Eating healthy doesn't have to be bad......

I watched with interest today the blogs and the comments about all the Super bowl food to be served and realized something…..this day probably does more damage to the health and weight of the American public than all the other special days put together.
I myself have been on a journey of sorts with health as well. For this reason today was not much different than any in our household of two. We ate a meal of stir fry beef and veggies served over brown rice at noon and hamburgers with whole wheat buns; coleslaw and a decadent dessert of rich delicious brownies.
I thought about my dessert recipe and after a few comments from friends decided that a blog on alternative cooking was called for.
Now having said that; please don’t think this place will be all about rice cakes and tofu. I detest horrible diet food and when I decided I needed to make changes; set to make my most favorite foods not only palatable but “Normal” if you know what I mean. Normal in the sense that they would taste as good (or better in some cases) than my old standbys with calorie count down and ingredients to help my body get to homeostasis.
You see as an herbalist I find the alternatives to most regular food can be somewhat of a shock to the palate with unfamiliar ingredients and hard to find; exorbitantly priced goods. This is unacceptable to me. I live in a little rural community that doesn’t even boast a Walmart; let alone a Whole Foods or Sams. I needed to find things I could either freeze when I do get out of town or things that would set on my shelf for periods of time without spoiling.
So today I will show you an example of a good tasting; healthy recipe that will have you smiling and your family thinking you’ve finally given up terrible diet food so you can all enjoy the same things. I will post approximate amounts of calories but I don’t have the ability to break down the nutrition list as of yet. Please note that I will post all I can on nutrition as I find it.

Here is my version of

Super Bowl Super Healthy Brownies

Heat oven to 375 F and place rack in the middle of the oven
1 cup of coconut, gluten free wheat or rice flour
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup honey
½ cup coconut, grapeseed or olive oil (I used equal parts grapeseed and olive)
½ tsp sea salt
2 organic free range eggs
¼ tsp baking soda
5 oz of dark chocolate
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
*optional
½ cup of chocolate chips or nuts of any kind

Line the bottom of a greased 8 x 8 baking pan with parchment paper and set aside. Heat oil and chocolate over low heat in a saucepan until blended. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl blend flour, salt, soda, sugar,honey, vanilla and add eggs; beating well after each. Add chocolate and oil mixture; beat until it thickens; about 2 minutes. Add chocolate chips or nuts as desired.
Pour mixture into pan; spread evenly. Place into oven and bake 28 to 31 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of the pan mixture comes clean. Cool in a refrigerator until cool.
This brownie mix is slightly more crumbly than other mixes but is absolutely delish!
Serving size: approx. 8
Calorie count: 330 calories with ½ cup chocolate chips or ¼ cup walnuts