The "Easter Bunny" was good to us

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I guess for most people, it's a short work week which is always something to look forward to.

Friday night, I made a crab dip for Randy and I to enjoy while we watched Pittsburgh play. I actually got the recipe from a Yuletide magazine I bought from a student last year. I combined a can of crabmeat with a half cup of mayonnaise, three tablespoons of French dressing, one block of cream cheese, two tablespoons of ketchup and two tablespoons of chopped onion. I threw it in the fridge for a couple hours to thicken up and get all flavorful:

This dip turned out great. Not too thick or too runny and worked great both spread on crackers or as a chip dip. Since I only used a small can of crabmeat, the crab was very subtle; I'd use a bigger can (or two cans) if you really like the taste of crab. We devoured this over the span of a couple days and I will definitely make it again. I'm looking forward to a day when I have a bigger kitchen with more storage space so I can buy some cute little serving dishes/platters for this kind of stuff.

Saturday was mine and Randy's Easter. We're going to be in St.John's for Easter Sunday so we decided to have our own little Easter at home before we leave. We agreed to give each other Easter baskets just for something fun to do. Here's Randy's before he came out to see it:

And of course, I couldn't leave Sebastian out of the mix:

Randy picked up a turkey to cook on Saturday as well which was fantastic because a) I got a break from the kitchen and b) When Randy cooks turkey, he is a perfectionist - meaning he puts a lot of effort into it and makes sure it is exceptionally juicy and delicious.

This is the bird, pre-devourment:

As I usually am when a turkey is cooked, I was in the mood for a hot turkey sandwich. Actually, in the mood is a bit of an understatement. I obsessed about it all day. Randy swore he wouldn't butcher the gravy like he says he did last time (again, I thought it was fine but he was not convinced) and it turned out awesome. I threw in some Mccain spicy fries and had a moment in foodie heaven:

This was the perfect example of a meal that once I ate it, I was a little sad and wished I could go back in time and eat it again. And you better believe I cleaned my plate of every little bit of gravy.

Perhaps to counteract my Saturday food fest, I made a healthy dessert. I bought a cookbook that I mentioned before called "Now Eat This" by Rocco Dispirito which makes over unhealthy comfort foods to be healthier. There was a recipe for black bean brownies in there that I wanted to try. I know, first thought: beans in brownies? Ew. But all the beans do is add volume and fluffiness to the brownies; you don't taste them at all.

After I had a mini heart attack caused by a blender leaking egg whites all over my counter, I mixed up the batter and baked these puppies for half an hour. They came out looking like this:

Despite sucking at all things cutting/slicing, I sliced them the best I could and tossed most of them in a container for freezing:

Each brownie (if you slice them into 12) has only 53 calories and 1.6 grams of fat! They were light and fluffy and not dry at all. My only complaint is that they had too strong of a coffee taste - if I make them again, I'll be sure to use less espresso powder. See the bottom of the page if you are interested in the recipe.

In the interest of making this post less time-consuming, I'm going to save Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday's meals for my next post. I'll leave you with a sequence of pictures documenting Sebastian's obsession with his Easter basket. I don't know if it was the catnip in the basket or if he was just intrigued to have something different in his environment, but he went crazy for his basket!

Shoutouts from thr past few days go to: Cookies and Creme mini chocolate eggs, Whoppers, Plain chips

Black Bean Brownies

Nonstick cooking spray

 1 1/2 cups canned black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon espresso powder (I would use about half of this next time)

3/4 cup egg whites

2 tablespoons low-cal, low sugar chocolate syrup

2 tablespoons reduced fat sour cream

1 tablespoon melted, unsalted butter

8 tablespoons granulated Splenda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 x 8 inch glass baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Combine the beans, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and egg whites in a blender. Process until the mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl halfway through.

3. Add the chocolate syrup, sour cream, butter, Splenda, and vanilla. Process until all of the ingredients are combined, about 1 minute.

4. Pour the batter into the dish and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for 28-30 minutes, turning the dish halfway through the baking time. A toothpick inserted in the centre will come out with soft batter clinging to it.

5. Let the brownies cool completely in the baking dish on a wire rack. Cut into 12 squares and serve.