Lalalala. Yummy yummy yummy.

Much like Marshall of HIMYM, I like to sing out loud about what I'm doing. Sometimes I burst out a tune when I'm dancing with my dog ("Beesly is my pretty bee, and he loves to dance with me!") or cooking in the kitchen ("Making a sandwich! Lalalala. I'll put some cheese on this sandwich! Lalalala. Maybe a pickle might also be nice! About that goodness I needn't think twice.").

It turns out that I also like to sing to cookbooks while reading them. After seeing on Jenna Fischer's blog that she recommends The Most Decadent Diet Ever! cookbook, I decided that it would be wise to check it out from the library to see what the hullabaloo is about. Well, all of the the recipes look fan-freaking-tastic and are made in a healthy lower calorie manner, and I'm not sure I'll want to return the book when the due date is up. I was perusing the book this evening, and I realized that I was singing a little ditty to the images of mouth-watering food, "Yum yum yummy yummy yummy. I would like you in my tummy! You look good, too. And you and you and you. And you're healthy so I know that you love me!"



I found recipes for a banana colada smoothie, spinach salad with warm bacon dressing (reminiscent of my favorite spinach and shrimp salad at Applebee's and only 108 calories!), chicken quesadilla, Italian seasoned fries, and oh so many more things. My mouth is seriously salivating as I flip through the pages, and I'm trying to think of why it wouldn't be a good idea to cook one of these items up at 10:30 at night. Please please please go find this book, and I know you won't be sorry. I cannot wait to dig into this more and actually make something. YUM!

Jenna is in love with the 88 calorie brownies from the book, and she's mentioned them on her blog and in multiple interviews. So I'm pretty sure we ought to try them out and see how we rate them. Here's the recipe!

Ingredients
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder (note: I couldn't find this and my brownies came out fine without it)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (semi-sweet)
Butter-flavored cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8 inch non-stick cake pan with spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, using a sturdy whisk or spatula, mix the applesauce, vanilla, egg whites and sugar until they are well combined.

Add the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt. Stir the mixture until it is just combined and no lumps remain. Pour it into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the chips evenly over the top. Bake the brownies for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry (a few crumbs are okay).

Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and allow them to cool 5 minutes. Cut into 12 equal brownies. Makes 12 (1 brownie) servings.

Each brownie has: 88 calories, 2 g protein, 19 g carbohydrates, 1 g fat, less than 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g fiber, 133 mg sodium

Traditional Double Chocolate Brownies have: 260 calories, 3 g protein, 37 g carbohydrates, 12 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 15 mg cholesterol, 1 g fiber, 165 mg sodium