamshells of mixed baby salad greens in the grocery crisper. If you want to customize your blend you might enjoy this website all about salad greens.

2 tablespoons each fresh roughly chopped herbs including dill, parsley, cilantro (add other herbs if you like, leave some herbs out if you don’t like)

Mix the greens and herbs and voila! a delicious herb salad. You can toss this with roasted chicken, steamed, chilled shrimp, diced avocados, crunchy cucumbers…you name it. Dress with your favorite dressing – I’ve found it pairs well with all types of dressings – and enjoy!

This amount of salad mix should yield approximately 6 large side salads/medium size meal salads.

Think spring!

Evanne
RVCookingShow

Green RVing, New RV Cooking Show Episode

Boy, there’s a lot going on here at the RV Cooking Show. We’ve just released our first episode of the New Year…RV Cooking Show Goes Green, Eats Healthy – and I think you’ll like it. This show shares tips and tricks on green RVing then makes a simple, fun and delicious dish – Steamed Potstickers and Veggies with two sensational dipping sauces. You might also be interested in some of my favorite Green Cleaning Recipes made from ingredients you probably already have in your pantry.

And while you’re watching see if you notice anything different…(hint: different galley)…more on that in an upcoming post. Meantime, enjoy this RV video and leave a comment below…we’d love your point of view!



Evanne
www.RVCookingShow.com

KOA Offers Campers Free Night while Helping Kids with Cancer

Who can resist a night of free camping for a good cause? Plan a trip far from home or just around the corner and take advantage of KOA's 6th Annual "Come Kamp and Care With Us Weekend" May 8th and 9th. Make your reservations today and don't miss out on some super free camping - and some important kids caring! Here's the scoop...


Hundreds of Kampgrounds of America campgrounds across the U.S. and Canada are preparing for the 6th Annual "Come Kamp and Care With Us" weekend event, May 8 and 9, 2009. Campers who make reservations at participating KOA Kampgrounds pay for only Friday, May 8th and camp for free on Saturday, May 9th at nearly 400 participating KOA Kampgrounds in North America. Each KOA Kampground holds its own fun, fundraising activities at the campground that include auctions, crafts, games, and more.

"We look forward to this weekend in May, when we begin the camping season with an affordable event that brings families and friends together in safe, healthy, outdoor settings. It allows all of us to contribute to a program that means so much for these deserving kids who are facing the fight of their lives," says KOA President and Chief Operating Officer, Shane Ott. Ott is also on the board of directors of Camp Mak-A-Dream, a KOA Care Camp in Missoula, Montana.

KOA Care Camps are a network of 41 independent, specialized camps for children under treatment or in recovery from cancer, and their siblings. "Helping kids experience the camaraderie and fun of the outdoors with other cancer patients is in complete alignment with the mission of KOA, the goals of our KOA Owners Association, and is the very nature of what we do," says Ott.

The KOA Owners Association created the KOA Care Camps Trust in 1984 and raised $8,000 that year. In 2008, the KOA Care Camps Trust's total donation was just over $250,000, from the combined efforts of nearly 14,000 camping families who stayed more than 32,000 nights at 370 KOA locations, along with matching funds from the KOA Holdings Board of Directors.

Reservations for the May 8-9 "Come Kamp and Care With Us" event can be made online at KOA.com. Search by either state, province or zip code and choose from the campgrounds that are participating in the event. A list of participating campgrounds will also be available on KOA.com when reservations are available, beginning February 1.

"This is a great event for our campers, because we're sure to have a KOA close to wherever they live," Ott said. "Camping with family and friends in May at a wonderful KOA location just down the road from home is a great way to get the summer started."

Go ahead, get camping!

Evanne
RVCookingShow.com

RV Cooking Show Online Food Drive Donates 150 Food Items to Food Bank

Because of you, someone will eat dinner tonight. A parent will breathe just a little easier knowing their children will go to bed full; someone’s grandma or grandpa won’t have to choose between their medicine and a meal. Folks will experience food security – at least for now. Your participation in the RV Cooking Show Online Holiday Food Drive made a difference...just like the girl on the beach with the starfish.

We saw 37 comments on the blog. (If you have not already done so, please read them all – they will astound and amaze you. Some will have you cheering – nodding your head yes, others might bring tears to your eyes like they did mine.) I matched that amount – that means we had 74 food items. My good friends at Albertson’s in Morro Bay, CA matched that number and we proudly donated 150 food items to the Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County in Paso Robles, CA. 150 food items – wow!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I am proud and so very grateful for you.

We called ahead and asked what they needed most. In turn, we delivered canned vegetables, canned fruit, canned meats, pork and beans, mac 'n cheese, soups, fixins' for a pasta dinner - even some pudding packs. Hey, everyone needs a little dessert once in a while!


I hope you enjoyed this project as much as I did. I think we’ll do it again sometime this year. Stay tuned to the RV Cooking Show blog for the latest and greatest. And thanks again, you rocked someone’s world!!

Bon Appétit’,

Evanne
RVCookingShow.com