Happy New Year readers, and sending lots of positive vibes to you.  As many of us set an intention of health and wellness for the New Year, we should keep in mind that abstinence from things we love is not the only answer— there are alternative approaches to meet goals.

For me, a good bar of milk chocolate has always been the weak spot. I recently started to eat energy balls to curb that craving, but only half-heartedly: I simply don’t find them very enjoyable. Luckily, I soon realized that only a couple of small tweaks were necessary to make them better. First, I decided to run rehydrated dates through a food processor with a good amount of pistachios and coconut— this held the texture, making them nice and chewy but not gummy. Next, I added a heavy-handed amount of cacao powder (Navitas is great) for that chocolatey decadence I was searching for. The outcome: a chocolate date truffle that is intensely indulgent, yet satisfying enough to make you stop at one.

For a little extra variety, I roll these sweet, nutrient-dense little cannon balls in to three bowls filled with cacao powder, coconut shreds and a toasted turmeric ground nuts mixture. Keeping a stash of these in the fridge for those moments where sweetness is very much needed has prevented some pretty harmful goal derailing’s. Who said that New Years resolutions had to feel like a test of deprivation?