Secretly Healthy Mocha Vegan Brownies

I know. I know. I've posted a lot of vegan brownie recipes already.

The first one I posted was this one (click on the word) and my 2nd one was this one , which I personally like better than the first. Everyone that has made the 2nd one loves it! It also helps that it's fat free and mostly all healthy ingredients are used (except for the sugar).

Well, this one is a bit different. As you know, I baked cookies with avocados the other day. That inspired me to bake some brownies with avocados. I know. I'm getting obsessed with baking with avocados. Hey, avocados have healthy fats in them! It's better than using butter. Anyway, I plan on baking a cake or cupcakes with them. No one notices that avocados were used to make these baked goods! Trust me on that. I baked the brownies just last night and there's only one piece left, I think. Wait, there's no more.  My father ate a lot of them (yes, I'm also guilty of eating one too many, or two).

Anyway, I guess you guys really want the recipe now. Well, here you go.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup mashed avocado (about 1/2 of an avocado)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp instant coffee granules
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 tsp baking powder

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 
2. Cream together the avocado, oil and sugar. 
3. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. 
4. Pour into a greased pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.
5. Let it cool and enjoy. 

I do warn you though, the bottom can get a bit sticky. These are more like fudgey brownies! You can bake them a little longer as long as they don't burn. Use the toothpick test.

I hope you guys enjoy these brownies. It's good to experiment once in a while with baking. You never know how the product will turn out. In this case, it turned out good!

I also had a fun day today but I'll talk more about that the next post. I watched a very educational movie. I'll leave it at that.

Do you like brownies?
Do you like watching educational shows or programs?

Whole Wheat Chocolate Sugar Cookies

You won't believe what are in these cookies. And, guess what? They taste great! If you're looking for a healthy cookie for people to enjoy, you've come to the right place. Here's the recipe. 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 small hass avocado
• 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 
2. In a bowl, cream together the avocado, olive oil and brown sugar. 
3. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. 
4. Drop by 2 tablespoonfuls onto a greased cookie pan. I just put it on aluminum foil. 
5. Bake for 13 minutes. 
6. Take out and enjoy. 

You won't believe that there are avocados in this recipe. Trust me. No one will notice. I suggest you guys make these the night before. They taste better after sitting overnight.

All of the taste testers said that these cookies were good. One of them was my professor and he says he's not very fond of avocados. All of them were surprised that there were avocados in them. I dare you to make these and test them on your friends and family.

Anyway, I guess that's it for now. I have finals coming up and I have to study. Then, it's summer vacation! Well, until my summer classes start.

Have you tried any desserts made with avocado?

Do you think it's weird to add avocados to desserts?

If you're in school right now, are you ready for summer break?

My past week

Hey hey everyone. How has your week been going? Well, my week was spent mostly at school, thank you very much. Here's what I did.

On Monday, I stayed at school all day since I had to attend an event after all of my classes. The event was in the really late afternoon. It was fun though and I met new people. Before that, I ate a snack. It was this:

It's the Heart Thrive Cranberry bars. I love that they're vegan, healthy and delicious. It sure filled me up. These are a bit chewy though.

Well, on Tuesday, I waited for my cousin while he finished his essay. It was fine. I worked on some homework and talked to a friend while waiting. In my biology class that day, we learned about respiration, the nervous system and the endocrine system. Anyway, after class snack was this:

It was the Alternative Baking Company Gluten Free Chocolate Explosion cookie. This cookie is also vegan. This cookie was delicious! It tasted like a regular chocolate chip cookie. I know. I've been eating a lot of sweets. They're my weakness. At least I'm trying to make healthier choices when it comes to sweets, right?

Anyway, on Wednesday, I stayed to work on my group psychology research project. We talked about how to present our research proposal and how we're going to design the poster board. Again, I had another sweet. I ate a peanut butter cookie from the bookstore cafe and a tuxedo iced latte. In my defense, all organic ingredients were used.  Alex, who's in my group, ate like half of my cookie. So, I don't feel too bad about  the sweets.

Thursday, it was my group debate for my sociology class. I feel that our group won the debate. However, there were no winners or losers for the debate. We were graded on the quality of our arguments.
My psychology exam was that day too.

What was also cool was that the Farmer's Market was there. There were organic strawberries, vegetables and all of that stuff. There was even freshly baked bread a bakery was selling. I wanted to buy the strawberries, but I would be carrying them around with me all day if I had bought them. Instead, I bought the Flaxseed Bread. It's so good! I bought two small loaves. Yea, people at school looked at me weird, probably wondering why I was carrying around two loaves of bread in a bag. Hey. The bread is yummy and healthy.

Friday was work. After work, I went to Starbucks because of the half of frappacinos. I ordered the mocha cookie crumble without the whipped cream and with non-fat milk. It was delicious.

Saturday was suppose to be homework day. I worked on my biology essay and on my history essay. I started typing things up for the psychology poster board too. Then, I went food shopping with my dad. Some things we bought were brown rice and unbleached whole wheat flour from the bulk bins. They're so much cheaper. The brown rice was 60 cents a pound while the flour was around 46 cents a pounds.

On Sunday, we went to another grocery store to finish up our food shopping .We bought organic fuji apples, which were on sale. We bought watermelon and this Spectrum Decadent Blend Chia & Flax Blend with Coconut and Cocoa. They were on sale. I'm adding this to my daily oatmeal.

It was also Mother's Day. We celebrated by going to a family Mother's Day potluck. I baked some brownies and some deviled eggs. At the potluck, the moms got to relax and one of my uncles brought flowers to give to all the moms. I also sang karaoke with my cousins, which was so much fun. 

Anyway, that's how my week has been. 

Do you like karaoke?

Do you like singing?

How was your Mother's Day? 

Mini Donuts!

 Hey hey everyone. How are you guys doing today?
I'm doing fine, thank you very much. I'm here just to post my recipe before I go about my day.
It's been a long time since I last ate donuts. But, they are saturated with all of that fat! No me gusta.
Well, what's a girl got to do when she wants a healthier donut? She makes her own, of course. She makes mini donuts because they look cute and they're so much easier to eat.
I cooked these donuts using a mini donut maker. It cooks up really quickly. You can also pour the batter into a donut pan and bake them. However, I like using the donut maker. It's so much fun (and, I don't have a donut pan). Anyway, these aren't the healthiest donuts ever but they are yummy and healthier than your average donut. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 cup nonfat milk
• 2 tablespoon nonfat greek yogurt
• 3 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Here's the link to my icing/frosting recipe. 

Directions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together. 
2. Heat up your donut maker and spray with non-stick spray.
3. Once it's heated up, pour 2 tablespoons of the batter into the donut maker and close it immediately. 
4. It should tell you once the donuts are done cooking. 
5. If you want some frosting, make some frosting! Here's the link. 

I hope you guys enjoy your donuts! It's that quick and easy to make.

So, do you like donuts?

If so, what's your favorite type of donut?

What's your favorite breakfast food?

How was your week?

School Lunches: Are they Healthier?

Look at this Elementary School Breakfast and Lunch Menu:

Compare it to the High School lunch menu:

 

These are the lunch menus for the school district that I live in. They are available online.

What I am here to write about today is the difference between the meals the schools have served in the past and the meals they serve now. Before I get into the differences between the past and the present, I would like to point out that the high school menu has more variety than the elementary school menu. I personally don't know why this is the case but here are a few points that you should consider when thinking why the menus are different between elementary school and high school:

• First and foremost, teenagers and children develop differently. 
• Teenagers and children have more nutritional needs. Technically speaking, teenagers need to consume more calories for their rate of activity and growth. 
• Variety is good.  

Image from foodhappy.ca

As you know, Michelle Obama promotes the fight against obesity. She created the Let's Move campaign. She wants children to get moving but she also wants school's to provide nutritious food to children as they are in school. And, it seems that her campaign is working. 

What I notice from the lunches from when I was in Elementary school to current lunches, the changes are there, being made in the process. 

• There are now salad options in the Elementary menu.
• They have switched to using whole grain breads. 
• They are now using brown rice in place of white rice. 
• The meals are more balanced.
• There's a switch from full fat milk to 1% to nonfat milk. 
• There are now fresh fruit options instead of canned fruits.
• It caters to vegetarians now.
• There are now two choices for lunches instead of one. 

Yes, I know that they are still using frozen foods. We don't know what "whole grain" really means unless we see what type of breads they actually purchase. However, it is a step in the right direction. 

Now, let's compare the high school menu from when I was in high school to now (only a one year difference).

• There is now an outdoor grill instead of heating up frozen patties in the oven. 
• They cut the portion of the spicy chicken wrap in half. 
• A couple years ago, there used to be a buttermilk bar , which was all covered in sugar frosting. Now, they took that off. 
• Lower fat milks are now offered. 
• The lunch cost has increased. 
• There is now the use of brown rice instead of white rice. 
• There is now a REAL fresh salad bar. 

Other than that, the high schools are pretty much serving the same food I've eaten since I was in high school. However, once again, it's the step in the right direction. 

Really, I advocate for schools to serve nutritious meals to its students. It's good for the mind and the body. Nutrition is important because children are growing and developing. They also need the energy to get through school and learn what they need to learn. 

Schools now how have to meed new federal guidelines for school meals, which can be found on the USDA website. 

Schools are doing a good job on implementing these guidelines. Hopefully, we will see more healthy options at schools. 

Healthified Double Chocolate Chip Frappuccino

Hey hey everyone. How are you guys doing?

I'm doing great, thank you very much. I only have 2 more weeks of school left. Then, it's finals week! It's crazy because I have a debate for my sociology class on Thursday. Then, I also have a group psychology research project presentation coming up. There's also my psychology exam on Thursday.

Anyway, on the bright side, the weather has been great. It's been in the 90's all week. On the downside, it's going to get a bit colder now. But, as of right now, it's warm and it makes me want something cold to drink. So, I thought, why not a frappuccino? I thought about buying some from Starbucks, but they are so expensive. They are having the half of promotion right now but I don't want to waste all that money when I can make some right at home.

And, you know what? It's delicious! My brother even likes it. You can make it even healthier if you want to by substituting some ingredients. It'll still taste great. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk (any milk of choice)
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips (you can use dark chocolate chips or carob chips)
• 2 tablespoon chocolate syrup (I used the sugar free kind)
• 2 cups ice
• 2-3 tablespoon sugar
• whipped cream (optional, you can use the fat free kind if you want)

Directions:

1. Place all the ingredients into the blender container. 
2. Blend until it's thick. 
3. Top with whipped cream if you want to and drizzle it with some more chocolate syrup, Enjoy! 

It's that simple! And, it tastes pretty good. My brother loves it! 

It's great to drink on a warm day. I love warm days. Shorts, tees, dresses and skirts. It's great! Once it gets warmer, I get to go swimming. I love swimming. The only thing is that I don't like getting tanner than I am right now. I'll have to deal with it though. It's not that bad. I was born tan. It's probably due to my dad's farming genes. He was born in a village in China and they were farmers. 

Anyway, my week has been alright. I've been lifting weights, doing cardio, studying, doing homework and hanging out with friends. 

My breakfast as of late has been oatmeal with pb2, chocolate chips, truvia and ground cinnamon. I drink coffee with this. Sometimes, I use real peanut butter instead or I add in apples. It depends on my mood. Here's an ugly picture: 

By the way, the Trader Joe's Spicy Black Bean Dip is alright. I feel that there's too bit much of a vinegar taste to it. It took forever to open the jar. It was on too tight so I had use a knife to go under the lid to get rid of some of the air. The Trader Joe's  dark chocolate with raisins and pecans was a disappointment. I didn't like the taste of it. My favorite Trader Joe's brand items so far are the Cookie Butter and their almond milk. Yummy!

Here are a lot of other items I've tried. 

 This is Annie's Light Honey Mustard Dressing. I love that it's all Natural. There's no artificial flavoring or preservatives that are bad for the body. It also tastes good! It doesn't taste healthy at all.

 The Unreal candy is so good! Sure, the color isn't that pretty but it tastes like regular M&M's. It's healthier though. No GMOs, no high fructose corn syrup and no artificial coloring. I also bought the Yes2 blueberry wipes stuff so that I can use it to clean my face after my workouts.

 I've been using the baby spinach in my salads with black bean burgers. The pretzel chips were alright.

The LUNA Bar Carrot Cake is new and I love it! It's like a chewy carrot cake without all the fat. There's not much of a frosting like the regular carrot cake but the actual cake part is spot on!

I ate this whole bag of sweet potato chips before my night class on Thursday. It was so good! Good thing it wasn't regular potato chips, right? Haha. Don't judge me. I'm trying to make myself feel better. 

What made me feel even worse is that I went to Ecogrounds during the 15 minute break and bought the Mocha Javalanche. At least I said no whipped cream and asked for soy milk instead of the regular milk they use. It was a bit too sweet. It was hot that night and I needed the energy to stay awake. 

I also tried Starbucks Java Chip Light  Frappuccino. It was so good! 

Yesterday, I stopped by Fluid, the coffee shop where I go nearly every week when I go to work. I bought their Zen Smoothie, which is a green tea smoothie. They used soy ice cream in it! I also bought their oatmeal cookie, which had coconut, white chocolate chips and some dried fruit in it. It was so good and chewy. the smoothie had too much soy ice cream in it. I couldn't taste much of the green tea. Here's how both of the items look:

Well, I guess that's it. I just finished typing up my history paper and now, I have to work on my debate. I'll see you guys next time. My next post will be about school lunches.

How was your week?

What's your favorite thing to eat or drink when the weather gets hot?

No Body is Perfect

Fat. Thin. Fit. Slender. Chubby. Overweight. Underweight. Anorexic. Normal. Average.

Do you guys understand what I'm talking about? Well, I sure hope you guys do.

There are so many labels and names people call each other when it comes to the body.

"Wow. That person looks fit." "That person looks fat." "No, that person is not fat. They are normal."

Can you see where I am going with this? Our perception of what a normal body, an overweight, or thin body is skewed! We all have different views of it. And, you know what? It screws with how we view our own body. This is especially common among woman.

image from http://www.k-state.edu 

I'm going to be honest here. I don't like my body, but I am trying to accept it. My thighs are not the size I want them to be. It's the same with my arms. I want them smaller. However, I know that they are made of muscle. It's the good kind of bulk.

My friend who's naturally skinny wants to gain weight and bulk in her body. She says her thighs are small and she wants them bigger. So, she started weight training and running. And, you know what? She lost weight and got smaller and thinner. She's mad that she lost weight and inches. However, you can see her muscle definition better.

I, on the other hand, gained muscle and bulk was added. That's what happened when I added weight training to my routine. My thighs did not get smaller. They got thicker with muscle (which you can see). She wants her body to look like mines while I want mines to look like hers. As you see, the type of body one desires is different. Some want to be stick skinny while others want to look fit, curvy, and a bit muscular.

What I am trying to say is, everyone has something about their body they don't like. We shouldn't compare our bodies to others. Everyone is built differently. As long as you eat right and exercise, you will be at a good healthy weight and have the body type that's right for you.