Recipe Weekend: The Chocolate Rules and Chocolate Paninis

Mom came across these in the newspaper this week (yes, we still READ the newspaper in paper form!) and thought everybody would love to read them!

If you've got melted chocolate all over your hands,
you're eating it too slowly.

Chocolate covered raisins, cherries, orange slices & strawberries
all count as fruit, so eat as many as you want.

The problem: How to get 2 pounds of chocolate home from
the store in a hot car.

The solution: Eat it in the parking lot.

Diet Tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal. It'll take the
edge off your appetite, and you'll eat less.

If calories are an issue, store your chocolate on top of the fridge.
Calories are afraid of heights, and they will jump out of
the chocolate to protect themselves.

If I eat equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate, isn't
that a balanced diet? Don't they counteract each other?

Chocolate has many preservatives.

Preservatives make you look younger.
Therefore, you need to eat more chocolate.

Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today.
That way, at least you'll get one thing done.

A nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake
of calories in one place. Now isn't that handy?

Now how about a simple Summer recipe that not only YOU,

but your kids will love, and is super duper easy?

 Weight Watchers Chocolate Panini

 Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cups chopped hazelnuts
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate or 2 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup fat-free half-and-half
• 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 8 slices whole-grain bread

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F Spread hazelnuts on pie plate. Bake until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Transfer hot nuts to mini-food processor and pulse until mixture forms a paste. Add chocolate and pulse until melted.
2. Cook half-and-half, brown sugar and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring, just until mixture comes to boil and brown sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Pour into glass measure. With food processor running, add half-and-half mixture to chocolate-nut mixture through feed tube and puree. Transfer to bowl and let cool until spreadable.
3. Spray one side of bread slices with nonstick spray. Put 4 slices, sprayed side down, on a sheet of was paper and spread each with 2 tablespoons chocolate-nut mixture. Top with remaining slices, sprayed side up.
4. Heat panini or waffle maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Add panini, in batches if necessary, and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Cut each panini into thirds. Enjoy!

Option for even EASIER Panini:

Use Nutella or other chocolate hazelnut spread and you can skip Steps 1 and 2 !