Dare You To...

Whoops - missed last Friday! Catching up now with theLive Lean Eat Green Photo-A-Day October Challenge. 

So, below, you have a HUGE ASSORTMENT of dares to choose from. They're all quick and painless, and also fun. Take your pick.

October 12: Buy yourself flowers. You deserve them.



13: Make something with pumpkin!





Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes by Diane Sanfilippo in Practical Paleo
14: Burn some calories cleaning the house!



15: Go vegetarian for the day!



Had me some roasted vegetables.
16: Let me see you sweat!



Mehhh another self-photo.  No more, Lindsay, please!
17: Call a family member just to chat.



Yes, my parents are still (and always will be) "home."
18: Buy a new healthy snack to try.



19: Go on a walk at lunch!



Rain or shine!
20: Have a treat!



My go-to sweet treat Anything yogurt- or chocolate-covered.
21: Park farther away today.



No car. Went for this run instead.
22: Hand write a letter to a friend.



23: Eat some roasted vegetables.


24: Do 100 lunges before breakfast.

When a friend from out of town was visiting, a group of us were getting together for a night out.  Not wanting to show up empty handed, I decided it was the perfect time for another experiment in baking with Greek yogurt!


I decided that I'd do a variation on my classic blondies, replacing calorie-, fat-, and sugar-dense white chocolate with Chobani's Plain 0% Greek yogurt as the flavor base.  Instead of a fattening artificial bar, we'll get a high dose of protein in this sweet snack! 





This recipe is also updated in that instead of butter or a butter-substitute, I used coconut oil and applesauce.  I was a bit nervous, but this worked very well.






Next, I'll work on weaning out the sugar altogether.  The butter-subbing and swapping in honey for half the sugar was enough experimentation for this round; next time I'll try losing all the sugar (although only 1/3 cup ain't so bad!).  I might also try swapping out the whole-wheat flour for a gluten-free and/or paleo-frien…

Wow this is long overdue.  All fall, I've been baking up my signature blondies, although, for the first time in years, I've been switching up the flavors. Keeping things interesting. Healthifying it up!

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In December, my friend Jeff came over to help me prepare not one, not two, but FOUR batches of blondies--each a different flavor.  They're all the same basic recipe, with variations on flavor and dietary-swaps.  I began baking the plain chocolate-chip blondies before he arrived, to get things moving.

It all starts with some melted white chocolate and butter*...


Mix into another bowl containing mixed sweeteners, vanilla, baking powder, and eggs (or sub--see below!)


Anddd flour, etc, combine...


Add your semisweet chocolate chips!  Save a few to top it off with later, and a few to nosh on yourself. (Perks of being the baker.)

 >
Et voila - blondies, 45 minutes later.

Jeff arrived with the rest of the white chocolate needed and made me a VERY happy girl.


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