Mocha Almond Truffles

Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons whipping cream
2 Tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
8 Ounces dark chocolate (62%)
2 Teaspoons finely ground decaf coffee
20 Whole roasted unsalted almonds

Optional:
Sifted unsweetened cocoa or confection sugar

Directions:

1. Finely ground 8 ounces dark chocolate in food processor. Bring cream and butter to simmer in heavy small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently. Pour simmering cream into food processor, blend until smooth, being sure to scrape down sides of processor and blend complete mixture. Stir in coffee and blend again. Mixture should be not be runny easily removable from processor.
2. Freeze until mixture is firm and holds shape, about 20 minutes.
3. Spoon 15 mounds onto baking sheet.  My mixture was completely solid and difficult to mold, microwaving for a few seconds made it so I could make small clumps of chocolate. 
4. Reshape mounds into balls and place a almond in each ball.
5. Freeze until centers are almost firm
6. Powder with your choice of unsweetened cocoa or confection sugar

Comments:

This is a truffle that requires no baking and is the easiest sweet I have made so far. I also like that if you want a sweeter truffle you can use milk chocolate and not dark chocolate. This truffle is called a mocha truffle because of the edition of decaf coffee. Most POTS patients have difficult with caffeine, like I do. It makes my heart race. Two teaspoons of decaf gave it a distinct flavor but without making me tachy. I’m excited about trying out other truffle recipes maybe with a little rum. Mmmm….

Nutritional information from fitnesspal.com

 

You can take the red pill

As some of you may know and some may not, since the spring of 2007 my condition has been successfully treated. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, please see About Dysautonomia and Slayer’s Fight

Recently, I’ve been progressively having old and new symptoms mysteriously return. This led me to pull in a new specialist to try to discover what may have changed. The wonderful thing about this specialist is that this allows me to do check-ups via phone consult. It really has been a life saver for my morale and work schedule. During the process of  getting to know one another, the medication I had been taking for nine years was discontinued along with the generic. I can’t explain how terrifying it is to have a poorly understood condition with a even more poorly understood treatment and then be told “Oh sorry, you can’t have your red pill.”

My specialist was quite fearful that my lifestyle would not be maintainable without my alpha blocker. I was given 20 days of the name brand medication and a month’s worth of the generic.

I felt like Jasmine in the last scenes of Aladdin, trapped in an hourglass with the sand trickling in. My time running out…

As we tried my first medication, we backed off the tried-and-true medication only to reveal my autonomic flares below. Of course, these are treated now by quickly taking more of the discontinued medication. It became clear to me that the new medication was not what we were searching for and we slowly switched to our second option. Within a few days, I stopped feeling the effects of what I assumed was the high norepinephrine and within a week the autonomic flares stopped being triggered.

All of our lives, we have fought this war. Tonight I believe we can end it. Tonight is not an accident. There are no accidents. We have not come here by chance. I do not believe in chance. When I see three objectives, three captains, three ships. I do not see coincidence, I see providence. I see purpose. I believe it our fate to be here. It is our destiny. I believe this night holds for each and every one of us, the very meaning of our lives.

Matrix Reloaded

With POTS, there is no cure and not all treatments work for all patients. I was very disabled before the medication with most of my time spent away from home in the hospital or in doctor’s appointments. Life opened up for me and I pursued it as much as I had pursued my health. I could not return to my previous life – too long had passed.

As I began college, I discovered that no one knew or could tell that I was sick. I was healthier not thinking about my illness and not having someone judge me. In their minds, I was not sick and I could just be me. I think this is understandable when you spend your teenage years in a wheelchair. Those years are very formative.

After my recent change in treatment, I realized it was time to do my part in awareness and fundraising. For Dysautonomia Awareness Month, we raised $1,752 for Dysautonomia International. I’m hoping to continue this trend of awareness by hosting this blog with nightshade-free recipes and medical updates.

I’m looking forward to a holiday filled with joy and hope for a promising 2017. I wish you the same. Happy Holidays!