I Go Nuts for Brownies!!

 

A regular brownie has about 23 carbs.  This brownie has 8.6 net carbs.  Ok, I'm just going to go ahead and be up front and honest with you.  THESE BROWNIES ARE TO DIE FOR!!! I'm always a little bit skeptical when cooking with "alternate" ingredients such as almond flour and artificial sweeteners ( I won't mention the awful "cinnabon" cake I made this weekend), but holy cow, are these good.  They were approved by my awesome trainer (who after tasting these went out and bought the ingredients immediately to make them the same day- no joke), my dad, and his staff.  Comments I received ranged from, "there is no way those are healthy," to "you should open up a bakery."  They are fudgy, chocolately, and REALLY, REALLY, GOOD!!! They are also rich, so these are perfectly portioned out if you use the muffin tins.

That being said, I can not claim this recipe as my own although the girl that came up with these...genius!!! You can find the recipe Here  Scroll down to the "Simple Cocoa Brownie" recipe.  I did not add the cranberries to make the holiday brownies, I only added nuts to the basic batter.  I went ahead and used the Xylitol pictured below as well as the liquid Stevia.  Both of these are natural sweeteners so you don't get the bitter taste as you would with Stevia in the Raw.  Both ingredients I found in my local Hy-Vee health food section. You can also find both types of flour I used in the health section at Hy-Vee.  I like the Bob's Red Mill brand. 

A few pointers of this recipe:

*I used the Xylitol/Stevia combination(pictured above)

*I used 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts

*When I added the cream, I heated it up a bit before adding it in so it wouldn't clump my chocolate.  Nevertheless, my chocolate clumped a bit, but I kept my heat on low and continued to whisk and it turned smooth eventually.

*I divided the batter into 12 silicone muffin cups (they will not even fill the cups half way- no worries- it is perfect portion control.)

* I started checking them at 15 minutes.  I only baked them for a total of 18 minutes, so start checking on them early!

*ENJOY!!! 

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a brownie I have to attend to. : )

Snack it to Me

     I have been busy, busy, busy, lately!  Just because I'm busy, it's no excuse to ignore eating throughout the day instead of eating three large meals.  I tend to eat breakfast, a morning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack, dinner, and sometimes an evening snack.  Because I eat every 2-3 hours, I am not overeating and craving food like I used to.  Since I am busy though, I try to keep snacks handy that are easy and quick.  I just want to share what I have found lately that I always keep stocked in my pantry/refrigerator/freezer.  As you can tell from the picture, and if you ever talk to me about what I'm eating, I will tell you "protein, protein, protein!"  So it's no wonder that my snacks are also geared toward eating protein.  Before I jump into the science behind protein vs. carbs, let me tell you about the fun stuff: the snacks!! My snacks vary throughout the day and week, but a few of my go-to things are as follows:   

*Mott's prepackaged apple slices (I bought these at Sam's Club) with Jif natural peanut butter

*a nature valley protein bar (the peanut butter and dark chocolate ones are my favorite - you can buy them in bulk through Sam's Club or Costco.)

*Yasso frozen greek yogurt bar (also great dessert treat)

*cheese snacks (of any kind)

*protein shake

*handful of almonds

*hard boiled egg

*cottage cheese

    I will try to put this in the simplest terms possible, so here we go...

So what's the big deal with protein? The thing about protein is that it takes longer to digest in your system than starchy carbs and other sugars.  But wait, isn't a calorie of protein the same as a calorie of carbs?  Yes and no.  Yes they are valued at the same amount of calories, so if you are only counting calories, there is no difference.  However, they have VERY different effects on your body and appetite.  Typical starchy carbs and sugars tend to increase your blood sugar much more rapidly than complete proteins.  With the steep rise in blood sugar, you are bound to get the crash that follows.  Then what happens?  You get hungry because your blood sugar is low, you crave more carbs, the cycle continues.  Carbs are terrible to help curb your appetite.  Protein acts very differently.  With protein your blood sugar may rise a bit, but it takes longer to digest and therefore you feel fuller and you are not having the sugar drop as you would with carbs.  Because I maintain a healthy amount of protein throughout the day, I don't crave carbs and I don't tend to overeat. When people comment that I'm always eating, they are right.  I was one of those people that would eat little bird meals and be surprised that I wasn't losing weight.  Then I found out I wasn't taking in ENOUGH calories.  My body was fighting back by holding onto whatever it could because I was not feeding it well enough.  But it's not how much you eat, it's all about the quality of what are you eating!  Am I snacking on doughnuts, crackers, cookies, chips? No.  I snack on things that help my metabolism so that I am able to keep my energy up and burn more calories.  The proof is in the pudding folks.  I feel less bloated, I'm not having the weight retention around my waist, and I am no longer "craving" the bad stuff, not to mention my weight loss.  Good luck with your journey and let me know if you have any questions! : )