Smart Snacking ~ Chocolate Dipped Apricots

Unlike many people, I do not enjoy cooking.  It is not relaxing to me.  As a matter of fact, I only cook because I like to eat.  Well, that and the fact that I would otherwise probably be kicked out of my family.  That being said, I like simple food.  If a recipe is long and elaborate I won't even give it any consideration. 

I also like to eat healthy.  It just makes me feel better.  Simple as that.  So I thought I would share with you what has become my easy staple snack this summer.  Chocolate dipped dried apricots. 

Dipping apricots in chocolate would have never crossed my mind, but my dad used to be a mail carrier and one of his customers sent some of these home with him one time.  The process is so simple that a kid could do it, but the results are fantastically yummy. 

First, you melt your chocolate in a microwavable bowl in the microwave (of course).  The thought of melting chocolate was always sort of scary to me.  I thought you had to do the whole double-boiler thing and be all careful.  But I'm not that fancy.  The microwave works just fine. 
I prefer Lindt chocolate (70% dark).  It only takes three squares to dip an entire 6 ounce bag of dried apricots.  (I use Sunsweet)  I throw those three squares of Lindt chocolate in my bowl and stick it in the microwave for one minute.  Don't let your chocolate get fully melted in the microwave.  It works best to still have some solid chunks and then just stir it until its all smooth.  That way you don't risk burning it. 

You will need a non-stick surface to put your dipped apricots on.  (I use tin foil.)  Now all you do is swipe those golden nuggets of natural goodness into the chocolate and stick them in the fridge to set. 

Voila!  Now you have a naturally sweet snack waiting in your fridge.  And healthy, too!  Apricots are a good source of Vitamin A and Potassium.  They also aid in digestion and have been reported to help maintain eyesight.  (at least, that's what I've read about them.  I'm not a nutritionist.)  And I don't have to tell you the good news about dark chocolate, right? 

Let me know if you try this snack yourself.  I hope you like them as much as I do. 

The Sweetness

You know what rocks about being a girl?

You can use it as an excuse for stuff.

Particularly, stuff like .......... taking too long to get ready, being emotional, buying one too many shades of lip gloss or fingernail polish. In my case, I use being a girl as an excuse to use bad judgement for one week out of the month. For example, it's a pretty good reason to take ibuprofen in insane doses. Who cares if it rots out my liver? I neeeeeed it. (I actually really do. Which is quite unfortunate.) This evening I used being "a girl" as an excuse to eat three microwave made s'mores. Hey. I can do that this week. Or, at least for the worst few days. Being a girl hurts. So I can absolutely skip a few workouts and eat Godiva chocolate on graham crackers with monstrous amounts of puffy marshmallow on top. Yes I can!

And, I can giggle with delight as I lick marshmallow goo off of my fingers.

On the subject of giggling with delight ...... do any of you find yourself trying to pronounce the crazy, computer generated verification words that you have to type in to leave comments? Or am I the only moron that does that?

*that delicious little pic above was snagged from Slumber Designs blog. Sweet indeed.