A Surprise Inside

WooHoo!!! I managed to get enough accomplished yesterday to fit in an experiment with a new recipe!! And, this one was so good, it needed an immediate share!

Okay, you already know I'm a fan of the Trim Healthy Mama way especially as it cuts sugar out of the eating rotation. So, if I'm ingesting sugar, it's by my own, conscious doing, and it's very calculated. And, as I realized my body dislikes a sugar enough to make me feel sluggish when eaten with any kind of consistency, which also translates into sluggish, boring runs, the THM guidelines have been exactly what I needed to put a little spring back into my steps!

When their new cookbook came out, I held back on getting it because I wasn't in a time place where I could really read and think and plan. But, so many good options from the book coming through my Facebook feed that I kept getting enticed. And, then, there was the day their Cry No More brownie recipe hit my feed, and I was sold. With a few clicks on Amazon.com, and the book was on my doorstep.

I'm not even a huge brownie fan. I've always been a fan of the batter but not necessarily the brownie itself. I know, I know, most people love both. But, whatever. So, what sold me? It was the 'secret' ingredient. Wait ... for ... it ...

Okra.

For. Real.

First of all, I admit I'm a huge okra fan. I've always loved it even as a kid. And, yes, I realize it's slimy. That's what made it even more fun as a kid. My family, on the other hand, is not full of fans especially when it's in slime mode. We never make it, but I had faith this recipe would hold up under the taste test. So, it was off to the kitchen!

Actually, first, it was off to the store because I pulled out of the pantry what I thought was a full, 4-ounce box of unsweetened bakers chocolate only to discover one measly little square in there. Drat! Rookie mistake!

Okay, when I finally got myself organized, this recipe was a breeze. It's on page 314 of the book if you have it, and I can't find the recipe online anywhere, so I'm not going to be the first to go rogue. There wasn't much to it, though, beyond melting some chocolate and butter (which they suggest doing over the stove, but, the microwave worked great in 30-second stir-repeat increments; I will not reveal the travesty that was trying to melt it over the stove, by the way) and thoroughly blending egg and okra together. That was the extent of the effort.

Then, everything gets dumped together ...

If you ever wondered what egg and okra look like all blended
together, now you know.

... gently stirred ...

Seriously, the batter was the bomb. I totally licked that
bad boy bowl.

... and baked for about 35 minutes.

Voilà:


This received the thumbs up from every house member. All of us. One of us wasn't even being nice for the sake of being nice, we all really liked it!

I liked it even better today after what was left had been in the fridge for a few hours. It became a little more dense than last night's out-of-the-oven cake-like density. It was very much like having a delicious piece of fudge! For. Real.

On a personal note, the THM recipes call for bakers chocolate and cocoa powders, both of which taste much closer to dark chocolate than this milk chocolate lovin' girl is used to. In fact, I don't tend to be a dark chocolate fan. But, usually, letting recipes sit to cool completely vs. trying to taste them warm takes the edge off of that for me. If it's still more rich than I prefer, I simply have a small piece rather than a serving. That small piece tends to be more than satisfying given how rich it is to me, and I genuinely enjoy it. Just a heads up for you milk chocolate fans!

So, this recipe itself was more than worth the price of the ol' book! Chocolate that's not just guilt free, it's good for you thanks to the okra? Yes, please!!

And, tomorrow? Another recipe? Well, that'll be a long shot to fit in! But, even if I don't accomplish that, I will get in the morning run! See you after ...