Today when I was at the grocery store to buy snacks for the office, I saw the most AMAZING magazine. I walked past it twice debating to buy it. I never buy magazines. I feel that most of the time they are a waste of money unless you order a subscription. However once I flipped through it, I knew it was meant to be.

Amazing right?! I saw so many chocolate mouth watering recipes. I have a feeling that my grocery bill may be a lot a little bit more than usual.

So while going through the magazine I also saw some awesome non chocolate recipes. They have a recipe section for week-night dinners and a separate one for weekend dinners section. How smart?!

I tuned to this recipe because it looked delicious and I had about half of the ingredients, so I decided to improvise.

Original Recipe

My Recipe

• 16 oz pasta
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 broccoli crown (substituted for cauliflower)
• 1 box raisins
• 1/2 jar of sun dried tomatoes (added)
• 1/2 shallot chopped (added)
• 1 can white beans (added for protein)
• 1 garlic clove chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped
• 1 T lemon juice
• 2 T cream cheese (substitution for Parmesan cheese)

Cook pasta according to directions.

Heat a large skillet/wok with olive oil. Add broccoli, shallots, raisins and garlic and sautee until soft about 5 minutes.

When veggies are soft, add cooked pasta, lemon juice, sun-dried tomatoes, beans, cream cheese and parsley. Cook for another 5 minutes to absorb all the flavors.

So even if you have only half the ingredients for a delicious recipe, it can still be delicious with the right substitutions.

Check out some of these Chocolate Facts that I just learned from the quiz I just took! I wish all quizzes were this fun in College. I wonder if Dr. Burrowes is reading this (joke for Michelle Serpas)

1. Chocolate contains all of these except:

• Vitamin C
• Calcium
• Iron
• Zinc

Answer… A

2. Which candy was invented for American Soldiers during WWII

• Reese’s peanut butter cups
• Hershey’s Kisses
• M&M’s
• Mounds

Answer…. C

3. The cacao pod is considered a

• Vegetable
• Fruit
• Legume
• Spice

Answer…..B Love it!!!

4. To check quality, cacao beans are put through

• An X-ray machine
• An infrared sorter
• A cut test
• A weight Test

Answer… C

5. Who invented hot chocolate

• The Mayans, in 500 B.C
• The Romans, in 25 B.C
• The French in 1789
• Milton S. Hershey in 1907

Answer…. A

Can’t wait to share my chocolate recipes with you!

I also had a pleasant surprise of seeing one of my besties in the magazine! See the girl closest to the cake towards the back… Felicia Kalaluhi!