The Ultimate Chocolate Shop!

In September last year my husband and I went away on our first ever holiday since our first son was born (I was 5 months pregnant with our second son at the time). We went up to Russel, in the Bay of Islands and stumbled across the Newport Handcrafted Chocolate shop!!

Now hang on a second I can hear you say...a nutritionist in a chocolate shop??!!

Yes you heard right!! But it is not just any chocolate shop...it is the ultimate chocolate shop.

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My philosophy around treats is 1) to allow yourself to enjoy them, in moderation and 2) to make sure that they taste absolutely amazing!! This normally means that they are made from whole foods, use fresh real ingredients and ideally are not something that you would expect to have every day (or have access to every day!).

The hand-crafted chocolate from Newport Chocolates falls right into this category.

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I am also a firm believer of having an understanding of where your food comes from, this gives you an appreciation of the work and love that has gone into creating and preparing the food that you enjoy.

When we came across Newport Chocolate I was, like any chocolate lover (come on who isn't!!) instantly curious and dying to try out some of these chocolates.We took the time to talk to the owners of the shop. It turns out this is shop is owned and managed by a wonderful couple, Nick and Amelia who have two children - this of course struck an instant rapport with us and we spent a long time talking to Amelia. She personally creates and makes all the chocolate for the shop, spending hours coming up with new recipes.

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All the chocolate is made right there in the shop and all ingredients comes from natural sources. For example the dried raspberry in the chocolate pictured below (which was my favourite) is made from real raspberries. Amelia is also very aware of the importance of not creating chocolate which is laden with sugar and actively tries to keep sugar to a minimum - a far cry away from your heavily process, factory produced chocolate.

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We got to go behind the front of the shop and see the chocolate being made and all  the equipment - it was a very special experience.

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Of course we then brought a selection of chocolates and some to take home as gifts!

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We are very grateful for this incredible experience!!

I hope I have inspired you to seek out chocolates treats that are truly amazing and to enjoy them just as they are designed!!

My bonus tip on enjoying chocolate guilt-free is to save it for the end of the day when you are the least likely to impact your blood sugars and have also ensured that you have maximised on your nutrient intake across the day :)

You can try out my own Healthy Home-Made Chocolate recipe and Newport Handcrafted Chocolates also do online delivery (hint...hint...if you fancy buying me a treat!!)

For more nutrition tips each week be sure to sign up to our online community!!

xxx The New Mums Nutritionist

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