So I’m calorie counting. And frankly, it’s horrifying.
Not what I’m eating now so much as how much I was probably eating when I wasn’t keeping track of things so well. I mean it’s pretty easy for me to put away a bottle of wine without even flinching, you know while I’m inhaling an entire cheese plate at Greenwell during happy hour BEFORE I even order dinner, which I would likely eat in its entirety. This behavior, plus LOVE, security and stability, has caused me to gain 35 pounds in about a year. For those of you keeping track is like 2-3 chicky jean sizes, officially outing me from the bikini category which I was barely one cheek in to begin with.
No wonder America is fat. Food in America is DELICIOUS! Food in America is LARGE. I’ve read all the books, done all the research, but all that I will leave for another blog post. My point is this….if you are a chronic dieter (i.e. probably if you are female and breathing), you are probably trying to figure out how to get your sweet fix without breaking the calorie bank. To you I say, let me introduce you to my friend Katie. As in “Chocolate-Covered Katie“. I know, I know….you just looked at the first page of her blog, from the link and you hate her already. I don’t blame you. She is, in fact, so effing sweet and cherub-like that she didn’t even realize that basically she has given herself a stripper name for a “brand.” To add to the hatred, she has also, managed to create treats that don’t taste like shit even though they are sometimes made from things like dates which youare all now Googling, because they are so healthy you have never eaten one…and lastly, she’s thin. BITCH!
For a long time I too hated Katie, in fact avoided her cutesy stories, so-so food photography, her sinfully dreamy recipes, and general cheerleader rah-rah…that is until I ate her Peanut Butter Secrets. The rest is history. Go ahead, eat a handful of these and bookmark her website. Do it. You must like her. You really have no choice now.
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 3 T whole-wheat pastry flour (or white or a gf mix)
- 1/4 cup sugar (for sugar-free cookies, see below link)
- 2 T brown sugar
- 2 T applesauce
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Mix dry ingredients very well. Then add wet stuff and form cookie balls. If you want soft cookies, refridge the dough for at least an hour. Then bake in a preheated oven (350F) for 7-8 minutes. They’ll look underdone when you take them out, but that’s ok. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before removing from tray. If you don’t refridge the dough, check the cookies in 5 minutes and probably take them out at about 6 minutes.
If you are keeping track…rolling out 22 cookies hits you at 50 calories a piece (according to Katie). I rolled out 44 little cuties and baked them for 5 minutes each. Perfect. Vegan. YUM!
Lovingly adapted from Chocolate-Covered Katie.
Veg Bon Vivant 