Last day to enter my Element Bars Giveaway. Don’t forget that there are three ways to enter!!!!

Boys and girls. Don’t ever pay full price at the Gap. Things go on super sale too quickly for that. Remember these shorts I tried on two weeks ago? Yep, half price yesterday. Yippee! I used to only get shorts that came to my knee, but I tried these on in a moment of spunk and kinda liked ‘em.

What else?

My chocolate breakfast yesterday didn’t hold me over very long (not a lot of substance there), so I soon assembled a big bowl of Greek Yogurt, strawberries and flax. My favorite thing about strawberries is how each one, each bite of one even, has a unique taste. Some bites are super sweet, some a little tart. I just love it! 

I’ve also become obsessed with Dijon mustard and broccoli. I’ve been putting loads of (microwave) steamed broccoli on my salad and loading up on Dijon mustard and apple cider vinegar. It’s fantastico!

Many people commented on the sugar content of the NaSoya Silken Creations from my breakfast smoothie yesterday. Specifically, everyone noticed the large amount of sugar and small amount of protein in a serving. I completely agree, but wanted to point out that a typical 6 oz. container of fat free flavored yogurt has more sugar (about 26 g compared to 18 or 20) and only about 4 more grams of protein (7 g compared to 3). Interesting, right?

That said, I it is probably better for a treat or dessert, so I embraced that thought and made some brownies with the rest of the package. I followed the recipe online, but reduced the amount of sugar, used whole wheat flour and used 1 T of oil instead of butter. They were similar to No Pudge Brownies – a little cake-like. Mark really liked them – there are only 3 left!

Mark and I snacked on these while completing the Firefly series. The last episode is ridiculous. There’s a creepy spaceman in a red leather suit and it’s just awesome! And yes, I watched the entire hour long 14 episodes in 3 days. Don’t judge, I’m tapering!

Some other notes:

• Check me out – I’m Mara’s Guest for Dinner, which means I revealed a “recipe” for this delicious dinner.

• Because I finished Firefly now I can watch the movie, Serenity.
• I am picking up my race packet for the Brooklyn Half Marathon today – definitely a first! Are you running this race? Let me know!!!!!

Finally, thank you for the positive feedback on my previous post. I like to be honest and open because I am just a normal person who had these problems and I figure someone reading might relate.

I would love to hear your story of self-acceptance regardless of where you are in that journey.

You can substitute Agave for any sweetener in a recipe. For example,

• Honey: Replace each cup of honey with one cup of agave syrup.
• Corn Syrup: When replacing a cup of light corn syrup, use 1/2 as much agave, and increase other liquids in the recipe by up to 1/3 of a cup. Like corn syrup, agave nectar will not crystallize.
• White Sugar: For each cup of white sugar replaced, use 2/3 of a cup of agave and reduce other liquids by 1/4 to 1/3 cup.
• Brown Sugar: For each cup of white sugar replaced, use 2/3 of a cup of agave and reduce other liquids by 1/4 cup.
• Check out this link for a full list of substitution ratios.

On Saturday I made two kinds of Vegan Brownies with agave nectar.

The first was Agave Vegan Brownies, a take on these brownies, minus the cinnamon and walnuts. The result was a fudgy and moist brownie, which I love – almost like the batter wasn’t quite baked enough! Agave is quite sweet and so these brownies are quite sweet. Mark kept asking if they were made with fruit, specifically, he tasted prunes. I think this might be because he assumes I bake with weird things, but they were very sweet. Next time I would either reduce the amount of agave, or add the cinnamon to cut the sweetness. I would mention that these required much more than 15 minutes of baking.

In the second batch, Pecan Butter & Cinnamon Brownies, I used the cinnamon and added about 1/2 cup of fresh Pecan Butter. I enjoyed the layers of taste that the cinnamon and Pecan Butter added better than the super sweet first batch, but they were a little dry. The texture of these was more like a solid piece of fudge than a moist or gooey brownie.

The moral of this baking story is that baking with agave is fun and delicious!

And if you want your very own agave nectar you are in luck!!!!! I am donating a bag of Trader Joe’s goodies to Angela’s Shop 4 A Cause. One item in the goody bag is Trader Joe’s Organic Blue Agave Sweetener!!!