Chocolate Chip Cookiedough

I have seen several renditions of this recipe on various blogs such as Not The Normal Teenage Fare and Chocolate-Covered Katie and I originally passed it up because I thought there was no way, it was too good to be true. Out of part curiosity, part sheer boredom and an intense sweet tooth I decided, why not give it a try. Now when I tried it at first I didn’t like it but after refrigerating it overnight, it was unreal. I even had my coworker try it just to make sure my taste buds were not deceiving me. Yes friends, this is a healthy recipe for “cookie dough”.

Ingredients

  • 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
  • 3+ tablespoons of PB (I added more at the end because it didn’t taste quite right)
  • 1/4 cup of maple syrup
  • 1/8 teaspoon of salt
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup of almond milk
  • 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
  • a dash or two of Stevia (or sugar) if desired
  • Chocolate chips

Directions

1. Throw it all in a food processor and mix until smooth. Dumb in your chockie chips stir and toss it in the fridge overnight. Wake up to an unbelievably tasty treat that you can literally eat by the spoonful and not feel (that) guilty. Glorious I tell you, just glorious.

I apologize in advance for this but we had a little doggie photo shoot last night before we went to bed and since I am totally obsessed with my babies, I just had to share these with you….

All three of my babies....so presh

Look at my Mr. Big manning his post….on my pillow! He sleeps above my head every night, it’s hilarious! That is until Lola comes and steels his spot….

Sleeping like an angel....on my pillow.....

Well hello Lola bear!

Well, there are about a million more of those but I’ll spare ya. I’m off to Minnesota for the weekend! Get ready for next week, I’ve got some epics recipes comin’ up! :)

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Weight Watchers Review

For the past couple of weeks I have been reviewing weight watchers product line. While I am not following the diet I have known several people who have and who have been very successful with it. I was curious how the food tasted relative to how healthy it was. Below is a run down of my pros and cons along with a review of each product I tried.

Pros:

  • Taste – I was very pleasantly surprised with how good everything was. It definitely didn’t taste like “diet” food or a frozen dinner.
  • I loved the convenience factor of these since I don’t always have time to make food the night before work or the morning of.
  • I liked that each dish had a healthy dose of protein – something a lot of people are lacking in their diet, especially women.

Cons

  • I thought the serving size was a bit too small and unrealistic for someone trying to lose weight. You never want to feel deprived on a diet so feeling full after a meal is very important.
  • I would have liked to have seen more vegetables. While it is easy to add them not many people will and I think that would help with the satiety issue.
  • I didn’t recognize some of the ingredients listed on the back, which concerns me. I was also a little uncomfortable about all the waste it was producing. I’m big on being “green” and all of the plastic containers bothered me a bit.

Mac & Cheese

Creamy, delicious and nostalgic – what’s not to like? I felt like a kid again, and I definitely did not feel like I was eating a lesser version, it could have been full fat for all I knew. In actuality it was only 250 calories and packed a whopping 11 grams of protein. I’d say a side of veggies and hummus would make this a go-to meal since I was still a bit hungry afterwards. (6 points)

Chicken Salad

This tasted better than it looked and this time, I was perfectly satisfied with the portion size. I had mine with crackers, veggies and my favorite Neuro Sonic but I think it would be equally as delicious in a wrap with spinach.

Three Cheese Ravioli

It was pretty funny because I had this while Corey made a regular version and the calorie difference was several hundred. Mine was only 310 and Corey’s…well, we won’t go there. Pasta can pack on the cals if you’re not careful so I was shocked to see it was below 400. It also had 3 grams of fiber and an impressive 15 grams of protein. Again, I would have liked to have seen some veggies but all-in-all, it was a great dish. And talk about not feeling deprived! Both of our meals looked the exact same! With one HUGE difference obviously! (6 points)

Baked Ziti

Another pasta dish but this one was only 220 cals and 11 grams of protein. I had to add some of my own parmesan  and a dash of salt but it was still pretty tasty. I don’t know if I was just extra hungry that night or if this wasn’t enough for me but I had to have a side of grilled veggies to be fully satisfied.

Meatloaf

Ok, this one isn’t as photogenic as the others but don’t judge a meatloaf by it’s picture – it was awesome! It was one of those comfort-food meals that brings you back to Grandma’s kitchen. This clocked in at 240 cals, 2 grams of fiber and 15 grams of protein. I washed this down with a banana and peanut butter and was full until dinner. (6 points)

Roast Turkey

I may be a little biased on this one because I am a total sucker for Thanksgiving dinner, especially stuffing! Needless to say, this was my favorite, and shocking low on the caloric scale (for what I expected). 250 cals, 1 gram of fiber, 22 grams of protein. I paired mine with a nice fruit salad (kind of an odd combo but it was hot out and that’s all I had in the fridge). (6 points)

Have you ever tried Weight Watchers products? What do you think?

Do you know someone who has tried it? What was the result?

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One small step for (wo)man, one giant leap for me!

While I am  not walking on the moon, today embarks a journey I never dreamed of taking ever before. Today marks day one of my 28-day challenge to eating a plant-powered diet with mostly fruits and vegetables along with whole grains, legumes, nuts an seeds. The diet is called the Engine 2 diet created by firefighter and professional athlete Rip Esselstyn. I will meet up with my fellow challengers once a week at Whole Foods to share our experience along the way and learn new cookies techniques.

Now, while I may be acting slightly dramatic comparing this to the first time a human stepped on the moon, this is a big deal for me because I loooooove animal products. So what exactly does “no animal bi-products” mean?

Here is what I can’t eat:

  • No dairy products – milk, cheese, butter, cream, yogurt or cottage cheese
  • No animal bi-products – red meat, pork, chicken, turkey, fish, or eggs, Anything that has a face or a mother is off-limits.
  • No oils – olive, canola, or corn.
Soooo, what can I eat?

  • Milk substitutes – soy, rice, almond, multi-grain and oat milk. I can also use applesauce, prunes, smashed bananas, fresh fruit, fruit juice or coffee in place of milk, oil, butter and eggs for cooking.
  • Meat substitutes – tofu, tempeh, wheat gluten, seitan, and veggie burgers
  • Oil substitutes – cooking spray (0 fat) water, juice, vegetable broth, beer or wine (Whew, at least I can have my wine!)
We had our kick-off dinner last night at the Whole Foods Market in Lincoln Park where all the bloggers got to meet each other, we got to meet Rip, we got to try out some vegan food and go home with some awesome goodies!

All of the participants

Rip and I are besties!

28 Day Challenge

My first all vegan meal!

My loot!

I am doing this for several reasons. First, I am always up for trying something new, especially if it can positively affect my health. Second, I want to see how my body reacts, positively and negatively. Third, I’m curious! I want to see if I can actually make it 28 days. Stay tuned to follow my journey along with some very new-to-this-blog recipes.

Question of the day:

1. Have you ever tried vegetarianism or veganism? If so, how/why did you get into it and how long did you stick to it? Was it an easy transition?

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