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This holiday season, we still haven’t found a place to buy chocolate frogs or chocoballs, but Williams Sonoma has indulged all of our muggle dreams and started selling Harry Potter chocolate wands.

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Recently, as I was reading through the comments on all our brownie recipes, one suggestion in particular stood out: Refrigerate the batter overnight for a richer, chewier brownie.

The tip rang a bell, and after a bit of Googling, I discovered why: Alice Medrich, author of several dessert cookbooks (and recipient of the title “First Lady of Chocolate“), writes in her book Seriously Bitter Sweet: The Ultimate Dessert Maker’s Guide to Chocolate that “refrigerating the brownie batter in the pan for several hours, or as long as two days before baking, wreaks enormous transformations: it improves the top gloss and crustiness, and it also blends the flavors so that the brownies taste much richer — and the texture is chewier too.”

The tip has been widely shared by a number of food websites (and Bon Appetit is in support of the tip, too), but I was skeptical. Did it really make that much of a difference that it was worth waiting a full extra day to eat delicious homemade brownies? I had to find out.

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Raise your hand if you want to save $100. Okay, now raise your hand if you don’t want to save $100. Yeah, that’s what we thought. Which is exactly why we’re writing this post.

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Hello Mark and the Primal Blueprint community! I usually don’t do stuff like this, but like many others who have discovered the Primal Blueprint path, it’s changed my life in such a positive way that it’s hard not to share. Growing up I was always athletic – trim, quick, and agile. I excelled in every physical activity I was into, without much effort. Karate, soccer, skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, even golf came easy for me. Within my group of friends, I was the guy that was better at everything than everyone else (at least in my mind LOL). It seemed like I could maintain this level of health and physical ability forever.

Then of course life happens. In my late 20s I meet the love of my life. We get married and in short order, our first son is born.  As a parent, you know how life-changing that event is, and being still in our 20’s, my wife and I went into daily survival mode and did our best. I never thought much about eating right or exercising, being one of those people who could (and did) eat anything under the sun and come out (seemingly) unscathed. Fast food, chips, pizza, ice-cream, candy, processed food from boxes, you name it. And it wasn’t just what I ate, it was the time in which I ate it. I never gave much thought to pounding huge meals late at night, or right before bed-time. In fact, it was like I had a “second” dinner every night. And of course, this was all the usual SAD stuff; tons of bread and grains, corn, fried foods, processed sugars, the usual suspects. I ate like this through my 30s.

As I reached my 40s, however, I noticed that I was getting fatter and slower, and had developed a severe case of IBS. I was always fatigued, irritable, and always had a constant feeling of dis-ease and malaise. Though I was still physically active playing soccer and bike commuting religiously, it seemed like I was always pulling a muscle, or getting injured. My reflexes seemed slower. I didn’t sleep well and my head was always in a cloud. I experienced my first panic attack and developed severe anxiety. I was always getting sick, and never had any energy to really play with or interact with my son.

When our second son came along, these symptoms became compounded. I was miserable, and felt ground-down by the pressures of life as a husband, father and sole-breadwinner of our family. I thought what I was feeling was just life happening, and that it was just a part of getting older.

Being now in my early 40s, I was feeling like crap, looking like crap, and had no idea what to do about it. One day I looked at myself in the full-length bathroom mirror (with my IBS, the bathroom was my second home), and I realized I was at a crossroads. Like Tracy Chapman sang, “leave tonight or live and die this way,” I decided it was time to leave my current unhealthy state and go on a new journey; one towards teaching myself how to be a Fat Burning Beast. Through Mark and the ever expanding Primal/Paleo community, I’ve reclaimed my health and fitness. I’ve discovered and use Intermittent Fasting as another tool, and read Mark’s Daily Apple daily for knowledge and inspiration (and dark chocolate recipes).

I’m also being mindful of things like chronic cardio, stress management and finding time to “get wild.” I’m constantly trying to figure out how to implement the Primal philosophy into the choices I make, not only with nutrition, but with life in general. My six-year-old son is now one of my Primal coaches (even though he doesn’t know it). He loves his “Primal” wrestling sessions with daddy, and being used as daddy’s weight lifting equipment. He also likes joining daddy and mommy in our family burpee sessions before dinner.

So, in about a year’s time of living the Primal/Keto life, I’ve transformed my body (and my mind). I’ve cured myself of IBS, and feel great overall. My head is clearer, I sleep better, my energy level has increased. Somehow, I feel more optimistic. My anxiety has lessened enough that I can enjoy coffee again (yay!)

What’s also cool is that through my enthusiasm for this path, my wife is also now onboard the Primal/Keto train (it was hard doing it alone, especially since she does all the cooking for the family). After only a few months, she is looking and feeling great herself, and enjoying more energy than she’s ever had. It hasn’t always been easy of course, but overall, being on the Primal path has been an incredible epiphany in my life. I have co-workers, friends, and family wondering what the heck happened and how I did it.

Thanks Mark for all you’ve done and continue to do. How great it must feel to be helping so many people improve their health and well-being. Congrats on being a game-changer and positive force in the world.

 Sukho V

The post I’ve Transformed My Body and Mind appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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Starbucks continues its reign as the master of the holiday-themed drink: The coffee chain began the tradition with the vampire-inspired Frappula Frappuccino for Halloween in 2015, and carried it on with the Zombie Frappuccino (topped with pink whipped cream that resembled brains) last year. Now, Starbucks is ushering in the Halloween spirit(s) with its latest creation: the Witch’s Brew Frappuccino.

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Pork plus cola is a Southern phenomenon. I certainly never experienced it growing up on the West coast, but I have had my fill in the decade I lived in the South. Super sweet and just a bit acidic, cola is the perfect counterpart to rich, fatty pork shoulder. Here’s a secret, too: You can put a pork shoulder in the slow cooker with just a single bottle of cola — here, we’re using aromatic root beer — to create the easiest pulled pork that works brilliantly in sandwiches or served with rice and tangy slaws.

This three-ingredient slow cooker root beer pulled pork will totally convince you to give this Southern combination a try.

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I’ve heard that drinking coffee with cream or milk negates the benefits. Is this true?

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We don’t always have time to whip up a luxe Italian buttercream. Heck, sometimes even the quick frosting recipe on the back of the powdered sugar box is too tall an order. For those weeknights when you need to get some frosting on your cake (or cupcakes or cinnamon rolls) fast, a tub of ready-made frosting is your best friend. But choosing one is a big decision, because if you pick a bad one, you might as well toss the whole cake.

We wanted to spare you from such a fate, so we tasted them for you. We gathered up all the plain vanilla frostings we could find and put them through a side-by-side tasting.

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The big question is “is it the caffeine that creates the benefit, or coffee itself?” For hyper-responders to caffeine, do we derive any health benefits from consuming Swiss Process decaf coffee?

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Whether you’re prepping treats for a Halloween party at your kid’s school or making sweets for a grown-up costume party, these spooky snacks and drinks don’t skip on the fun-factor. From Halloween cocktails to pumpkin-spiced desserts to candy bar treats, this list of snacks will make sure there’s something for everyone.

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