Ba Humbug & Feeling Loved

I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's Day. Sure, it's a nice excuse to remind people that you care for them, but the forced, commercial holiday that it has turned into makes me bitter -- or it could just be the fact that my Valentine is half-a-world away. Either way, I'm forgetting the lovey-dovey stuff and turning right to the chocolate, well almost.



My parents are pretty amazing people and they can read me like a book. I'm sure they had a feeling that today might be a difficult day for me (really though, I'm doing fine -- this will be the fifth year spending Valentine's Day thousands of miles apart from my sweetheart, so I've gotten used to it), so they decided that at 8:30AM this morning they would come over to my place and have a wonderful Valentine's Day breakfast prepared for me. A crustless vegetable quiche, sausage and fresh berries. Yum. My Mom is an great cook, or as I liked to say when I was little "a good cooker." Along with this delicious breakfast, they brought flowers and an awesome present (that deserves it's own post). Even if the food, flowers and gift weren't a part of it -- just them stopping by made me feel loved, so that was pretty neat.

In an attempt to not indulge in the store-bought Valentine chocolates because I know very few of the gluten-free and dairy-free variety, I decided to make my own chocolately treat: Cinnamon and Chocolate Covered Almonds. They're pretty simple to create, and after hearing that cinnamon is a mild appetite suppressant, I was stoked.

Cinnamon and Chocolate Covered Almonds (gluten-free, dairy-free)

1 cup raw, organic almonds
3/4 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips (or Tropical Source -- both are gluten/dairy-free)
1 tablespoon cinnamon

In a double-boiler mix the chocolate on low heat until completely melted. A few at a time, drop the almonds into the chocolate and cover. Place the almonds on a large platter to harden (I let this happen overnight). Next, put the cinnamon in a small bowl, and a few at a time, coat the chocolate-covered almonds with the cinnamon. Give to your parents who you love very much.