I almost burnt my house down this week. Well maybe not, but my grill scared the hell out of me. I did what you should never do and grill chicken on a dirty grill. I honestly did not think it was that bad, but when I saw black smoke pluming out of my grill I totally panicked. I quickly turned on the garden hose only to notice that it was still attached to sprinklers so I proceeded to unscrew the hose while getting sprayed in the face and finally put out the fire. If someone was filming me, I think that everyone would get a good laugh. I was soaked, I smelled like smoke, and my chicken was charcoaled not charbroiled. I am a little scared of the grill now, but I will get over it fast. A success story this week is my son and I made some great brownies.
I know brownies are not healthy except maybe for the pleasure center in the brain, but I tailored the recipe so that they are better for the body and will trick my pleasure center. I have to admit that immediately wanted a brownie after my fire mishap. I needed the comfort, so I had half a brownie. I know that the healthcare world would shun me for eating something for comfort and I can see their point, but I can also see my point and this is the difficulty so many of us encounter every day. Sometimes I think sugar, fat, and salt are as addictive as a drug because they activate the same place in our brains in conjunction with the nice satiated feeling in our stomachs. How do we stop it? I don’t know if I have the answer to that question, but I do know that it takes a balance of different aspects.
There is self-discipline. We must eat a healthy selection of foods 90% of the time. I pay attention to what I eat and this takes some practice and is easily ignored so this does not work for everyone, but I urge everyone to try and keep a food journal for a month and decide if it suits you or not. I also think that meal planning also helps, but leave some room for spontaneity. I really think what helps me the most is that I encounter food like an artist would with paint. Really, I think everyone has that talent. This is how I pay attention to food with all five senses and relish how it makes me feel. I think of food as an adventure from the garden and store to my plate. Change some things around in the routine for loving reasons not because you have to. That will never work. Creativity is a great way to relax. Invite someone over and share your creativity and if it involves dessert, don’t feel guilty about it.
There are some challenges to my techniques and I am trying to pick apart these challenges and find solutions. Examples of these challenges are the absolute refusal to change eating habits, food deserts, lack of knowledge, lack of time, and lack of money, and lack of self-esteem or a combination of these. I am discovering how to encounter this, but it takes some research. I will probably be writing about them in later blogs. Now on to the brownies. I wish I had a picture, but they are gone.
5 oz of bittersweet chocolate chopped or chips
¾ cup brown sugar
¼ cup of almond meal
¼ cup of sorghum flour
¼ cup of tapioca starch
¼ cup of coconut flour
½ cup pureed prunes (I use two jars of baby food prunes, you could use applesauce, but the prunes accentuate the chocolate flavor)
¼ cup butter or other oil of preference
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp xanthan gum
½ tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1 ½ tsp of vanilla extract
Butter or spray cooking oil on 12x9x2 inch pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients with the exception of chocolate and brown sugar in bowl. Combine sugar, eggs, prune puree and vanilla in larger bowl. Melt butter and chocolate in microwave in 30 second increments or saucepan on low heat and stir until smooth. Add chocolate to wet ingredients and then add the flour mixture and combine and mix until glossy and smooth.
Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. These brownies will have a lighter fudgy texture than your ordinary brownie, but they are very yummy. I am pretty sure you could sub all-purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour, maybe ¾ cup. Let me know how it works out.
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