I NEED CHOCOLATE!!! Clean Chocolate Brownies with Chocolate Almond Frosting

We all know that you can still over eat when you're eating clean.  Although I acknowledge this entirely, I also realize that when we have a sweet craving, it's going to need to be satiated, with either something good, or something bad.  So let's discuss here, the something good.  I was inspired by an Instagram post by @drcharo that was a zucchini brownie with frosting, and man did it look delicious.  My versions didn't come out quite as thick as hers, as I chose to use maple syrup as a sweetener rather than a stevia or coconut sugar blend, but they were super delicious all the same.  I will admit here that I certainly licked the spoon more times than I should have, and this probably led to some extra calories I didn't need.  Hey!  At least it was all natural sugars!!!

INGREDIENTS:
Brownies:
- 1/2 cup Almond or Peanut Butter
- 1 whole Egg and 3 Egg Whites
- 1 tbsp. Baking Powder
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 2 cups Shredded Zucchini
- 1/2 cup Maple Syrup

Frosting:
- 1/4 cup Coconut Oil
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1/4 cup Honey
- 1/4 cup Chopped Almonds




DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine peanut butter (or almond if that's what you chose), eggs, cocoa powder, baking powder, zucchini and maple syrup in bowl, and beat on medium speed until well combined.  If you choose to use a powdered sweetener the batter will be on the thick side. If you used maple syrup, it will definitely be thinner in consistency.
3. Place batter into 13 x 9 greased (or parchment lined) pan. Spread the mixture around to make it even throughout the pan.
4. Place in over at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until center is cooked through.  Remove from the oven and let cool.
5. While the brownies are cooling, put coconut oil, almond milk, and cocoa powder in a microwave safe bowl.  Place in microwave and cook for 1-2 minutes, or until coconut oil is melted.  Remove from microwave and add the honey to the bowl.  Whisk well, until all ingredients are combined.  Add chopped almonds and mix well.
6. When brownies have completely cooled, pour frosting over the top and allow to set.
7.  Enjoy!

All of these ingredients are all whole, there is no refined flour and every sweetener is natural.  This is not to say that they do not contain a decent amount of sugar, but as long as you don't overindulge, you're getting your sweets fix and getting awesome super foods like coconut oil, zucchini, peanut butter and cocoa.  Dr. Charo's recipe has a little less sugar than mine, but she claims that her version has 89 calories, 8g of fat, 3g of carbs and 6 g of protein per brownie with 15 total brownies.  I cut mine into 18, and didn't factor in the additional sugar here, but it's certainly not a lot higher than what she posts (as long as you don't eat the whole pan).

Chocolate Shakeology Peanut Butter and Jelly Fudge

For those of you who aren't in our Shakeology cult (which you should be because it will change your life forever), you must realize that we drink this shake daily, and using any nutritional supplement daily can get a tad bit boring.  That's not to say that the recipes that we get sent every month aren't unbelievable, and there are a multitude of recipes on the web for people to switch it up and make it new and exciting, and that's part of the reason that I'm here.  I used to use protein powder in a lot of different recipes, however as my clean eating evolved, so did my understanding about what was in most protein powders, and so I eliminated it from my diet.  However, when I started on Shakeology a few months back, I realized that there was a whole new world of opportunities for those recipes out there that do include protein powder, so I have taken it as my personal mission to find as many ways possible to incorporate this super dense, super-food meal supplement in my life in a variety of forms.

Not all of these recipes with be the 'healthiest' of snacks or meals.  There is, indeed, a difference between this recipe, and a recipe for a shake or protein pancake.  Nonetheless, I think it's important that we have a variety of avenues for any food to remain a constant in our diet, and so that is what I will achieve.  Today's recipe admittedly has a large amount of sugar, albeit natural sugars, they are still sugars. Therefore, you shouldn't make a pan of this fudge, sit in front of your TV, and stuff your face with the entire pan.  But, on those days when you're rummaging through your pantry or fridge looking for something to satiate that sweet chocolate desire, this will do just that. And rather than it being a Milky Way or Snickers, it will be something that has tons of antioxidants, nutrients, and proteins, especially when you add in all the nuts and berries that are combined into the fudge.  This recipe was modified from Averie Cooks, and looked so simple and delicious that I just couldn't help trying it out with Shakeology.  So here we go!

Ingredients:
- 3/4 c. honey (or brown rice syrup, agave nectar, maple syrup)
- 3/4 c. peanut butter (I used Teddy's All Natural Smooth)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 c. Chocolate Shakeology
- 1/3 c. diced dried cranberries (or diced raisin, dried blueberries, or dried fruit of your liking)
- 1/3 c. chopped almonds (or other nuts, or omit)
- 8x8 disposable aluminum baking pan sprayed with Pam



Note:  This is a fast moving recipe so have everything ready to go before you begin and work quickly through the steps.

Directions:
1.  Pour the honey into a medium-sized sauce pan and heat over medium-high heat until it almost begins to boil; turn of heat.
2.  Add the peanut better and stir until smooth.  Add the vanilla extract and stir, using caution as it could bubble up a bit.
3.  Add the protein powder and stir, taking care to work quickly because batter will get increasingly stiff as time elapses.  Quickly fold in the diced fruit and peanuts.
4.  Spread over the bottom of the 8x8 pan and place in freezer for a minimum of 90 minutes.  Remove from the freezer and slice fudge into desired size.

I would suggest keeping the fudge either in the freezer, and taking it out 5-10 minutes before you want to eat it, or in the fridge.  Otherwise, at room temperature, it may get a little bit soft.  This one's a keeper for sure, so ENJOY!!!

Keep Moving.  Keep Strong.  PUSH PLAY EVERYDAY!

Orange-Scented Almond and Olive Oil Muffins:

Breakfast Synergy at It's Best

I truly believe that breakfast is the most important part of any person's day.  It's a hard reality that skipping this meal basically sets you up for food-failure the rest of the day.  EAT BREAKFAST PEOPLE!

I'm done yelling. Now, this is basically one of my, "Look how yummy your day can begin!" pictures, and it can, but the focus here should be on the muffin in the upper part of the picture that looks so sad and alone.  I came across this recipe, again watching Giada on Food Network, while doing some other mundane task, and said to myself, "I like Almond Flour, and OJ, and Greek yogurt, and EVOO!"  But, more importantly, I LOVE muffins!  So I rolled my sleeves up, turned on the Kitchen Aid and made some muffins.

Orange-Scented Almond and Olive Oil Muffins

I did, of course make two important substitutions when making these muffins.  First, I eliminated the sugar for Stevia, and in place of the AP flour I substituted Whole Wheat Flour.  I've found that at times this change in flour can make baked goods a little denser in texture (not unbearable, just different), but because it's mixed with Almond flour in this recipe, you barely notice the difference at all.  The are SOOOO delicious, and the best part is that your entire house smells like citrus and almonds while you're cooking.  

But, remember, a single muffin does not a meal make!  Eat your muffin as your carb/grain/fiber, but add some FF Greek yogurt or Cottage Cheese, some fruit, and maybe some egg whites.  You'll feel like a new person at the beginning of your day, and an even better person at noon when your stomach isn't cursing you for feeding it that Special K bar (which BTW has nothing but crap in it, so just walk by the damn box in the grocery store and leave it for some other person).