ArcaMax

For months I have been dreading turning 60. I hated turning 40 too, so my solution for that was to party in New York City and then head off to Bermuda.

At this juncture, my business needs my attention so no opportunity to fly off and look the other way. I must keep my feet firmly planted right here.

I have to admit that just recently I’m starting to come to grips with this big Zero Birthday. It’s feeling slightly less scary, but I have been spending a lot of sleepless hours over many a night, taking stock of my life. This is the first juncture in which I’m feeling I might be past the half way point and there’s no turning back.

I’m trying to keep a sense of humor about it while I’m being serious, so here are six topics I thought I’d toss out for review, since I’ve been tossing in bed over them...

Read the full column at PlanZDiet.com

Related Recipes at PlanZDiet.com:

White Chocolate Custard with Strawberry Coulis
Almond Snickerdoodles

Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares

This is a ZReboot recipe.

Serving Size: Serving Size equals 1 Bar

Ingredients:

Bottom Layer

3/4 cup of ground almond meal
2 Tbl of cocoa powder (use the unsweetened version)
1.5 Tbl of Swerve or ZSweet (order these sugar substitutes online)
1 Tbl of water
Pinch of grated sea salt

Middle Layer

1/2 cup of natural peanut butter (I try to find the unsweetened, emulsified kind. Smuckers makes a great natural version
2 Tbl of melted coconut oil (or they also make a coconut oil now that is already melted and shelf stabilized. Look for it by the other oils

Top Layer

3.5 oz of high quality chocolate that’s 70 percent cacao or higher, minced
3 Tbl of melted coconut oil
White chocolate bits (for garnish)

Instructions:

Line a standard bread pan with parchment paper.

In a bowl mix your bottom layer ingredients. Stir them up really good so the dough gets moist. Press the dough into the bottom of the loaf pan and place it in the freezer to set. Maybe 10 minutes.

Make your middle filling. You can even use the same bowl. Stir the peanut butter and the coconut oil. I put a pinch of grated sea salt in here too. Just a pinch. The commercial peanut butter cups are quite salty so this sort of mimics the same effect. Take the pan out of the freezer after it has set, and gently spread the middle layer on top. Return to the freezer again. This time I let it set more like 30 minutes or it’s hard to put on the top layer.

You need your chocolate minced really fine. Take your time and get it all chopped up really well because you want it to melt quickly. Gently heat the coconut oil. Add the chocolate and stir until smooth and creamy. Take the pan out of the freezer again and drizzle on the top. Spread it gently if necessary.

This time I put the pan in the refrigerator and come back an hour or two later. Pull the paper up with both hands and remove your creation from the pan and put it on a cutting board.

I now cut the dessert into one-inch (or maybe a little bit smaller) cubes. Garnish with white chocolate if you're feeling fancy.

Store them lightly covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator. You should get at least 15 to 20 cubes from one pan. Plenty for your peanut butter cravings. So rich and creamy. Try to eat just one.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola