Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

I’m always talking about my huge sweet tooth, so it comes as a shock to people when I admit that I am not a regular dessert eater.

Don’t get me wrong, I eat dessert sometimes, and when I do I make sure it’s worth it. 

If I had to choose between a  fruity sorbet and a double fudge cake, I would almost always go for the cake.   

Remember a few weeks ago when my Track buddy brought in cookie-topped brownies for Valentine’s Day?  Well, I finally found time to make remake them and I think they’re even better than the originals. 

Adapted from AllRecipes.com and VegFamily

“This vegan dessert is decadent, gooey, and delicious.  It’s a slice of chocolate bliss.”

Ingredients:

Brownies:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ cups organic sugar
• ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• ½ cup canola oil
• ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cookies:

• ½ cup organic brown sugar, packed
• ¼ cup organic granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• ¼ cup nondairy milk or water
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup vegan dark chocolate chips

Directions:

Brownies:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Pour in water, vegetable oil and vanilla; mix until well blended. Spread evenly in a 9×13 inch baking pan.
3. Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven.

Cookies:

1. Combine sugars, oil, nondairy milk, and tapioca flour in a mixing bowl. Use a strong fork and mix really well, about 2 minutes, until it looks like smooth caramel. There’s a chemical reaction when sugar and oil collides, so blend well. Mix in vanilla.
2.  Add 1 cup flour, the baking soda, and the salt. Mix well. Mix in rest of flour. Fold in chocolate chips. The dough will be a little stiff.  Flatten into sheets and place on top of the half-cooked brownie. 
3. Bake for 10-15 more minutes.  Let cool for 30 minutes, cut into squares and serve.

Yield:  Approximately 15 servings

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This brownies are freaking amazing, if I do say so myself.

Philip and I both ate two…for a snack.  They’re that good.  Can you say sugar coma?

I know the recipe seems like a lot of work, but it’s worth it.  This is the richest brownie I’ve ever tasted! 

Mmmmmmm…

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Questions of the Day:

1. Do you eat dessert on a regular basis?
2. Are you a self-proclaimed chocoholic?

Have a wonderful (and chocolate-filled)week ahead! 

The ABC’s of Me!

My readers are always telling me to include more information about myself into my posts.  Lucky for you guys, today is the day!  Today’s post is going to be something that I saw on Maryann’s blog:  The ABC’s of Me!

(A) Age:  14 years old, but I’ll be 15 on April 11th

(B) Bed Size:  Full

(C) Chore You Hate:  I’m not really a fan of any cleaning duty, but I really despise washing the floor.  Something about having to move all the chairs, stools, etc., washing the floor, drying the floor, and putting everything back again isn’t too appealing.  I’d rather bake!

(D) Dogs:  I have an 8-year-old American Eskimo Cockapoo named Fluffy!

(E) Essential Start Your Day Item:  I’m sure I’ve mentioned it on the blog before, but I am a coffee junkie!  Seriously, I need my coffee first thing in the morning or else I’ll be tired and grumpy all day!

(F) Favorite Color:  Either blue or purple.

(G) Gold or Silver:  SILVER!!!  I love how regal gold jewelry looks, but can never bring myself to wear it. 

(H) Height:  5 foot 4½ inches (½ an inch taller than my Mom!)

(I) Instrument You Play:  None as of right now, but I played the clarinet and piano for 2-3 years when I was younger.

(J) Job Title:  Student.  But I’d like to be a Nutritionist/Dietician/Personal Trainer/Baker one day!

(K) Kids:  Eventually

(L) Live:  New Jersey!  Believe me, it’s nothing like Jersey Shore.

(M) Mom’s Name:  Lydia

(N) Nicknames:  Eri, Kiki, Phika, and E

(O) Overnight Hospital Stays:  Only 1 – when I was about 4 years old I choked on a slice of Pizza Hut pizza.  The people at the hospital actually thought I had a seizure so I was there for much longer than I should have been.

(P) Pet Peeve:  I don’t really have that many “pet peeves,” but I guess you could say obnoxiously stupid behavior in general just annoys me. 

(Q) Quote From a Movie: I honestly have no memory of movie quotes.

(R) Right or Left Handed?  It depends on what I’m doing.  I hold a tennis racket and a golf club with my left hand, but I write with my right hand.

(S) Siblings:  a 10-year-old brother named Philip

(T) Time You Wake Up:  6:30 on school days and 9:00 on weekends

(U) Underwear:  Of course!

(V) Vegetable You Dislike:  This is tough.  I like almost all veggies except pumpkin, I can not stand that stuff plain!

(W) What Makes You Late:  Deciding on an outfit to wear and my parents.

(X) X-Rays You’ve Had Done:  Well, I’ve had an MRI, a Bone Density Test, and a bunch of back x-rays for my stress fracture and scoliosis when I was younger.

(Y) Yummy Food You Make:  Is that even a question?! I make lots of yummy foods like Carrot Cake Scones, Buffalo Bean Dip, and Chewy Nutella Cookies!

(Z) Zoo, Favorite Animal:  I love watching the monkeys – they’re so funny!

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Hope you liked! 

Questions of the Day:

1. Do you have any nicknames?
2. How tall are you?
3. What household chore do you hate?

Alrighty, now I have to go and wash the kitchen floor…ugh.

Have a great night!

Birthday Cake Smoothie

Lately it seems like Blog World has been in a bit of a cake batter craze.

Cake Batter Pancakes

Cake Batter Oats

Cake Batter Crispy Treats

 Now I’d like to introduce another Cake Batter creation into the mix ↓

Oh yes, I went there.

I suppose my infatuation with cake batter started at a young age, probably the first time I tried Funfetti cake.  As I got older it evolved to Coldstone Creamery‘s Cake Batter ice cream.  And now, being the healthy food lovin’ chick that I am, I figured my love should be made a little bit healthier. 

Don’t worry though.  My creation tastes just as good, if not better than the original.

* * * * * *

A FFF Original ♥

Ingredients:

• 1 large banana cut into bite-sized pieces and frozen
• ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
• ½ cup milk
• 3 tablespoons vanilla cake mix
• 5-6 ice cubes
• ~1 tablespoon sprinkles

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender, like a Magic Bullet, and blend for 1 minute or until smooth and creamy.  Pour into a frosty glass, top with even more sprinkles, and enjoy.

Serves:  1

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Now before I start talking about how much I loved this smoothie (which I did!) let me make some clarifications. 

At the beginning of this post I said that I made my love “healthier,”  I know this statement is bound to bring up some controversy considering cake mix has about 50 million ingredients, sprinkles are pure sugar, and Splenda is just bad.  Knowing  this, I still urge all of you to listen to me.

This creation is meant to be a healthy-ish alternative for the high-calorie, high-saturated fat, high-sugar creation that is cake, it is not meant to replace dinner.  Even though, I wouldn’t have a problem eating it every night for dinner!

Now that I’ve made that clear, let’s continue onto the part of this post where I tell you how tasty this is!

I decided to be greedy and only make one serving, thus preventing my family from getting even a sip of this creation.  Don’t judge.  When you make this smoothie you won’t want to share either.

Creamy, delicious, refreshing, and high in protein, this smoothie is just amazing.  It is also versatile!  I had mine for breakfast, but it could also act as a hearty snack or dessert. 

Oh and in case you were wondering, the sprinkles are totally necessary.  They make the shake.  ← Unintentional rhyme!

* * * * * *

Questions of the Day:

1. Do you say sprinkles or jimmies?   Sprinkles!  I always correct people who say jimmies.
2. Do you use boxed cake mixes sometimes?  I have to admit, I use them for 99.9% of the birthday cakes I make.

Hope you had a delicious Tuesday!

Healthy & Delicious

Isn’t that the best way to eat? 

Many people think that in order to eat healthy they must compromise taste, but as I’m sure you already know, that is 100% false.  I think today’s lunch illustrates that concept perfectly.  Yes, it is a salad, but believe me, it was delicious!

Lunch:

Mixed greens, carrots, tomatoes, and Salsa Vinaigrette with an Easy Peasy Whole Wheat Muffin (2nd time was perfect!) on the side

I actually loved the salad so much that I made myself another little salad for a snack about 10 minutes later.  Haha – I blame the dressing.  SO good!

And since I’m a nice person I’ll even repost the recipe. 

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Salsa Vinaigrette

Courtesy of Hungry Girl

Ingredients:

• ½ cup salsa
• 2-3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• garlic powder and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree for 30 seconds.  Pour onto salad and then pour the remaining dressing into a jar and store in the refrigerator.

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As you can see, the dressing couldn’t be simpler to make!  If you don’t own a food processor/blender, or just don’t feel like pulling it out, you could also just mix them all together for a chunkier dressing.  It’s really, really good either way!

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Speaking of salad dressings, I’d like to share the salad dressing epiphany I had the other day with you.

A few days ago, I was sitting at my kitchen table eating a salad with one of my favorite creamy salad dressings:  Light Ranch.  I was just sitting there with nothing to do so I started reading the nutrition label. (Picture above)  I was disgusted! 

This might sound stupid, but I always thought that since it was ‘light’ it was semi-healthy, but boy was I was terribly mistaken.  Corn Syrup Solids,  Microcrystalline Cellulose, and Monosodium Glutamate?!  Surely, there is nothing healthy about that! 

I always say that everything is okay in moderation and I’m sticking with that, but this has certainly taught be to be more aware of the foods I eat and that ‘light’ doesn’t always mean healthy.  That being said, I will still probably eat my Light Ranch dressing on occasion, but as of right now I’m fine with my all-natural Salsa Vinaigrette.  YUM!

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Questions of the Day:

1. What is your favorite salad dressing?
2. Have you ever had a similar epiphany?  If so, please share!

Hope everyone enjoyed their day off!  Back to school and work tomorrow!



Gotta Have It

Hello Everyone!  Happy Friday!

I have a really cool post for you today inspired my Carrie from Moves ‘N’ Munchies, but first let me show you some favorite meals and snacks from the past week!

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Paola’s Apple and Swiss Egg-White Cake made with Egg Beaters, cheddar, spinach, and a gala apple

2 scoops of Breyer’s Slow-Churned French Vanilla Ice Cream sprinkled with crushed Oreos

Greek yogurt topped with peanut flour, wheat germ, cinnamon, and a sliced kiwi

Fiber Gourmet Lite Brownie and Breyers Slow-Churned French Vanilla Ice Cream

Scrambled Egg Beaters with spinach and cheddar

* * * * * *

Okay, now that I’ve got you drooling (I hope!) I’m going to share some of my must-have items.  They include hair styling tools, clothing items, shoes, and (of course) food!

Let’s begin…

My Chi Flat Iron

                                           (source)

As I mentioned in my Stylish Blogger Award post, I have extremely curly hair.  I’ve been straightening my hair since the 4th grade and the Chi is the only flat iron that can tame my crazy hair. Plus it’s really durable – I’ve had it for 4 years already!

Chesnut-Colored Ugg Boots

                                (source)

I probably wear my Ugg boots everyday.  They’re so comfortable and warm – perfect in the cold winter weather.  It actually hit 15 degrees Fahrenheit today.  Brrrrr! 

Sweatpants

                              (source)

I’m a comfort girl.  I’d pick comfort over style anyday, so naturally sweatpants are my go-to pants.  I wear fitted sweatpants when I go shopping and hang out with friends and baggy sweatpants when I’m cleaning, baking, or working out.  Yeah, I wear sweatpants a lot…

Nut Butters

                               (source)

I think I’ve professed my love for nut butters enough on this blog.  I’m addicted to them after all!

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That’s all for now folks!  Have a great weekend!

Questions of the Day:

1. What are your must-haves?
2. Are you doing any weekend baking? If so, what