Okay, so I was really craving chocolate the other day and I decided to go get some as I was getting something else. So I started cruising the isles, and alas, no choclate snack I could find!! I was a bit disappointed - I wasn't going to buy a whole box of cookies or a whole pack of chocolate, and I would have even gotten a chocolate bar but I knew that wouldn't actually satisfy my craving (and it's a lot of calories/fat for an unsatisfied craving!). The store I went to didn't have a bulk section where I could just grab 5 chocoate covered peanuts or something like that So in the end I got this small box of cookies, swedish or something - with a fairly low calorie/fat content per 5 cookies (serving size). They were yummy, they had taste beyond sugar and didn't leave me with that "I NEED MORE!" feeling - plus, if I remember correctly, they consisted of decent ingredients, not too many names I couldn't pronounce. Only downfall, that small box was like $2 something.

So I was wondering if there are some great snacks out there you enjoy, fruit and non-fruit (i.e. something packaged), just something you might eat occassionally if you're craving chocolate, that come in smaller sizes (because if I buy the large one, I'm probably going to consume a whole lot of unwanted sugar, chemicals, calories, and fat!)

I'd have posted this in another food forum but I do want to keep the snacks healthy to an extent, in terms of the products used in them (different types of chemicals, etc.) Thanks

I eat 3 things for chocolate alternatives. Now I don't crave them much. Creamsavers (hard candy) has a chocolate and carmel flavor thats pretty decent! Russel Stovers Sugar Free Chocolate Toffee is delicous to me. I only eat 1 serving at a time (3 saltine cracker size candies). They are a bit expensive $2.50 for 2 1/2 servings. Then last but not least for a while I was eating ONE 40 cal fudgecicle a night.

I don't eat anything packaged but I will tell you what I do for snacks:

A small amount of nuts, mixed with raisins
A couple squares of a dark chocolate bar
Whole wheat bread with no sugar added jam and natural peanut butter
Dry roasted edamame

There are some others but that are my most popular snacks.

If you absolutely have a "need" for chocolate, I think one of the best is Green & Black's 70% Dark

http://www.greenandblacks.com/uk/pro...ngredients=yes

Of course there is sugar, but ingredients are very basic, everything is organic and they use no chemicals.
Ingredients Organic Cocoa Mass, Organic Raw Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin, Organic Vanilla Extract.

Otherwise, a couple of the things I love to do is have my whole sprouted grain bread toasted with flax oil and a mix of stevia and cinnamon. Hmm
Or, I put big slices of jicama in the oven to bake, or more accurately dry out, with a spritz of olive oil. They don't really crisp up but have more of a fruit leather consistancy. Cooked, the jicama gets quite sweet.

I'm not a big chocolate eater but there are times when I just want a little bit. I have a tin can in my nightstand table where I keep Dove dark chocolate squares. I find that one is plenty. Each piece is 42 calories.

If I want just a bite of chocolate, I have to BUY just a bite of chocolate. It seems that the only product that I can find like this is the Lindt/Lindor Truffle Balls (dark chocolate is my favorite). I often buy a real dark-chocolate candy bar, break off the amount I want, and then hand the rest to my son (or split a bar if I'm with a friend).

Two of my favorite chocolate snacks are:

Dark chocolate covered fruit (strawberries, grapes, blueberries)

Dark chocolate fondue (simply melted down dark chocolate) with various fruits to dip in it (strawberries, bananas, kiwi, pineapple (yum yum yum), nectarines/peaches, apple slices, etc)

I've always purchased the dark chocolate covered fruit, while I make the fondue myself at home. I want to try the covered fruit at home as well, I'm just not sure what to do exactly! I'll figure it out...trial and error...

Serving suggestions: Because these snacks take time to prepare, make sure you take the time to savor and enjoy them. Grab the prettiest plate you can find and arrange them on it. Be sure to give yourself plenty of variety in the fruit selection. Put your feet up and enjoy!

Another suggestion: When time allows, treat your snack time as more than just a grab-a-snack-and-go kind of a thing. Treat it as though it's your last meal...ever! Slow down and enjoy it!

Good luck in your chocolate endeavor!!!

Hershey's makes dark chololate kisses. A couple of those and I'm good.

The dark chocolate I recommend is almost anything from Trader Joe's. They have 70% and above dark chocolate. My favorite is Villar's 72% dark chocolate. It is SOO good. Also they have a set of 3 chocolate bars which you can split.

I love whole, unroasted nuts in their shell. I buy walnuts, almonds and pecans and I put them in a beautiful chinese bowl on the kitchen table along with my nutcraker set.

Whenever I have a munchie fit I grab a couple of nuts and crack them open - I find that having to work to get at them stops me from popping handfuls into my mouth. This avoids salt and gives you the real nutrients in the nuts as roasting them changes the composition of the natural fats in them. Plus they are a lot cheaper to buy than the shelled/roasted variety.

I also enjoy celery with laughing cow cheese and baby carrots with homemade hummus or roasted red pepper dip.

My chocolate treat is Black & Green's dark organic chocolate - the Orange and Spice flavour.

I need to break down and try this Black & Green's. It's available in the "Natural Foods" section of my grocery, but it's $4.75 for a 12 oz bar! I know this is silly from a woman who several times a week plunks down $3 for a latte but somehow I haven't brought myself to do it.

Nature Valley's Granola Bar- Excellent source of whole grain, and all natural. The Oats and honey are my favorite ones. 90 calories a bar.
Also love the chocolate fudgcicles-No sugar no fat, only 40 calories for a very sweet and satisfying feeling!