I love healthy sweets!!

I am so proud of myself. I have been doing this hcg diet for the past month and am during the last phase where I get back to eating normal foods. For the time being, I still can't have sugar or flour (basically no carbs at all). After a month of that, I'm getting a little bored and craving sweets soooo much! So I searched all over the internet for flourless sugarless vegan brownies. There was nothing out there with all the requirements I had so I just made up my own!! And they taste AMAZING! Even Steven liked them! Granted, these do have some carbs in them and aren't the healthiest thing around, considering that they are brownies makes it great!! See the recipe below:



Flourless Sugarfree Vegan Brownies

Ingredients
• 1 can black beans drained and rinsed (390 cal)
• ½ cup of splenda (48 cal)
• ¾ cup unsweetened carob powder (300 cal)
• ½ teaspoon baking powder (3 cal)
• ½ teaspoon salt (0 cal)
• ½ cup water (0 cal)
• ¼ cup vegetable oil (482 cal)
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract (4 cal)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a blender or food processor, mix until well blended. Spread evenly in a 8x8 inch baking pan.
3. Bake for 45-50 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into 9 squares.

Nutrition Facts
• Entire pan of brownies = 1,227 calories
• 1 brownie = 136.3 calories


***I'm still tweaking this recipe a bit because the brownies were a tiny bit gooey. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm definitely interested in trying different things!

Adventure at the Old LA Zoo

Today we went exploring at Griffith Park at the Old Los Angeles Zoo. It was built in 1912 and was evacuated in 1965. It was so much fun to explore all of the old animal cages. The 2 hours we spent there was just not enough, I can't wait to go back!! A couple of tips:

1. Wear tennis shoes!! OOPS!

2. If you have a baby who can't walk, put him/her in the backpack style carrier, not a stroller - especially if you want to explore the cages.

3. Park in the back of the parking lot that says "Old LA Zoo Picnic Tables" and walk up the hill to get to the "zoo".

4. There are picnic tables all over so you can make a whole day of it! (I'm pretty sure I would LOVE to have P$'s first bday party there!!)

5. Make sure you don't look like you're trying to film without a permit. We saw several people get kicked out because of that.

6. I made a map with a little blue guy to show you where the park is. It's really confusing and there aren't a lot of directions available:



Here's some awesome pictures of our adventure! (You might notice that one of the caves I'm peeking out of looks familiar! It's where parts of Anchorman was filmed!)

Ouch!

Wow, this was like getting my pride hit with a metal baseball bat. Talk about stomping on my toes! But such a good reminder of my humanity.

Happy Niki Day!!!

I wanted to post separately really quick about my incredible niece, Niki. Today is the anniversary of the day God gave her back to us - twice! I'm so incredibly grateful to be a part of her amazing story! Love you Niki!!!!

Half Birthday!!!!

I know, I've been MIA on this blog since January, but it's been CRAZY here!! P$ is 6 months old and beginning to eat solid foods:



She's a healthy little giant. At 19.5 lbs and 28" tall, she's in the 96th percentiles. The dr. said that just means we'll get lots of comments on our baby that appears to be about 9 months old! She's as cute as ever, sitting up on her own, babbling constantly and chewing on her fingers (no teeth yet, though).






Steven has been busy working (well, not these past two weeks, but usually). We had such a great time visiting family in Oklahoma last week!! I'm still in school - only 3 weeks left in the quarter!!!! Then I have a whole month off, whew! So far, I've been able to stay home and hang out with P$ while doing little side jobs here and there. If anyone needs some help with anything, shoot me an email! The job I'm most looking forward to is making Cake Balls and Cake Pops for a bachelorette party, pictures to follow for sure! This week my goal is to post some pictures of things I have made to sell. Spread the word!!