You can eat that?

Here's a great trick I picked up from the good doctor himself ~ this is a kimodification (of course) of a recipe from Dr. McDougall's Nov 2006 newsletter. That means it's a "legal" recipe ~ at least before my changes, and they weren't toooo bad! Healthy, on-program, and tasty? Who can argue with that?

Easy Fudgy Brownies

1 box Dr. Oetker Organics Chocolate Cake Mix
1 15 ounce can pure pumpkin

kimodification additions:
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder ( I added this, to make it fudgier)
~1/2 cup chocolate almond milk (or rice milk)
1 tsp. vanilla flavoring
~1/4 cup honey

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Pour the mix into a bowl, stir in the pumpkin until very well combined. (add kimodifications if desired) Pour into a 9 X 13 non-stick baking dish and bake until done, 20-25 minutes (insert a toothpick into the center, if it comes out clean it is done). Dust lightly with powdered sugar if your husband desires it.

Can you believe it? You can make them with just the box mix and a can of pumpkin. And seriously, they are not "pumpkiny" at all. The original recipe (just the cake mix and pumpkin) wasn't as chocolatey as we were used to. So this time I tried to modify it just a bit. Next time I am considering using more pumpkin rather than adding the chocolate almond milk, and white stevia powder rather than the honey. Adding the milk gave it a little 'cakier' texture, and we like our brownies dense, not fluffy-cakey.

Best of all, the Grand Lunar, never a big fan of "healthified" treats, likes these. Actually likes them. Maybe not loves them, but likes them enough for seconds, and that's big.

My next step will be to replace Dr. O's cake mix (which I was surprised and delighted to find at Meijer) with a healthy homemade cake recipe of some sort. I'm sure I'll eventually figure it out. But for now, this is as easy as boxed brownie mix, almost as good, and way healthier. Who would've guessed?

In walking news:

I have walked 63 miles -- 105% of my goal of 60 miles for January!!