Tasty yet balanced breakfast

When watching the commercial for Nutella, the chocolaty good hazelnut spread that hails from Canada, advertised as “part of your tasty yet balanced breakfast” – you want to try it but your common sense tells you that you shouldn’t.  There is a deep fear that if you take that initial taste you may never stop, and it can only lead to the harder stuff, like an entire bowl of Scharfenberger ganache or crack cocaine I'm guessing. For some reason while shopping the food isle in Target the other night my hand uncontrollably reached up for the jar of Nutella, as if it were begging me to take it home.  It was like staring into the soft black eyes of a discarded puppy at the animal shelter, (a really cute puppy) pleading with me to give him a chance.  I was his only hope.  Very hard to resist, my will power broken, I ended up taking the Nutella home.

That evening as I was attacked by my sweet tooth, searching the refrigerator, the freezer, the cupboards, I eyed the jar of Nutella.  Thank goodness I bought it because it was the only sweet thing in the house besides a bottle of corn syrup and a box of brown sugar.  So, what to do with the Nutella?  Do I eat it straight out of the jar, spread it on bread like in the commercial?  I found a cracker (trying to keep the carbs at bay) and spread the hazelnut/chocolate goodness sparingly across it.  OMG – who knew this “nutritious” part of my tasty yet balanced breakfast that I was enjoying at 10:00 pm could be so utterly delicious, so over the top decadent!  On to the bread drawer where I found a couple of Hawaiian rolls - soft and delicious, but with a layer of Nutella on them I can only describe them as heaven on top of heaven. The only thing to do now was to either get a bigger spoon or exhibit some self control and put the jar away, tightly sealed and back on the shelf.  Well at 200 calories per 2 tbsp (which you will find very difficult to restrict yourself to), 22g of carbs, 11g of fat, and the number one ingredient being sugar, followed closely by palm oil, it gets easier to replace the lid.  I hear a loud obnoxious inner voice instructing me "Walk away, walk away from the jar".  Damn, maybe I can keep this in the house but only if it is behind glass with an ax and only to be used in emergencies. 

So, the moral of this story if there is one?  It would have to be; a little goes a long way, less is more, something along those lines.  I can see once in a great while treating yourself to a teaspoon or maybe even a tablespoon, if you can stop there.  But spreading it across your morning toast?  Don’t think so.  I could go on and on about kids, and ADHD and ADD and the rest of the alphabet, but I won’t.  Because you already have that information. But me on the other hand, as much as I would like to dive into a jar of Nutella first thing upon waking, think it best if I stick to my morning oatmeal, or perhaps yogurt and fruit, and save the Nutella for very special occasions, probably about as often as I bring out my finest china.