Black bean Brownies

About a month ago I was letting the hours of my life slowly slip away from me over at pinterest when I saw a pin for flourless brownines from Skinnytaste.com. I was skeptical to say the least. Black bean brownines? Uh...yeah, that sounds awesome. So of course I had to try it. I followed her recipe exactly and I have to say that I was kind of amazed. No butter, no flour and yet, somehow they were incredibly delicious brownies.

I loved the Skinnytaste brownies but you know the saying; if it ain't broke- tweak it. I stayed pretty true to her recipe on my second go but I cut down on the sugar by a quarter cup, added a bit of cinnamon because I just have this thing about cinnamon and chocolate and I cut the chocolate chips down to 1/4 cup. This part was actually an accident. I was intending to cut it down to 1/2 a cup but realized after I spread the batter in the baking pan that I had forgotten to stir in the first 1/4 cup so I just sprinkled that cup on the top.

Now, I will admit that so far I like the original better. BUT these brownies are still rather good and they are only 2 points each if you're on Weight Watchers. Which is kind of amazing.
I'm planning on playing around with this recipe some more. Next time I'm going to give a go at veganizing it!

There are always casualties in the Hunger Games.

Crazy Tasty Love

Valentine’s Day and I have a bit of a rocky past. I haven’t always spent the day rocking back and forth in fetal position. locked in a dark room- but it’s never exactly been a wonderland of flowers and candy and admiration. Last year was particularly difficult.  But that was last year and this year I had a lovely day- except for the part where I had to go work, but we’ll just wave the magic wand of fuzzy memory and pretend that part was a bad dream.

For Valentine’s Day brunch my baby and I went to CrazyBeans, one of our favorite spots. It’s cozy and quirky and fun; it’s the kind of coffee shop that makes you want to open a coffee shop. Plus, the food is really, really good. It’s a little bit of a drive from where I’m currently living but I’d much rather be hanging out at Crazy Beans than Starbucks. Hands down. 

Look at that beauty. And now I want another one. Never blog hungry, folks

They’re not a vegetarian establishment but they are vegetarian friendly and have always been more than happy to make substitutions. One of my favorites is their Huevos Locos burrito which I swap out bacon for avocado and it is fantastic every time. And their pumpkin pie pancakes are the best pumpkin pancakes I’ve had anywhere so far.  

It was a good Valentine's Day this year. I got to spend time with the man I love at a coffee shop I love eating food I love. What made this day so particularly good was that it wasn't forced or fake. We weren't trying too hard to be something uber romantic and Hallmarky, we were just us enjoying being us and sharing heart shaped pancakes.

#polarvortexproblems

You ever have one of those days when you just don’t want to think about anything? Like, you try really hard to think about algebra or the intense creepiness of Supernatural Sam/Dean fan fiction or puppies but instead your brain just makes a low whirring noise? That would be me today. My brain has been sputtering occasionally but it’s mostly white noise up there. I am thinking perhaps it has frost bite.

Snow days were more fun when I was a kid and I didn’t have to use up my paid vacation time in order to stay home where it is warm and there is slightly less risk of being involved in a car accident. Back then I didn’t have to deal with call-out guilt either. Nothing ruins a sick or snow day quite like call-out guilt. To combat that guilt I decided I was going to be productive.

I was prepared. I had a list of topics that I wanted to blog about.

I looked at the list and then looked at my computer, and the blinking cursor of judgment, and then back at the list. And I realized that I just have no desire to think today. I care about all of these topics enough to have written them down so that they would not be lost in the dusty corridors of my feeble brain and here I am, sitting on my couch with the leisure to write about them for hours and hours if I like. And yet….

I keep looking out the window at the snow that just won’t quit. It feels like it’s been snowing for about two years and, much like the Congressman who had concerns about too many troops causing Guam to tip over, I am worried about my poor little island giving in and sinking to the bottom of the Atlantic or perhaps floating off somewhere. That’s how islands work, right? Too much weight and we lose our structural integrity and become unmoored. Right? I’m thinking Long Island is just about ready for that. And spring just feels so far away. Maybe we’ll float off somewhere warm and I’ll want to go outside again. Or maybe we’ll be the new Atlantis. Do you think they’ll be wi-fi in New Atlantis?

When all else fails, cook. How bout some Drunken Tofu Scramble to combat that call-out guilt?