Peanut Butter is my New Chocolate!

Ever since I can remember, I've loved to bake.  Cookies, brownies, cakes, cupcakes, pies, bread, muffins - need I go on?  I thought it was going to be really hard to give these things up since they weren't part of the 24 Day Challenge.  Especially BROWNIES!!  I actually made it through the 24 Days without any trouble at all.  It's amazing how the cravings for sugar disappear when we put the right things in our body!

After completing my 24 Day Challenge, I started looking for healthy treats to bake.  Things with less sugar and fat.  After trying several recipes that used applesauce or bananas and not being thrilled, I came across two recipes that I really like.  Peanut butter is the main ingredient for both of these.  I've also substituted almond butter for part of the peanut butter, and that was absolutely delicious too.

Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies (detoxinista.com)
1 cup natural creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1 whole egg
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease an 8" square pan with butter or coconut oil.  In a small bowl, mix peanut butter, honey, egg, salt and baking soda until well combined, then fold in chocolate chips.  Pour/spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the top of blondies is a light golden brown.  Let cool and cut into bars.  Enjoy!

5 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies 
1 cup natural peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl.
Roll into 1 inch balls, or drop by rounded teaspoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheet.  Press the top of the cookies with the back of a fork to make a criss cross pattern.  Bake 10-12 minutes until the top of the cookies start to look dry.  Cool 1-2 minutes, then remove from cookie sheet and cool completely.
(I can't find the blog or site where I originally found this recipe!!  If it's yours, let me know so I can give you credit.  Thanks!)




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Changing How I Cook

Today is day 13 of my 24 Day AdvoCare Challenge.  I've finished the 10-day cleanse, and now I'm in the "Max" phase where you fill your body with great things to help reset your metabolism.  So in the midst of doing this Challenge, I've also changed what I'm eating (and what my family is eating - they have no choice, unless they are going to start cooking!).  Now when I shop, I'm stocking up on fresh fruits & veggies and lean protein.  My shopping path goes around the outside edges of the store - not up and down all the aisles.  I've been a label reader since I did WW several years ago, but now rather than looking at just calories, fat & fiber, I'm looking at all the additives & preservatives that are added to our food.  No wonder so many people are overweight!  And I've not visited my favorite lunch spot - where the slogan is "eat more chicken"  - in several weeks.  Although on my last few visits before the Challenge, my lunch consisted of the grilled chicken nuggets, fruit cup & water so that wasn't too bad.

The first result I noticed just a few days into the Challenge was I was losing the bloated feeling around my midsection (how attractive) and how great I felt!   If you need energy & focus and don't want to drink several cups of coffee, tea, energy or carbonated drinks, you should definitely try Spark.  Got my hubby to give Spark a try (he loves his energy drinks and I hate the way he crashes).  First he told me he wasn't going to drink the "juice", but he did, and he loves it.

By day 10, I'd dropped a few pounds and lost 9 inches overall.  I'm positive several more pounds will be shed by the end of day 24, and more inches.  This is actually the easiest thing I have ever done to lose weight/inches.  I promise if you give it a try, you will not be hungry - you eat every 3 hours so your metabolism doesn't slow down.

I've been looking for new recipes . . . "clean" recipes that are pretty much food in it's natural state without all the salt, preservatives, chemicals, etc.  We've had turkey - zucchini burgers from Jamie Eason's website.  Also used this recipe, but changed it up and made meatballs to serve with spaghetti squash.  Pretty yummy!    We've also tried the Clean Pizza that can be found on He and She Eat Clean.  Another hit at our house.

Tonight I created a crustless quiche (no white flour, no white sugar, etc.).  Here's what I did.

Crustless Quiche -

Spray bottom of glass baking dish with Olive Oil Pam.  Cover the bottom of the dish with a layer of baby spinach.  Now go crazy - start slicing & shopping up all the veggies you love - I used zucchini, baby bella mushrooms, red & yellow peppers, roma tomatoes, Vidalia onions.  Layer this on top of the spinach.  Then I took about 1 1/2 cups of non-fat cottage cheese and spooned that over the top of the veggies.  Because I did an 11 x 13 baking dish, I used 12 eggs.  Crack the eggs in a bowl and whisk til mixed well. Stir in about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of unsweet almond milk.  Add a pinch of  salt and some fresh ground black pepper.  Pour the egg mixture over the veggies.  Bake at 375 for about 35 minutes (or til the eggs are set).

I served this with link turkey sausage.
Fast, easy & delish!  Give it a try.

If you're interested in trying any of the AdvoCare products, or have questions, leave me a comment here or e-mail me at mary.vannus@yahoo.com

To learn about the many wonderful products AdvoCare offers, use this link - https://www.advocare.com/120417347/