Thursday, August 21, 2008

Dark Chocolate Banana Brownies

I made iced coffee last night, and before leaving the house this morning I made one with 1/2 cup of light chocolate soy milk and 1 tbsp of light Hershey's chocolate syrup. It was gone when I pulled into the parking garage.
At work I had a breakfast of 1/2 cup of oats, 2 medium farm fresh peaches, and 3 ounces of 0% Fage. This was super filling and I couldn't finish the last couple bites.

I packed a container of grapes to snack on during the day. For all the comments on the colorful grapes, 10 varieties of grapes are on sale at my grocery store for 99 cents a pound, so I really stocked up on the seedless types they had. So there are green, black, and red seedless grapes. I had some of these grapes at 11am.


I went to the gym at noon to get in a weight workout. I did a variety of bicep, triceps, and back exercises. I did a few abs, but not too many. Also the walk to my gym is about 6 or 7 blocks, I should measure actual distance sometime.
I ate lunch after the gym. I ate a individual microwavable serving packet of Annie's Natural Mac & Cheese (I love that they don't use animal enzymes), I added 1 tbsp of 0% Fage, 1/3 cup Morningstar Crumbles, and 1/3 cup of frozen peas. This was such a yummy lunch. I also decided to eat the rest of my grapes.
Around 4pm I started to get hungry in my head. I wasn't hungry in my stomach but I started getting sort of light headed. So I decided to go to Starbucks to get a Mocha Light Frap. I had decided that would keep me full until getting home for dinner.

I got home at 7pm and had a WONDERFUL meal cooked by my husband. This morning Steve threw together his Vegetarian Chili into the Crock Pot and cooked it on low for 8 hours. The house smelled amazing when I walked in. I enjoyed a bowl of chili with a salad and a slice of English Toasting Bread from the bakery at a local farm. This isn't whole wheat, but it is pretty good.


This means lots of leftovers:

After dinner it was time for one of the Dark Chocolate Banana Brownies I made last night. I topped it with light cool whip and some Hershey's light chocolate syrup.


And after the dessert I used our treadmill (we bought one from Dick's Sporting Goods last weekend), I did one of the programs that changes the incline and speed. I only did 25 minutes.

Last night, I saw some very ripe bananas on our counter and I asked my husband what I should make, he requested banana chocolate chip bars that I made the week before we went away, I vetoed that idea. I decided I wanted to find a recipe for banana brownies. He was skeptical. I searched around online and put together and modified based on a couple I saw. Steve loves these and thought they might have been one of my best creations so far. You might find them to be a little closer to chocolate cake than brownies. So here is the recipe for Dark Chocolate Banana Brownies:

Ingredients:
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup boiling water
4 egg whites
1-1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions: Preheat oven at 350. In a small bowl, combine oats and boiling water; let stand for 5 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites, bananas, sugars, oil and vanilla until blended. Combine the dry ingredients; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in the oat mixture. When stirring in the oat mixture you might notice it is lumpy. I was lazy and did end up with some oatmeal lumps in the baked brownies, but I thought it was great that way.
Spread into a 13-in. x 9-in. pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean (do not overbake).
Tomorrow is Friday : )

12 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

SO sweet of your husband to make that delectable dinner; and your brownies sounds sensational as well!!

Olga said...

I LOVE chili so much! My roommates and I got a crock pot for next semester, hoping to cook things all day and have deliciousness to come home to after class on those late nights.

Your dessert also looks unbelievable! And how cool that you got a treadmill! I would run on one all the time if I had it =]

Fitnessista said...

that was so nice of your husband to make dinner- i LOVE chili!! chili leftovers are even better since the flavors get to set it.
i can't wait to try your banana brownie recipe!! yum!
happy friday!

Melissa and Eric said...

Thanks for visiting my blog! Freezing soup in bags seems crazy, but any time that I do it in tupperware it gets "freezer funk". Just make sure you buy the high quality bags verses they generic- there is definitely a difference. Oh, and I lay it flat to freeze so that it takes up less space. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Ohh man that recipe looks so good with the brownies... how many brownies did it make?
I love morning star crumbles in pasta dished!

Aimee said...

Christie -
The recipe makes a big pan (13 inch by 9 inch pan), but I can't give you a number because my husband loves huge brownies, so I don't cut them, I let him decide how big, and I cut mine to be my size:)

Anonymous said...

Those brownies sound just YUM - I've never made a dark chocolate baked good before!

Mmm, I love chili too! And a huge pot is great - your husband is very sweet.

I got the Udi's in the mail today!! Thank you soooo much :o)

Danielle said...

Dark. Chocolate. Banana. Brownies.

and after a husband-home-cooked meal.

You landed the jackpot tonight :) Have a great weekend!

Anonymous said...

Aimee,
Thank you so much for hooking me up with Udi's granola! They are so generous with their samples. I recieved 4x4 pound bags and samples of the other flavors. This is funny too. . .I'm eating Fage, my new oat-granola, and a peach. Right this second, lol, weird.

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

I'll admit it: I skipped down to the bottom of your post because I couldn't wait to see about those dark chocolate banana brownies. They sound so good!

Rod Newbound said...

I prefer honey over sugar as sugar is only empty calories. And, because it's absorbed directly into the blood stream from your stomach, it upsets the chemical balance in the body,

But, with that slight substitution, I'll definitely try your recipe for brownies. I've never even considered using bananas in brownies, but the idea is quite appealing.

Thanks,
Rod

Aimee said...

Rod - let me know if the honey works well, another alternative to sugar I may try is Agave Nectar.

Veggiegirl and Chocolatecoverdvegan, I want to try to make a vegan version of these brownies, do you think it would be possible?