Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Birthday Party, Brownies and GIVEAWAY

Nope, not my birthday! It was my little cousin's 16th birthday yesterday and of course a party ensued. I snapped a picture of my plate because I wanted to let you guys know that I definitely don't eat healthy all the time. I am a strict believer in the 80/20 rule - if I eat good, wholesome food 80% of the time, I don't feel at all bad about giving into snack attacks and chowing down pizza the other 20% of the time.

My plate was actually underwhelming for my normal party eats, but that was because I had already previously stuffed myself on some other goodies that I'll get to soon enough, don't you worry!


A little pizza, some slice pink lady apple and baby carrots with sour cream dip. Yeahhh buddy. And if you think I didn't snag a piece of the ice cream cake, then we simply can no longer be friends. Because you apparently don't know me at all.


Why hello there you little slice of Dairy Heaven. I topped this off with a few bites of my uncle's homemade chocolate hazelnut gelato. Perfection. I could have died a happy girl.

For breakfast this morning, I needed something nice and clean to settle my partied-out tummy. I really wasn't feeling anything I would normally eat, so I went the savory route (which is totally weird for me, no lie).


A two egg white puff + half slice of provolone + garlic scape pesto/mayo mix = one hunger destroying breakfast.


With a little nectarinage on the side. I think we all know by now I can't go a meal without some type of fruit.


Not as pretty when it's sandwiched together, but I promise it tastes foodgasmic. I've found a lot of uses for this pesto: putting it on toast, in sandwiches and wraps and using it as a sauce for pasta! So versatile and so very very good.

Now that all that is out of the way - on to the REAL reason for this post! And that would be this new little creation of mine. I give you the Chocolate Chickpea Brownie.


My heart is all aflutter. Let me explain how this whole thing came about. Last night, I was really in the mood for chocolate chip cookies. I have been playing around with different flours lately, so I decided to try some chickpea flour as the base. I was also trying to make these as healthy as possible so I used a wide variety of subs instead of butter and sugar. Somehow - this turned the batter a brownish color.

"Oh well," I declared, "I'll just make them chocolate chocolate chip cookies!" Ah, the genius of me. So I added cocoa powder and continued on my merry way. It soon became apparent, however, that the batter was way too thick and there was no chance in hell I'd be turning it into little cookies.

"Fine," I said still trying to retain my optimism, "I can turn you into brownies. Either way, I'm gonna eat you when this is over." Now came the time to taste the batter (a totally crucial step, let's be honest) and there's really just no other way to say it. TERRIBLE. Oh my god, it tasted straight awful! I was thoroughly depressed, but I had come this far and I was baking the freaking things one way or the other.

Now pretty irritated, I went to take out my 8x8 pan. Turns out, I don't have one. Nice. So I was forced to improvise with the lasagna pan. Now they were also going to be really flat brownies. It just keeps getting better.

I slopped the gross brownie batter into the pan, spread it around and all but threw it into the oven. When the buzzer when off about 17 minutes later, I took them out, slammed them on the counter and waited for the disgusting things to cool off. However, when I cut them up and tried a piece just for curiousity sake, something amazing happened. They were freakin awesome. Seriously, they were so good! I inhaled one on the spot and then ate another two seconds later with blueberries and whipped cream!! I have no idea how it happened, but somehow those 17 minutes turned my brownies from blah to bomb!


Moral of the Story: It ain't over till it's over. Or something like that.

Chocolate Chickpea Brownies
1 1/4 cup chickpea flour
3/4 cup raw sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup almond milk
1 Tbsp molasses
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degress F. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder in a large bowl. Beat in egg, oil, molasses, vanilla and almond milk. Once thoroughly mixed, stir in chocolate chips. Spray an 8x8 (or lasagna) pan with cooking spray and add batter. Spread until it evenly fills the pan. Bake for 15-20 mins or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Promptly devour.

Wanna take a guess at the calories of these bad boys? Cut into 18 pieces (huge pieces if you're lasagna ready like me), they come in at a mere 100 calories per square! Move over VitaTops - Alycia's in a whole new ball game.

But you know what? I know you're busy and I know not all of you have chickpea flour (I have the Bob's Red Mill variety by the way) so why not let me make them for you? That's right! It's giveaway time!

CHOCOLATE CHICKPEA BROWNIE GIVEAWAY!
Three (3) lucky readers will receive a package of Chocolate Chickpea Brownies
lovingly handmade by yours truly! I might also be tempted to throw some other
goodies in there too if you're lucky (;

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment! If you'd like to earn an extra entry,
just tweet about the giveaway and leave a comment saying you did so!

And that's it! You don't need to add me to your blogroll or friend me on facebook (am I the only one who kind of dislikes those?), just leave a comment and three winners will be randomly selected Thursday, July 15 at 12:00 pm [*extended to make it 24 hours]! Good luck my little love bloggies!

45 comments:

  1. Woo Hoo! Those brownies look great! Enjoy! Nice giveaway!

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  2. Hysterical. You would go toe-to-toe with the brownies. They look friggin delish. But I am also drooling over the homemade chocolate hazelnut gelato. I mean that was made from angels?

    Are you seriously going to hand-make them?! I could just air hug the daylights out of you. Too cute!

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  3. awesome!!! these look great! i love when funny things like that happen!! crossing my fingers :)

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  4. Gotta love it when things turn around completely. Thumbs up and high fives!

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  5. Oh, had to comment that I too hate all the add me here post me there "musts" is it really about the giveaway or gaining more hits?

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  6. Shooot yeah I want some homemade brownies. I RTed you from @sunshineme3. Yum yum yum.

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  7. homemade gelato?? I need that!

    I'd love to win a little prize package from you! And if I had twitter, I would totally tweet you. :)

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  8. Those brownies look delicious! I have the same issue with sauces that I make. If the ingredients seem like they would be good together, they probably will be. I just have to stop trying the sauce before I cook it!

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  9. I really dislike having to jump through hoops for contests. Just a comment should be enough - lol!

    I am following you on twitter just because you amused me today!

    Have a great day
    @jeninRL
    www.jeninreallife.com
    jeninreallif@yahoo.com

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  10. woooooohoooooooooooo for brownies made by an amazing girl like you!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I truly believe in the 80/20 rule too!!!! I feel its the best way to live, seriously, you cant be strict all the time, to keep sane I have cheat days!!!

    Love u! Happy Birthday to your cousin! 16 is a big bday!!!!

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  11. Phenomenal creativity girl! Well done ;) I've had a few recipes like that..mostly blah and baking turns them into a sweet powerhouse dominating my mouth!

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  12. I'm so impressed by your brownies! I've tried to make a healthy version of brownies with chickpeas before with dates, and I wasn't so pleased with my own. I'd love to try them!

    Also--that breakfast looks delish, yum!

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  13. Hi there. Brownie me please! And I would tweet - but the thought of becoming a tweeter is something I am not reading for yet. LOL. I have resisted for so long:) xoxox

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  14. I would love to win those bc I'm GF and chickpea flour is GF.. yayyy!!!

    Btw, the taste of GF flours does taste funny. I can never eat raw batter anymore because it has this bitter taste to it -- so totally common!!

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  15. Just tweet tweeeted! http://twitter.com/KatieHeddleston

    Thanks for making it simple :)

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  16. whoa- 100 calories? That's great for a brownie lover like me! I can say without a doubt that my previously blogged full-fat brownies fall into the 20% category! :) I'd love to try them!

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  17. Sometimes the weird experiments turn out the best! These look awesome so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

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  18. I'm in awe of your creativity and baking genius. It ain't over till it's over, indeed. If I don't win this thing, I really need to get my hands on some chickpea flour and make a batch for myself!

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  19. Those sound delicious and so unique! Even if I don't win..I will be trying this recipe sometime!

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  20. holy efff are you really gonna do that? you are epic!
    those look soo good. i'd love to win them but i don't eat eggs so i'm probably disqualified. unless you'd be able to do a flax egg for me..if that was the case i would probably die from excitement. :D
    andddd i tweeted about this @southernbritish!

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  21. Chickpeas in brownies?! Love both individually and love the idea of them together. Healthy brownies can't miss in my book.

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  22. Mmm... I want these! :)

    ...and GAAH that's why I made that type of entry a "bonus" for my giveaway... :( because I don't really like them either... well, I want people to want to add... well, gosh anyway. GAAH.

    :) you're totally on my blogroll because I WANT you there. :)

    I'm so glad these worked out... its a good thing you went with it after tasting! they sound amazing and I would LOVE to try some.

    ...if I don't win, we should do a bloggie exchange. :) well, even if I do win, I always send something back! :)

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  23. Hahaha I don't think any less of you Kristina! But thank you, lol you are on my blogroll because I wanted you to be as well (:

    And I'm definitely down for the bloggie exchange anytime!!

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  24. No way. AWESOME for you to give some of these suckers away. Since I am an epic failure at baking, this would be a lovely surprise to find out what success tastes like.

    Oh and PS I work in marketing. Let's work up a business plan and knock Vitatops outta the water!

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  25. You're uncle makes gelato? You are such alucky duck! Awesome job on the brownies! I'd love to try them.

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  26. Ohhh my gosh - gelato? Brownies?!?! Brownies made with chickpea flour - even better! This is amazing!

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  27. Looks like some good party food to me! Love a good veggie dip. Ummmm those chickpea brownies? I just bookmarked this and cannot wait to make them! And would be MORE than thrilled if I actually won them. Homemade giveaways are way better than products ;)

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  28. Interesting... at first I thought you had used actual chickpeas (just from the title) but I like the idea of chickpea flour!

    And hells yeah DQ cake <3

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  29. Chickpea brownies? I have to try them! Maybe I would feel a little better about eating 4 in one sitting, haha.

    And I have never had gelato. Gosh, I'm so deprived of deliciousness!

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  30. Chickpea brownies sound awesome!!!

    I'm also now craving some ice cream cake!

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  31. please oh please, let me win!

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  32. Aww how cute of you to give away your awesome eats! Count me in - they sound incredible!

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  33. Mmmm, ice cream cake. We so could be friends! Love the brownies!

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  34. I love this giveaway b/c its you and its thoughtful!

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  35. haha that recipe is awesome! never would have thought to sub chickpea flour but now i know that if i'm ever desperate (and happen to have chickpea flour on hand for some odd reason) i can make brownies!! i'm not sure if your giveaway applies to canadian addresses but it could be fun to see if mysterious brownies clear customs! :)

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  36. gluten-free omg YESS!! i want all ur food actually but i could settle for some delicious Fit n Fresh brownies. the close up is making me HUNGRY <3

    im canadian.. do we count? haha

    xoxo

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  37. Those brownies look SO good - I need to get my hands on chickpea flour.

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  38. oh my gosh, those brownies look amazing!

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  39. YUM!! I'm a brownie fiend, and don't discriminate against chickpeas! I've made brownies with beets and black beans but this would be a new-to-me treat!

    I LOVE the combination of pesto and eggs!

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  40. OH YES, I want to try these!! Pick me, pick me :)

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  41. I love your words like foodgasmic and negtarinage.

    I hate giveaways that ask for linkbacks, or ones that make you "follow." Love that you are doing this just to be nice. I'd enjoy a package. :)

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  42. I'm a little late on the giveaway, but just wanted to say that these look awesome! I'm so impressed that they still worked out with all those substitutions. My baking experiments are usually disasters. :P

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  43. Oh yum, those brownies! Aren't beans just the best food ever!

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