It was quite the affair. A sinfully chocolaty affair. As I stood in my kitchen, preparing to begin the ordeal, I felt so guilty. But who doesnât, after desperately trying to stick to a resolution? Â
Last year, my New Yearâs Resolution was to go the entire year without eating any dessert. Yes, you heard me right. And if you know me really well, then youâre probably gasping in horror. My favorite meal of the day was dessert. I planned what I ate for dinner around what Iâd eat afterward. Cookies, brownies, cake, pieâŚÂ I just needed to satisfy my sweet tooth.
Iâm no whale. Iâm actually a runner and I eat really healthy otherwise, so the goal wasnât to lose weight. I simply wanted to prove to myself that (a) I could do it and (b) happiness in my life didnât absolutely depend on filling my tummy with sweets.
So there I was, over a year later, pulling ingredients off of the shelves, getting ready to make the first dessert I would actually enjoy. (Sure, I made lots of cookies and brownies over the past year, but I didnât eat a single one. I didnât even taste the batter or lick the spoon. Honest!) I felt like a cheater, even though I successfully lived over one year without dessert. I asked myself, âIf youâve made it this far without any dessert, why stop now?â I didnât have a good answer for that, yet I started chopping and mixing anyway.
The chocolate bread puddings took 35 minutes to cook, but the entire time, I never glanced at the clock to count down the seconds. I actually contemplating pulling them out and giving them to my next-door neighbors. Yet in the end, curiosity got the better of meâthese were given 5 stars by reviewers!âand I took a taste.
The pudding deserved its 5 stars, and I enjoyed every bite. So rich, chocolaty, deliciousâŚÂ But that was it. No going back for seconds, no licking the bowl clean, no jumping up to make another batch.
So what did I learn from this food experiment? I learned that a meal itself can taste so good that it doesnât require a dessert to be the grand finale. I learned to listen to and satisfy my cravings, and only once in 372 days did I crave dessert (a simple chocolate chip cookie). I learned that itâs easier than I thought to exercise self-discipline and stick to my goals. And most of all, I learned that I tried to use desserts to fill my life, when all they did was overfill my stomach and leave the rest of me feeling empty. Once I finally stopped focusing on the quantity of tastes filling my mouth and my tummy and instead focused on the quality of what I ate, I realized my stomach felt betterânot full to bursting every dayâand I felt healthier, happier, and whole.
This extends to life outside of food as well (if there actually is such a thingâŚ). Letting go of quantity and concentrating on quality. Recognizing what brings me happiness and holding on to that. Realizing that when Iâm happy, itâs easier to tackle whatever hurdles life throws at me. And knowing that this happiness doesnât always come from some outside source, but from within myself.
All that from giving up dessert!
Chocolate Bread Puddings
taken from Cooking Lightâs Chocolate Chunk Bread Puddings
serves 2
I used chocolate chips for the semisweet chocolate. Top with a dollop of whipped cream for a little extra treat, or leave that off if youâre a chocolate purist like me.
3 Hawaiian sweet rolls, cut into ½-inch cubes (about 1ž c.)
â c. milk
1 egg
2 tbsp sugar
1½ tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp vanilla
1 oz (about 3 tbsp) semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
- Preheat oven to 350°. Toast bread cubes for 5-10 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, combine milk through vanilla. Gently fold in toasted bread cubes, making sure theyâre all coated with the milk mixture. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or up to 4 hours.
- Preheat oven to 325°.
- Coat 2 (6 oz) ramekins with cooking spray. Divide half of the bread mixture between the 2 ramekins. Sprinkle Ÿ of chopped semisweet chocolate over each bread layer. Divide the remaining bread mixture between the 2 ramekins, and top with remaining chocolate.
- Place ramekins in an 8×8â baking pan, and add hot water to the pan to a depth of 1 inch. Cook puddings at 325° for 35 minutes or until set. Serve warm.
I’m so proud of you… you finally got back to the deserts (although I did love licking off the spoons for you everytime you made a desert). And I’m glad you made the revelation about quality not quantity; that is probably the hardest realization for food lovers (i.e. everyone) to make. Well done! (Never really had bread pudding… a little scared to try… but it sure looks good!)
Thank you! I’m still not used to licking my own spoons… I definitely miss having a sweet girl around to do it for me! I promise you’d enjoy these; the texture is somewhat of a cross between a dense cake and oatmeal (not the graininess of oatmeal, but the softness). Plus there’s chocolate, so what’s not to love?