Chocolate Brownie - The Healthy version

Who doesn’t like a nice gooey chocolate brownie? It is one of those safe go to pubs that you know will be good and that you can tailor to your tastes. Chocolate brownies come with many extras, you can add nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit, alcohol, more chocolate, white chocolate, you can even have a mint chocolate version although I am not sure why you would even ruin a chocolate brownie like that. Shame on you if you thought that was a good idea!  You can have them on their own, with cream, ice cream, custard, extra chocolate sauce, fruit cooleys. The list really is as limited as imagination.

Picture as I was preping the plate

So does that mean that chocolate brownies can also come guilt free? The answer ladies and gents is yes, absolutely and after some serious trial and error I have come to a healthier version of the chocolate brownie, that is low fat and also pretty well behaved on the sugar front too. What did I do? I replaced the fat with avocados and the sugar with honey, you can replace it with agave but I don’t have the ratios for that because I don’t like it as much as I like honey.

I tailored these to be just birm enough in the centre and super sticky in the middle. When I cook them I cook them until they are JUST cooked in the middle. They are best warm but they last a good 4-5 days and can be re-warmed, but NOT in the microwave, that makes the chocolate burn and makes them hard as a rock. Please do not microwave pastry, for the love of all that is good in the world don’t!

To make the brownies, you will need an 18 inch baking tray, some cooking spray to grease the tray and the following ingredients: 

Ingredients:

2 cups dark chocolate chips or 350gm cooking chocolate

2 medium ripe avocados, really well mashed up

2 ½ - 3 tablespoons honey*

4 eggs

Vanilla extract

¼ cup raw sugar free cocoa powder

½ cup flour**

½ teaspoon salt  

* depending on how sweet you want your brownies - for a less healthy version use ⅔ cup sugar

**  You can use ground almond for a gluten free version, I still haven’t figured out the best quantity for that but as soon as I figure it out I will update the blog

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C’ fan, 190C’ no fan, gas mark 5. Grease your baking tray and leave it to one side
2. Melt the chocolate over a bain marie (pan of hot water simmering, glass bowl on top chocolate in the glass bowl). Leave to one side to cool a little

3. 

   I made strawberry cooley 

   In a separate bowl using a hand mixer beat together the avocado and honey until smooth and well combined and then add the chocolate. This allows the chocolate to cool down enough that it doesn’t cook the eggs when you add them.
4. Add the vanilla and then add the eggs one at a time mixing well before you add the next.
5. Sift together the cocoa and flour to give it some air.
6. Beat the flour into the chocolate mix, add the salt and make sure all is mixed well.
7. At this stage you can add soft fruit such as raspberries, strawberries or blueberries. Fust them with flour or icing sugar before you pop them in or they will sink to the bottom.
8. Pour batter into the baking tray and put in the oven for about 40 minutes. Some ovens make take less some ovens may take more. Brownies can be a little temperamental this way. It also depends on how gooey or solid you want them,

 These brownies are best served warm, with ice cream, you can sprinkle some icing sugar for effect.

Bon Appetite!  

A week in Salads - Italian Inspired Chicken, Avocado and Mozzarella

 

Day 3 of the Week of Salads, I don’t know about you guys but I am feeling pretty good, I am not bloated, I am not tired, I am not hungry and I am excited about my next salad.

I picked this salad so that we have a good amount of protein intake, the chicken avocado and mozzarella are all good protein foods, but they also combine to have a nice balance in other minerals and vitamins. The mozzarella is high in calcium, the avocado has Vitamin C, A, B-6, Iron and Magnesium, it also has a good amount of dietary fiber and potassium, and the chicken is the big protein hitter although you also have some in the avocado and mozzarella.

Ingredients for one portion

½ Mixed salad bag

½ chicken breast cooked

½ bell pepper

½ avocado

½ a ball of mozzarella cheese

Handful of cherry tomatoes

Bit of olive oil

Salt to taste

Balsamic Glaze (optional but I love it)

Method:

This is another really easy one, chop the veggies and chicken, put in a bowl, mix with olive oil and season with salt. Tear up the mozzarella and add to the salad. If like me you are in love with the Balsamic Glaze add a little on top and eat!  

Tips and Ideas - Snacks I don’t know about you but I love snacking, especially on a weekend or in the evening. I also snack when I am bored. I found that so many of what I considered to be healthy snacks however were again crammed full of sugar, or salt or fat or a combination of these. I also found that because snacks are so little it is easy to make excuses and have two or three portions and tell yourself it’s ok it’s just a small snack. When you start paying attention however and start calculating the extra calories, fat and sugar you are consuming through your “healthy” snacks you realise that you are actually just transferring calories from your main meals into this smaller in between meals. I am not going to tell you  NOT to snack, in the contrary. I will actually suggest that you do. However I would like to also suggest that you seriously alter what you snack on, and try and be aware of how often, how much and what you snack on. Going back to yesterday’s post, it is actually better for your metabolism and digestion to eat less and a bit more often. Here is a list of snacks and quantities that I found work well for me to keep me happy and satiated and keep cravings away:

Morning Snacks: I do get nibbly at about 10:30-11 it is such a silly time, not late enough for lunch too late for breakfast. It is a dangerous time for me, I can reach for the chocolate, crisps or cake, instead I have one of these:

• A banana or
• A couple of spoonfuls of natural yogurt with a handful of berries, or
• An apple or pear

Afternoon and Evening snacks: Same scenario happens at 3pm and sometimes at 8pm. Ideally you should try and avoid eating too late as it can affect your sleep but if you feel the need to snack again here are my go to favourites:

• A medium carrot and 1 large tablespoon of unsweetened nut butter - peanut or almond usually. I know it sounds weird but carrots and peanut butter are awesome! I sometimes have celery instead.
• A handful of nuts and raisins or dried apricots.
• Stripps of red or yellow pepper and 20-30gm of feta cheese
• Cottage cheese and avocado or cottage cheese on half a slice of rye bread and a teaspoon of jam.
• A boiled egg with avocado
• A small bowl of popcorn - minimum salt/butter absolutely no sugar
• 2 squares dark chocolate when having giant chocolate eclair dream cravings - I can’t eat just one eclair so this is the one food I avoid like the plague because I eat a box or two at a go.

There are a million other snacks you can have, you just need to remember to be smart about it and not use it as a reward but as an addition to all the good yummy things you are are already having. This is the other thing, if you go into this with a negative attitude of “Oh I am dieting” then just don’t bother, you will be back on the deep fat fried shit and wondering why your jeans don’t fit in a month. You need to embrace this and realise just how good it can be and just how much choice you have, you need to realise you are not giving anything up because you aren’t.

Bon Appetit!