Chocolate bran muffins

Ok boys and girls, this recipe was a special request from my boyfriend.  He loves chocolate and high fiber food.  I purposely did not make these very sweet.  Too sweet things sit on my counter until someone throws it away.  I think the chocolate chips are yummy blast of sweetness. If you want sweeter muffins you can add another tablespoon or two of agave but each tablespoon adds 1.2 grams of sugar.


1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. bran
1 T. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 T. cocoa powder
1 c. plain soy milk
3 T. ground flax seed
3/4 c. water
2 T. agave nectar
1 oz (by weight, not volume.) dark chocolate chips

Prepare 12 spots in a cupcake pan, preferably with cupcake papers but grease them if you don't have them.  Turn on the oven at 350˚.
Throw everything but the chocolate chips in a mixer.  Let it mix for about 3 minutes, if you're doing it by hand, mix it until your arm gets sore.  Mix in the chocolate chips.  Scoop it into your prepared cupcake pan and bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let them cool a bit then enjoy!

Nutrition facts for the whole recipe: 1120 calories, 220 carbs, 30g fat, 49g protein, 1010mg sodium, 45 GRAMS OF SUGAR
For each muffin: 95 calories, 18 carbs, 3g fat, 4 g protein, 84mg sodium, 4 GRAMS OF SUGAR

Black bean strawberry brownies

I'm trying something GLUTEN FREE!  OMG I'm so scared.  This recipe comes out to 4 grams of sugar per brownie.  FOUR GRAMS OF SUGAR PER BROWNIE! I'm kind of in shock.  I didn't know you could get such low sugar from something without pumping it full of odd chemicals.

1 15oz can of black beans drained and rinsed (about 1 1/2 cups if you cook dry beans.)
8oz strawberries
2oz unsweetened bakers chocolate
1tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c plain soy milk (or whatever kind of milk you use, just make sure it's not sweetened.)
3 T agave nectar
2 T cocoa powder
6 or 7 diced up strawberries
wax paper

Put everything but the diced up strawberries and wax paper into a blender or food processor and blend until it's smooth. Like really smooth, you shouldn't be able to tell that there was ever anything solid in there. Cover a baking sheet with wax paper and spread the mix evenly.  Sprinkle in your diced strawberries and stick it in a 350˚ oven for 20 minutes or until it's not squishy.

I cut them up into 16 pieces.

Nutrition facts for total recipe: 1009 calories, 163 carbs, 34g fat,  41g protein, 1599mg sodium (mostly from the beans, it's probably less since we rinsed our beans.), 68g sugar.

Per brownie: 63 calories, 10 carbs, 2g fat, 3g protein, 100mg sodium (probably less), 4 GRAMS OF SUGAR


Notes: The next time I do this recipe, I'm going to use a smaller pan or double the recipe. They came out very thin.  Also, I'm going to use the rest of the pint for the diced strawberries. I would have this time but there were some lost to nibbling.

Recipe Time: Sweet Potato Cookies

I have been looking for a way to have my cookies and keep my sugar intake low.  I think I got it with this recipe.  These cookies aren't very sweet and that's why I put raisins in them.  You can use nuts or chocolate chips instead if you so desire.

You will need
1 sweet potato
1 cup oatmeal
1 T shredded coconut unsweetened
2 T agave nectar
1 T butter or margarine
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp rum flavoring
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 cup raisins

Peel and cut the sweet potato into a large dice.  Boil the sweet pieces until tender.  Drain and mash, then let them cool for a few minutes.  Put everything except the raisins in a bowl and mix until even.  Mix in raisins.  Place tablespoon size balls of dough on a greased baking sheet.  I got 13 cookies out of the recipe.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes.  Let cool and enjoy!

The whole recipe has
899 calories, 177 carbs, 14 grams fat, 17 grams protein and 97 grams of sugar.
Divide that by 13 and each cookie has
69 calories, 14 carbs, 1 gram of fat, 1 gram of protein, and 7 grams of sugar.