All Aboard

I decided today was a good day to, finally, get on the Black Bean Brownie Bandwagon. It was a post by Balanced Bean in April that first introduced me to the idea and I definitely wanted to try them. I searched around for a bit, found different recipes and in the end this is what I ended up putting in:

1. 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder because I wanted them to be more nutritionally dense, especially if I'm not really eating a brownie! 

2. 1/2 cup of agave nectar (1/8 cup), honey (1/8 cup) and raw sugar (1/4 cup)to balance the cocoa powder

3. 2 eggs

4. 1/2 cup flour

5. 1.5 teaspoons vanilla

6. 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

7. And of course, the can of black beans! 

I rinsed the beans in the strainer and then dumped it all into the food processor.

The batter did not smell particularly appetizing, and I was hesitant to taste the batter. I did, and it was meh. I realize now that I had not added any salt and the rinsing process removes a fair amount from the beans. I know this did not help the brownies. 

They cooked for 18 minutes in a greased 8x8 pan with the oven at 350 degrees; they smelled good.

Max didn't seem to care about the brownie experiment, but Izzy was waiting to see if she could try any of the batter or the finished product! 

 They looked ok, but did not have the normal glisten of brownies. After letting them cool, I tried one. They definitely needed the salt I forgot. The flavor was mild, and the beans were undetectable. I entered them into My Food Diary, for these stats:

Nutrition Facts 12 brownies Black Bean Brownies 6.15.11 Serving Size: 1 serving Amount Per Serving Calories 115 Total Fat 1.2g       Saturated Fat 0.3g       Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol 37mg Sodium 166mg Carbohydrate 18.9g       Dietary Fiber 3g       Sugars 8.3g Protein 8.3g Alcohol 0.1g Vitamin A 1% Vitamin C 0% Calcium    1% Iron 7%

8.3 grams of protein is decent for 115 calories, but I would like them to have more fiber and more iron etc overall. I don't think these are on their way to becoming a dessert in my house, but they might be the basis for a protein bar. There are 3 main reasons that I want to make my own protein bars:

1. Cost - I don't have the numbers, but I know that making them is going to be a lot cheaper than buying them.

2. Control - Whether it be sugar, flavor or just the overall pronoune-ability of the ingredients, I want to know what is going into my body. I also like that I can play with them to get the flavor/nutrition/portion combination that I want.

3. Convenience - I like having my protein powder with soy or almond milk, but the convenience of a protein bar can't be beat.

Oh, I almost forgot that even though I didn't run this weekend I did get in a great walk. I carried my 3 year old niece about 1.5 miles, mostly up hill and then continued another 0.5 miles or so with the dogs. My heart was racing and my arms were hurting during and for the next few days!

Tonight I did 30 minutes, with a focus on endurance. I alternated between 2 minutes of running at 4.0 and 1 minute of running at 5.0. Near the end I was too hot to keep at that so I slowed my speed to 3.6 and upped the incline to 7%. I rounded out the short workout with pushups and some core work before stretching. 

Back to work tomorrow for a short week before the weekend!