Seattle GreenFest

Wow. Went to Seattle GreenFest, along with thousands of other eco-curious people. Got to meet some of the people behind the gear we've reviewed, like George from Green Label Organic Tees. Met some other nice people, too, like Suzanne and Cynthia at Lucky Sprout. They sell the cutest organic children's tees that are emblazoned with adorable images and kind messages we all should heed.
Another bonus of the day: discovering Divine chocolate. Made out of fair trade cocoa from a farming cooperative in Ghana. I ate about 2000 calories of it that night. Yum. Also met the owner of Fair Trade Sports, who gave me a very cool eco basketball to review. Can't wait to fill it with air and hit the courts. More soon.

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More Chocolate

My other favorite chocolate: Theo's.

According to an article in E Magazine, they were the first U.S. chocolate company to make fire roasted, organic chocolate. They're located here in Seattle, so I've had the pleasure of gobbling up samples at several social events. My favorite flavor: nib brittle.
But it's not just their chocolate I love -- they're all about fair trade and quality. They buy fancy beans from all sorts of exotic locations around the world, use sugar made from Swedish sugar beets, and roast the beans in a 1930s German roaster. Yum.
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The Fair Trade Chocolate Diet

I never even liked chocolate until a few years ago. My whole life, more than 40 years, I never understood my girlfriends' chocolate obsessions. I was never tempted. Then I discovered dark chocolate, and the pure joy of eating square after square, along with a handful of raw hazelnuts. Now, I get it. And I can't get enough of it. My favorite: Endangered Species Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Toffee. The crunchy little toffee bits give the chocolate some texture and the combined flavor is the best confectionery invention ever. Of course, I still supplement with my hazelnuts (I buy them in bulk now).

There are days when I eat an entire 440 calorie bar (2 servings) with at least 3/4 cup of hazelnuts (that's another 570 calories). There are days when I have two bars, two over-sized servings of nuts. And sometimes, this heavenly combo is all I eat -- and I don't care who knows.

When I first invented the fair trade chocolate diet, which lasted for 10 days, I LOST weight. Even though I was eating a ton of calories, I wasn't eating anything else all day (chocolate and nuts are quite filling). So, I was happy and fitting into my skinnny jeans, too. Bonus.

There's a lot to love about Endangered Species -- They're committed to ethical trade, they donate 10% of their profits to species and habitat preservation, and now, they also make organic chocolate bars. I like their packaging, too. On the inside of every wrapper, there's information about an endangered animal, a conservation tip, and a 25 cent coupon for another bar! Now, if they only made this fancy bar in a spread, I could put it on toast, pancakes, crackers, pasta, fruit, and vegetables. Then it would be a lot easier to maintain a balanced diet.

What's your favorite eco-friendly chocolate bar?


(Image source: Endangered Species - www.chocolatebar.com)

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