“Bittersweet is the practice of believing that we really do need both the bitter and the sweet, and that a life of nothing but sweetness rots both your teeth and your soul. Bitter is what makes us strong, what forces us to push through, what helps us earn the lines on our faces and the calluses on our hands. Sweet is nice enough, but bittersweet is beautiful, nuanced, full of depth and complexity. Bittersweet is courageous, gutsy, earthy.

So this is the work I’m doing now, and the work I invite you into: when life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow.” – Shauna Niequist

All this is to say, the next time something tough is happening, and you want to shout from under the covers “TURN UP THE GOOD AND TURN DOWN THE SUCK!!!”, remember: this moment is making you a stronger, wiser, wrinklier, better you. Say thank you and grow.

I’m always scrounging around for something sweet in the middle of the afternoon and these bittersweet chocolate flat breads fill the gap, while remaining healthy enough to gain the approval of my super bossy, holier-than-thou New Year’s resolutions.

Bittersweet chocolate is typically produced by adding fat and sugar to cocoa. It is chocolate with no milk or much less than milk chocolate, which means that it can be vegan friendly. Read the label though. In this case I just used 70% dark chocolate chips in a recipe from over at the Sprouted Kitchen, one of my favourite whole food blogs. So good!!