YumSugarSource: Treat Yourself to 8 Chocolate Trends

What's chocolate looking like as we enter 2013? Imagine nut-butter fillings, tea-infused ganaches, and bean-to-bar chocolates - to name a few delicious decadences. Get ready to feast your eyes on the most captivating bars, bonbons, and truffles. What are you waiting for? It's time to treat yourself to eight chocolate trends!

• Puffed Grains: Brown rice and quinoa, whether toasted or puffed, has made its way into chocolate bars - giving chocolates a toasted flavor and a Nestlé Crunch-like consistency. One of our favorites? Alter Eco Dark Quinoa ($4) is 60 percent dark chocolate and studded with fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth quinoa puffs.
• Bacon : When Vosges released its bacon and chocolate bar a few years back, it shocked and offended vegetarians and serious confectioners alike. Yet finally, the world has embraced the amazing smoky/sweet combination, as many (if not most!) chocolatiers have created their own versions of something

In my estimation there should be some kind of award designed for people who eat at The Cheesecake Factory and don't order a cheesecake for dessert. But The annual Xtreme Eating Awards, a not so figure flattering list released annually by the nonprofit Center for the Science in the Public Interest, some seemingly healthy entrees from the chain has more calories than that slice of the most decadent oreo cheesecake you've been drooling over. Lets look at what you've been ordering versus what you've been missing.

The new Mango Creme cookie from Girl Scouts of America

Ever wondered why we can't make more cookies that are good for us? Here's why: They come with a price, or rather a patent. 

Girl Scouts, an organization that boasts the world's three best fund-raising tools (Thin Mints, Samoas, and Tagalongs) recently introduced its latest treat: Mango Crèmes with NutriFusion™. Note the TM. That's where the problems begin.

Girl Scout cookie boxes: the evolution

In an attempt to give Girl Scout cookies a healthy makeover, ABC Bakers--Girl Scout's official pastry think tank--concocted a "tropical-inspired" sandwich cookie doused in vitamins. Make that vitamin product. Critics are crying foul over the new cookie's added nutritional element: NutriFusion. Not only is that the name of an ingredient, it's the name of a company behind a "scientific process that…when added to foods and beverages, supercharges their nutritional value," so says the company website.

"NutriFusion is the latest in manufacturers' attempts at making junk food healthier,"

Easy tricks make a delicious meal out of boring canned soups.January is National Soup Month! To me, that means steaming bowls of nourishing, comforting broths and bisques on freezing cold days. A few of my favorites: "clean-out-the-fridge" vegetable, Japanese-style ramen, and - for those especially sniffly times - chicken noodle.

Related: Classic Chicken Recipes Updated

Often, though, I'm a little too busy working or running errands or simply dealing with life to even think of making anything from scratch-a premade bowl can do the trick. I sometimes buy from one of the many soup chains around here, but even if you're just opening a can or a carton, you don't need to be stuck with a plain-Jane soup. Try these fun (healthy) additions:

• Diced fresh avocado or cucumber
• Greens - prewashed baby spinach or baby kales - no chopping necessary! Just stir into the hot soup until wilted and tender
• Cubes of lowfat tofu
• Frozen (thawed) edamame, peas, corn - stir into hot soup until warmed through
• Cooked brown rice (frozen,

Rosemary Garlic Chicken
Entertain this: Beautifully browned rosemary chicken that simmers effortlessly in the slow cooker and is dinner-party-worthy!

Related: Slow-Cooked Comfort Food

The key to this dish is to brown the chicken before it goes into the slow cooker. Browning meats and poultry before simmering in the slow cooker yields major depth of flavor plus a picture-perfect presentation, so don't be tempted to skip it. (Watch the video to see how it's done!)

First, pat the meat dry with paper towels before seasoning. Set a heavy stainless-steel or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet (not nonstick) over medium to medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes or until hot enough for the oil to shimmer-the meat should hiss and sizzle as soon as it hits the pan. Be sure not to crowd the pan; doing so drops the temp, causing the meat to steam rather than form a crisp crust. Don't turn the meat until the bottom is well-browned.

For more easy chicken dinners head to SouthernLiving.com

The breakfast pizza has gone from hangover cure to trendy menu item.The idea of breakfast pizza used to mean slapping a fried egg on a slice of leftover pizza in the comfort of your own home after a late night. Now, they're becoming a popular menu item in restaurants across the country.

Pizza appears on 5 percent of all restaurant breakfast menus (both chain and independent), an 18 percent increase in the last five years, according to a new study by Datassential, a company that measures restaurant and food trends.

You can find breakfast pizzas at airports and malls across America. Pizza chain Sbarro sells a version with bacon, sausage, eggs, and mozzarella.

Try: Healthy Breakfast Pizza

The breakfast pizza is also popping up in upscale and trendy restaurants.  Roberta's, a popular Brooklyn eatery serves eight different types of pizzas for brunch, including the "Guanciale and Egg." Portland, Oregon's Sunshine Tavern serves a pizza of hen egg, Parmesan, wild oregano, and olive oil on their weekend lunch menu. Gioia pizzeria in San Francisco offers a

If pulling together a pan of lasagna sounds like a task you simply don't have time for, we've got you covered! It's easier than you think to simplify cooking lasagna, whether you're substituting in frozen ingredients, no-cook noodles, or no noodles at all! These fun, simple shortcuts will turn the task of making homemade lasagna into a treat. Not only do these recipes take away the prep time with all sorts of clever ideas, but they're unbelievably delicious... and some of them have the extra benefit of being low-carb (yes, it can be done!). Here are 10 simple variations on classic lasagna! - By Brooke McLay

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Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day, but we seldom treat it as such. We fall into ruts with toast or cereal; or we skip it altogether, opting instead to snooze for 10 more minutes. If you give it a chance, though, breakfast can brighten your morning and get your day started on a delicious (and healthful!) note. We've rounded up 7 flavorful, totally-not-boring breakfast recipes good enough to get you leaping out of bed in the morning, brought to you by the spirited home cooks' community at Food52.

More from Food52:
• How to Make the Perfect Fried Egg
• Prefer your eggs sunny-side up? We can help you with that, too.
• Got a question in the kitchen? The Food52 Hotline is here to help!