Healthy Twists

As I mentioned, I made blondies for the terribly sad and depressing and I don’t want to talk about it football game on Sunday. And as anything with a stick of butter and a cup of brown sugar would be, they were really, really good.  They have the texture of a brownie with the taste of a caramel-y chocolate chip cookie. I highly recommend the recipe from Smitten Kitchen (who also has a really good brownie recipe, also with a ton of butter…I’m sensing a theme here) for a super-easy dessert. Mr. “I Don’t Care for Sweets” told me last night I should make them again. I haven’t decided yet if that’s a good thing or a bad one. I do want to try to make them a little healthier though, maybe by swapping some of the butter for yogurt or something?

I used about 1/4 cup of chocolate chips and about 3/4 of this chocolate bar, chopped up:

I tasted the chocolate before adding it to the batter, just for you guys. I think this was my favorite of the Newman’s Own Organics chocolate so far, although I only tried this one and the 70% chocolate, which I didn’t really like (and I’m normally one of those girls who likes super-dark chocolate). The 54% had a much richer taste and on Monday, when I was going to have the last 1/4 of the bar as dessert, I found I only needed half that amount (so, one small square) to be satisfied.

I gave my mom the milk chocolate bar and she said that was good, and I gave the dark (54%) chocolate espresso flavor to Mitch’s mom who said that was REALLY good. Personally, I think these bars are better to use in recipes that eating straight, but that’s not a bad thing at all.

OH I just had a really good idea. These would make awesome s’mores, especially the coffee-flavored ones. Ok, filing that one away for the next camping trip.

I am still playing around with my camera, although I still need to get a tripod and I’m going to buy a new compact digital before my trip to Boston (117 days what!!).

You’re welcome.

In non-sugary news, I finally picked up The New Rules of Lifting for Women and I started the first workout yesterday. I’ve decided I’m just the type of person who does better in the gym when someone is telling me what to do, and since I can’t afford a trainer, this book is going to be my trainer from now until I go on vacation. Then I plan to make the trip one of “active rest” and then when I get back, I’ll hit the half-marathon training full force.

I know that blondie baking and eating my weight in tortilla chips is not going to help me become a “muscle goddess” like the nutrition program in NRWL might do, so it might seem weird talking about both in one post. But if I’ve learned anything last summer, it’s that although it might be possible to diet and exercise down to a certain weight and physique, it’s not necessarily worth it if it means being miserable.  (Those bloggers talk about this subject far more eloquently than I do.) As I mentioned in my 2010 goals post, this year is about truly finding balance and happiness with myself, and I need to accept that happiness includes tough, sweaty workouts…and chocolate chips.

Side note: if you’re new to lifting weights, I think books like NRLW are a great read and really helpful, but nothing beats a session or two with a trainer or gym staff member who can show you how to properly use the equipment you have. Just don’t be afraid to say no when they try to up-sell you if you can’t afford or don’t want additional sessions.

Hmm. There was more to this post when I started it but Wordpress seems to have eaten the other stuff. I’m going to take that as a sign and call it a day for now.

What are you doing this weekend? Since I’m not, you know, watching football, I think my big plans include making soup and watching Mad Men.  And maybe having a date night, since for the second time, my grand plans of going out for Restaurant Week seem to be foiled…this time, because my date is sick. Right as he has to go back to school, poor guy.

Related posts:

1. Secret-Ingredient Recipe Testing Hello friends! First off I feel the need to apologize...
2. The Shortcut That Wasn’t I needed some cookies yesterday. I mean, I sort of...
3. Not Exactly Healthy Twists Happy Monday! I hope some of you have today, or...
4. Detox Recap and Another Newman’s Review So, remember in my last post when I was talking...
5. Milk and Cookies (review post) I know, it’s not Christmas anymore, but I finally feel...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.