Diet Book and Double Vanilla Brownies

So it all started when I was searching for free books for my kindle app.  I was searching through Amazon's list, choosing romance novels, silly short stories and even a cute little kid book about an owl (for Mariah, of course).

Then I came across a diet book.

Being it is January (everyone is on an "eat healthy" kick right?) and it was FREE I decided to download it.

I didn’t really think I would read it.  I've never read a diet book before. So as I was laying in bed a few nights later I began looking through all the books I had newly downloaded into my Kindle app. I came back to this diet book and thought, oh what the heck, I'll read the first page or two.  Little did I know 10 minutes went by and I couldn’t put it down.  In a few short pages I was pretty sure my life would be changed forever. What is this book you ask?

It's called The Eden Diet by Dr. Rita Hancock.

But its not really like any other diet I've tried.  It doesn’t tell me what to eat, I don’t have to write anything down and I don't have to go to meetings.  I've tried many diets that included all of the above requirements… and although they have worked for me in the short term, they arent necessarily the lifestyle change I needed to keep off the weight I had lost.

I wont give it all away (because if you are interested in reading the book you will get a much better understanding), but the key to this diet is:

Eat only when you feel true hunger and eat just enough to satisfy you!

That means those brownies I wanted to make?  I can actually have one!  And not feel guilty!

Because I will wait until my stomach tells me its hungry and only eat a small serving.

After trying this for the last week I noticed that I don’t have the cravings that I typically have on another diet that limited my options to "no sweets" or only fat free/diet snacks.  And also?  I feel a whole lot better after eating ONE cookie than I ever did after a dozen!

So... about those brownies...

Double Vanilla Brownies

Adapted from Betty Crocker  

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1 bag (10 oz) white vanilla baking chips
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease 13 x 9 inch pan (I actually used my beloved brownie pan!).  In a 2 qt. saucepan heat butter and baking chips over low heat, stirring often to let the chips melt slowly.  Remove from heat and cool.

2. Stir in remaining ingredients until well blended.  Spread evenly into pan.

3. Bake for 30-35 mins (about 25 minutes in the brownie pan) or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Let cool before serving.


I baked them, let them cool and when I felt hungry I cut one in half and enjoyed it!



My new favorite word as I make my way towards a healthier me:  MODERATION