Oh to be sugar free

Lately, people have been asking if I do a fat-free or sugar free cookie and believe me when I tell you that I’ve sacrificed taste and flavor many many times to save a few hundred calories. I won’t even touch fried food…well that is until you get a couple glasses of wine in me. But when it comes to sweets and desserts and of course cookies, I just don’t see the point. To me desserts are meant to be an indulgence, a treat, a time for me to SPLURGE! If I’m going to eat it, then it better taste fantastic! Plus chocolate is totally good for you now right? But the more and more people ask for it I’m starting to wonder if I only feel this way because I have an abnormally ridiculous sweet tooth! So, I’ve been working on a few substitutions, here’s what I’ve found:
- Applesauce for butter – not good – the texture kind of sucked
- Black beans for butter – not good but not as bad – I think this only works in chocolate cookies or perhaps in brownies it might work better – definitely not in truffies
- Splenda for sugar – okay but way to puffy and a little cakey
- Canola oil for butter – this one I actually liked – and it helped keep the shape of the truffies too but a combination of the two for sure worked better
- Whole wheat flour for all-purpose flour– not bad as well - but a mixture of the two worked best as well
So in conclusion, I'm comprising a little I guess - I’ll incorporate the canola oil and whole wheat flour into the truffies. They’ll be a little healthier and even though they’re still not diet friendly (except that they're proportioned right) I'm happy to say they DON’T taste like it either!

Here are some other tips for healthier baking though:
1 ounce of chocolate: 3 tablespoons cocoa
2 eggs: 1 egg + 2 whites or egg substitute
Cream Cheese: Lowfat ricotta + yogurt
Sour Cream: Plain yogurt
Whipped cream, ice cream: Frozen yogurt, Lowfat yogurt
1 cup whipped cream: 3 stiffly beaten egg whites or 3/4 to 1 cup Yogurt Cheese

HAPPY BAKING!

Two weeks notice

I've had to give a "real" 2 weeks notice 3 times in my life. I'm not counting when I quit Outback becuase I was graduating from college or when I told my dad I didn't want to file his paperwork anymore. No I'm talking about the kind of notice you know won't go over well becuase you've worked at a company that's come to depend on you and the work you do. I hate that kind. Unfortunately, it doesn't even get easier the more times you do it. In fact, this time was even more nerveracking then any other and the thought of having to say those two little words, "I quit" once again was making my stomach quite queezy. I almost didn't even go through with it but through divine intervention my boss actually called me into a conference room at exactly 4:45pm becuase she could tell something was up with me. I took that as a sign that now was as good a time as any other to tell them that being an accountant just wasn't doing it for me and that I needed more. And it could not have gone over better. All that worrying and stress and late-night binge eating, cookies of course :) all for NOTHING! They were completely supportive of my decision and happy that I was pursuing my passions. Why can't everything in life turn out so well? I love when God makes everything so clear! It's totally official - Uganda here I come!