Cookie Corner: Perfect Dark Chocolate Brownies with Chocolate Sauce and Berries

The perfect desert for me is a brownie. I love them- I especially love dark chocolate brownies because there really is nothing better to me than a good piece of dark chocolate- except for maybe 16 handles on top. For those of you who have never heard of 16 Handles- it is heaven in a Frozen Yogurt shop, and I pretty much live there! Regardless, I love brownies and last night had a craving for a warm mini brownie covered in chocolate sauce with fresh strawberries- so that is what I had for desert!
I got mini muffin pans from my mom and they are so much fun! I will be making a lot of mini cupcakes and such and my new favorite thing is making brownies in the tin! It is good because you have your individual brownie already made up for you and it saves some of the mess from the pan!

Ingredients:
Brownie:
1 c 70% Valrhona Dark Chocolate or any good dark chocolate powder

1/2 cup Earth Balance Soy Butter Spread (you can use butter if you prefer)

1/2 cup sugar ( I used sugar/Splenda blend)

2 eggs- I used 4 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

Sauce:
Melted 60% Cocoa Ghiradeli Chocolate Chips

1 c fresh strawberries cut up

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place muffin cups in pan or grease each cup (Pam now does a special baking spray). Melt stick of butter in microwave. Remove and stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat in cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake for 15-20 minutes if in a mini pan- if in a regular muffin tin or brownie pan 20-30 minutes


While the brownies are cooling melt the chocolate chips, stirring to make smooth and cut up strawberries. Choose your desired piece of brownie, cover in the sauce and top with strawberries!




To make this dish less rich, add 1 tbsp fat free whipped topping or a bit of vanilla yogurt or ice cream! This desert is great when the brownies are a few days old as well!

Enjoy
xo
SG

Quickie Meals: Mmm Simple Stirfry

I Love stir fry! It is so easy to make, you can throw anything in and it is a cheap and quick meal- perfect for a college student on the go! Whenever I go home, my mom loves when I make my stir fries for her usually as a lunch treat! I tend to use shrimp because I absolutely love shrimp but last night I was in the mood for tofu so I threw some tofu in there instead! I love using a mix of fresh and frozen veggies. A lot of frozen mixes come in pre-mixed Asian stir fry mixes. I used the whole foods 365 one because it had no broccoli and lots of water chestnuts which I love! I also threw in some spinach because I am obsessed with spinach! I am that girl who drunk orders steamed spinach at Coffee Shop at 3 am. Spinach is great because it is low in calories but high in Iron! Many young women are iron deficient, especially in college so it is important to eat foods that contain it! I also usually throw in red peppers which next to spinach is my favorite vegetable! I can eat a whole pepper in one sitting, i just love the crunchy fresh taste! This dish is a great way to get at least 3 servings of vegetables in one go!

I used a store bought oyster sauce which is one of my favorite Thai sauces- but i mixed a little soy sauce in there as well because the sauce is very thick! Any sauce will do- sweet and sour as well as teriyaki are great in stir fry! If you are really handy in the kitchen you could make your own sauce, but using store bought saves time and money and it lasts longer! Also I used tofu but any protein works! If you are a meat lover a bit of chopped up steak works great in this, so does chicken, shrimp or just vegetables!

Ingredients:
1/2 c asian stir fry mix
1/2 c chopped spinach
1/2 c chopped peppers
1/4 block tofu cut up into pieces
2 tbsp oyster sauce (or any sauce you prefer)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 garlic clove- chopped
1 tbsp sesame oil

Place frozen veggies in a microwave safe bowl and cover. Follow directions on bag for cook time.
While the veggies are steaming, brown tofu in sesame oil, once slightly brown, throw in garlic, peppers and spinach. Add 2 tbsp soy sauce here, and then once the other vegetables are ready, throw them in with the oyster sauce. Cook until everything is well coated and vegetables are soft. If needed add more soy sauce!
Serve over your choice of rice or noodles or just plain and enjoy!!!

Quickie Meals: Easy Eggplant Parm

I spent a year in Italy,and I love Italian food! The biggest difference between real Italian food and American Italian food is the breading on everything! Eggplant Parmesan is not breaded in Italy.. and this version is delicious and much healthier than the version we are used to! If you like breading, use Panko- which are Japanese bread crumbs and are still healthy! This is also really easy to make and seems much more complicated which earn you points when cooking for friends! It makes a few servings so you can refrigerate and save!
To make:
2 large eggplants
1 large can tomato sauce (or my tomato sauce recipe see Mini Pitta Pizzas)
1 large fresh ball of mozzarella (2% is best)
1/2 c freshly grated parmesan
3 tbsp olive oil





Cut Eggplant width wise into about 6-8 pieces per eggplant depending on the size. Cover slices with olive oil and then broil for 3-5 minutes- while they are broiling line the bottom pan of a baking dish with tomato sauce, saving have the can. Once eggplant are done layer the first eggplant slices, cover with both cheeses, and then top with the next 6-8 slices. Cover these with leftover cheese and tomato sauce! Bake on 350 for about 20 min!
Garnish with fresh parmesan and serve! This is delicious with pasta such as my Macadamia Nut Pesto. I made that last night for my family and they all loved the combination!
Enjoy!
xo
SG